I have everything just about ready to go. A few more things to finalize tonight, but the boxes are ready to be shipped today (no, I'm not taking a ton of stuff, just some essentials like the Wii, some books, new socks, vitamins, blah blah blah....). The realization is here though that I'm not just going on a 1-2 week business trip!
More important than me leaving though....
HAPPY BIRTHDAY MOM!!!!
Mom turns 30-ish today! She's enjoying the day down south with hopefully some better weather. "Winter Storm Warnings" here in Minnesota and Iowa:(
I was 3 for 4 in predicting the Final 4. I had Texas beating Memphis which of course was not even close:( And as long as Kansas beats UCLA in the final game next weekend, I'll win my tournaments that I've entered. There's still a chance!
Other TV things - Chikezie was sent home on AI. Interesting, but probably not way off target. Have to be strong every week (unless your name starts with "R" and rhymes with Ramiele). May have to recruit Sarah to do my weekly American Idol rankings for my blog when I get to Taiwan....
And Celebrity Apprentice is complete. After a commercial filled finale (about 40 minutes of the 2 hour finale was spent in commercials by my count), Peirs was announced as this year's winner. And rightfully so! I don't care that he's not "popular", but he did play the Apprentice game the way it's supposed to be played! I didn't like the US vs. Britain spin that they pushed it into, but the Finale was enjoyable with all the celebrity appearances (and lots of money being donated).
As for things left to pack - I'm in the process of updating my iPod to make sure I have 13.5 hours worth of entertainment for my flight. I have some books and headphones which is all I care about at this point.
Anyways - wanted to get a shout out today on my last day in Rochester!
Monday, March 31, 2008
Wednesday, March 26, 2008
American Idol Day
So these American Idol reviews might be ending before the season is over with.... haven't figured out how I'm going to watch American Idol while in Taiwan:( Where there's a will - there's bound to be a way!
Was there a theme this week? "Songs that aren't on my iPod?" Remember that contestants end up in the bottom 3 if they sing Sting, The Police, Journey, Foreigner.... any of the sucky groups!
A-List
David Cook - Um... that was pretty kick ass. In a league of his own right now - was that a version previously released by some other band? But pulling out the MJ is worth a vote all by itself.
B-List
Syesha - I've thought she was good for a while and now that she's healthy.... LOOK OUT!!
Michael Johns - Well... it was honestly pretty good except for the fact that his range didn't control the song. Could feel it coming and sho'nuff, was a little flat on the last part but couldn't sing any higher.
C-List
David Archuleta - Despite singing the dumbest song of the night.... he's got a lot of fans voting for him. Not sure his voice would sell a lot of records though. I kind of agreed with Simon's comment "reminds me of a theme park".
Jason Castro - I hate the song, but thought his playing was ok. Nothing great, but not worth going home over.
Brooke White - oops, find the note BEFORE you play the first note. The piano part was honestly pretty crappy. I don't think she's very comfortable on stage so hides behind the piano...
Kristy Lee Cook - picked a sentimental song and was smart in doing so. Only thing missing is the Jet Flyby during the chorus.
Boring List
Carley Simon - if you're gonna sing Total Eclipz of the Heart at least sing the Old School version (rated R for "Really Good"!)
Chikezie - it was ok, he's trying to do the Ruben R&B sound, but isn't pulling it off very well. It was still better than the country Chikezie...
Ramiele - it was better than last week, but still pretty poor. She seems to be a "crowd favorite" though so is probably safer than I would hope for.
Carley might actually in trouble.... who knows at this point. The backup singers were pretty crappy though in my opinion last night. Vote them off! OHHHH - "songs from the year you were born" was the theme. So 1977 for me - I'd have sung I'm Your Boogie Man (KC and The Sunshine Band) or Sir Duke (Steview Wonder), maybe even Margaritaville (Buffet, not the rich one).
Thanks to all for a fun Happy Hour on Monday. Thanks to Jen for the organization efforts and the great cake!
Was there a theme this week? "Songs that aren't on my iPod?" Remember that contestants end up in the bottom 3 if they sing Sting, The Police, Journey, Foreigner.... any of the sucky groups!
A-List
David Cook - Um... that was pretty kick ass. In a league of his own right now - was that a version previously released by some other band? But pulling out the MJ is worth a vote all by itself.
B-List
Syesha - I've thought she was good for a while and now that she's healthy.... LOOK OUT!!
Michael Johns - Well... it was honestly pretty good except for the fact that his range didn't control the song. Could feel it coming and sho'nuff, was a little flat on the last part but couldn't sing any higher.
C-List
David Archuleta - Despite singing the dumbest song of the night.... he's got a lot of fans voting for him. Not sure his voice would sell a lot of records though. I kind of agreed with Simon's comment "reminds me of a theme park".
Jason Castro - I hate the song, but thought his playing was ok. Nothing great, but not worth going home over.
Brooke White - oops, find the note BEFORE you play the first note. The piano part was honestly pretty crappy. I don't think she's very comfortable on stage so hides behind the piano...
Kristy Lee Cook - picked a sentimental song and was smart in doing so. Only thing missing is the Jet Flyby during the chorus.
Boring List
Carley Simon - if you're gonna sing Total Eclipz of the Heart at least sing the Old School version (rated R for "Really Good"!)
Chikezie - it was ok, he's trying to do the Ruben R&B sound, but isn't pulling it off very well. It was still better than the country Chikezie...
Ramiele - it was better than last week, but still pretty poor. She seems to be a "crowd favorite" though so is probably safer than I would hope for.
Carley might actually in trouble.... who knows at this point. The backup singers were pretty crappy though in my opinion last night. Vote them off! OHHHH - "songs from the year you were born" was the theme. So 1977 for me - I'd have sung I'm Your Boogie Man (KC and The Sunshine Band) or Sir Duke (Steview Wonder), maybe even Margaritaville (Buffet, not the rich one).
Thanks to all for a fun Happy Hour on Monday. Thanks to Jen for the organization efforts and the great cake!
Monday, March 24, 2008
Post Easter Fun
And another Easter has come and passed... Hopefully the Easter Bunny was nice to everyone!
Easter in Iowa was a good time. Sarah was able to join us, as was Grams. I think I have Grams's approval with the "new" girlfriend;) We dyed some eggs (a lot more colors available than when I was 8 years old) and even had a visit by the Easter Bunny!
Taiwan Travel Update: Now planning on flying across the pond on April 3rd. I have the big details figured out - now have a better Taiwan map which shows me my hotel (and other things to see in Taipei). I still need to figure out how to get to the IBM facility but I have 2 weeks to figure that out! But basically I'm back to a 10 day agenda for Rochester.
Speaking of flying - here's a cool webpage to help you decide where to book your seat on a plane: Seat Guru is a service that allows you to look up the plane by airline (even some flight numbers) and then gives comments on the different seating options on a plane. It's nice for international flights when one is trying to find a DC outlet, or if one wants to avoid the smelly bathrooms on an international 14 hour flight!! Bookmark it and use it whenever!
An interesting first weekend of the NCAA tournament. I'm in either 1st or 2nd in my 3 pools at this point with some good confidence going:) I picked Kansas to win it all, and I'm sticking with it! I'm a little disappointed in the poor showing by Drake (the only Iowa representative this year), but I'm also wondering if that is what having almost 2 weeks off does to a team?? I'm sure you could over analyze it, but I do think that having the conference tournament early like Missouri Valley Conference does.... I have 24 of the first 32 teams picked correctly, and 11 of the Sweet 16 picked correctly. 6 of my 8 still left and all 4 of my final 4 left! Not too bad this year.
Caught up on Celebrity Apprentice (although there wasn't much to this past week's episode). The final two are Trace Adkins and Piers Morgan - two different styles but both worthy of winning this thing. My money is still on Piers (as it has been ever since Gene Simmons was told to go home). I did think that the manner in which they used to dismiss Carol and Lennox was pretty dumb. Bringing in Jim Cramer is always bad for ratings in my opinion.
And finally - for the Rochester folks.... big happy hour tonight (friendly reminder)! Let me know if you need the details! Thanks again to Jen for setting it all up:)
Haiku of the Day
How's your Mandarin?
Learning by CD is hard!
Visual Learner:(
Entertainment of the Day - So with the change in itinerary, I also had a seat change on my 13 hour flight - to one that does NOT have an electrical connection:( So I'm trying to figure out what music to bring on the iPod to make the trip go by faster! I'm also going to search for "things to do" at Barnes and Noble this week. I have my Rubik's cube ready for the trip so that should entertain me for a while.
Weblink of the Day - Celebrate Easter with Strong Bad!!
Easter in Iowa was a good time. Sarah was able to join us, as was Grams. I think I have Grams's approval with the "new" girlfriend;) We dyed some eggs (a lot more colors available than when I was 8 years old) and even had a visit by the Easter Bunny!
Taiwan Travel Update: Now planning on flying across the pond on April 3rd. I have the big details figured out - now have a better Taiwan map which shows me my hotel (and other things to see in Taipei). I still need to figure out how to get to the IBM facility but I have 2 weeks to figure that out! But basically I'm back to a 10 day agenda for Rochester.
Speaking of flying - here's a cool webpage to help you decide where to book your seat on a plane: Seat Guru is a service that allows you to look up the plane by airline (even some flight numbers) and then gives comments on the different seating options on a plane. It's nice for international flights when one is trying to find a DC outlet, or if one wants to avoid the smelly bathrooms on an international 14 hour flight!! Bookmark it and use it whenever!
An interesting first weekend of the NCAA tournament. I'm in either 1st or 2nd in my 3 pools at this point with some good confidence going:) I picked Kansas to win it all, and I'm sticking with it! I'm a little disappointed in the poor showing by Drake (the only Iowa representative this year), but I'm also wondering if that is what having almost 2 weeks off does to a team?? I'm sure you could over analyze it, but I do think that having the conference tournament early like Missouri Valley Conference does.... I have 24 of the first 32 teams picked correctly, and 11 of the Sweet 16 picked correctly. 6 of my 8 still left and all 4 of my final 4 left! Not too bad this year.
Caught up on Celebrity Apprentice (although there wasn't much to this past week's episode). The final two are Trace Adkins and Piers Morgan - two different styles but both worthy of winning this thing. My money is still on Piers (as it has been ever since Gene Simmons was told to go home). I did think that the manner in which they used to dismiss Carol and Lennox was pretty dumb. Bringing in Jim Cramer is always bad for ratings in my opinion.
And finally - for the Rochester folks.... big happy hour tonight (friendly reminder)! Let me know if you need the details! Thanks again to Jen for setting it all up:)
Haiku of the Day
How's your Mandarin?
Learning by CD is hard!
Visual Learner:(
Entertainment of the Day - So with the change in itinerary, I also had a seat change on my 13 hour flight - to one that does NOT have an electrical connection:( So I'm trying to figure out what music to bring on the iPod to make the trip go by faster! I'm also going to search for "things to do" at Barnes and Noble this week. I have my Rubik's cube ready for the trip so that should entertain me for a while.
Weblink of the Day - Celebrate Easter with Strong Bad!!
Subscribe to:
Comments (Atom)
