Super Wednesday

Jobs I would rather be doing today:

• Weatherman - again, how hard is to say "It's cold today, more cold tomorrow.... warm in Hawaii".
• Cop - It's the end of the month and although nobody will admit to "quotas", there were 2 different speed traps last night between Rochester and La Crosse. No, I was in no jeopardy of getting yet another ticket. Sit on the side of the road and pull over the fast looking cars. Plus if people get out of line, you can hit them with a tazer!!! Wish I could do that at my current job.
  
• Toy Developer for Happy Meals. I always thought designing little trinkets for kids would be fun.... for a day.
• Recording Engineer for the Music Industry. A life long dream of mine.
• Visual Graphics Artist for Hollywood - another long interest (but not realistic since I HATE PROGRAMMING). The first movie to really get me interested was Goldeneye (007) and the amazingly cool computerized intro for the movie. X-Men series usually have cool intro sequences as well.
• Radio DJ. I still swear that if I win the lottery, I'm building my own radio station and play whatever I want to play that day. As you can see from my extremely good taste in music, I would be a great DJ! Plus I love to talk hoping that someone out there listens to my babbling!
• Manatee Trainer. I think there's a new developing market for Manatee Shows! Move over Shamu! Not sure how trainable they are, but it's worth a shot.
• Google Employee. So yeah, it's the technical Corporate America that I am currently in, but you should see the perks these folks get! No free massages where I'm at now!
  
• Video Game tester. Duh..... Drew would be my first choice if they came and asked me. But I know they'd need two of us.
• Professional Golfer. I wouldn't win any money, but at least I'd be on the golf course and not staring out the window at snow. Yes, I have a window office (want to remind my friends in the lab who never see daylight!)
• Male Porn Star - Any guy who says this wouldn't be fun for a while is lying. Seriously.
• Playboy Photographer - read statement above for explanation.
• US Senator. I would only have to work maybe 120 days a year and get to charge everything to someone else! Plus have my own driver.
• Ping Pong champion. I could probably play ping pong 10 hours a day. Anyone want to challenge me? I need the practice to beat Fisher!

Song of the Day - C&C Music Factory (anyone between 25 and 35 is required to have liked their songs for at least a day back when they were in High School) was on the radio at the RAC this morning. Could have been better, could have been worse. I still think they have the worst "virtual DJ" at the RAC. I should apply and just play music for people on treadmills all day. And OK Go's "Here It Goes Again" is probably the first song I'd play:)

Video of the Day - I watched In the Mix lately which is Usher's attempt at making a movie. Wasn't good, wasn't bad. Typical movie about a club DJ with aspirations of owning a studio who has a connection to a Mafia family. Falls in love with the Italian daughter (Emmanuelle Chriqui.... not sure I blame him - she's very cute!), then saves a life or two.... no, not the story of Usher's life as is usual for R&B artists wanting to make a movie. He should stick to music though.

Webpage of the Day - Advanced screening of Kevin Federline's Super Bowl commercial. What a pud!

Super Tuesday

It's dang cold here in Rochester today. The wind is howling making it a tad bit nipply out. Sure would be a good time to go to Mexico.

Speaking of Mexico - Best wishes on a speedy healing to Eddie (groom to be in Mexico) who finally had surgery on his limp yesterday! I have been trying to get him to play tennis with me over the past few months cause I know I can beat him this time!!

The book I just finished was the interview with Bono that was done by French writer Michka Assayas. It's a great read of the conversation over two years (during the recording and editing of How to Dismantle an Atomic Bomb) about the band U2, about Bono's childhood, his relationship with his father and mother, his involvement with Africa, his interaction with world leaders, and even a lot about his spirituality.

So I know that Bono has a lot of critics (among many of my readers) but read the rest of this with an open mind. The reason I enjoy reading this book so much is that it's not a biography, or an auto-biography because Michka is able to challenge even Bono to discuss things he had no intention of discussing. I love reading or listening to Bono speak mainly because he is the extrovert that I hope to be someday - absolutely nothing to hide and an educated opinion on just about anything in life. I also find his faith and confidence in his own spirituality to be encouraging and admirable. I also learn the reasons he became so involved with trying to help out Africa with their debt problems. Whether you agree with him politically or not, you have to appreciate a celebrity that dedicates as much time as he has to a cause for this many years. He isn't someone who just jumps on the bandwagon before a big movie release in order to create more publicity for himself and the movie. I do read his passion for helping the poor and needy of the world. Before I can criticize someone that probably can give more of his money to his own cause, I need to look at myself and realize that I too could give more to a needy cause.

A couple of the highlights of the book for me:

• Michka is asking what Bono thinks the other band members would be if they weren't in a rock and roll band. When asked about Adam Clayton, Bono replies that Adam would make a good sheriff in the middle of America.... like Ames. No joke, Ames gets mentioned in the book!! GO CLONES!!! Now to get Bono a Cyclone hat, or better yet... a shirt that says "BEAT IOWA"!!
• When asked what his favorite U2 song is, Bono replies "we haven't written it yet". When asked which songs he admires in their current repertoire, Bono chooses "Please" from Pop and "Stay (Faraway, So Close!)" which is from my favorite album Zooropa. Both are some of my more favorites with "Please" being a top 5 of mine.

So onto my next book on the list. I enjoyed the candid and open nature of the book and like I said, I appreciate the uniqueness of Bono and how he rides that very fine line between confidence and arrogance/ignorance. I know I've commented before how people develop the ignorance and Bono will admit that he has been pulled back to earth many times when he was getting out of control - but what I like about that is how he doesn't let that slow him down.

And yes, they are recording again so expect another kick ass album sometime soon (no planned release yet) and of course - a tour to follow!!

Song of the Day - Another song that I love is "The Wanderer" that they did with Johnny Cash. Bono speaks a lot of his relationship with Cash and other artists such as Roy Orbison. From a fan of music, the company that he surrounded himself is amazing. U2 and Johnny Cash - only thing better would be to add an Elvis and U2 hit to the mix!

Video of the Day - An interesting movie from this past weekend... This Film is Not Yet Rated is a documentary that talks about the MPAA and basically exposes them as the corrupt and ultra ultra conservative people that they are. It's amazing to learn of the process that goes into rating a movie and the differences between what they deem as "NC-17" and "R". It's hard to agree with them. I agree with the statement made that in a post 9/11 world, we have grown so much more tolerant to violence in this country where the most graphic of movies will still only receive an "R" rating. But put in a love scene that includes one non-traditional position between a married couple who are in love with each other and you're slapped with "NC-17" and thus it makes it much more difficult to have your film picked up by any of the major distributors. For anyone that is interested, I really enjoyed the movie. Lots of interviews with Kevin Smith and the one dude that created Southpark.

Webpage of the Day - I have been known to light up the dance floor once or twice with my "Interpretive Dance" to a certain Thriller song..... but this wedding party takes the cake with their moves! I have a lot of work to do!!!

Super Monday

Since the Super Bowl is this weekend, every day this week is SUPER ("thanks for asking!")

Friday's performances went well - I even got not one, but TWO stickers that say "I met Ronald" so you can all consider me the coolest person you know for the day. Ronald has big feet... or at least big shoes. He was our narrator for Britten's Young Person's Guide to the Orchestra that we played for the kiddies. Being Ronald as a full time position could be a lot of fun. But having to put on that much make up every morning would get old.

This weekend was the first weekend without "good" football since August (The Senior Bowl doesn't count as real football). But there were two big sporting events that gained my attention. Federer won his 10th Grand Slam Title (4 behind Sampras) at the Australian Open. More importantly, he now has at least 3 titles each of the Australian, Wimbledon, and the US Open. First man to do that. I don't think anyone can beat him this year at the French so I'm predicting him to do the Slam this year. Plus Tiger won his 7th Straight tournament that he has entered for the PGA. We already know the amazing start to his career that Tiger has, but how amazing are these accomplishments?

I'm a big Tennis and Golf fan (as well as pretty much every other sport out there.... not the WNBA though). The accomplishments and current career status of Federer and Tiger are something we will not see again in our lifetimes... so enjoy them! Nobody has been more dominant in their respective sports as these two have. And to do it in an individual sport is much more incredible than any of the dominance you see in team sports. Federer even won without dropping a single set in the tournament. We're just at the point where nobody can compete at the same level and it truly is fun to watch his mastery of the sport.

Now if it'd only warm up enough here in Rochester to play golf (or outdoor tennis and kick Fish's butt)!

By the way - one of my less intelligent bowling buddies asked why the unusual scoring in tennis... so here's what I found today as a hypothesis:

As simple as this scoring appears, the running score of each game is described in a manner peculiar to tennis: scores of zero to three points are described as "love" (or "zero"), "fifteen," "thirty," and "forty," respectively. The origins of the fifteen, thirty, forty scores are believed to have medieval and French roots. It is possible a clock face was used on court, with a quarter move of the hand to indicate a score of fifteen, thirty, and forty-five. When the hand moved to sixty, the game was over. The origin of the use of "love" for zero is disputed; it is possible that it derives from the French word for an egg (l‘oeuf) because an egg looks like the number zero. "Love" is also said to possibly derive from "l'heure" or "the hour" in French.

So the French don't know the difference between 40 and 45 on a clock.

Finally - I hit my 3 Gallon Donation mark this morning. That is 24 donations for the less informed! Is there any reason you're not donating? I hate needles too, but I'm still giving what I can of this awesome kick ass blood of mine!! They never complain that it comes out in Cardinal and Gold!!

Song of the Day - I pulled a U2 Sunday (no, not a Bloody one) yesterday as I worked around the house. It was a 90's U2 though so I'm sure there would have been some upset wannabe fans at my house.

Video of the Day - I watched The Guardian this weekend which I really enjoyed. Usually Kevin Costner plays the "weird" roles (or just the fact that I've labeled him as such since his poor performance in Water World) but this was really well done. It's a cross between Top Gun (without the annoying Volleyball Scene) and Million Dollar Baby. Ok, maybe not the best comparison, but it's the best I can do this morning.

Webpage of the Day - Today is BUBBLE WRAP APPRECIATION DAY!!! (I can't make this stuff up). So in honor of today, appreciate your own bubble wrap - now with multiple colors and options!

Posting for Thursday

What a morning! Today is my last posting till Monday. Tomorrow is our annual Symphony for Youth concerts in La Crosse where we play 3 concerts during the day for kiddies. I think they're 3rd or 4th graders - not for certain. You know me, I think all kids look the same age!! What are we playing? Um.... good question. I think we are playing bits of some of the music from the December concert (Bach and Britten)

Interesting read of the day (submitted by the world's biggest and over-paid Journey Fan). I think it under rates the importance and significance of this individual with the advancement of human kind, but that's just one man's (or possibly two mens') opinion.

NHL All-Star game was last night which may be the lamest of all the major All-Star games to watch. Granted I still would watch that over the WNBA All-Star matchup (WE GOT GAME), but there are no real hits, no real defense, and no real hockey! It's kind of like watching a college hockey game! I think the West won last night which is who I would root for. Anyway - what the playing of this game means is that we're over half way and the Cup Playoffs are right around the corner!!!

Australian Open finals this weekend. Maria Sharahotmama is back in the finals (playing very well since her opening round heat exhaustion scare) and will play Serena Williams who is always a threat. No, I don't like Serena - not because of any racist reason, but she takes the "Ladies and Gentlemen" out of the sport by continuing to try to make fashion statements instead of just playing tennis. Plus I think her father's influence and vocal comments have hurt the sport of Women's Tennis through the years. She is a great player and I wish her no ill, but I just don't care for what she's brought to tennis. You can be an innovator in your sport by being proper and always a good sport (as Arthur Ashe will always be known for doing to Men's Tennis). My predictions are that Maria will win, and of course Federer will win again for the men (*YAAAAAWN*).

Other than that - just another busy day at work (that I should get back to)... HAVE A GREAT WEEKEND!!!

Song of the Day- A little bit of Elvis Gospel going through my head today. Nothing better in this world than hearing Elvis sing "How Great Thou Art"!!! LONG LIVE THE KING!!

Video of the Day - So I finally watched Clerks 2 this past weekend. Clerks the original is probably my least favorite of the "New Jersey Trilogy" (movies by Kevin Smith which are far beyond a Trilogy - Mallrats, Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back, Chasing Amy, Dogma and the much much hated Jersey Girl). Clerks 2 was actually pretty good and I liked it. One scene that gets the usual "that's just wrong on so many levels" tag - but didn't make me like the movie any less.

Webpage of the Day - Van Halen reunion with...... any guesses who's singing THIS time around?????? Click on the link to cure your curiosity!!

Compliments Gallore!

Today is National Compliment Day!! It is also Belly Laugh Day, but that is hard to celebrate on a blog page. So in honor of National Compliment Day, I am digging deep inside of all the good inside of me to celebrate and lead the way for this holiday! I would have sent you all cards, but Hallmark doesn't see today as a severe money making holiday so there are no sections of cards for today, nor candy or balloons to send.

1. To my friends in La Crosse (and from Decorah who drives to LAX)- You make crappy rehearsals and concerts such as this much much more tolerable.
2. To our conductor in La Crosse.... you... um.... you ended about 30 seconds before 10:00 last night which was appreciated.
3. To my mom - your weight loss last year has been my inspiration this year. Doubt I'll ever run marathons like you, but at least I can keep up with you on a short run.
4. To Britney - I still think you're cute (CALL ME!!)
5. To DA BEARS - I like everyone but Rex... good luck next week, someone's wedding depends on your performance!
6. To Rex - you're not as bad as Ryan Leaf!
7. To my Cyclone BBall Team- you guys played really well against Kansas, but fell off the face of the earth since then:( You have potential, make me proud!
8. To the WNBA - you got game. Enjoy your last few seasons of existence.
9. To the guy at Kwik Trip who sold me my winning PowerBall ticket - I'll give you $100 for being nice even though you were swamped with idiots buying PowerBall tickets.
10. To the cute girl that runs on the treadmill every morning at the RAC when I'm there.... you're very cute!
11. To Bush - I didn't watch you last night (nor was I able to play State of the Union Bingo) so I can't really knock you for your speech. But I will complement you on correctly pronouncing "Saddam" which is more than your daddy ever did!
12. To my travel partners in crime for Mexico.... this is easily the highlight of 2007 for me and I can't wait!
13. To Elvis - you're still the king to me and many others. If you are indeed on an island somewhere with Jimmy Hoffa - I hope you have your guitar with (and new strings)!
14. To my bowling buddies - half of you are about as unpredictable and crappy as I am every week making it easier to show up after throwing a 74.
15. To God, my creator - you make anything possible and having faith in you is the easiest way to get through my days.
16. To the oil companies - after making more money than any group of individuals ever needs to see, you are now losing money so millions of us can enjoy gas under $2 a gallon. That's awfully nice of you (while it lasts)
17. To Al Gore, inventor of the internet - you give me something to do about 12 hours a day!
18. To Wes Craven - I enjoyed your Freddy Kruger movies as well as your Scream series. You have a great way of making horror flicks fun!
19. To the Hawkeyes - you still suck more than any one else out there, but you don't suck as bad today as you did yesterday (for some odd reason)
    
20. To my millions (AND MILLIONS) of fans who read my blog every morning - thanks for giving me a place to "express myself" and allow my right brained creativity to be used every morning before it gets stifled by Corporate America.
    

Song of the Day - With video goodness, it's time to bring this song back and enjoy the good laugh that goes with it!! And yes, I'm wearing my shirt from eBay today!!

Video of the Day - I watched The Weatherman with an open mind (and not really knowing what it was about). Remember that I hate Nicholas Cage probably as much as any other actor (or lack-of-acting-person as he would be termed). I wasn't impressed with him (as usual) but I was intrigued by the story. I just didn't like the ending and overall thought it was a waste of a good potential movie.

Webpage of the Day - A new "Idiot Test"... how'd ya do? remember to think laterally

Everything You Need To Know About Freddy Kruger

In my addiction to Netflix, I have "rediscovered" the classic horror franchises that are long time favorites from the 80s. These are when the budget was very low... no computer graphics... things jumped out to scare you, not because they make it as realistic or as gross as possible (which is evident by the Saw series). My latest victim were the 7 movies that took place on Elm Street.

Nightmare on Elm Street - The original by Wes Craven. Johnny Depp's first movie btw - prepared him for his role as Edward Scissorhands. Freddy appears as clumbsy (a common theme throughout) but takes the kids in their dreams as revenge for their parents burning him years before. Nevermind the fact that he killed kids while he was still alive, he's just pissed that they burned him alive. Turns out that Nancy is the last of the "kids" and she's the only one that can stop him. Too bad there are bars on the windows!! Daddy saves the day in the end.

Nightmare on Elm Street 2: Freddy's Revenge possibly the worst sequel ever made. Non-Wes Craven directed so it's gonna suck (another common theme). Freddy takes over Jesse who's new to town and not popular at school. Jesse kills some people while developing a relationship with poor little rich girl Lisa. She just doesn't understand what is going on (do they ever?) but wants to help her high school sweetheart. Freddy does some cool stuff at a pool party and in the end, not all is safe as the bus once again drives off into the desert with Freddy driving.... waste of 90 minutes.

Nightmare on Elm Street 3: Dream Warriors - Shocker!! Freddy's back (as is Wes Craven) and he is pissed at a bunch of kids as usual. Nancy (from #1) is back but now as a psychiatrist who works with kids. One of the girls (Kristin) can bring people into her dreams to fight Freddy so she gets all of her friends at the psycho ward to help her fight. The Doctor finally believes Nancy's story and convinces Nancy's father to help him find the bones of Freddy and bury them with holy water (nevermind the fact that the bones were in a trunk of a car the whole time nor the fact that the holy water comes out of a flask with alcohol in it). Freddy goes away after his bones are burried. Laurence Fishburne is the big name of this one as is Patricia Arquette.

Nightmare on Elm Street 4: The Dream Master - The kids that "won" in the last movie are now Freddy's main target. After some stumbling around, he kills even Kristin who has the "special power".... BUT not before she wills her power to her friend Alice. Freddy finally gets smart and uses Alice to bring new people into her dreams for Freddy to kill. He's just pissed, no motive really. Besides - by Jason's 4th movie, he had killed twice as many kids! This is the one I remember as a kid with Joey dying by falling into a waterbed and ending up on the INSIDE of the waterbed. This can be hard for a kid such as myself who grew up sleeping on a waterbed every night!

Nightmare on Elm Street 5: The Dream Child - now there's a baby involved... of an 18 year old (great message to be sending to the youth of the late 80s). Alice helped kill Freddy (with a mirror of all things) in the previous movie, but now she realizes that her unborn child is what Freddy is hoping to use to re-enter the real world (no, it wasn't a virgin birth). Turns out that Freddy's MOTHER was raped in an asylum which caused her to have Freddy! This didn't come out in the first 4 movies. Her unborn son "Jacob" comes as a 10 year old ghost and helps her in her dreams defeat Freddy. Freeing Freddy's mother is now the way to kill off Freddy!

Freddy's Dead: The Final Nightmare - Probably my least favorite since the acting was so horrible by this time. Turns out that Freddy had a daughter before he did all the child killing while he was still alive. Now he uses her to get some more kids in a low budget film. It does have Tom Arnold and Roseanne in the movie (briefly) which was strange. Also shows Johnny Depp's "this is your brain on drugs" commercial from the late 80s. Turns out that you can kill Freddy by wearing 3D glasses and being part of the blood line to kill him off! (a similar way they FINALLY killed off Jason). Daughter kills him with his own glove.

New Nightmare - BUT - now it gets interesting. So now the actress who played Nancy, plus Robert Englund who played Freddy... are in a movie playing themselves. Freddy is pissed at the cast and even at Wes Craven himself for having killed them all off. Freddy haunts Heather Langenkamp (real life name) and kills her husband. Of course nobody believes the actress who was in the Freddy Kruger movies till her nanny is killed at the hospital. Heather and her son kill Freddy in a furnace as they read the script from Craven.... yeah, it's a little different but a great movie to end with (in comparison to the shitty 3 movies before it).

Of course there's still Freddy vs. Jason but that's a different movie for a different time.

There, that's my weekend in a nutshell!

Song of the Day - Some old school DJ Jazzy Jeff and the Fresh Prince today... Why? Because one of their songs was Nightmare on My Street. Same album as Parents Just Don't Understand for anyone that's following me. Will Smith (FP for short) has battles in his dreams with Freddy so calls to warn Jeff.... too late! One of the lines that Freddy says in the song is "You've got the body, I've got the brain" which interestingly enough is the tagline and quote from the 2nd movie in the series...

Video of the Day - In a totally unrelated video.... learn how to read body language. Very helpful when working with Corporate America!

Webpage of the Day - and the best video you will watch all day.... no Freddy.... but it's based on an old childhood saying that most of us will remember!

Snow on the Ground, Work to Do

Congrats to Jan and Kevin on the birth of Jack Floyd last Wednesday!! Rochester population increases by one more (and an additional Cyclone fan at that!)

More snow in Rochester this weekend. It was the fun snow that allowed me to slide all over the road on purpose since traffic was minimal Sunday morning. New tires prevent from a clean donut, but I can still have some fun out there. It does look like Winter finally around here after the past week's worth of snow fall. Possibly more on the way this week.

Two totally contrasting football games yesterday. I predicted Chicago vs New England which looked like how it was going to end up for a while.... but Indianapolis pulled out a surprise to me and now it's Colts vs Bears in a MidWest version of the Superbowl. The two towns are only a couple of hours away from each other - why not have the SuperBowl IN the Midwest instead of in Florida. That'd be something to see. Not the two teams I was hoping to see in the final game, but whatever... may the best team win.

I'm not one to usually complain about NFL officiating, but the calls in the New England and Indianapolis game were kind of surprising to me. Couple of pass interference calls that I disagreed with. But that's why I'm on the couch watching and not wearing a zebra suit.

With Chicago going to the Super Bowl, we are now one more Bears victory from another wedding this summer! I expect to play at the wedding - I'll play the Bears Fight song in honor of the cause for the marriage ceremony!

Best accomplishment for me this weekend? Finished all of the Nightmare on Elm Street movies - more to report later this week!

Song of the Day - Despite the request for the Super Bowl Shuffle, I updated my Workout Playlist with U2 for the week. First time I've changed my play lists in about 2 months. U2 always makes a workout go faster. This morning it was Zooropa which is one of the better U2 albums despite what the other 95% of the world thinks about that album.

Movie of the Day - I watched World Trade Center this weekend with The Pat and Tony-A... It was ok, but not at all what I thought it was going to be. Not a lot of time leading up to the events of 9/11 - just a lot dealing with the time afterwards. A feel good story in the end, but hard to relive the events of that day.

Webpage of the Day - Learn to play most of the themes from your Nintendo days on the piano. Including Zelda which I never realized how easy that is. Now if I only had a keyboard at home to practice these! Never know when playing Zelda or Mario might be necessary in order to impress a member of the opposite sex.

Another Friday is Here

Finally Friday! Only plans for this weekend are to finish watching all of the Nightmare on Elm Street movies (and of course a summary next week for y'all) and to practice since rehearsals start up again next week in La Crosse. It'll be cold and possible snowing so a good weekend to lay low.

I read that there's a new movie coming out about Salvador Dali starring Al Pacino. Dali is easily one of my favorite artists and his painting of The Last Supper is my favorite and most inspiring painting. For the art-history-challenged, Dali is known for his surreal paintings including Persistence of Memory. I have two prints of his work (needing framing and hanging as I finish my guest bedrooms this Spring) but my best memory of Dali is seeing The Last Supper in Washington DC at the National Gallery of Art. We were there in High School and I remember towards the end of our time at the Gallery, I was trying to find some friends so I left the lobby to go look for them and as I was going up a stairwell... BOOM..... There the painting was and it is very large compared to what I was anticipating. I was speechless for a period of time as I experienced this incredible (and very spiritual) work. Gotta love visual art that is unique in the time aspect of its impact.

Sports predictions for the weekend:
Patriots over Colts, Bears over Saints..... which means a repeat of the 1986 Super Bowl XX!! How cool is that?

IBM had a good 4th quarter, yet stock still goes down after our announcement of earnings yesterday. I hate Wall Street. But the attitudes are good around work today as our hard work in 2006 showed. To me, that's more important than what some idiot on Wall Street thinks.

Hope everyone has a good weekend! Another week closer to Mexico/Reno/Wedding Day.... whatever you're counting down to this year!!

Song of the Day - For Pat, today's song of the day is my least favorite song by my least favorite band: Journey sucks and Open Arms is a horrible horrible song. The dude that sings that for American Idol should not have made the next round on principle alone. Pat, hope you're happy.

Video of the Day - I finally watched Pirates of the Caribbean 2 this week. Pretty darn good movie, but I was just as pissed as everyone else at the lack of ANY resolution contained in the film. Now I know how frustrated folks were when they saw Empire Strikes Back and knew that they had to wait a while before they could find out what happens. Johnny Depp is very good as expected and I was ok with all of the CGI in this movie. Sometimes it can make it too unrealistic but they paid a lot of money to make the movie look good!

Webpage of the Day - Modern Drunkard Magazine (I am only NOW finding out about this site) has a list of "86 Rules of Drinking" - I agree with pretty much all of these!!!

Go Clones!!!

Calling All Cyclone Fans!!!! And non-fans if you want to stay on my good side!! Your vote in an ESPN.com poll as to the "best place for Student Spirit" in Men's College Basketball is needed for the cyclones. Currently, they are running 2nd behind freakin' Kansas. So vote 1 for ISU, and 22 for Kansas (as well as 21 for Duke, 20 for Okie St.) and then it doesn't matter. Need at least 5 rankings to submit. And if you have nothing else to do today, vote multiple times! Shows you what a school known for engineers working on computers can do from their office desks!!!!

The good news of the day is I'm down more weight in my official weigh in this morning. I'm down 20+ pounds now in the past 2 months of my single life! That puts me over 40 pounds down total since my all time high weight back in late 2005 (about the time I went to China). My goal is 110 pounds lost total, so I'm well over 1/3 of that. I'll make a tracker for the right side of my blog sometime this weekend. When it's all over, expect a big-ass party in Rochester!!!

If you want to try a new workout routine, try the Wii-Sports-Training!! Dude proves that playing Nintendo Sports can help lose weight and improve your health!!

And the only way I can vent for yesterday's late day frustration is by sharing with you that the only word I could offer as a response..... "Touché".

American Idol last night was very humorous and it allowed Seattle to upstage Minneapolis's poor effort from Tuesday night. Some people might think the judges are rude and overdo it for the TV but honestly, if you aren't straight with some of these folks, they won't understand that they have no business being there. That's the business side of me speaking. Over half of the people that have aspirations of being the next American Idol are doing so for the "easy way out". Not because they truly want a career in the music industry, but because of the glamour they hope to attain. Watch them on their way out crying how you'll still see their name in lights someday. Some call it confidence, I call it ignorance (see yesterday's post for more). Why not set your goals at a more attainable level so success is more likely. Just my thoughts.

And that's about all for today! Go Brews Bros!!

Song of the Day- one of the bad moments on AI last night came when they watched people standing in the rain waiting to audition in Seattle. Some idiot thought it'd be funny to play Blame it on the Rain by everyone's favorite Milli Vanilli! Wow, does that bring back some bad memories:( Anyone admit to owning that CD? (tape doesn't count)

Video of the Day - Super Mario Galaxy preview. Pretty neat to see Mario moving even better in 3D plus I'm curious how the new controllers will come into play!

Webpage of the Day - Pandas and Humans have more in common than you think.... Female is less attracted to her male counterpart so they put the male on a diet to help develop a love making atmosphere for the pandas! According to the article, Panda Porn also exists which is scary!

Reflections on Reality...... Shows

It's American Idol Season as of last night. As I'm watching (and constantly laughing) at the poor showing by Minnesota folks, I began to think about more than just the wrong notes and strange people on my television set.

I am a big fan of both American Idol and The Apprentice for different reasons. American Idol is now doing Season #6 and it's only getting more popular. It's simply a show that starts out with people making fools of themselves, but then brings out up and coming stars trying to catch their first break. 20 years ago we called it Star Search. Why didn't Star Search hold the #1 rating position though when in basic form it was the exact same show? I'm just fascinated at how the show has been so well constructed to attract so many viewers every week. Even last night when there is no possibility of any of those people being famous in 2 years. While we all complain about Paula and how idiotic she is, or how cruel Simon is... they are what makes the show continue to click.

As for The Apprentice - whether you like Trump or not, he is good at what he does. I enjoy watching and trying to figure out how I'd handle the situations. Trump gives out some sound advice for business folks to keep in mind. Although I'm continually surprised he makes a big deal about the sexual orientation of the interviewees (note that as a manager - if I even hint at a question to an interviewee in this context, I could be sued and easily fired). But it's Trump's show.

So where am I going with all of this? I'll tell ya....

I realize that there is a very fine line between Confidence and Ignorance. These two shows are very easy ways to see this. As you watch, notice how a person thinks they are the "bomb" and have confidence when in actuality, 99% of the people watching see the obvious flaw. When you develop too much confidence, you fail to see your problems and thus develops the ignorance. For the uppity business folks on The Apprentice (folks that are used to the lavish life style and have lost touch with the non-upper class aspects of life), they see themselves as confident which they feel is their strong point... but again, without the ability to step back and recognize your down falls - what is the use of confidence?

Me for instance. I do have a lot of confidence. I am also aware of most of my faults. Some are things I can change through effort and practice, some are things I just need to be aware of and adapt to them accordingly. Physically, I'm overweight (this should be a good week for weigh in! More information tomorrow) but doing something about that. Personality-wise... I dominate a lot of conversations due to my ability to talk openly, freely as well as being able to think quickly in most discussions. I am confident about my social interactions, but I also accept that I can intimidate others in a conversation so I continuously monitor that. I'm also known for being stubborn in a discussion on politics or religion (or when people attack my Britney) - but again, I accept that if the conversation allows me to be this way, no problems. In a working environment, I have a totally different mindset that is open and attempts to find the correct solution.

My point? Be confident, but don't lose your awareness of how to continually make yourself better. There is never an instance of someone that is "perfect" who could not look for ways to better themselves. My soapbox for the day.

And if you're a bad singer? You might sound good in the shower, but don't cry when someone tells you that you would be a better juggler than singer. You didn't get the job, be a man about it and move on with life.

Song of the Day - I was disappointed at the treatment of Prince last night on AI. Although I have been known to do my own karaoke of Prince, I don't think I would have used him to sing for an audition. And the lyrics to Kiss are not that hard.

Video of the Day - The final movie from last weekend - Crank which has Jason Statham (Transpoter, Italian Job, Snatch). It's an interesting plot and actually a pretty good movie. Lots of action and swearing which is what you'd expect from the movie. Amy Smart is in it who isn't very good at this role, but still pretty cute.

Webpage of the Day For all of you 30 Second Bunny Fans out there..... AND all of the Borat fans out there.... now you can have both! The Bunnies re-enact Borat - in 30 seconds.

2 Years Later....

Today is always my least favorite day of the year. It was 2 years ago today that I lost one of my close friends from Iowa State. I know there are so many of us that miss Shelly and wish she were still here to make us all laugh and smile which she pretty much did whenever she was around. Her beautiful daughter Hailey is doing so well and will continue to remind us how amazing Shelly was. Even after 2 years, there are days where it still is hard to not miss her when I see things that remind me of her. I like to think that she's still out there watching over all of us and someday when I get to heaven, I hope she's the first person I see - kind of like my "heaven mentor" to show me around up there.

It was really odd at church this past Sunday.... I looked to see what the choir was singing and it was an arrangement of "It Is Well (With My Soul)". I actually sang that at the first of Shelly's two funerals in Iowa Falls. Very interesting....

Memorial Poem in Des Moines register from her family.

So in order to move on, I try to think about other things. American Idol starting tonight..... or this week's past episode of The Apprentice. Jill has challenged me to wear the bathing suit that was designed by the losing team from this week. I accept that challenge, as long as I can make some money off of it. Come on Jill - make an offer!!


Yes, Jill is referring to the very small and tight pink one on the right. Males should not wear that!

I re-entered the world of Step Class last night at the RAC. Yes, I'm the only male in the class - but are you making fun of me or are you just jealous? Step Class is where all the women are at!! I made it through the 60 minutes of A-steps, V-steps, Basic Steps, Crossovers, Right and Left Turn Steps, Salsa, and a bunch of other ones I can't remember at the moment. Good workout and a change of pace from the usual stuff. Anyone that thinks they are in shape should try a 60 minute step class to see what they think!

Song of the Day - INXS was on the shuffle list this morning. I know they were big in the 80s (loved them then, love them now) - but they were way ahead of their time (standard statement of any fan of any band). I consider a lot of their music still playable today without feeling like it's "Oldies". But then again, I'm slow to admit that I'm old when it comes to my taste in music. I do enjoy some of the music going out now a days and I try to keep up.

Video of the Day - Keeping on the theme of Weird Movies - I watched The Night Listener with Robin Williams. Strange and predictable.... He's still a really good actor and this movie doesn't do anything to change one's opinion of that... but still very strange....

Webpage of the Day - After mastering yesterday's Squirrel game.... how about a maze game for entertainment today?? Use the mouse to rotate the field and get the ball through the maze! Good luck!

Snow Day

Today is Martin Luther King's Birthday. The one time every 5-6 years where the observed holiday actually does fall on his correct Birthday (the 15th). Can you name the other 2 holidays that celebrate an individual's birthday (Not including Christmas) in the US???? President's Day (after Washington's Birthday), and Columbus Day. In 2000, all 50 states finally observed the holiday as official. Today is supposed to be a day of peace, social justice, and racial and class equality (that should be every day in my mind). It's also yet another reason for the Postal Service to not work and deliver my mail.

Lots of snow this morning in Rochester. Enough to postpone school and bring out the idiot drivers. I was almost rear ended this morning - that would not have made me too happy. Luckily Brian was here from California in time to see his snow that I know he misses so much. I was even the nice guy and brushed the snow off of his rental car for him this morning before I left. Most importantly, with the snow going on use my lessons learned from last year - DON'T BOTHER GOING TO CHIPOTLE TODAY! They close for snow I guess.

I was 1-3 this weekend with the football picks. Oops! I'm still 5-3 for the post season. Some great football though, unfortunately I don't care for most of the teams left.

Iowa State was on the public broadcast with a great chance to beat Kansas in Ames on Saturday. And as is tradition with Iowa State athletics - we lost it in overtime! It's hard to be a Cyclone fan because the heart break last year long and extends to EVERY sport!

American Idol starts tomorrow - Only the "fun" episodes for this week and next week. Probably won't be too much to report.

Australian Open is underway for the Tennis fans. This is the first major tournament and the official kick off to the 2007 season. What it really means is that there is tennis on live TV in the middle of the night for us nutcases.

Song of the Day - I hate Rochester Radio... so lately I've resorted to listening to Bob and Tom on my way in to work just because I can't stand any of the local talk shows. It consumes about 10 minutes of my morning every day. This morning they were playing Puddle of Mudd's Control which is a great song (despite the fact that they were making fun of the song this morning). It's a great way to start getting into the Valentine's Day mode!!! That plus the thought of needing a new shovel!

Video of the Day - More movies from Netflix this past weekend. Including Bandidas which was harmless, but pleasing to the eyes! It has Penelope Cruz and Selma Hayek robbing banks in Old Mexico in order to help save the people and country from the US Banks. So basically take and perverted thoughts when you hear "Penelope Cruz and Selma Hayek" and then go rent the movie. There are a few cat fight scenes that make the movie well worth viewing!

Webpage of the Day - A squirrel jumping game. Should keep you occupied for 20 minutes trying to bounce closest to the target!

Finally Friday

This has been a very stressful week for me. One of the worst weeks I've had in a while. But I should be happy because gas prices are down ($2.08 in Rochester), stocks are up (especially tech stocks - Apple at $95... Should have bought at <$10 if I had any money in college), and the Dems have control of Congress!

National Break Up Day was yesterday.... not sure why the 11th but it was. I celebrated way early this year! And the hints that I read online were NOT followed by all parties involved in my recent dealings. By rumor, January is the most popular month to break up (not November) and the 2nd Thursday is the most popular day to break up (not Tuesday). For the record, Budweiser says the day is June 2nd.... and if Bud says it's true, it must be true!!!

Which brings me to my next complaint. What is the penalty when a really good friend in life fails to inform his good friends about a current situation involving him seeing a girl? And what is the extended penalty when this friend (who may or may not currently live in California... tough to say) fails to bring up in conversation FOR MANY MONTHS the fact that he has such a situation involving him seeing a girl? And is it even worse when this friend doesn't tell the truth when asked by a friend "what are you doing for Christmas/New Years" and simply replies "oh, just hanging out with friends". Should have said "one friend in particular". What a bum!

Prediction Day - I am auditioning as a Meteorologist! Here we go:

"Today is colder than yesterday. And tomorrow will be colder yet. It's cold in the morning before the sun comes up, warmer by noon, then colder once the sun goes down. For the rest of the week, it'll be colder than what you'd expect in June. Wear a coat. It might snow, because it's cold."

How'd I do? But back to the NFL action this weekend: Baltimore over Indy, New Orleans over Philly, San Diego over New England, and...... hmmmm..... Seattle over Chicago. I think the time off will be bad for Rex. See if my sports predictions are as good as my weather predictions!

Have a good weekend!

Song of the Day - CAUSE YOU HAD A BAD DAY!!! and no, hearing that song does not make my day any better.

Video of the Day - Converting a Basketball Court into a Hockey Rink... pretty impressive (and especially for my biggest fans in North Carolina!!)

Webpage of the Day - All 16 levels in 9 minutes.... there are no real hints other than "use logic". I had no help, you get no help either! Or email me/post comment and I'll see what I can do. Good luck!

Job Change??

Another fun day planned with management! I was reflecting this morning on the possibility of finding a different job with less responsibilities.... then it dawned on me - why not become a Meterologist? Seriously, think about it! Where else can you find a job that pays probably more than you realize, have hopefully a 50% success rate, and still keep your job! Not only that, but all you have to do is look up on weather.com or wunderground.com and then just report that. Make some pretty graphics (which I'm sure you could also steal from the web), use a fancy green screen effect to make it look like you're in the middle of the storm, and call yourself a "weather professional". We were told there was a good chance at snow on Monday evening... nothing. Then this morning they state the obvious - "It was a lot colder yesterday, and should feel like that again today". Brilliant!! Nevermind the fact that the snow "just missed us" (another common line found among the best of the metorologists in the world). If I do that in the real world (corporate America) and tell someone one thing and then it "just misses us".... I'm probably not going to be holding my job for long.

Last night while working from home, I was able to catch the Red Wings hockey game at Colorado. These two teams STILL hate each other even though Roy has been gone for years. The Red Wings look so different from even a couple of years ago but they still look good and should have no problems making the playoffs yet again. They did the standard overtime (4 on 4) and then came the shootout (which I haven't seen one live for a while now). On the last shot, Zetterburg makes the goalie commit left, then sneaks it in very slowly on the right side. What a great way to finish the game!

New Apple product announced yesterday.... iPhone. I know, a fun generic name. Next up will be iCar, iCouch, and then iButter for use in the virtual kitchen (plays songs till you melt it - then you're screwed!). But the iPhone looks pretty sweet! It combines a PDA, phone, camera, iPod, Swiss Army Knife, and Gatling Gun into one device! Basically a handheld computer! Check it out when you have time, lots of demos of the features from Apple. Comes in 4GB and 8GB models (like the iPod Nano) so it'll be flash memory inside. The only concern I have (and it's a big concern) is the "5 hour battery life".... hmmmm..... that is a big limitation. Hopefully by holding out another year or more can help improve that life to 8 hours or more. But considering an "extended" battery on a laptop is 4 hours or possibly a little more for the truly lucky... 5 hours is pretty good!

Which takes me back to my "ideal job"..... I want to be the guy that tries out and reviews consumer electronics for a living. They do exist - what kind of background do I need for this position? Anyone??? ANYONE???

Song of the Day - I finally added some new songs to my workout playlist for this morning. I was glad to hear some Soundgarden this morning. Fell on Black Days was one of the first songs I heard this morning which is a classic from the Grunge Period!

Video of the Day - So I'm a big fan of SuperTroopers (I call Shenanigans!!). The acting troup Broken Lizard is the 5 guys that were responsible for that movie, among many others (Beerfest most recently). I finally rented Puddle Cruiser this past weekend which was their very first movie. It is listed as a "Romance" which is a joke I think. Think of SuperTroopers meets OldSchool and that's what this movie is! Made me laugh multiple times and I'd suggest it to anyone! They're all about 22 or 23 in the movie which is funny in itself.

Webpage of the Day - Another reason why Fox News is the leader in trashy TV. Obviously reading the prompter is harder than it seems.

Not a National Holiday

I donated platelets yesterday morning - thus I had a late start to my busy day. Plus I am doing reviews this week of my department so the added stress makes out for a fun week this week. Sorry for the no-post... I was working postal hours where I just take a day off when I don't feel like working.

Happy Birthday to Hailey! She's now 2 years old which is hard to believe after seeing her so tiny when she was born.....

I was 4-0 with my NFL picks this past weekend... but I was picking OSU to win last night. I don't think anyone saw Florida winning by as much as they did though. I was happy to see the Big 10 get sloshed in their bowl games (most of them).

I'm really starting to like the Coors Light commercials where they dub in the crazy guys asking questions of the coaches. They finally used the famous "PLAYOFFS???" speech from Jim Mora which was well done. And the Ditka commercial was well done as well.... hopefully they have a couple of more tricks up their sleeves before the Super Bowl is over.

I watched the first episode of The Apprentice last night and I like it so far. Interesting how the losing team has to sleep in the tent outside the mansion while the winning team sleeps inside. I also think it's unusual the rule that the winning Project Manager stays in that role. Don't think it will give other people the chance to succeed (or fail) as much. Trying to imagine this rule back in the Randall days... he would have stayed there the whole time!! I did realize that I will never be TV pretty enough to be on that show.... I think every single person that is on there this season would categorize as "TV Pretty". I also wouldn't be able to survive on the show without my fan!!! I think it'll be a much better season than the International version they tried. Plus having the show in LA makes for some fun new challenges.

American Idol starts next week... will anyone be watching???

Song of the Day - I was discussing Les Miserables with a coworker yesterday, so of course now I have some of it going through my head... pick any song from Les Mis as your song of the day!

Video of the Day - Snakes on a Plane was exactly what you'd think a movie with Samuel L and a bunch of snakes that invade a plane ride would be about. It was pretty good, but if you hate snakes, you will hate this movie. After my hypnotherapy... I was able to watch the movie without being creeped out:) There are a lot of Computerized snakes which aren't as creepy looking, but there were plenty of real ones. Jackson is still a bad ass!

Webpage of the Day - Now THIS is a rollercoaster!!! Eejanaika has the usual bells and whistles of the latest roller coasters, but now it includes a free rotating seat that allows you to basically spin 360 degrees while you ride the ride! Pretty cool video (but long) showing how it will make anyone sick to ride on!

Friday Thoughts

Oh I'm sure we could do some quick NFL predictions for the weekend. I did win again last week for our football pool (thanks for letting me win Kahn).... should be collecting my winnings for the season soon!

Seattle over Dallas - TO GO HOme
Philly over Giants - not a big fan of NY and they look really scrambled lately
New England over Jets - never mess with Brady in the post season
and the interesting game.... After multiple discussions this week, I think I will take Indy over KC. Yes, this is different than what I would have said on Monday, but I think Indy is good for one win this post season. It'll be a high scoring game I'm sure.

Brews Brothers were pretty crappy last night and I was no help whatsoever. My work with Wii bowling did not help my real bowling skills at all. I did not bowl my weight in series which I know is a cardinal sin. So I just keep lowering my weight through time so I don't have to worry about improving my bowling skills. We did pull out 2 points somehow.

For those that are counting - 96 days till we leave for Mexico trip!!! Too early to countdown?


Song of the Day - I'm hoping to get in the whole Pink Floyd with the Wizard of Oz thing this weekend (pending on the availability of a certain Real Estate Guru in town). And maybe I've had too many interactions with "questionable" people this morning, but I'm humming the tune of "If I only had a brain".....

Video of the Day - I finally sat down and watched the Spongebob Movie or whatever it's called. Spongebob is pretty funny. Not sure it's the best for young kids, but it's enjoyable by adults none the less!

Webpage of the Day - Thanks to Wheels for today's offering.... for the nerdy and the non-nerdy alike! How to get more capacity on harddrives (in the style of an after school special).

It Is What It Is

So I think that might be the most overused statement of 2007 thus far. I think I hear it about 2.4 times a day so far and it's now being used in business context. You know like the "think outside of the box" or "synergy". That's my prediction is that you'll hear "it is what it is" more than you care for by the end of this year. It's not a bad phrase, but it's beginning to become a catch phrase for some people. Sure there are times where you can't help what happens, but most things that happen can be turned into opportunities if done with the right mindset! How's that for my management training?

There's a new woodworking "toy" that every man will want (I'm sure Boy will snag this very soon). It's a the CompuCarve from Sears. You use your computer to develop some patterns in what you want to carve into wood. Then you connect the CompuCarve up and it automagically carves up your design. So now you can customize just about anything you want. It's kind of spendy, but it's nothing for the true woodworking fans out there. Boy needs one so I can use it to carve a Cy emblem into my Bean Bag Toss.

LSU with a big win last night over Notre Dame. The Irish losing always makes me have a better day the next day!

First Snoop, now Busta is arrested! All this after Mike Tyson is getting "prosecuted towards a prison term". What is happening to our role models.... oh wait, nevermind. Some guy claims that Busta Rhymes (gimme so'mo') beat him up in a dispute over money. I know the guy is lying because if you've ever seen Busta - if he decides to beat you up... you're gonna die instead of living to tell about it. Just my opinion. Y'all had enough? (gimme so'mo'). I remember Busta for his acting skillz though:)

That's it for today - busy day ahead and I'm already behind on stuff. Hope y'all have a good day!

Song of the Day - I recorded Tommy by The Who over the weekend and was watching it last night. That is one messed up movie from 1975 with lots of stars. It's funny though how the music from the original Who version in the 70s is SO much different than the Broadway Soundtrack version. It's the same music, just one performed as if at a rock concert and one performed as if at a Broadway Rock Opera.

Video of the Day - I saw Thank You For Smoking this past weekend (Brian's honey Katie Holmes). What an interesting movie. Follows the story of a guy who is the main lobbyist for Big Tobacco. He is just doing his job, but he is hated by people everywhere since he works for Big Tobacco. Not at all what I was expecting, but very well done none the less! I recommend it to anyone with Netflix.

Webpage of the Day - A short documentary of the effects of drugs and alcohol on Spiders in their web building process. Amazing how they react so similarly to humans!!!

New Years Resolutions v2007

My New Years Resolutions for 2007 (some similar to last year but isn't that usually the case?)

1) Continue losing weight. I'm at my lowest weight in probably 2 years... need to continue the momentum and hopefully won't have to "lose" weight in 2008... just maintain the low weight;)

2) Practice my bass more (as I've been good at over the past 6 months). I have more free time lately so practicing should be easier now. I'm hoping to do more solo work in case I'm playing at any weddings this summer.

3) Be more active in my community volunteering. I have the forms now to volunteer at the Children's Hospital. Just need to work on getting updated on all of my shots and I should be good to go. I'd also like to become involved politically this year if Obama announces his decision to run for President!

4) Finish paying off student loans. An aggressive goal but I think I can get it done;) Good ol' ISU deciding I wasn't good enough to give money to but they gave Troy Davis a free ride... where is he now and does he have any ability to donate back to them? I doubt it. Their loss.

5) Read more (yet again). I'm currently in 3 different books which is part of my problem - but I'm staying up with it so far. I'm aiming for 1 book a month minimum. Again, more free time lately so that shouldn't be too hard of a problem.

6) Finish the work on my townhouse which includes painting, framing of stuff for the walls, some additional furniture for the bedrooms, and some wiring work on the lights in the kitchen.

7) Be more critical of our lame president who continues to show he's an idiot. This one's easy!

8) Continue trying to get Britney to call me now that she's single!

9) Start my MBA or at least be registered to start. I'm still hoping to start this fall but we shall see.

10) Attend more than just one Iowa State Football game this year!! I will have more tailgating toys this year so I definitely need to make it down there!

Have a great Wednesday!

Song of the Day - One of my New Years traditions recently is watching the Jan 1st performance by the Vienna Philharmonic on TV. Every year they perform a concert on New Years Day and it's broadcast live on the radio and on TV with a slight couple hour delay. This started while I was in Dublin a couple of years back and I was able to watch it live on TV while recovering. This year's concert was conducted by Zubin Meta and it usually is predominantly music from the Strauss family. They wrote a lot of waltzes and polkas so the music is light and often gets the Austrian crowd singing along in the audience. I'm sure there will be some repeat performances on PBS if anyone is interested in seeing this year's concert. Very fine tradition that I wouldn't mind looking into getting over there in person sometime to see!!!

Video of the Day - Another good movie that I saw recently was Crash. Sandra Bullock headlines the cast of many people you'll recognize but can't ever remember their names. It was really well done, but the movie centers around people and the constant racist thoughts/actions that culminate in a situation. Every situation comes back to being related to another situation in the movie which I liked - but it does bother me how many people continue to let race play the deciding factor in life. I know stuff like this continues to happen and it just saddens me.

Webpage of the Day - New USB device that probably could get you fired (for having, not for watching this video). Still - very creative and funny! Plus a good song being played!

Happy New Year 2007!!

I hope everyone had a safe and productive weekend enjoying the New Year! We finally received some snow (after about 2 days worth of rain) here in Rochester. Not a ton, but enough to give us a "White New Years" (someone change the song!).

With the New Year, come new resolutions... I'm working on mine today on my last vacation day for a while and will post them tomorrow. I went to the RAC yesterday morning when they opened at 10am. I thought - New Years Day + new snow... there won't be too many people working out till tomorrow.... WRONG! The place was packed with familiar faces, as well as new people working on THEIR new resolutions! It was encouraging to see and I'm reminded that January is always the busiest month at the RAC.

Movies to look forward to in 2007 - New Simpsons movie of course, SpiderMan 3, Wonderwoman, Sin City 2, The Bourne Ultimatum (of the Bourne Identity series), Evan Almighty (sequel to Bruce Almighty but with Steve Carell getting the focus), Oceans 13, Pirates of the Caribbean 3, Shreck 3, TMNT (that is no joke and it's Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles for the unknowledgable), and Transformers (YEAH!!!). For complete listing, go here.

Anyone else watch the entire Oklahoma/Boise State game in the SomethingSomething.com bowl last night? Wow - what a game! I also watched the Rose Bowl which was a good game for different reasons. But both games just set out to prove the need for a playoff system and not the current BCS crap. It's also scary to think that Michigan played their last game almost 2 months ago and then last night - Ohio State is the same. That's too much time off in my opinion. Some will say it's "so the student athletes can study for finals" - HA! There's no such thing as a student athlete in football anymore!

My bathroom is painted after a year and a half of complaining that I hated the color in there. This is the same bathroom that I retiled last year. So I'm just about finished with that room.... now on to the bedrooms in the next couple of months! I can reiterate that painting is by far not one of my favorite things to do.

Today is errand day and finish cleaning the house day! Sorry for all of you who have to return to work today (including most of the teachers out there)!

Song of the Day - American Idol starts in 2 weeks or so. I'm looking forward to a new season, but I'm wondering what the newest song to become famous by AI is going to be. Last year it was the annoying Bad Day that was way overplayed even before it hit the weekly playing on AI. Any suggestions for a better song?

Movie of the Day - Lots of movies over the break to pass along... Most of them I could categorize as "strange" - including today's movie. Little Miss Sunshine was a movie I had heard was really funny but I honestly knew nothing about what the movie plot. It's a strange movie but has a few moments that made me laugh. You laugh almost uneasily though as if you're not sure if that moment was meant to be funny or if you just took it differently. Either way, watch it if you like strange humor.... it's nothing like Ricky Bobby funny, but still has some chuckles.

Webpage of the Day - One of my more favorite writers over the years is Dave Barry. I should go back to reading him more on a weekly basis as he provides some humor on everyday situations. Today's WOTD is a list of 14 things he realized after 50+ years of living.