Work was about all that happened this week. I spent a lot of time working with the 4th quarter issues that about in the retail industry. It's been pretty exciting but I'm looking forward to the craziness being over and things returning to the normalcy of the non-christmas time of year.
I spent time on both Friday and Saturday with the relatives I have in the area. I might have even found someplace to spend New Years Eve, which is very exciting. I did get to play a lot of catchphrase and Great Great Uncle Gordon does a good job explaining/gesturing on what a stripper does.
I fly home in a few days for the holidays. This is my first X-mas flight ever so it should be interesting but I'm leaving late on Saturday so hopefully the rush would be over by then. It looks like a lot of time will be spent in the Fargo/Sheldon/Casselton areas and that should be very cold. I'm not sure if it's been below freezing here yet. HA ha to everybody who has snow on the ground.
In basketball related news both MU and UW (Huskies) won the weekend. Go Marquette!
Sunday, December 16, 2007
Sunday, December 9, 2007
Marquette Wins!
All is right with the world!
Marquette defeated UW Badgers on the road this Saturday and birds sang, flowers bloomed, and people rejoiced the victory over the evil empire. A Marquette win over Madison is great, especially on the road, as it allows in state bragging rights for a little while and Marquette got another big non conference win. I think I'll be flying home next year for the game in Milwaukee, it was hard watching this game in a bar with quiet audio and uninterested patrons. It was the clearest day in Seattle in months so the snow capped mountains were visible everywhere it was a pretty great weekend. Oh yeah, it was about 45 degrees too. I don't miss cold temps and snow.
On Friday after work I met a friend from Chicago who was in town to visit her brother. I met Liz, her brother, and some of her brothers friends out at a bar after work for happy hour and that led to dinner. It was a good times (like the video) and I enjoyed laughing at everything happening. I found a place with decent baked Zitti as a by product, so I got that going for me, which is nice.
Earlier in they day I went to UW Husky game. The final basket of the game was disallowed or the Huskies would have beat one of my least favorite programs after the Badgers (the Pitt Panthers). It was not to be however as the basket came after time expired. Pretty good game but I'm glad I went to MU the student section and general fan support was not what I would have expected. A massive state school and huge metro area should equal a sell out for most games and I'm just not seeing that here. I little disappointed actually.
Here is a halftime shot of the Hec Ed (The Husky Fieldhouse). Pretty awesome little arena, small, loud at times, close to action everywhere. I really like the windows at the west end as well.
Here is the chaos the follows a shot that may or may not count. See the cops standing near the UW logo? They weren't needed.
Here is a shot of the Refs deciding the shot. Notice the guy who has a santa beard on the upper left. He must have had today off from the Macy's Santa suit.
This the Rogue house we visited on the Portland/Van Halen trip.
This is a shot looking at the Van Halen fans inside the Portland Rose Garden. Who knew Van Halen would still have so many fans. I guess Eddie Van Halen and David Lee Roth were worth the price of admission for these people.
I really hate my cable. I got this message in the middle of a big game the other day. Nothing like giving this message during the final minute of a close football game or basketball game with 10 seconds left. I was not impressed. Broadstripe Cable stinks. Stay away!
Marquette defeated UW Badgers on the road this Saturday and birds sang, flowers bloomed, and people rejoiced the victory over the evil empire. A Marquette win over Madison is great, especially on the road, as it allows in state bragging rights for a little while and Marquette got another big non conference win. I think I'll be flying home next year for the game in Milwaukee, it was hard watching this game in a bar with quiet audio and uninterested patrons. It was the clearest day in Seattle in months so the snow capped mountains were visible everywhere it was a pretty great weekend. Oh yeah, it was about 45 degrees too. I don't miss cold temps and snow.
On Friday after work I met a friend from Chicago who was in town to visit her brother. I met Liz, her brother, and some of her brothers friends out at a bar after work for happy hour and that led to dinner. It was a good times (like the video) and I enjoyed laughing at everything happening. I found a place with decent baked Zitti as a by product, so I got that going for me, which is nice.
Earlier in they day I went to UW Husky game. The final basket of the game was disallowed or the Huskies would have beat one of my least favorite programs after the Badgers (the Pitt Panthers). It was not to be however as the basket came after time expired. Pretty good game but I'm glad I went to MU the student section and general fan support was not what I would have expected. A massive state school and huge metro area should equal a sell out for most games and I'm just not seeing that here. I little disappointed actually.
Here is a halftime shot of the Hec Ed (The Husky Fieldhouse). Pretty awesome little arena, small, loud at times, close to action everywhere. I really like the windows at the west end as well.
Here is the chaos the follows a shot that may or may not count. See the cops standing near the UW logo? They weren't needed.
Here is a shot of the Refs deciding the shot. Notice the guy who has a santa beard on the upper left. He must have had today off from the Macy's Santa suit.
This the Rogue house we visited on the Portland/Van Halen trip.
This is a shot looking at the Van Halen fans inside the Portland Rose Garden. Who knew Van Halen would still have so many fans. I guess Eddie Van Halen and David Lee Roth were worth the price of admission for these people.
I really hate my cable. I got this message in the middle of a big game the other day. Nothing like giving this message during the final minute of a close football game or basketball game with 10 seconds left. I was not impressed. Broadstripe Cable stinks. Stay away!
Sunday, December 2, 2007
Thanksgiving and Van Halen
Long time since I've posted so I'll do a high level approach. Basically my internet has been spotty and I've been a little less than motivated to post... no real reason either.
I think my last post was the 15th so I'll pick up around there. I flew home for Thanksgiving on Wednesday afternoon and got picked up at the airport around 9pm which was a little problematic because there was a Marquette game going on against Duke in Maui (I would have been in Maui had I not moved to Seattle) and I missed part of the game because of the late arrival and the subsequent drive home. MU lost and that sucked. My aunt and cousin were already there when I got home, they arrived a little early to assist in the meal prep in the morning and because of obligations later in the day somewhere in North Dakota.
Thanksgiving was pretty standard. Lots of relatives were in town and it was pretty fun. I don't get to see a lot of my aunts and uncles very often because I live pretty far away and because we're all a little older and a little busier. Lots of people about to graduate high school and go onto bigger and better things. Minot State and Valley City State seem to be popular destinations going forward - maybe I can talk a few into Marquette.
On Friday I drove to Fargo and spent a day with one of my best friends from high school. We had a good time and it was pretty low key. It's not everyday when rummicube is the game of choice, it was the first time I ever played and it was certainly a challenge. Left to our own devices on Saturday we decided we would make wine out of Grape Juice. It was cheap and pretty entertaining but I won't know how t tastes for several weeks / months. (I also made a batch at my parents for them to babysit.) I flew home on Sunday with little fanfare but the security line at the Humphrey terminal in Minneapolis was incredibly long. I haven't done a ton of air travel over the holidays and it was kind of shock. Christmas comes next.
This weekend was a drive to Portland to see Van Halen fronted by David Lee Roth. A couple of buddies from college were having a mini road trip for the concert and invited me to join them since I lived pretty close. Portland is a pretty nice town and I think I'd like to spend more time exploring the city. We ate lunch/dinner at the Rogue House - a brew pub of the microbrewery Rogue. They make a lot of tasty beers, a couple of stouts and one ale in particular are pretty popular. Van Halen followed dinner and they put on a very solid show. It's probably not quite as wild and crazy as it would have been 20 years ago but it was still pretty fun to watch. When your son, Wolfgang, is old enough to play Bass in the band sharing your last name you know you've been around the block once or twice.
I made a detour on the way home to have BW3's. I haven't had any since March and it might have been worth the detour to get some extra tasty chicken wings. I don't know when I'll have it again so maybe that will be the catalyst for my next trip to Portland. Vancouver should be next on the list.
I think my last post was the 15th so I'll pick up around there. I flew home for Thanksgiving on Wednesday afternoon and got picked up at the airport around 9pm which was a little problematic because there was a Marquette game going on against Duke in Maui (I would have been in Maui had I not moved to Seattle) and I missed part of the game because of the late arrival and the subsequent drive home. MU lost and that sucked. My aunt and cousin were already there when I got home, they arrived a little early to assist in the meal prep in the morning and because of obligations later in the day somewhere in North Dakota.
Thanksgiving was pretty standard. Lots of relatives were in town and it was pretty fun. I don't get to see a lot of my aunts and uncles very often because I live pretty far away and because we're all a little older and a little busier. Lots of people about to graduate high school and go onto bigger and better things. Minot State and Valley City State seem to be popular destinations going forward - maybe I can talk a few into Marquette.
On Friday I drove to Fargo and spent a day with one of my best friends from high school. We had a good time and it was pretty low key. It's not everyday when rummicube is the game of choice, it was the first time I ever played and it was certainly a challenge. Left to our own devices on Saturday we decided we would make wine out of Grape Juice. It was cheap and pretty entertaining but I won't know how t tastes for several weeks / months. (I also made a batch at my parents for them to babysit.) I flew home on Sunday with little fanfare but the security line at the Humphrey terminal in Minneapolis was incredibly long. I haven't done a ton of air travel over the holidays and it was kind of shock. Christmas comes next.
This weekend was a drive to Portland to see Van Halen fronted by David Lee Roth. A couple of buddies from college were having a mini road trip for the concert and invited me to join them since I lived pretty close. Portland is a pretty nice town and I think I'd like to spend more time exploring the city. We ate lunch/dinner at the Rogue House - a brew pub of the microbrewery Rogue. They make a lot of tasty beers, a couple of stouts and one ale in particular are pretty popular. Van Halen followed dinner and they put on a very solid show. It's probably not quite as wild and crazy as it would have been 20 years ago but it was still pretty fun to watch. When your son, Wolfgang, is old enough to play Bass in the band sharing your last name you know you've been around the block once or twice.
I made a detour on the way home to have BW3's. I haven't had any since March and it might have been worth the detour to get some extra tasty chicken wings. I don't know when I'll have it again so maybe that will be the catalyst for my next trip to Portland. Vancouver should be next on the list.
Thursday, November 15, 2007
Writers Guild Strike
I watched what appears to be the final new episode of The Office tonight. Next week is listed as a repeat and a few other shows the rely on writers to act, like 30 Rock, appear to be ending soon also. I'm pretty bummed about this only because there aren't really many shows worth watching on TV right now and they will be going into reruns. The only reason I have cable anymore is because of sports programming. Since I got cable nearly two years ago my reading has declined and since I pay an absolute fortune here in Seattle for cable I'm not sure how long I'll keep it. The shows I want to watch the most are mostly on network TV already and I could find lots of other things to do with my $$ besides cable.
I do side with the writers in this case. The networks have really screwed the writers out of revenue from the internet and other online sources. The networks have problems but paying the source of the revenue shouldn't be something they screw around with. ">
I also added an Office widget to the blog. I'm not sure I'm going to keep it because it's kind of big but you get fresh Office videos as soon as they come out. This was a good Office episode... sigh... I'm really going to miss new episodes.
Two Husky games down and I'm still not sure what to think. I love their little stadium but the crowds have been a little underwhelming so far. Maybe once the big games and the Pac-10 schedule start things will start to pick up because compared to MU games they're not up to par. The Huskies in general need some help, I haven't been able to sell two tickets for this weekends football game for half price so my worst case scenario is going to the game.
My family is hosting Thanksgiving this year. I haven't seen a lot of family since last Christmas actually. Between my trip to Europe and the move to Seattle I haven't been home in a long time so this is a good chance to see more people than I would normally be able to. I hope I get snowed in for a few extra days.
I do side with the writers in this case. The networks have really screwed the writers out of revenue from the internet and other online sources. The networks have problems but paying the source of the revenue shouldn't be something they screw around with. ">
I also added an Office widget to the blog. I'm not sure I'm going to keep it because it's kind of big but you get fresh Office videos as soon as they come out. This was a good Office episode... sigh... I'm really going to miss new episodes.
Two Husky games down and I'm still not sure what to think. I love their little stadium but the crowds have been a little underwhelming so far. Maybe once the big games and the Pac-10 schedule start things will start to pick up because compared to MU games they're not up to par. The Huskies in general need some help, I haven't been able to sell two tickets for this weekends football game for half price so my worst case scenario is going to the game.
My family is hosting Thanksgiving this year. I haven't seen a lot of family since last Christmas actually. Between my trip to Europe and the move to Seattle I haven't been home in a long time so this is a good chance to see more people than I would normally be able to. I hope I get snowed in for a few extra days.
Sunday, November 11, 2007
American Gangster
I watched a lot of movies this weekend and it was great. Saturday I watched a lot of football and watched the Marquette game on the internet. I'm not sure the video stream is legal but it was nice to be able to watch the game instead of listen on the internet, which I think I'm going to do tomorrow for lack of other options. MU won for what it's worth, we might be in the top ten when the new poll comes out since Michigan State lost an exhibition game.
Today, Sunday, I watched the Vikings get blown out by the Packers until they switched to a more "competitive" game. That hurts when the game is so lopsided they switch away. Depressed about the game I decided to go to the movies. I saw American Gangster, based on a true story about a New York based drug dealer and his rise to power. Denzel Washington and Russell Crowe put on a good show and is well worth the inflated price of admission. I learned the best way to remove blood from an Alpaca rug is to blot it with club soda - NEVER RUB! An Alpaca is a dromedary that lives in the high plains of South America and is a close relative of the Llama - fyi.
Two random facts from the first movie - there is going to be a new Rambo movie. Apparently remaking one successful film franchise wasn't enough for Stallone, I wonder if Rambo can fight Rocky somehow or possibly we could get Over The Top II. I heard a quote a long time ago and I'm going to paraphrase it here. 75% of black men in movies are Denzel Washington, Will Smith, and Morgan Freeman, the remaining 25% are Cuba Gooding Jr., Jamie Foxx, and other. Denzel puts on a good show in American Gangster, Cuba Gooding Jr., has a cameo, and Will Smith had a movie in the previews, and Morgan Freeman was doing the voice over / narration in another.
On the way home I noticed this classic cinema was playing Blade Runner The Final Cut. I hadn't seen Blade Runner in since college and having never been inside this retro theater I took the plunge and watched two movies in the same day. This version of Blade Runner is more violent than the version I remember and it had the narration removed. I liked this version a lot with the changes and I was really excited to hear Tyrell in a movie. It's weird to think this movie is 25 years old but I guess everything gets older and looking at Wikipedia and IMDB it turns out this is pretty universally considered a top 100 movie of all time. Both Alpaca's and Blade Runner have Wikipedia articles almost as long as the entry for North Dakota.
I'm a big fan of the Cinerama as a place to watch a movie. I might go see the first movie I ever saw in a theater, Ghostbusters, there in a couple of days. In a few months I'm totally going to see Tron, and maybe Space Odyssey 2001. How can you ignore HAL? I'm pretty sure Tron is not a top 100 movie of all time but Space Odyssey might be.
Today, Sunday, I watched the Vikings get blown out by the Packers until they switched to a more "competitive" game. That hurts when the game is so lopsided they switch away. Depressed about the game I decided to go to the movies. I saw American Gangster, based on a true story about a New York based drug dealer and his rise to power. Denzel Washington and Russell Crowe put on a good show and is well worth the inflated price of admission. I learned the best way to remove blood from an Alpaca rug is to blot it with club soda - NEVER RUB! An Alpaca is a dromedary that lives in the high plains of South America and is a close relative of the Llama - fyi.
Two random facts from the first movie - there is going to be a new Rambo movie. Apparently remaking one successful film franchise wasn't enough for Stallone, I wonder if Rambo can fight Rocky somehow or possibly we could get Over The Top II. I heard a quote a long time ago and I'm going to paraphrase it here. 75% of black men in movies are Denzel Washington, Will Smith, and Morgan Freeman, the remaining 25% are Cuba Gooding Jr., Jamie Foxx, and other. Denzel puts on a good show in American Gangster, Cuba Gooding Jr., has a cameo, and Will Smith had a movie in the previews, and Morgan Freeman was doing the voice over / narration in another.
On the way home I noticed this classic cinema was playing Blade Runner The Final Cut. I hadn't seen Blade Runner in since college and having never been inside this retro theater I took the plunge and watched two movies in the same day. This version of Blade Runner is more violent than the version I remember and it had the narration removed. I liked this version a lot with the changes and I was really excited to hear Tyrell in a movie. It's weird to think this movie is 25 years old but I guess everything gets older and looking at Wikipedia and IMDB it turns out this is pretty universally considered a top 100 movie of all time. Both Alpaca's and Blade Runner have Wikipedia articles almost as long as the entry for North Dakota.
I'm a big fan of the Cinerama as a place to watch a movie. I might go see the first movie I ever saw in a theater, Ghostbusters, there in a couple of days. In a few months I'm totally going to see Tron, and maybe Space Odyssey 2001. How can you ignore HAL? I'm pretty sure Tron is not a top 100 movie of all time but Space Odyssey might be.
Friday, November 9, 2007
Jimmy Johns Superior to Subway
Seattle has a lot of sub shops. Some of them are national, like Subway and Jimmy Johns, and some are local, like - I can't think of one offhand - but they exist. Normally I wouldn't write about something like this but I can't resist. There are tons of Subway's in Seattle and I'm not really sure why they are so popular but they're everywhere. I try to eat at the Jimmy John's by my office and it's not quite as exciting or unique as the one on the Marquette campus I used to deliver for but it is still pretty solid. JJ's is superior to Subway because I frequent a Subway by my apartment and literally there is a woman who works there who cannot remember anything for more than 10 seconds. Literally, she will ask me a question and ask the same question 20 seconds later, it's so bad I'm to the point where if see she's working I won't eat there. Jimmy John's is superior, and when I win the lottery I'm going to open my open Jimmy John's or possible an Internet cafe.
Kermit the Frog is "assisting" on deal or no deal tonight. Apparently he is helping to keep with the trumped up "green" theme that GE Universal is putting on in some sort of BS environmental theme. GE is one of the hugest polluters in the country FYI. I'm glad most of the shows on Thursday night (The Office, 30 Rock, Earl) made fun of the concept.
This weekend the Packers play the Vikings. I soooo hope the Vikings win it hurts. Now that I no longer live in the Cheese state of Wisconsin I don't mind the Packers as much but I still hope the Vikings win. I'm OK with a good story and the Favre resurgence is pretty fun to watch FROM AFAR. I can't wait for Adrian Peterson to run wild on the Packer defense! Cold medicine drugs with Pseudoephedrine are illegal because they can be used to make farmhouse meth, a big problem in the Midwest, but dang to they REALLY work well. It's worth going on the potential drug dealer list to get the good stuff.
The dude Kermit was helping won $129,000 - but Kermit wasn't all that useful - he could have won $400,000+ if he would have played the game out. However, the guy playing might have talked a briefcase girl into a double date with Kermit and Piggy - how can you do wrong with that.
Kermit the Frog is "assisting" on deal or no deal tonight. Apparently he is helping to keep with the trumped up "green" theme that GE Universal is putting on in some sort of BS environmental theme. GE is one of the hugest polluters in the country FYI. I'm glad most of the shows on Thursday night (The Office, 30 Rock, Earl) made fun of the concept.
This weekend the Packers play the Vikings. I soooo hope the Vikings win it hurts. Now that I no longer live in the Cheese state of Wisconsin I don't mind the Packers as much but I still hope the Vikings win. I'm OK with a good story and the Favre resurgence is pretty fun to watch FROM AFAR. I can't wait for Adrian Peterson to run wild on the Packer defense! Cold medicine drugs with Pseudoephedrine are illegal because they can be used to make farmhouse meth, a big problem in the Midwest, but dang to they REALLY work well. It's worth going on the potential drug dealer list to get the good stuff.
The dude Kermit was helping won $129,000 - but Kermit wasn't all that useful - he could have won $400,000+ if he would have played the game out. However, the guy playing might have talked a briefcase girl into a double date with Kermit and Piggy - how can you do wrong with that.
Sunday, November 4, 2007
Writing Again
I haven't written a lot the last couple of weeks, mostly because I was out of town and tired, but also because I was tired and didn't feel like writing. I dropped my friend off at the airport nearly two weeks ago and since then I worked for two days and flew to Appleton WI.
Worked for a day in Appleton. Rented a car and drove to Milwaukee on Thursday night and spent a few hours with the friends I could round up on relatively short notice. It was a pretty good time and I got to eat a Sobelman burger and drink a Spotted Cow. On Friday I met up with a few people from Roundy's for coffee and conversation. I've been gone for 7 months and it is kind of surreal to be back and seeing how things have changed (and stayed the same).
I continued onto O'hare and flew to St. Louis. I spend Friday night in St. Louis with friends from Marquette in a non-wedding setting. Saturday was the wedding and Sunday I flew out later in the day so I went to the top of the Gateway Expansion Arch or whatever it's called. It was pretty fun but it's a little strange, the Arch isn't all that old, it was built in the 60's. That got me thinking - what was the last monument of massive scale that was built in the US? I know the Korean and Vietnam war memorials came after but they aren't huge structures like the Arch. I'm sure the 9/11 memorial will be huge whatever it ends up being.
This week at work nothing crazy happened. I did carve a pumpkin that won an award for precision. Happy Halloween is a time consuming pain in the ass to carve. Nothing else worth nothing about Halloween. The rest of the week was pretty laid back. I watched a lot of football this weekend and listened to a Marquette game streaming on the internet. I have my first UW game tomorrow as well. The Huskies are playing a local college, Seattle Pacific, in an exhibition game. Normally I might skip this game but I want to see the venue and see the team I'm going to start cheering for.
I just bought a plane ticket home for Christmas. This is getting expensive.
Worked for a day in Appleton. Rented a car and drove to Milwaukee on Thursday night and spent a few hours with the friends I could round up on relatively short notice. It was a pretty good time and I got to eat a Sobelman burger and drink a Spotted Cow. On Friday I met up with a few people from Roundy's for coffee and conversation. I've been gone for 7 months and it is kind of surreal to be back and seeing how things have changed (and stayed the same).
I continued onto O'hare and flew to St. Louis. I spend Friday night in St. Louis with friends from Marquette in a non-wedding setting. Saturday was the wedding and Sunday I flew out later in the day so I went to the top of the Gateway Expansion Arch or whatever it's called. It was pretty fun but it's a little strange, the Arch isn't all that old, it was built in the 60's. That got me thinking - what was the last monument of massive scale that was built in the US? I know the Korean and Vietnam war memorials came after but they aren't huge structures like the Arch. I'm sure the 9/11 memorial will be huge whatever it ends up being.
This week at work nothing crazy happened. I did carve a pumpkin that won an award for precision. Happy Halloween is a time consuming pain in the ass to carve. Nothing else worth nothing about Halloween. The rest of the week was pretty laid back. I watched a lot of football this weekend and listened to a Marquette game streaming on the internet. I have my first UW game tomorrow as well. The Huskies are playing a local college, Seattle Pacific, in an exhibition game. Normally I might skip this game but I want to see the venue and see the team I'm going to start cheering for.
I just bought a plane ticket home for Christmas. This is getting expensive.
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