In God's Country

Something To Believe In - Beware of Christians

2011-01-09T20:43:00.008-06:00

Some buddies of mine, who were campers and in the wife's youth group in Dallas went around the world a couple of years ago and made this movie, "Beware of Christians." It is a fantastic movie about college guys, their relationship with Christ, how/why we fail in our walk with the Lord, and how we get be better at following. Anyways, they are now trying to get the movie out so people can see it. By out, I mean, they want to travel around to college campuses, show the movie and sell it for a "name-your-own-price" amount (at least that's what I got from the video above). Anyways, they need help. So, if you have a buck or two to spare, send it their way. It'll be money well spent., I promise.
Here's the link in case the video above loads weird. www.kck.st/dPBB2G

Baseball

2010-11-08T20:00:00.001-06:00

How long until Spring Training?

Hot Chocolate Cookies

2010-10-09T23:13:00.004-05:00

I made these today!
Hot Chocolate Cookies

Ingredients:

Servings Size

Update

1 cup butter
1 cup sugar
1 cup brown sugar
2 eggs
2 cups flour
1 cup cocoa powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup chocolate chips

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350°F.
Cream butter and both sugars until fluffy.
Add eggs and blend well.
Add cayenne, cocoa, baking soda and salt and blend very well. It's important to blend this stage completely so that heat is evenly distributed.
Add flour and blend.
Fold in chips.
Refrigerate for one hour.
Drop teaspoonfuls onto lightly greased cookie sheet.
Bake 10-12 minutes.

We didn't have any cocoa so I used hot cocoa packets. I also added about a 1/2 cup more chocolate chips. Jury says, delicious!

Addicted

2010-10-09T12:18:00.003-05:00

I'm addicted to this show, "Mexico--One Plate At A Time." www.rickbayless.com/tv I seriously watch this every week. The wife laughs at me.
Rick Bayless is the host and it comes on at noon, CTS on PBS.
On his website he has all kinds of recipes for Mexican foods.
He also owns two restaurants in Chicago, Frontera Grill and Topolobampo.
I'm hungry....

The BBRT Game 3

2010-07-28T20:39:00.024-05:00

Sorry for the delay in getting to Game 3.
The BBRT takes considerable amount of planning. The Major League Baseball schedule is released in early February and the IV and I start looking through the schedules then. For the trip, it is tough to make all the games link up, where you can go from city-to-city-to-city without having to take a day off. The toughest part of this year's schedule was Chicago. We knew that we wanted to do both Chicago teams, but what we didn't know, until we started planning, was that the White Sox and Cubs never both have home games on the same day. One of the two is always out of town, and the other is at home.
When the BBRT '10 was originally planned the order of games was this: Philadelphia, New York, Toronto, Chicago for two games, and Kansas City. We found a time when the White Sox ended a home stand, the Cubs began one on the next day, and it fit with everything else we wanted to do. So that schedule was the plan until about a month before the trip.
The G20 Summit was scheduled to meet in Toronto the same weekend we were planning on being there to see the Blue Jays. About a month before the trip, Major League Baseball decided, because of "security issues," that it would be best to move the Toronto games to Philadelphia for that weekend. Well, that threw a kink in our plans since Toronto was our stop on the way to Chicago and we had a very specific date to be in Chicago. Once they made that announcement, we had to hustle around to figure out what we were going to do on our now "free" day.
Going from NYC to Chicago there are only a two teams along the way that we hadn't seen yet; Toronto and Detroit. The Toronto game was moved, and Detroit was on the road. So the option we were left was to drive to Chicago and make a trip to either Milwaukee or Minnesota on our now "free day." Luckily, Milwaukee was at home so we changed our plans to drive overnight from NYC to Chicago stay in Chicago 2 nights and drive to Milwaukee for a day to see the Brewers (Milwaukee is only 2 hours from Chicago; didn't know that before this trip either).
Game 3 was in Chicago at 7pm; we were still in NYC at 1am. It's roughly a 12 hour drive from NYC to Chicago. After the Mets game (Game 2) we went to our buddy's house to shower and freshen up before we hit the road again (on this trip our personal hygiene was much greater than on our previous trips). I don't remember much about the overnight drive... We were planning on doing alternating 3 hour shifts, but I don't think we stuck to that. I do know that from NYC to the western border of Pennsylvania it's 6 hours, and toll roads the whole way. I think the IV drove for 4 hours, then I drove for 3, and he finished the rest of the way. Once we made it to Chicago we drove all the way up to our hotel which was way up by the airport. Right off the bat we were stuck in traffic and that made the IV dislike Chicago from the beginning. We dropped our stuff at the hotel and jumped on the train to go down to the game. (If you ever go to Chicago, try not to stay by the airport. It takes forever to get any where from up there.)

Willis Tower (Sears Tower), Chicago

The White Sox play on the south side of Chicago in US Cellular Field. The stadium opened in 1991. The train ride down was pleasant, and not overly crowded. (The Chicago trains are infinitely better than NYC trains.) Once we got to the stadium grounds, it was like a college football game-day atmosphere! There were a ton of people tailgating, playing corn hole, grilling out, even a few RVs were there. We milled around a bit and tried to sale a ticket for the next day's game, but couldn't. Then we realized that the Chevy booth was giving out free t-shirts to do a survey about their cars. After we got our shirt we saw that if we went with a sales person and let them talk about cars we'd get a free $5 coupon for stadium food. With coupon in hand we started to the stadium. Before we even got to the stadium entrance we were directed, based on ticket location, to go up stairs. We got up to our section in the upper deck and realized that we were trapped and not allowed to walk around the main concourse area. And that makes this stadium the worst stadium of all time. Had we been there early enough, we wouldn't of even been able to watch batting practice from the outfield. There were ushers at every entrance and exit to make sure you stayed in your designated area. That was the most ridiculous thing about the stadium. I have never seen a stadium do this, and I hope to never see another stadium with those restrictions.

All the areas we couldn't go because we weren't privileged enough

I do not like US Cellular Field. Once we got settled into our seats we began to notice how awful the fans of the White Sox were. Lots of yelling, a good deal of foul language, lots of alcohol being consumed, and there was a fight where they hauled out a guy and a girl. Maybe this is why baseball is "dying." Parents don't take their kids to (as many) games because of the crowds the kids are exposed to. Otherwise, it was a great game. The White Sox won on a Paul Konerko home run in the bottom of the 8th. And Ozzie Guillen got ejected (our second manager ejection on the trip.) Also, the Cubs are terrible.

After the game we did sneak down to the main concourse level. Not too much there. A couple of statutes but that's about it. No statutes of Shoeless Joe Jackson, there is one of Carlton Fisk but we didn't see it as the ushers where trying to kick us out.

Harold Baines (notice all the beer bottles)

What was good about this park, Chicago Dog hot dogs. So, so good. This is where we spent our $5 coupon. Hot dog in poppy seed bun, onions, tomatoes, neon green sweet relish, celery salt and a pickle. So good! According to my book of best ballpark food, we were supposed to buy Hot Italian Sausage's here, but I was happy with what we purchased. Also we got free sodas for being designated drivers.
The other good thing about this park, the view when you leave the stadium. (And no, I'm not saying that anything would be a good sight upon leaving this terrible stadium). But the view is of the Chicago skyline all lit up. This photo doesn't really do it justice (esp. with those two ugly guys in front), but you can hopefully get the idea.

Stadium rankings on this trip: 1. Mets, 2. Phillies, 6. White Sox

The BBRT Game 2

2010-07-24T21:11:00.010-05:00

We ate our cheese steaks and left for NYC. Spent the night with some buddies and got up the next morning with the day to kill until the Mets game that night. First, we went to breakfast and our buddy talked us into getting the 'Lumberjack.' I ate more meat in that meal than the wife has had in past 5 years. Next, we spent some time in the coffee shop so I could do some homework and make a couple of posts for my online class. With that taken care of, we walked to Central Park and had a catch, contemplated trying to join one of the softball games that were starting up, and saw a huge line to see Al Pacino in Shakespeare in the Park. Then we walked to Times Square. I bought some fruit from a street vendor along the way (satisfied the wife's request that I eat fruit and my requirement that all food be stadium food or from a street vendor), and we had pizza in Times Square from Famous Original Ray's Pizza. Then we took the subway to Queens and Citi Field. In case you are wondering, Queens isn't the greatest of areas. Unlike the Phillies game the day before, we did this one right and got to the stadium a couple hours early for this game.

Citi Field is kinda designed to look like Ebbets Field which is, of course, where the Brooklyn Dodgers played. They are pretty close with their arched windows and brick.

The Mets took their colors, blue and orange, from the Dodgers and Giants after they both left for California. In the stadium there is a lot of memorabilia for the Dodgers; there is a entire rotunda just inside the stadium dedicated to Jackie Robinson.
There is also a Mets Hall of Fame which is pretty neat. Saw a guy almost get kicked out for trying to touch the original Mr. Met head. There was a lot of Keith Hernandez stuff. I never realized he was that big of a star with the Mets. In the Hall of Fame both of the Mets World Series trophies were on display. This is the one from the '86 Series, when Strawberry and Gooden played.
Once inside we watched some batting practice, the IV caught a ball. We walked around the concourse for a bit and found the 'Designated Driver' booth. This is where they give you a voucher for a free soda if you volunteer to be a designated driver for your group. No problem for us since we took the subway, and weren't drinking anyways. Got a free, cheap-o backpack at the Verizon store and met Mr. Met (possibly in the kids area).
Found our seats after that, and we were on the very top row. The worst part about these seats were the planes taking off from LaGuardia every 10 minutes. When they were overhead it was almost impossible to hear. It was a good, close game with a couple of home runs, a save, and the Mets winning 5-2.
This is a good, new stadium. I really like the Hall of Fame and Jackie Robinson rotunda. I like that they kept the Apple that pops out in centerfield when a HR is hit. And from our seats we could see the City's skyline off in the distance, very cool. It didn't show up in photos, but it was cool. I started noticing that the fans were a little harsher here, more foul language being used, more near fights. But the best was this, I went to the concession stand (to redeem my free soda) and on the menu it had the calorie values for all the foods and beverages. This is almost the dumbest thing I've ever seen.

Overall, I enjoyed this stadium alot, better than the old Yankee Stadium, and better than Phillies Stadium. Ranking on this trip: 1. Mets 2. Phillies

The BBRT Game 1

2010-07-23T22:24:00.017-05:00

Just like the Founding Father's who by signing the Declaration of Independence started a new country in this great city, we commenced this years trip in Philadelphia. First off, when leaving from OKC, good luck getting to Philadelphia or any other east coast city before noon. My plane landed at 12:05, the game started at 1:05. Luckily the airport is only about 4 miles from the stadium. Unlucky for us we didn't make it in time for the first pitch. And we saw this guy.

The Phillies stadium is called Citizens Bank Park (all of Philadelphia's stadiums are sponsored by different banks). I like this stadium, it's pretty new, opened in 2004. The whole thing, including the field is a near perfect symmetrical octagon. Here's what it looks like via Google maps.

It was nearly full on a Thursday day game. The Phillies have had a lot of success in recent years so their fans are pretty jazzed up. Except for this lady:

The game moved along pretty nicely. The Phillies had two 5-run innings, and the Indians had some poor defense. Phillies manager Charlie Manual got ejected for arguing a dumb play at first, bringing us our first time to see a manager get tossed. We booed along with the home fans after he left the field. About the sixth inning we begin to notice a change in the wind, it starts to get a little chilly, and there are huge, dark clouds to the west of us. We make it to the top of the eighth with 2 outs, and then the rain starts. Not a sprinkle; not a small rain that ramped up to downpour; it was a monsoon from the moment it started.

When we were standing around some of the people were saying, "oh my, that HAD to of been a tornado!" The IV and I just laughed. Make no mistake, we were soaked. Completely and fully. From head to toe (yes, I snagged a clean trash bag).

I was sure they were going to call the game, it was 12-2 at the time with only an inning and a third to go. But they didn't, we waited an hour and 37 minutes and then they finished the last 7 outs of the game.

One good thing about this being a day game was that we got to get cheese steaks afterward. We went to Geno's and Pat's to see which was better. (They say these places are always packed, but I wouldn't go there when it's dark unless you could park right at the shops.) I went to Geno's, and the IV went to Pat's then we each ate half of each and compared.

Here's my take.
Pat's had better bread and gave more meat. Geno's had more flavor. Geno's had better fries (Pat's are near steak fries, and I'm not a huge fan of that). Geno's was cheaper. Geno's had the better atmosphere. In my opinion Geno's wins!

The Rangers and The BBRT 2010

2010-07-22T21:55:00.004-05:00

Ron Washington is learning. I know Cliff Lee is awesome and by the ninth inning his pitch count is only around 100 pitches. But when you have a closer who throws it 100+ mph and has been pretty lights out this season, as the Rangers do, there is no reason to make Cliff Lee trot out for the 9th inning in 95+ degree heat. Let the closer do his job and close out the game. Cliff might need some of that energy for the playoffs. I say this is why Cliff only has one win as a Ranger: July 17, Rangers at Boston, Rangers are up 1 going into the bottom of the 9th. Ron Washington leaves Cliff in to pitch the 9th and the Red Sox score to tie it, then go on to win in the 11th. Cliff should of been pulled and Neftali Feliz allowed to pitch the 9th. (yes, I know Cliff finished 9 innings with only 95 pitches thrown. And, yes, I know he was one out away from winning the game. But he didn't. Let the guy who has been sitting around all game take a shot at it. He's had pretty good success.)

Are the Rangers going to make a trade for a productive first baseman? Sure, Chris Davis is good in the field (although right-handed) but he's hitting .197. Can you win with sacrificing a position like that? Especially a traditionally power-hitting position? I think the Rangers need to either trade for a first baseman, or have Salty start playing first in the minors. They have Benji Molina who can hold down the catching duties so there is no need to rush Salty into playing there, but they sure could use his bat at first. I think the Redhawks should be working him at first every day. Maybe that will snap him out of the yips too.

I'm all for Mark Cuban buying the Rangers, as long as he keeps Nolan Ryan as President. I'm also for Nolan's group buying.

The Baseball Road Trip 2010 (BBRT 10) is over for this year. It started on June 24 and ended June 29. 6 games in 6 days. Phillies, Mets, White Sox, Brewers, Cubs, Royals.

The thing that makes baseball stadiums cooler than other sport stadiums is that they are all different. Sure, you can say other sport stadiums may be somewhat different from each other in amenities, what is around the stadium, game-day presentation, etc, but the differences of baseball stadiums change the actual game being played. Foremost, the outfield dimensions and wall; no two outfields are alike. You have the Monster in Fenway, the hill and flag pole in center field in Houston, incredibly close RF at Yankee, and weird gaps and alleys and jet-outs in every other stadium. Next, you have to look at foul territory. Can you get a few easy outs per game because there is a lot of space? Or does every little tip end up as a souvenir? In football you have a field, 100 yards long, 50-whatever yards wide; same in every stadium. Basketball court, 94 feet long, same in every stadium. Bottom line: baseball stadiums are better.

Best stadium on BBRT 10: I really like Kauffman in KC, and I like Wrigley (of course), so I don't know. Both of those 2 are really good. Worst stadium: US Cellular Field, White Sox. That place is a dump and is the worst stadium I've ever watched a game, more to come on that place. Hate it.

Stats:
Miles: 1,937
Rain Delays: 1
Managers Ejected: 2
BP Balls Caught: 2
Best Food: Chicago Dogs

Will be back tomorrow with the first stadium.

The KD

2010-07-16T12:17:00.003-05:00

Hi everyone (one month later)...
Yes, a lot has happened, Baseball Roadtrip 2010, Bron-Bron making 31/32 fans in the NBA hate him, and Kevin Durant resigning with the Thunder!!!

Why KD is awesome:
Didn't have a 1 hour special on ESPN to say coming back to the Thunder

Posted this:
Now everybody wanna play for the heat and the Lakers? Let's go back to being competitive and going at these peoples!

and this on his Twitter http://twitter.com/KDthunderup:
Jus lef my motha crib.we had a gr8 talk.I love her so much.and I love her even mo cuz she had dat mean batch of red kool aid waitin 4 me lol

The Magic isn't going to resign Matt Barnes. Would that be pickup for the Celtics? I know Barnes and Kobe hate each other.

The Fat Lady Can Sit Back Down

2010-06-11T11:05:00.005-05:00

I watched last nights game with laptop and text book open in front of me while doing homework on the kitchen table (and yes, I actually did finish the homework). I kept the TV muted so I didn't get to hear all the "expert" opinions of the broadcasting crew; pretty sure I enjoyed the game more this way.
Sidenote: Why doesn't this exist: Where the play-by-play announcers are blatantly rooting for one team? They could call out the refs, complain openly about missed calls, bad shots, fishy looking plays, say the players on the other team are on steroids, just generally talk trash about the other team. When things are going well, the announcers would talk down to the other teams and talk about how superior their team is. When things are going bad, it would obviously be because of bad calls, etc. I would definitely watch this. It would be like watching a game with your buddies. Wait, have I asked about this before? I think I might of. Somebody needs to make it happen.

Biggest thing from last night, Glen Davis makes me laugh alot. 1. He looks too big to play basketball (although, he's 4 inches shorter and 35 lbs lighter than Shaq). The wife glanced at the TV during the game and said "good grief how big is that guy, how can he make it up the court?" 2. He does ridiculous things after he makes a shot. I need a reel of all the weird stuff he does 3. He looks really, really goofy.

Second biggest thing from last night, how hurt is Andrew Bynum? He has 2 days rest before Game Five, so that's good for him. But only one day and a long flight between Games 5 & 6 and 6 & 7. It will interesting to see how his knees respond. Is the Lakers season in direct correlation to Bynum's knees?

Boston has yet to have 2 of the Big Three (Pierce, Allen, Garnett) play well on the same night, and only once has Rondo and one of the Big Three played well on the same night (Game 2). I'd say that's good and bad. Good, because tied 2-2 and the best players haven't played their best. But bad because the best players haven't played well.

Interesting stats from Game Four: No Boston player had a negative +/- for the night. Kobe, Gasol, Artest and Odom had 39+ minutes each. Ray Allen and Pierce are the only Celtics with 36+ (a game is only 48 minutes long). Fouls were basically even LA 23, Bos 21. Kobe, Odom and 'Sheed had 5.

For Game Five, considering home court, momentum from Game Four win, and Bynum's gimpy knees, I say advantage Boston.

Here's one thing we can all get behind, how about that USC punishment by the NCAA? Now there is something we can all cheer about (except Grandma).

The Third Game

2010-06-08T23:00:00.002-05:00

I think the Celtics are drawing straws before each game to see whose night it is to play well.
Game One: they obviously left the straws in Boston
Game Two: Ray Allen's game, with help from Rondo
Game Three: Garnett's game
It's too bad that one person playing well won't win the game for you...

So here are my thoughts thus far on the series:
Game One Boston played terrible (like the way Charles Barkley says terrible in the Taco Bell commercial)... they didn't even show up, had no energy. I figured they'd lose the first game anyways, so if they had to have one complete stinker of a game, Game One was the time to do it.

In Game Two Rondo actually played like he played all playoffs long, pushed the ball, rebounded hard, played defense. Of course Ray Allen was on fire and that didn't hurt. Interesting stat, when Rondo has 10+ assists the Celtics are 8-1 in the playoffs, he had 10 in Game Two. He had 8 in both of the other games.

Game Three, both teams played hard, Boston got down huge early but was able to fight back. Garnett showed up in a huge way, Allen made as many buckets as a dead man, Pierce had Luke Walton guarding him early and often and wouldn't/couldn't shoot/score. Doc Rivers played his "there is no one on the floor who can score" lineup a little too much. I'm glad Fisher had his one game and can go back to stinking now, here's his line: FG 6/12 3s 0/3 FT 4/4 Reb 3 Ast 1 Stl 0 Blk 0 TO 2 Fouls 5 Sure, he make some big shots in the fourth quarter, but let's not get carried away here. This was not a great game by him. Of course without him in the 4th Boston is up 2-1 now. So call it what you want, but statistically it wasn't that good of a game. While I'm up here, I don't get Lamar Odom and the fascination with him... All I ever read is that he is the "best skilled player in the league" "can play every position better than most play one" "has vision that can see the future"... But c'mon, he is averaging 7 pts, less than 5 boards, and 1 assist in the Finals. I really don't get it. Interesting stat, Boston had 27 fouls, Lakers 20 (Kobe, Gasol, and Bynum 2 each).

Going into the Finals here were my thoughts (and sorry for not posting these sooner):
I still like Eddie House more than Nate Robinson. I'm not going to say I like Leon Powe more than Sheed, but you could talk me into it. I like Big Baby more than P.J. Brown. I like Ron Artest shooting (thought it was funny when Phil Jackson told Artest that last year the Lakers defended him by leaving him open). I thought I liked the match-up "problems" Rondo was going to be, who does Kobe and Fisher guard, etc. But Fisher holds more than the Denver Bronco's so that nullified that. Figured Garnett and Gasol would be an even matchup; tonight advantage Garnett, we'll see how Gasol responds; he'll either play like Game One or fold like a lawn chair. I thought the big boys Perkins and Bynum would just push and foul each around every game; that's pretty much the way it's been. Two years ago the defense on Kobe was this, when he does his little pump fake, don't jump. And that defense worked so well. The Allen(s) aren't doing it as well this year. Tony's getting better at it and Ray is still good at it; but he's not been playing D very well.

What's with the 2-3-2 format? I can't figure out who has a bigger advantage, or why they change formats from the Playoffs to the Finals. If the Lakers had to play 3 straight games in OKC in round one they might not be in the Finals, just saying.

Why was there a 2 day break between Game 1 & 2 when both games were in LA, but when they move to Boston there was 1 off day?

Here's the thing, I think Boston is going back to LA with a 3-2 lead. I thought they'd win tonight, lose 4 and win 5, but looks like that was off.

Anyone have a Strasburg rookie card they want to give me?

Oh yeah, Kobe kicked Tony Allen in the throat...

The Score Theory Wins

2010-05-25T20:27:00.003-05:00

Last night, the Celtics came close to beating the Score Theory. They were down 5 with 2 minutes to play. The fourth quarter ended in a tie, but the Celtics had the ball for what should of been the final shot... turns out they flubbed away the final possession, didn't get a shot off and didn't win. Two Paul Pierce bricks in final 30 seconds of OT and the Score Theory stands again.

Why are the Montreal Canadiens called the Habs?

The Other Team Won

2010-05-24T22:43:00.002-05:00

I guess it was a little early to start writing my Celtics v. Lakers post

The Old Days

2010-05-17T21:45:00.003-05:00

Anyone watching the NBA Playoffs knows that LeBron had a hurt elbow, Kobe has a broken finger, and other guys have other miscellaneous injuries. What I haven't seen is opponents just smacking these guys on their injuries, and that is a bit disappointing. Kobe's injury is on his shooting hand, how easy would that be to whack that every time he takes a shot (would have plllllenty of chances per game). LeBron's injury on his elbow was a little harder, but a chop across the arms as he goes for a layup, or just holding the elbow instead of his jersey on defense. I'm not saying permanently injury someone, but make them think about it. Mess up their tape or their shooting sleeve. Make them get an extra cortisone shot at halftime. Just get inside their head a little bit. But no one is doing this, what's the deal? Bruce Bowen, Dennis Rodman, Charles Barkley, Karl Malone, Bill Laimbeer, Jordan, they all would do it... Heck, Kobe would too and for sure Ron Artest would. I was hoping Kevin Garnett and Rasheed Wallace would put the smack down on LeBron, but they didn't do too much (were probably too slow to catch him). So what's the deal, where are the hard and purpose fouls? And don't tell me about sportsmanship!

Sidenote: I read this the other day. The author had a theory about how players becoming friendly with each other and how that is affecting the "lack of hard fouls" in the game. Players from different teams hang out together in the summer, they workout at the same gyms, they play pickup games together, and they become friends. It's a lot harder to smack a friend on his broken finger then it is to smack someone you don't like on theirs.

Or maybe I'm just a jerk...

The Storms & TV

2010-05-12T21:47:00.003-05:00

The wife got to experience a great Oklahoma phenomenon last night. During The Biggest Loser the weather men kept cutting in, leading to much yelling at the TV. I don't mind the cut-ins too much when the storms are kinda close, but when the storm is 3+ hours away, it's really frustrating. I think anytime you really want to watch something, there is a storm and you miss half of your show. Dad has about a million VHS tapes of things he's taped off TV over the years, and every single one of them has weather cut-ins.

The Painting

2010-05-01T11:09:00.007-05:00

A couple of weeks ago someone in this household got the idea that we needed to repaint our laundry room. The off-white/yellowish/beige color wasn't cutting it anymore. I think this might of been because of that Laundry Room sign you can see hanging up (left of the calendar). A couple years ago the wife really wanted to buy some signs to label (all) the rooms of the house, and I told her that was pointless because people know what room they are in without the signs. Anyways, my mother bought her this sign at some artsy thing she went to. Originally, she was going to buy her a sign that says "always kiss me goodnight" but I told her that the wife really wanted a laundry room sign and I wouldn't let her get one, so mother bought this sign instead. Back to the painting, here is what we started with:

We wanted to keep the shelves and ceiling the original color. Here it is all taped up. I knew all that time I spent working in the body shop during high school would come in handy one day. PS I'm mad at everyone who said this would be a quick and easy project.... DAD!

The wife chose to paint the room blue; I vetoed her lime green request. Here's what it looks like now. Actually turned out pretty nice, eh?

The white shelves look good, even though that was kind of a pain...

And one more photo...
Phil Jackson carries a purse:

The Thunder WIN!

2010-04-22T23:24:00.002-05:00

Wow, Thunder wow. Great comeback and great win tonight! I guess that KD guarding Kobe thing works out pretty nicely. I'd let Artest and Odom shoot those long shots all game; they got them to fall in the 4th tonight but I'd let them have 'em. The Theory was in play at the 4 minute mark with OKC up by 8. I thought Westbrook really messed up when he shot a brick with about :15 left in the game and :09 left on the shot clock and Kobe got the rebound and scored on a fast break to make it a 2 point game. But we hung on. Should be an interesting game on Saturday night. Kobe v. KD - pass the torch already.

And how about that crowd? Nice job. Wish I could of been there...

Best sports day in OKC history?

The 19th

2010-04-17T21:35:00.008-05:00

Anyone watching this Mets-Cardinals game? It's in the bottom of the 19th inning, and only 1 run has been scored. That's awesome and amazing. The Cardinals just had a left fielder pitching. I was trying to explain to the wife why they didn't just use another pitcher. She didn't really understand it. I'm not familiar enough with the Cardinals pitching situation to be able to explain it adequately. It's always fun when they put a position player in at pitcher (Jose Canseco). I like how those guys can can only throw about 75sih. You gotta know that in high school these players were all everything, played every position, were the best players on their team, best athlete to ever come from their school. But now, these guys who aren't pitchers anymore but just fill-in very rarely are worse than the worst pitcher in all of the major leagues. Going to the 20th, one run apiece. If a game like this happens during certain games on the Baseball Road Trip 2010 we might be screwed. But if it happens during other games, it will be unbelievable. Really liking the pitcher playing left field for the Cardinals. He's made two really good catches for a pitcher playing left field. He looks about as comfortable as one of those guys you see playing softball after a winter or two off.
Aw, game over. Mets win 2-1 in 20 innings. The game only took 6 hours 50 minutes. I'm going to try to find the scorecard. I think I'm going to keep score this year at all the games on the BRT10.
Good for you Corina!

The Theory

2010-03-30T23:34:00.003-05:00

This weekend as you watch the end of March Madness keep in mind my theory. The theory is that a team can only make up 2 points a minute. So if a team is losing by 7 points with 3 minutes left in the game, then they will not come back and win. 1 minute - 2 points, 2 minutes - 4 points, 3 minutes - 6 points, etc. you get the idea. Check it out, it's been pretty good so far.

The Mower

2010-03-29T22:17:00.003-05:00

Saturday I bought a new lawn mower. My first 'real' purchase of the year. Two times last year I picked up a new mower. Both times the mower worked fine for the first day and then wouldn't start the second time I needed to mow the yard. After getting fed up with that I decided that this year I was going to purchase an actual good mower (not one from Wal-Mart, even though they were fairly easy with the return); one that would last for more than one cutting. I bought a self-propelled Toro. It even has a mulcher and a bagger (which is smaller than I thought because it was totally stuffed full by the time I finished). The mower cuts really well, no complaints. The self-propelled wheels get to spinning pretty quick; that is something I'm not used to. I had to pay attention as I was mowing not to spin out and tear up the soil. It is a good thing it is self propelled because the mower is heavy. I would hate to be the motor that drives it. But the thing I like most about this mower is that it has a 3 year Guaranteed to Start By The Second Pull warranty. I thought three years was a pretty decent long time in lawn mower years (maybe I'm just influenced by my experiences from last year). I shut the Toro down and restarted it 4 or 5 times on Saturday and each time it restarted with the first pull. So, so nice.

Saturday I mowed, weed-eated, and edged. I think edged yards look so much better than un-edged. My edger is electric and looks to be about 25 years old. If I never take a toe off with that thing it will be a miracle. I also put down a little bit more Fescue seed. I have a friend who is really into making sure his lawn looks nice, and he claims that he was able to sale his house because his lawn was green and looked like the oasis of the block. When we moved in there was one area in the back that really needed grass. I've planted there a couple times and it looks pretty good now, but I put some more down to try to get it all fixed. I think I'm going to scalp the front down pretty good and lay a lot of seed out there too. Today I spent a little more than an hour picking leaves and weeds out of the rock section we have. The weeds look terrible in the rocks, and like the Bible says, the plants in the rocks have shallow roots so it's not too hard to pull them up. I have to install a new drainage pipe out there so I'm going to be working a lot in this part of the back yard. I'm really happy that it is still light out when I get home from work. Summer is so good!

The Test

2010-03-28T23:39:00.002-05:00

Me - Ok, I'm back.
You - You've been gone? Where did you go?
Me - A couple of different places, but for the past month or so I've been studying for the GMAT and didn't have time to write (at least that's the excuse I'm using).
You - How did it go?
Me - Well enough I think. Scored higher than what they said I needed to score.
You - Nice job!
Me - Thanks! I think if I was still in 7th grade I would of done better. Before last month I couldn't of told you the last I did a geometry word problem.
You - So does this mean this blog will get better, actually be of substance, have less grammatical errors, and actually make sense?
Me - That's a little harsh, and don't count on it. I promise to continue writing about the same things, how the wife and I are doing, Oklahoma, American sports, health care, and Obama.
You - Aw, good! It's like putting on a baseball glove in the spring. It just feels right. Comfy, yet reliable.
Me - Speaking of baseball, Opening Day is only a week away! Baseball is so great. I can't wait, even though our (Ranger's) manager is a coke head. I thought sunflower seeds were his drug of choice; he goes through about 5 bags of them per game. You know what makes baseball so great? It's always on... Those guys play almost every day. Football, once a week. Basketball, 3 or 4 times a week. But baseball, 5 or 6 times a week! Now that is great. I will have to watch Field of Dreams this week - "The one constant through all the years, Ray, has been baseball. America has rolled by like an army of steamrollers. It has been erased like a blackboard, rebuilt and erased again. But baseball has marked the time. This field, this game: it's a part of our past, Ray. It reminds of us of all that once was good and it could be again. Oh... people will come Ray. People will most definitely come."

Anyone remember last year when I said I laid down some authentic infield sod in the front yard? Well, it survived the winter. I think all of the plants did, which is a little bit of a miracle. Tomorrow I will tell you about my new lawn mower. No more 2 month layoffs for me.

The Olympics

2010-02-14T00:05:00.005-06:00

Ah, the Winter Olympics... While watching skating tonight I'm continually reminded of the time we saw Scott Hamilton at the Oklahoma City airport. He was a bit disheveled that night, was even using his tie as a belt. I think that is my second fondest OKC airport memory. The first is when dad and I were supposed to pick up Grandma & Grandpa (pre 9/11) but instead of waiting for them at the gate we decided to play a game or two of pool. I'm pretty sure we looked up as they were about to head down to baggage claim. We got them just in time so we could finish our game, which I undoubtedly won.

The Show

2010-02-11T19:46:00.003-06:00

So during the Super Bowl I said I wasn't going to watch 'Undercover Boss.' As it turns out, I forgot to change the channel and ended up watching the whole thing. That show is actually pretty good. It's my second favorite quasi-reality show. Shark Tank is still #1.

The Bowl

2010-02-07T19:08:00.056-06:00

9:02 - BOOOOOOOO Drew Brees shouldn't be the MVP. Game Over
9:00 - Get on with it
8:49 - Pace Picante sauce commercial, didn't say "that chaps my hide" I'm disappointed
8:47 - Is the show "The Middle" going to talk about this game? Man, that show is funny. Give us the MVP already. Hartley Hartley Hartley
8:46 - Nice job on the Gatorade bath, much better than Nick Saban's
8:45 - Incomplete! wow, I'm surprised
8:44 - Running for it on 3rd & goal?? That's a give up play
8:42 - ah just incomplete, and a penalty.... don't think those 10 yards matter much.
8:41 - another one????? oh dang, flag
8:39 - Announcer just said Brees has MVP numbers.
8:38 - GoDaddy.com hasn't changed their schtik for about 10 years. Denny's must have plenty of money, how many commercials for them?
8:36 - Just saw Chase Daniel on the sideline, he's 3rd string QB for the Saints. He and Hartley went to the same high school
8:34 - Brees' stats 32/39 288 yards, 7.4 average, 2 TDs, 0 INTs
8:33 - That Bud Light commercial wasn't too bad
8:32 - Who is your MVP? I'm voting for Hartley... Bet it goes to Brees
8:31 - Hate to see that for Peyton... 3:12 to go, down 14. Should be game.
8:30 - Game!
8:29 - Charles Barkley commercial wasn't too bad, Green Police commercial was goofy
8:27 - From Shockey's wikipedia page - On July 21, 2008, the Giants agreed to trade Shockey to the New Orleans Saints in exchange for second and fifth-round picks in the 2009 NFL Draft (in which the Giants picked linebacker Clint Sintm and quarterback Rhett Bomas in second and fifth rounds respectively)
8:25 - wooooooo Manning almost got intercepted, thought that didn't happen
8:24 - Jeremy Shockey was born in Ada, Oklahoma
8:20 - Peyton is not happy
8:17 - That Budweiser commercial was true. Longhorns are always trying to be something they aren't....
8:15 - Setting up nicely for Hartley to kick a game winning field goal
8:14 - SHOCKEY! TD!
8:10 - If the Saints score a TD, they gotta go for 2, right?
8:07 - See how the Colts kicker can't make long field goals like Hartley can?
8:05 - Going deep hasn't worked all game
8:03 - ok well that 4th down catch was nice
8:02 - Reggie Wayne has been worthless
7:57 - If you are the Saints, what are you satisfied with letting the Colts gain on first down?
7:51 - Google commercial was cool
7:50 - He's awesome
7:49 - If Hartley makes this he is the front runner for the MVP
7:48 - Where did the Colts D go?
7:44 - Talking babies have arrived! yes!
7:42 - Hate the commercial after the TD, then kickoff, then another commercial.
7:40 - Enjoyed the Clark Criswald commercial. Nice to see Chevy Chase in something other than that unfunny show 'Community'
7:38 - I was wrong.... No real MVP candidate yet
7:37 - Predicting TD to Collie
7:34 - Officially going for the Colts. BBQ meatballs didn't stick together too well.
7:31 - Meatballs done! I have BBQ, Marinara, Creole and Red Pepper (hope those aren't too hot).
7:29 - Another point for Hartley. Go OU!
7:28 - Touchdown Saints!!!!! Great, great run after catch!
7:26 - Looking pretty easy for Brees right now.
7:24 - SAINTS BALL. Sean Peyton a lot smarter now
7:23 - Is this OU v. Oregon?
7:22 - ONSIDE KICK! Gutsy.... uncover the pile!!!!
7:21 - My dad loves that Jay-Z & Rihanna song
7:17 - Commercials have been weak. I don't know what they big deal about Tebow's commercial was. It didn't even say anything about being pro-life. Wonder if they had to redo it after the liberals complained?
7:14 - I have no desire to see "Undercover Boss" I will be changing the channel immediately after the game. I also have no desire to see the interviews or trophy presentation.
7:11 - Forgot to mention, I have meatballs in the oven and made a pan of brownies. About a quarter of the brownies are gone already.
7:10 - The Who? Seriously? How old are these guys? When were they last relevant? Terrible choice.

Starting running blog now....

The Apples

2010-01-30T22:31:00.002-06:00

Since we've been cooped up for 2 days now, I tried to think of something fun to make for a snack tonight. I ended up trying to make fried bananas, looked up a 'recipe' online and everything. I've never made them before, but I thought it sounded good., kinda like the state fair. So I melted the butter before I realized that the bananas were still too green to eat. In a panic I dumped in apples as the replacement. They turned out pretty well. One of mine tasted like an onion though... that part wasn't too good.

Ice & Snow Storm Oklahoma 7

2010-01-29T23:22:00.003-06:00

Global warming at its finest. This is the only time I can remember two 'huge' snow storms in Oklahoma in one year.

Ice & Snow Storm Oklahoma 6

2010-01-29T19:01:00.002-06:00

Still snowing a bit. At this point it needs to keep it up enough that I get Monday off too.

Ice & Snow Storm Oklahoma 5

2010-01-29T14:39:00.002-06:00

Reba loves the snow! Maybe she has cabin fever. We went on a walk earlier, she tried to run the whole time.

The snow is getting deep.

Ice & Snow Storm Oklahoma 4

2010-01-29T12:35:00.006-06:00

It's still snowing, pretty hard actually. I tried to load a photo but it won't let me... I think I'm going for a walk in a few. Wind chill is close to 12. Need to eat first. The wife has been constantly refreshing facebook for the past 4 hours.

The Ice & Snow Storm 3

2010-01-29T10:40:00.002-06:00

Woke up this morning to snow falling on top of the ice we got yesterday. The snow is really light, but supposed to continue all day.

Looks like our tree is taking it pretty bad, hoping those limbs hold up.

The Ice Storm 2

2010-01-28T22:20:00.002-06:00

Will try to get some neat photos tomorrow.

The Ice Storm

2010-01-28T16:30:00.002-06:00

That's not snow. It is all ice pellets. Sleet, freezing rain, combination of the two. Whatever it is, it's giving me a 3 day weekend.

The Baseball

2010-01-26T13:02:00.001-06:00

Can it be Opening Day yet?

The SB Commercial

2010-01-17T22:05:00.001-06:00

Tim Tebow and mom to give pitch

GAINESVILLE, Fla. -- Tim Tebow is taking his star power to sport's biggest stage.

The former Florida quarterback and his mother will appear in a 30-second commercial during the Super Bowl next month. The Christian group Focus on the Family says the Tebows will share a personal story centering on the theme "Celebrate Family, Celebrate Life."

The group isn't releasing details, but the commercial is likely to be an anti-abortion message chronicling Pam Tebow's 1987 pregnancy. After getting sick during a mission trip to the Philippines, she ignored a recommendation by doctors to abort her fifth child and gave birth to Tim.

The 2007 Heisman Trophy winner ended his college career with several NCAA, Southeastern Conference and school records, and two national championships. Tebow also has been very involved in his family's Christian-based ministry.

Jim Daly, president and CEO of Focus on the Family, said the commercial comes at a time when "families need to be inspired."

"Tim and Pam share our respect for life and our passion for helping families thrive," Daly said. "Focus on the Family is about ... strengthening families by empowering them with the tools they need to live lives rooted in morals and values."

Thirty-second commercials during the Super Bowl are selling for between $2.5 million and $2.8 million. Daly said all the funds for the ad came from a handful of "very generous and committed friends," and that no money from the group's general fund was used.

"Now that the ad has been shot, we're excited to tell people it's coming because the Tebows' story is such an important one for our culture to hear," he said. "You won't want to miss it."

The Jayhawks

2010-01-14T08:26:00.003-06:00

This video reminds me of the basketball practices I used to be in. Only they made their shots, showed up before practice even started, and had a video camera.

Is shooting half court shots underhand the new way to do it now?

The Classics

2009-12-12T10:12:00.004-06:00

Why do we only see these products at Christmas time? I say plenty of people would eat chocolate covered cherries all year long. And for only $1.25 a box, it's a great deal.

The Eldrick

2009-12-09T19:45:00.006-06:00

Questions and comments from a confused guy (me not Tiger, although I'm sure he is too).

First, this is whole situation is terrible and no one should ever look at Tiger the same again (but, I'm betting soon most of America won't care. That's just the way it is). I'm glad his sponsors are all dropping him. I blame him first for this whole thing (and there's plenty of blame to go around). If you are reading this post and think I'm not calling out Tiger enough, it's because everyone knows Tiger screwed up, I don't have to go into that. He messed up, and has been messing up for many, many years. Having said that, he doesn't 'owe' us all the details. He doesn't owe us any details, and I think it's a kind of sick the way the media is driving this whole story.

If Tiger didn't smash his car into that tree & fire hydrant how long would he of been able to go on without everyone knowing? I know a tabloid was already "breaking" the story, but 1) it was a tabloid, 2) I assume making one mistress go away would be a lot easier than making 10 be quiet.

You are telling me that no one else knew about this, only Tiger and his girlfriends? Really?! No one? Tiger lives in a gated community; anytime anyone came or went from that community they had to be let through the gates by the guards. Surely a guard thought something was up when the guard station would get a call and Tiger would say, "uh yeah, there's gonna be a girl in a '92 Chevy Cavalier coming up soon, go ahead and let her in and send her down to my place." Or his neighbors? Did they just think the plumber was over all the time? Or his friends (does he even have any friends)? Sometimes you just have to lay it out there to your friends, I mean, they are your friends, you are allowed to ask personal questions about their life. That is one of your responsibilities as a friend.

Of course she's claiming she had no idea, but how much of this did Elin know about? Supposedly this stuff has been going on since before they were married. I think she had to have some idea. If she knew about all of this, I don't feel too sorry for her anymore. She'd be only slightly better than the other girls.

I have a real problem with all these girls (in general for their roles) but especially now for all coming out to get their 15 minutes of fame. I don't know what they are hoping to achieve or what they hope to gain now. Clearly, Tiger isn't going to give them any money now after they told the world about their relationships. I'm assuming they got what they were after for years, so why come out now and ruin Tiger even more? Do they not realize that the world isn't going to think better of them or feel sorry for them or take them under their wing because they fessed up?

The Linus (or The Meaning of Christmas)

2009-12-07T22:55:00.002-06:00

Well said Linus. That IS what Christmas is all about! You can find this in Luke 2:8-14

The Un-Hall of Fame

2009-12-06T12:59:00.002-06:00

What are they thinking?

The Wayman

2009-12-02T15:21:00.000-06:00

Toby Keith

More CMT Music

More CMT Music Videos

Toby Keith's tribute song to Wayman Tisdale

The Roof

2009-11-23T08:25:00.000-06:00

On the roof at Remington Park

The Reason

2009-11-22T09:22:00.003-06:00

The reason I thought it was silly to rake leaves yesterday...

This 55-foot tall tree in the front yard that is full of dead leaves yet to fall.

PS is my usage of 'leaves' correct here? When do you use 'leafs'?

The Yankees

2009-11-17T22:25:00.003-06:00

A lot of people ask me why I root for the Yankees in the playoffs. The answer is, because I support their 'business model.' The Yankees don't care. To mildly control team payroll spending MLB has put luxury taxes in place. If a team spends over X amount they pay a tax, and that tax money, I believe goes to some of the poorer/small market teams. The Yankees don't care; they'll pay it with one hand while polishing the World Series trophy with the other. Winning seems to be what matters most and no amount of money will keep them from it (or at least no amount of money will keep them from paying the necessary players to put the 'best' team on the field).

I found this article interesting. It's mainly about a salary cap in baseball, but it also looks at the relationship of spending to winning, and touches on TV contracts, and season lengths.
http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/commentary/news/story?page=bryant/091117

I particularly liked the parts about how even the most expensive team still will only win 95-105 games, which is what a reasonably great team should win anyways. Enjoy

PS. After discussing with the wife I have some more things to add.
Complaint - They buy their wins, they are 'good player snatchers' it's easy to win when you have the best players.
1. They still have to play the games.
2. Other owners could do the same thing if they wanted. I understand that some owners don't have as much money as the Yankees, but if you own a MLB team, you have plenty of money (Tom Hicks excluded).
3. This year the Yankees went into the World Series with only 3 starting pitchers, and a shaky bullpen.

The Half & The 5K

2009-11-10T20:56:00.004-06:00

Two weekends ago the wife and her sister ran a Half Marathon in Dallas. That's 13.1 miles! Both of them only got about halfway through their training because they both got sick. Going into the race the most they had run was about 6 miles. They decided to wing it (and because I told her that she had already paid so she had to run) and just see how far they could go. They ended up running the whole thing and finished without any problems. I told the wife her goals were: 1. finish, 2. beat someone, anyone. She accomplished both! I held up my end of the deal and bought her a 13.1 mile sticker to put on her car (the real reason why she wanted to run in the first place :))

Last weekend for the second year in a row I let her talk me into running the OCU Race With the Stars 5K. Last year we had been playing soccer a bit so we were in a little bit of running shape. This time around, the last time I ran was at last year's 5k. On Tuesday before the race I went on the elliptical for a bit, and on Wednesday I actually ran around the neighborhood. Thursday and Friday were spent praying that my legs would stop hurting. By race day I was feeling ok. The wife and I started off running together but her feet were hurting from running the Half the weekend before so we were going pretty slow. About 1.5k into the run she made me leave her alone and run off as fast as I wanted (usually I let her set the pace so that I don't pass out). I've come to realize that starting slow is an awesome strategy. For the rest of the race I was passing all the other slow people! That makes you feel like you are actually doing/accomplishing something. If I was going a normal pace, I would of been ahead of all those people to begin with and would of never of gotten to pass them. Another thing I learned, on your ipod, listen to live versions of songs. It sounds like everyone is cheering for you! I finished the race right at 29 minutes (I passed a chubby guy about 10 yards from the finish line, no way I was gonna let him beat me) the wife got frustrated with her feet hurting and the pace she was going, so she toughed it out and finished around 30 minutes. Last year we ran it at 29:06 and she finished in the top 5 of her age group. This time 3 of the top 5 in my age were in the top 5 for the whole race and the 5th place of hers ran in 28:11. No trophies for us this year. Seeing how I improved my time, I'm going to stick to the same training regime and take the rest of the year off.

The Door Handles

2009-11-02T21:04:00.003-06:00

When we moved into the house about a year ago, I was given a two-door, three-shelf cabinet that I have since hung in the garage. The cabinet didn't have door handles. I had some thumb tacks stuck in it so I could open the doors, but no real handles. Last week, for some reason, I think because I was just surfing around ebay (a dangerous habit to get into) I had an idea. I'd buy some Mustang emblems that were supposed to go on the front fenders of old Mustangs and make handles out of them. Here is the result, looks pretty decent I think.

The Nike Swoosh

2009-10-29T21:45:00.009-05:00

The Swoosh, that's all I'm seeing as I watch Game 2. I don't remember seeing the Swoosh so much during Game 1, but this game, it's hard to find a player that doesn't have the Swoosh peeking out from his undershirt. That's got to be better than buying a commercial any day. What did Nike give up, 50-100 shirts? And what did they get in return? Free advertising for the duration of the game and any video or photos of this game will have the Swoosh predominately displayed for the rest of time. Nicely done, Nike Marketing People, nicely done.

Sidenote: I was going to ask how greasy is Chase Utley's hair but that was already covered here

The Tacos

2009-10-28T20:29:00.002-05:00

Went to one of my new favorites places today, Big Truck Tacos. Pretty good tacos! They also have a trailer that they take out, you know, like a street vendor. I like any restaurant that has a street vendor truck. Anyways, Big Truck Tacos is good stuff, a little pricey but not too terrible. Luckily, I had a free taco and drink that Rumble gave me last time I was there. If you are a hipster/indie type you'll really like this place, you'll see many of your fellow brethren there.

The NBA started last night! And the Celtics won! And the Thunder are up 17 at halftime... wow, good things this year. Watch and see.

And go Yanks

The Big Store

2009-10-27T21:39:00.002-05:00

Today, October 27, 2009 I went to the store, and they had CHRISTMAS stuff out already! Are you kidding me?!

The TShirt, Race for the Cure

2009-10-18T23:11:00.002-05:00

The front:

The back:

The Way They Get You Vol. 3

2009-10-14T00:22:00.006-05:00

My Father-in-law sent this in.

I have been waiting all summer for chlorine tablets for the pool to go on sale. They’re crazy expensive for what you get, so I’ve waited patiently for a sale. But because they are a staple that you have to have, they never put them on sale. But finally, end of season, recession, etc., etc., I see a coupon for 40% off chlorine tablets. I rush to the store to stock up and the store manager points out that the 40% off is only good on the 7# buckets; it does not work for the usual 35# buckets most people get. So I say OK, what’s the discounted price for the 7# buckets? If it makes sense I’ll just buy a few of those instead of one big bucket. The price per pound of chlorine you were actually getting AFTER the 40% off on the 7# buckets was $3.46/lb. The REGULAR (ie. exorbitant) price on the 35# bucket is $2.63/lb. Say it with me…………….”And that’s how they get you!” 40% off and it’s still 32% higher than “regular” price!

The Most Ridiculous Thing In The House

2009-10-10T11:50:00.004-05:00

The wife bought this yesterday....

If it lowers my heating bill $20+ for the winter it will be worth it. It's a good thing the dog weighs 70lbs or she'd be wearing one too.

The Defenses Pt. 2

2009-10-06T19:43:00.002-05:00

Below I told about making my Defense pick for this week in Fantasy Football. I had San Fransico but then dropped them and picked up the Bears. The Bears D got 15 points this week, the 49ers D got 39 points. So clearly I picked the wrong team, a net loss of 24 points. Just to make matters even worse, I lost my game by 4.85 points. Call me Jerry Jones

The Bradford

2009-10-06T16:51:00.002-05:00

Sam Bradford had been considered a top NFL prospect last year, rated along with Matthew Stafford and Mark Sanchez among the top college quarterbacks. He dismissed the suggestion that, because of the injury, he made the wrong decision to pass up the NFL.

"Money's not everything," Bradford said. "Obviously, I think some people, they think it is. But to me, there are a lot more things. I dreamed about coming to Oklahoma and playing football. We didn't have a pro team in Oklahoma, so this was like my pro team. This was who I wanted to play for, and my experience here has been unbelievable.

"I felt like coming back and adding to that experience would be a great thing for me."

I didn't write this, here's the full story.

The Defenses

2009-10-04T08:49:00.002-05:00

Week 4 of the football season; the week that NFL bye weeks begin, meaning some NFL teams might not have a game. This leads to huge Fantasy Football problems. In my case, my QB, a WR, and my Def are all off, so I have to replace those guys. My strategy is always to keep only one QB, one TE and one Def on the roster. That, of course, means that when those guys are off, I have to pick someone up to replace them. (To pick someone up, my options are all the players that no one else in the league wants, not your top of the line guys.) For QB, I picked up Shaun Hill, at home vs. the Rams. I had picked up Mark Sanchez, but didn't like my chances with him on the road in a high scoring game. For WR, I had one on my bench. For Defense, early in the week I picked up the 49er Defense, but on Thursday someone dropped the Bears Defense, so I picked them up. The Bears are at home vs. the Lions. The Lions have a rookie QB who likes to throw interceptions and an injured RB. We'll see how the Bears do compared to the 49ers to see if I made the right choice.

QB - Hill
WR- Brandon Marshall, Lee Evans, Vincent Jackson
RB - Steve Slaton, Leon Washington
TE- Owen Daniels
K - Nate Keading
DEF - Chicago

The Kid Fight

2009-10-01T08:29:00.001-05:00

The Dog Question

2009-09-30T21:44:00.002-05:00

Why when the dog is walking she takes steps with one foot at a time, but when she runs, it's both feet at the same time?

A three legged dog walks into a bar and says, "I'm looking for the man that shot my pa." (that joke is better when its told verbally)

Two men walk into a bar, the second guy says, "I didn't see it either."

The Price

2009-09-27T00:06:00.001-05:00

My lineup this week:
QB - Matt Ryan vs. NE
RBs: Sproles and Slaton (for the last time if he doesn't get more than 5 points again)
WRs: Steve Smith, Vincent Jackson & Brandon Marshall
TE: Owen Daniels
K: Nate Kaeding
D: Eagles vs. Chiefs

The Classic FF Dilemma

2009-09-20T08:49:00.002-05:00

Here we are again, another Sunday morning and I'm filling in my Fantasy Football roster before church, and I don't know which RBs to play.

RBs on roster:
Steve Slaton - Should be a slam dunk starter. Had a really good year last year as a rookie, but this year he's been terrible. He played horrible in the preseason, and last week he only had 17 rush yards. Add in that he is going against the tough Tennessee Titans defense, and I'm about ready to sit him down this week.

Leon Washington - Had a decent enough week last week. This week he's going against the Patriots who had some troubles against the run game last weekend, plus they are without a starting linebacker. Leon does share carries with Thomas Jones... will probabaly start him and see what happens.

Derrick Ward - Shares carries with the Cadillac Williams. Going against the Bills, who jumped out to an early lead last week so we didn't get to see their true run defense. Probably should start this guy as well.

Darren Sproles - Drafted him in case LT got hurt. Well, LT got hurt and isn't playing this week. Too bad the Chargers are playing the Ravens who haven't allowed a 100 yard rusher since 2007. Let's home LT's injury lasts longer than 1 week.

Michael Bush - Was impressed by him and Darren McFadden last week. But they do play for the Raiders so they could very easily lay a huge egg this week. They are playing the Chiefs who are terrible... This is the 'sexy' pick for this week.

It's probably still true that whoever I pick its going to the wrong guys. So I'm going with Washington and Ward. W's to get me a W this week.

The Hole in One

2009-09-18T12:17:00.007-05:00

"Tiger Woods has played 1,044 holes of golf this season and has earned $9.7 million, or approximately $9,300 per hole.

Jason Hargett laughs at that figure. Laughs, I say!

On Tuesday, Hargett participated in one of those "hole-in-one for big bucks" contests as part of the Mark Eaton Celebrity Classic in Utah. Hargett hadn't planned on playing because of a sore wrist. But since even a bad day golfing is better than a good day doing anything else, he manned up, borrowed his brother's clubs, and ventured onto the course.

That hole was a 150-yarder, and Hargett used a nine-iron for a $1 million stroke. Only question now is, how much of a cut does his brother get? Those were his clubs, after all. Bet that won't make for some awkward Thanksgiving dinners at all."

If I had won this contest, the worst part would be when the story ran and it said that I had to use my driver to get it 150 yards.

The First Week

2009-09-15T22:30:00.002-05:00

My fantasy football team lost its first game of the season.

Stats of the week,
From my team:
Philadelphia Defense/Special Teams, 35 points. 5 sacks, 5 Ints, 2 TDs, only 10 points allowed.

From the team I was playing:
Drew Brees, 51.9 points. 358 Passing Yards, 6 TDs, 1 Int. He scored more than 50% of his teams points. I think there should be a rule against that.

At least the President's thoughts on Kayne are correct.

The Way They Get You Vol. 2

2009-09-13T00:12:00.004-05:00

The wife thought it was unfair that the Boy Scouts put the cute, short kid who couldn't say his R's by the door to ask people if they wanted to buy popcorn to help the scouts go to camp. That scout leader's no dummy. And that's how they get you.

The Post Draft Reveal

2009-09-02T22:14:00.002-05:00

Here you go, the roster for Buscemi's Crazy Eyes 2009. Rank 'em or rip 'em.

QB: Matt Ryan - I wanted Matt, but during the draft I thought I reached to get him but it ended up being the right choice as all the other good QBs were gone by the time it was my pick again.

RB: Steve Slaton
Jamaal Charles (played well in Preseason, need an injury to the starter)
Darren Sproles (Please, LT get hurt again)
Derrick Ward
Leon Washington (surely the guy in front of him will get hurt)
(Other than Slaton, this group could be unimpressive, unless there are some timely injuries)

WR: Bobby Engram
Lee Evans
Chris Henry (was called a young Randy Moss, I like that)
Vincent Jackson
Brandon Marshall (stop being a diva and getting suspended)
Steve Smith (solid)

TE: Owen Daniels (all the TDs can't go to Andre Johnson)

K: Nate Keading (shoulda drafted Garrett Hartley from OU)

D: Philadelphia Eagles (Had these guys last year and they were awesome, but this year I was a little lukewarm on drafting them because their Defensive Coordinator passed away over the off-season)

The Draft

2009-09-02T17:09:00.003-05:00

My fantasy football league is drafting tonight. Since we are in a keeper league of sorts, I had to keep 2 players from last years team. So from last year's somewhat awful team I kept Steve Slaton and Vincent Jackson. Every team had to keep 2 players, so 24 (of the best) players are already gone. In one round of drafting we did via email I got Steve Smith (and made the guy picking after me mad). Tonight we finish. 14 rounds to go.

The Way They Get You

2009-08-29T23:50:00.004-05:00

For a while now I've been meaning to start a new series called, "And that's how they get you." It's in reference to things company's do to either, charge you more, make you use up the product faster so you have to buy more, or sale you much more than you could ever use. Sometimes things are seemingly a good deal but there is some hidden fee or something, and when you find it, you say, "Ah, that's how they get you." I'm sure you have stories, feel free to share, I'll start.

1. Soap dispensers - I probably only need a half squirt to properly clean my hands, yet when I go to the dispenser I instinctively push it all the way down and get a full handful of soap. It's way more soap for my hands than I use of shampoo for my whole head. And that's how they get you.

2. Stubhub tickets - The tickets look cheap, and I want to buy them, and then on the third page I am finally told of the service charge and the convenience fee and the shipping cost. And that's how they get you.

The Pokes

2009-08-27T10:00:00.003-05:00

That about sums it up...

(just so we are all on the same page, it says, COLEGE BOUND OSU)

The Pudge

2009-08-18T15:11:00.003-05:00

He's back where he belongs!

The Wasp

2009-08-10T21:26:00.004-05:00

The other day the wife saw a wasp in the house and wouldn't/couldn't go to bed until it was killed. About 3 hours later she finally got to go to sleep. Tonight as I was mowing the yard I saw about 4 wasps sitting on a bush. So I took a break went to the store and returned with wasp killer spray and soaked down the bush. 21 dead wasps later, I resumed mowing. Here is a sample of the mayhem.

I saw one wasp come home late and kinda fly around the outside of the bush wondering what to do. I used the patented Vineyard Hat Swat Technique on him. 22 wasps dead.

The Parking Job

2009-08-05T23:17:00.003-05:00

How not to park on a downhill slope.

And summer is officially over...

The Western

2009-07-23T13:26:00.001-05:00

Old video made at Camp Ozark

The Bounce

2009-07-15T18:58:00.004-05:00

Let's put this discussion of whether Obama bounced in the first pitch at the All-Star game to rest. It's obvious that he did. True, it wasn't like 10 feet short of home plate, but it bounced before it got there nevertheless. Pujols made a fine grab on the bouncer.
E.Mitch, the wife and I all guessed at what he was going to wear.
E.Mitch said khakis pants and blue polo (sounded John Kerry-ish to me). I said black slacks and red button down shirt, like Tiger Woods on a Sunday. But the wife won, she actually called jeans and something White Sox; turned out to be a jacket. Remembering that Bush wore a jacket for the World Series game after 9/11, E.Mitch and I discussed the jacket before the game and I concluded that since it was hot at this game Obama wouldn't wear a jacket. I got to thinking about it later and I think the jacket covers the bullet-proof vest.
Anyways, I thought the game was good, although poorly managed. What's the point in having a representative from every team if you aren't going to play them? And how come when a player can't play they have to replace him? It makes like 90 All-Stars every year, not as special of an honor is it? The rosters for the All-Star game are entirely too big; and no one should get 3 ABs. I'm on board with a representative from every team, that's cool, fans like it, but the roster size needs to be adjusted. I'm against the manager filling up the roster with his own players. I'm looking at you Joe Maddon. Maddon managed the AL team and took 4 of his own players to be on the team. That's just ridiculous. He even let his team go into the game with only one 2nd baseman. I was disappointed.

The Batting Stance Guy 2

2009-07-14T12:38:00.006-05:00

Sorry the formatting is screwed up now, but I had to put this up.

The Night Shower

2009-07-12T09:41:00.002-05:00

Showering at night when you are all sweaty, stinky, dirty and have grass sticking to your neck is one of the best things ever. I usually just shower in the morning, always have, always will. Let's face it, I work in an office, doing A/V and I.T., so I usually don't get too gross during the day; it's not like I'm digging ditches. But the past couple of days I have been reunited with my old buddy, the night shower. This should lead you to the conclusion that I have actually been doing something to warrant the night cleaning. And I have!
Day one: mowed the lawn... gets you pretty dirty when its 103 outside and the wind is blowing the cut grass, leafs and dirt around. When I'm mowing the backyard, I have to judge the wind properly or I get covered in dirtiness. It's like one of those baseball parks with swirling winds that the home team uses to its advantage, that's my backyard. Wait, did I just say my backyard is like a baseball field? Yes, I did, and it kind of is. There is a baseball team I know that is getting their field re-sodded so the coach said whoever wants some of the current sod can come roll it up and take it home. I took advantage and now have actual infield sod in my front & backyards. And it's a good thing I bought a truck so I could bring the bed-full of sod home!
Day two: finished trimming and weed-eating the yards. Terrible task, but done for now. Afterwards, I spent some time in the garage putting a bumper valance on the truck; looks much, much better now. Working out there doing quasi-body work brought back memories of working in a body shop when I was 14-16 years old. Yes, I started working when I was 14. The shop I worked at was within walking distance of the school so 3 times a week I'd leave school after lunch and walk to the shop. Of course, I couldn't drive yet, so I had to pay my sister $1 a day to drive me home... ON A TRIP SHE WAS MAKING ANYWAYS! I worked there for 2 years learning all kinds of things, and some of the things were even about cars.

The New Dog

2009-07-10T17:16:00.003-05:00

I think I've told you that I like to read the Sports Guy (Bill Simmons) on ESPN.com. A reader wrote and told him this:

Q: I liked the idea a few mailbags back from the reader who named his Fantasy team "Bill Simmons" so the league could read funny remarks and disses "posted by Bill Simmons." I am 37 and recently got my fourth golden puppy. I like human names for dogs (Allen, Walter, etc.) that give them a human element when I discuss them or talk to them. Well, you guessed it, our newest family member is Bill Simmons! The humorous benefits are fantastic. I get texts from my wife such as "Bill Simmons won't stop humping people when they come over" and "Bill Simmons keeps dragging trash around." But my favorite was today … "Bill Simmons took a huge turd in the living room, proceeded to eat half and roll around in the other half!" Good work man, I will provide you updates on your progress as the years go by.
-- Dave, Atlanta

SG: Why, thank you! A word of advice on how to deal with a dog named Bill Simmons: First, you need to walk him at around 8:15 a.m. right after he has coffee. Second, if you're going to pick a newspaper for him to pee on, don't use the New York Post. Third, give him a steady series of Lakers flags that he can chew up into 10,000 pieces. Fourth, keep the TV on at night, because that's how he falls asleep. And fifth, don't get angry at him for humping people when they come over. That's just his way. It's like shaking hands for him.

On another note, if you've ever gotten turned down for a cashier job, next time you are at the store please don't go to one of the "Self Check Out" lines. Thank you.

The Rip-Off

2009-07-08T22:05:00.006-05:00

All for $2.17. The wife will have to tell you how she did it. Maybe she'll be by to write tomorrow, since no one else has been writing on this thing lately.

So I have some bad news... The Oklahoma City Blazers Hockey team has folded, closed up shop, called it quits. Their website has this sad message:

Due to the current economic downturn, the OKC Blazers are regrettably closing their doors effective July 1. Despite attempts to re-organize and streamline the operation, the substantial losses from running the team have led to this business decision.

"We have the most loyal fans of any team, anywhere, and we appreciate the unwavering support they have given the team for many years," said Bob Funk Sr. "The Blazers organization has maintained its commitment to the fans for nine years. We've tried everything to make this model work and explored every available option. If there had been any other choice, we would not have made this decision."

The OKC Blazers thank everyone for their support during their 17 seasons of play in the Central Hockey League.

Sincerely,

DeBray Ayala
General Manager
OKC Blazers

I couldn't believe it when I heard it. I was totally shocked, I have been around the Blazers since about 2001, and the Blazers were the best organization in the CHL. They had the best stadium, jerseys, game experience, everything. Every year the Blazers won all of those CHL-wide awards like best fans, best hot dogs, best show, etc. They won all of them, every year. And now they are gone...

I was on the ice for Joe Burton's last game and all the players did their hair like he does his (even Arvenitus tried to pull it off). He has the most goals ever by a CHL player. I believe the CHL Offensive MVP award is named after him. As late as '04 we had a guy, Peter Arvenitis, who had a mullet that went half-way down his back. Then he retired and cut it into a Billy Ray Cyrus cut. I know what I'm about to say isn't exactly true because I can't remember the stats, but Coach Sauter has more professional wins than any coach in hockey, he also has a really sweet walrus mustache.

Supposedly "they" are "trying" to get a AHL team to play here, we'll see if it happens. But will it be the same? The CHL practically encourages fighting, the fans yell "And they still suck" after an opponent kills off a power play, a girl mooned me once when I put her on camera... I mean the games can't get much better (classier) than that. We had PuckHead, an old lady who brought her own goal light with her, girls from Choctaw to date the players, Sombrero Man and Ben Buckland. Puck Head's kid is like 6 or 7 now, I remember when Puck Head brought him to his first game when he was like 3 weeks old.

We should of seen the writing on the wall when they got rid of Marty Standish. When I first started working Blazers games, Marty was unknown. He's a little guy 5'6" or so, I'm taller than he is when he has his skates on. After a few years he became their most popular player. Probably because he was super fast and wasn't scared to mix it up with anyone, didn't matter how big they were. I guess Marty's lost a step or two because this season the Blazders traded him away. We should of known.

R.I.P. Blazers

The Bat Guy

2009-06-28T08:47:00.003-05:00

Again, too lazy to write anything, so here's another video. This one looks fake to me, especially the bat flip at 2:00. Supposedly real... I'm skeptical.

Anyone want to teach me statistics? Apparently my professor didn't want to.
Anyone have any weekends in July they can loan me?

Silly English people

The Venus

2009-06-28T08:45:00.002-05:00

That last one looks a little staged to me....

The Wednesday Night Crowd

2009-06-24T22:36:00.002-05:00

One day soon you will check back here and there will actually be new content. I look forward to that day.

I tried to post a video of The Batting Stance Guy, but I couldn't get it to work for some reason. Here is his website: www.battingstanceguy.com

Pics of the truck are coming soon, I promise. It even has AC now.

Yes, I'm avoiding doing Statistics homework.

The Greatest Little Leaguer Ever

2009-06-15T08:09:00.005-05:00

I found him, and he's been living in Oklahoma all this time. It's good to see that Danny Almonte actually can play against players his own age, and apparently play very well against them. Surprised he didn't get drafted in the recent draft. Surely some major league team will give him a chance.

Sidenote: This Little League World Series was when I started really disliking Brent Musberger. Brent wanted to put Danny in the Hall of Fame right then. Danny was going to the be greatest pitcher to ever throw a ball. Thanks Brent. Glad to see you have moved from being illogical in this World Series to letting your personal biases determine how you call college football games. I'd rather listen to Bill Walton. "Throw it down big man."

The Freebies

2009-06-12T00:15:00.002-05:00

For the love, MAKE A FREE THROW! That's 2 games that you should of won...

The Finals

2009-06-08T17:16:00.003-05:00

Read this today about last nights game, too good not to pass it on:

0:01: Fascinating last play -- Orlando defends Kobe with its slowest defender (Turkoglu), gambling that his length will bother Kobe's jumpshot, and if Kobe drives, Hedo's teammates will jump in to help and Kobe will shoot, anyway. So what happens? Kobe beats Hedo off the dribble, Redick, Lewis and Howard all collapse on Kobe, Kobe ignores Odom (wide-open, left corner), Ariza (wide-open, top of key) and Fisher (wide-open, right corner) and shoots with two seconds left, anyway ... and Hedo blocks him from behind. Sorry, that's just a terrible offensive play. I would hope even the Lakers fans would admit that.

Important note: Kobe's reputation as a "killer" at the end of games remains overblown. The site www.82games.com just posted a study of game-winning shots from the last five-plus seasons (regular seasons and playoffs since the 2003-04 season) that revealed Kobe was shooting 14-for-56 (25 percent) with one assist and five turnovers, and made 12 of 15 free throws. So let's say that was 70 possessions total, including Sunday night. ... He only had one assist in nearly six years??? That's why Orlando quadruple-teamed him in that spot. Kobe is a phenomenal streak shooter, and he has a real talent for catching fire with a lead and closing games out ... but you can stop him in one-shot situations simply because he's his own worst enemy. He wants to be a hero, he's shooting it, and that's that. (I say, It was clearly a clean block yet Kobe whined and cried for about 5 minutes. Enjoyed that part alot)

0:00.6: Funniest moment of the game: Kobe storms back to the bench, whacks the chair in disgust and sits down as Phil Jackson (already sitting) looks at him with a bemused, "Should I point out to him that MJ absolutely would have passed there?" smile on his face. Classic.

The Pirates

2009-06-04T23:26:00.005-05:00

Sorry Freddy, your organization still stinks.

Don't mind me, I'm just going to rant a little bit about the Pittsburgh Pirates now. Why the Pirates? I took an interest in them because Freddy Sanchez plays there and I went to college with him, then last year we went to a Pirates home game; the stadium is new and really cool, too bad no fans show up (Today's attendance: 20,683, 53.9% full), also last year the Pirates tied the record for most losing seasons in a row, 16. So contrary to what I usually do, I started to root for the underdog (I usually don't root for the underdog because the underdog usually just ends up losing, and that makes me sad).
The Pirates end every year by saying "Just wait until next year." This year could of been next year. Not THE year; just a good (decent) year; a year to start turning things around. They started off well. Early in the year they were leading the division for a few days and since have been hanging around .500. Then today they traded All-Star Nate McLouth, starting center fielder. Why in the world would they trade their best power hitter? Are they throwing in the towel already? Nate won a Gold Glove last year, he hit 26 homers and 94 RBIs last year, he was signed to a pretty decent contract for the next three years, with a team option for a fourth year. In return they got three minor league "prospects" and the chance to bring up a guy from AAA (if he has that good he wouldn't still be in the minors). Prospects... there's nothing more overrated than a prospect in baseball. You know your team got hosed when the GM has to say this, "Our players in the clubhouse are probably going to have a difficult time understanding this. They're probably going to have a difficult time supporting this. But as we know, they're professionals and we expect them to come out and continue to play hard."
As everyone else knows, you are killing the Pirates, a once proud franchise.
Hopefully Freddy gets to the All-Star game again this year.

The First Pitch

2009-06-01T11:47:00.001-05:00

I want to throw out a first pitch someday.

The First Fruit

2009-05-26T23:09:00.003-05:00

Just the two days ago I was telling mom that my plants in my victory garden hadn't done anything yet. My squash plants has a lot of blooms, my pepper plant is tall but nothing else, my tomato plant had a couple of yellow flowers... and then I saw this:

One tomato! Not quite enough to take to the farmer's market yet, but my garden is alive!

What's up with Lebron and the Cavs going down 3-1?

The Sayings

2009-05-18T21:40:00.008-05:00

The wife wants me to clean up some storage containers that have been sitting in the study since we moved. Tonight, I started going through them to see what can be tossed and what can be saved. Nearly everything can be tossed because I haven't looked at it in at least six months. While sorting through this stuff, I found a list I made a while back that lists things people say, usually while at work, that has previously annoyed me. (Sorry if you use these, I know I use some of them)

- "That's a motley crew right there"
- "Hey you two, where's Curly?"
- Any reference to "Hump Day"
- "But it's almost Friday"
- "They still let you two walk around together?"
- The English speaker who always speaks Spanish. Instead of Please, its Por Favor. Adios for Good Bye, Gracious for Thank you, etc.
- On Monday - "How was your weekend?" "Too short! Always is!"
- In an elevator - Elevator bing, "Third floor Lingerie"
- When walking towards someone and you both step in the same direction - "Hey thanks for the dance" or just "wanna dance?"
- When the cell phone call has been dropped "Can you hear me now, what about now, Icanhearyoucanyouhearme,ARE YOU THERE, HELLO?
- Any reference to "paying your dues"
- "Is it Friday yet?"

Maybe I was more bitter when I made this list, some are kinda funny though. Anyone have any more they want to add?

The One Question

2009-05-14T19:45:00.003-05:00

Who is this?

The Game 5

2009-05-12T22:15:00.002-05:00

This is how I "watched" Game 5.
I got home from the store; was grocery shopping while the wife was at home watching the Biggest Loser (I strategically planned this so I could go to the store at this time so I didn't have to be at home while she sobbed during the show). Anyways, I got home and pulled up foxsports.com and it said the Celtics were losing by 14 with about 4 minutes to play. I rushed over to ESPN.com to see if that was true. ESPN had the Celtics up by 4 with a couple of minutes left, whew. So I pulled up the GameCast on ESPN to watch the stats while trying to find the audio online somewhere. Finally found it with less than 30 seconds to go in the game... But the audio feed was behind the GameCast updates, so I saw that the Celtics won before the guys on the radio announced it, made it twice as good.

The Roids

2009-05-07T15:33:00.004-05:00

Why baseball stinks:
Thanks alot Manny....

Why baseball is great!

This kid pitches both right and left handed

The Table

2009-05-06T21:43:00.007-05:00

At one of our wedding showers someone (yes, I actually know who) gave us a patio set with a table and chairs. For the table top you use regular ceramic tiles. I decided "hey, alot of people in my family are creative, so I should be too" so I decided to paint logos on the tiles. To start off, I decided to do 2 of the easiest logos known to man, the OU and IU logos. Neither turned out too well, I put one of my fat fingers in the fresh paint on the OU one and IU peeled up as I took off the tape. It's taken me a while to get the hang of what I'm doing and the OU and IU logos still aren't done. I found out that I need to use the blue painters tape and that when I spray the tile I need to immediately take the tape off and to be careful not to drag my fat fingers through the paint. The orginial plan was to do the logos of my favorite teams, Celtics, Rangers, OCU, TCU, Thunder, etc. Some of those are tougher than planned and I only have 3 cans of spray paint so I decided just to pick some random, "easy" ones for now until I'm better at this. So here are the ones I have finished so far... Rangers, Dodgers, and White Sox (from the Shoeless Joe era), had Brooklyn done too but the tape didn't come off too well on that one either.

And the wife wanted me to show this to show off my softer side. These are from in front of the house

The Survivors

2009-05-03T00:10:00.004-05:00

The Celtics live to fight another day!

I made up a new game... The other day it was reported that the Washington Nationals finished their game with only 70 people in the stands (that is disgusting). The game is this, find the best available tickets to any game. Here are the early results. I challenge you.

Game 1, Marlins at Nationals

Notice that these tickets are for Row A, directly behind home plate! Isn't this spot reserved for the owner, or the guy who throws out the first pitch, or Obama, or some rich guy with season tickets? How is this seat available? I'm stunned.

Game 2, Mets at Yankees

It's not so much that these seats are all that great. By the vistors dugout, 5th row, a good place to watch a game, no doubt. But the price is what makes these so special. $2,625 each! Now that's a ticket, and no, I'm not surprised this one is available. $2,625, really? I'd heard the Yankees had some that expensive, but I didn't know any regular ol' Joe could buy them from the website. Again, stunned.

Now some will say, "you have too much time on your hands" or "get a life" or "I wish I could sit around and do meaningless internet searches like you do all day." To them I say, I'm just avoiding finishing up this Accounting final. I have until Monday to turn it in, so no need to rush.

Kasey, I ran across this site today, looked interesting, although I didn't spend too much time on it. http://www.beyondtheboxscore.com

The New Invention That's Really Not New At All

2009-05-01T23:11:00.003-05:00

I have been a big fan of quesadillas as a snack for a long, long time (I think we've talked about this before). They are quick and easy and delicious and cheap and healthy. The sad part is, for the most part, I just use cheese and tortilla... 2 at a time, cooked in a pan until nice and crispy (this started because I never had any vegetables around that I could put in there). Some friends have laughed at this simple, pure way of making them.
Tonight after our soccer game, I was looking for a snack and turned to my trusty old, Mexican friend. Wanting to spice up the snack a bit I went through the fridge and found some green onions and rotted green bell peppers. Then I decided I'd add some actual spices to it and see what I could come up with. Cumin and Cayenne were going to be added when I got the idea of frying the quesadilla. Brilliant. It was like being at the state fair.

Things I should of done:
~Top it with cheese as soon as I took it out of the pan so the cheese could melt
~Add more cheese to the inside
~Put some salsa on the inside too (I usually just use salsa for dipping)
~Sidenote: Did you know salsa is the world's #1 condiment?

The Flowers

2009-05-01T07:59:00.003-05:00

Here is a picture of the flowers we have planted (and by 'we have planted', I mean that the previous owners planted). We have 4 of these plants, and I thought they were called Dahlia, but I'm not so sure now. Anyone know what these are?

The Baseball

2009-04-29T22:58:00.003-05:00

Made this last year and printed it out poster size for the nephews for Christmas. It's all the Major League Baseball stadiums as seen from Google Maps (except for the Nationals; that stadium is too new). And of course, the new Yankees and Mets stadiums aren't on here either. Let me know if you want the full size version and I can send it to you. It'll make a poster 2' x 3' looks pretty good framed.

I'm working on all the stadiums on a map now. I couldn't find one I liked anywhere on the internet so I'm making my own. It'll help while planning trips.

The wife is literally bouncing off the walls. She's studying for a test and drank a Monster drink...

The Pizza

2009-04-26T20:27:00.004-05:00

I was in Tulsa on Friday night for an event for the wife's work. While there, I went to my favorite pizza place, Umberto's. This might be the best pizza place ever! Sorry Super Dave, I know you will put that Hideaway place in front, but this place is all pizza, no frills and better. Almost NY style, it's a little more crispy on the bottom than actual NY style, but that I can forgive.

Here's one of my slices. You can tell this is a great place because they serve the pizza on a Styrofoam plate and give you a plastic fork. One slice $1.99

When I got back from Tulsa, Isaac and I went to the Festival of Arts. One of my favorite OKC events (I might of mentioned this last year). Anyways, its cool to just wander around and look at all the art and "art" and to eat some food. I had the fried peaches and ice cream (was a bit disappointed by it). Isaac had the Strawberries Newport, it looked very good. This is a weather vane, cost $900.

Lots of people come out and feel the need to dress weird during the Arts Festival; here are some hippies.

In this photo Isaac is sitting in a chair with a list price of $21,000. No, I'm not making this up. Yes, it does look like a wheelchair. Isaac and I were scoffing at the ridiculousness of the price and the thought that someone would ever pay that, and then some lady behind me starting going on and on about how she loved the chair... her husband was not impressed.

Make no mistake about it, you can't beat Umberto's or the Festival of the Arts.

The Yard

2009-04-21T22:31:00.003-05:00

Sorry, no pics today...
The fescue I planted in the backyard finally came in the other day (that's just going to mean more mowing for me). It seemed like it popped up overnight. It's a little patchy, so hopefully more will come in soon. I sprayed the front yard with some Ortho Weed B-Gon Max yesterday. It seems to be working... the plants were looking a little droopy today. And in my landscaping/flower bed in the front, we just noticed that we have 2 big tall plants that just popped up. The Wandering Jew we have has been coming in for a while (I still need to get the dead stuff from last year out), but we just noticed these two new plants. No idea what they are. Will post pics tomorrow; maybe someone will know what they are.

Totally unrelated, Bill Simmons wrote this about the Thunder:
Follow-up note: Presti wins 2009 Exec of the Year for shrewdly building a nice foundation -- Kevin Durant, Jeff Green and Russell Westbrook as his Big Three; Krstic, Nick Collison and Thabo Sefolosha as three legit rotation guys, a top-six draft pick coming, multiple first-rounders in the hopper, cap space galore, a genuinely good coach in Scottie Brooks, and the NBA's single strangest bench guy in Robert Swift. There's just a lot to like.

Thank you very much

The Way It Should Be

2009-04-16T21:38:00.002-05:00

On ESPN.com you can run the NBA lottery, just so you can get your hopes up. Until today I've never had the Thunder come up with the #1 pick. But today it happened! Blake Griffin, Okahoma City native, played at OU, is regarded by nearly everyone as being the #1 pick. Naturally, the best possible scenario is for the Thunder to win the lotto. Now the real question, is the NBA lottery rigged? Many conspiracy theorist believe
it is. Heck, many people believe the whole NBA is rigged... and having a ref busted for cheating doesn't help any. But is the NBA draft lottery rigged? It all started in 1985 (the first year for the lottery) when the Knicks got the first pick in the draft. Back in '85 they didn't have a ping-pong ball lottery, they just put envelopes for all the teams in a big drum and the commissioner, David Stern, drew out an envelope for the first pick. Supposedly, the corner of the Knicks envelope was bent so that David Stern would know which one to pick. The reason for getting New York the #1 pick is because of how big of a market New York is. Here's link of the '85 draft: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1mN3OGRGybA
Other drafts that make you say hmmm... Last year, the Bulls, with about a 1.7% chance of winning, won so they could draft Chicago native Derrick Rose. A few years ago Cleveland won, and drafted Cleveland native LeBron James. In '92 & '93 Orlando had the first pick both years. In 2007 Boston had the 2nd most chances but ended up with the 5th pick (Of course, they ended up trading the pick and getting Garnett and Allen and winning the championship, so we'll let this one slide. But they could of had Durant, but then he wouldn't be on the Thunder now so... I guess the best really did happen in '07). So back to, is the draft lottery rigged? I sure hope so! Clay Bennett and David Stern are supposedly best friends (according to Seattle fans) so here's hoping Stern can be shady again and get us the first pick. Blake Griffin playing for the Thunder is going to make me wish I had bought my season tickets when my account manager called the other day.

The Fight

2009-04-13T22:02:00.003-05:00

Girl Fight
Reba vs. Nike - Round 1

The Catch Up (not the ketchup. ketchup is gross)

2009-04-08T21:24:00.006-05:00

Video that was on ESPN before all their opening day baseball games. I really like this video. Reminds me of the "Mighty Casey" book I have.

Here is Reba with Reba. Truly a special moment.

In my previous post I mentioned my Victory Garden. Here it is:

Huge, I know. It'll keep us fed for hours at a time. Bush-type tomatoes, crookneck squash, and red bell pepers. I'll keep you updated with how it grows. I also planted some fescue grass seed in the backyard. Haven't seen any progress out of it yet.

The Cry Babies

2009-04-07T09:18:00.004-05:00

You tell 'em Bob! I think those 3 years up on the wall are cute... Way to go texas. You stay classy Longhorns, as always.

Yesterday was MLB Opening Day!!!!!! The Rangers are officially in first place woohoo
And then there were freezing temps last night, just in time to kill off my Victory Garden...

The Pizza

2009-04-03T22:10:00.001-05:00

Free pizza Saturday!
Humble Pie Grand Opening - free pizza noon - 10pm

Humble Pie
1319 S. Broadway
Edmond, OK 73034

The Mascot

2009-03-29T21:56:00.003-05:00

Just finished booking Rumble to make an appearance at the wife's birthday party! As a gift for everyone else, here is a picture of Rumble that you can make your desktop picture (just click on it to make it full size, and then set as wallpaper). So, take down the picture of your grandkids, your photos of puppies or your classic car and enjoy this awesome photo of the awesome Rumble.

And tonight for the first time, Reba barked. Granted, it was at her own reflection in the door, but at least she CAN bark.