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!!!