Weekend Accomplished!

This weekend was a long time coming. Well five days anyway, four of them working days for me. However it was a concentrated amount of work in four days to prepare for the inspection I blogged about yesterday.

I didn't want to do anything but be quiet and still after work.
I was craving a tuna salad sandwich after work so I stopped by the store on the way home and picked up the stuff, some chips, and bread.

It was really nice to just relax and just do nothing after work. Yeah I know I went out Thursday night with friends and I needed that too. I feel good this morning! I'm looking forward to listening to the Cigar Dave show at 11:00 and other than that no plans except for coffee with my friend Bob to help him set up his brand new iPhone and hang out.

Good Night/Inspection Day

Today is the day we have been cleaning up for the past two weeks. An inspection that rolls around every couple of years is today and all of next week. We get it early on this morning. At least we get it all over and done with first.

Last night was fun. Had some scotch time with Chianti after work while I grabbed supper at the pub. Been a few months and we just wanted to catch up with chatting about what was going on.

Then I asked if they wanted to go to the Blue Note around 8:30, they did and so I invited the Date to attend so we could all hang out and relax for a while. That was a lot of fun! I love it when things like that go right and everyone enjoys themselves!

I'm looking forward to the weekend. This has been a stressful week.

Vince Vs. Billy Mays

Billy Mays has dominated the TV commercial pitchman genre recently. With his carnival barker loud style you get the feeling that if you were having a quiet supper with him that you would need ear muffs.

The guy is just out and out loud as he practically screams, "Hi! Billy Mays here for xxxx!" Well Mays is getting his own reality show on Discovery. I really don't think Discovery will lend itself to this type of show as well as VH1 would but we'll see.

From Magic Putty to KaBoom! and everything in between he is golden in his pitch until Vince came along. Shamwow Vince that is. He looks as if he should have a coffee drip in his arm. His frenetic style and talking to the camera technique makes it appear as if you are at the county fair and he is right there demonstrating his wares for you.

He only has two products that he is pushing right now (as far as I know) with the Slap Chop and the Shamwow but I am thinking you will see him more often and Billy Mays less often.

Vince has the bases covered and even though he seems a bit too frenetic he does seem friendly. Billy Mays is more like the loud drunk uncle that everyone is hoping doesn't show up for Thanksgiving but you have to invite him anyway.

Yes I know there is Anthony Sullivan out there as well but he is more of a third tier guy at this point.

Oh WOW!!!!

This has got to be something I'm going to try this Summer during grilling season!!!!

Death by Bacon! You long time readers will remember my legendary post about my love of bacon in the Bacon, Sex, and the Internet post. Well this is would be the culmination of anyone's love of bacon.

Yeah, this Summer....you can count on me doing this!

Great Weekend!

Three days off were a blast, sometimes people at work as if they had a good three day weekend or a good weekend. Usually I tell them I've never had a bad weekend, have they?

Anytime off of work is good time off of work. It'll be a busy week. There is a big inspection coming and everyone will be pinging off of the walls to do things that haven't been done in years. No one will care though. It won't be inspected anyway.

That's the way it goes though.

My PC runs like it is brand new, essentially it is. A new hard drive and a clean Vista install means lighting speeds for a few months. It'll be long enough for what I need to do.

It's Tuesday, tomorrow the President will sign the massive spending bill into law. The Porkulus bill which will deepen our debt dramatically and accomplish close to nothing. That was my problem with the last President. He allowed spending to get way out of control when he should have vetoed many more spending bills.

Now every hippy loving congressman is getting their pet projects into a bill and it has been passed including the rollback of the current welfare system. It will be like it was before Clinton and congress reformed it. That was likely one of the most right wing things he did while in office. He got people off of the government gravy train and dependent upon themselves so they were better able to pursue a good life for them and their families.

That's one of many things that are not good for our country that Porkulus will accomplish. The future of our country as we knew it is quickly coming to an end. Look at Venezuela, that is our future if we stay on this path.

I hope my state secedes from the union.....

Day Off

It has been a really nice three day weekend! Spent Friday night, Saturday, and a large part of Sunday with the date.

Been pretty nice although it was a bit cold over the past few days. We had some warm weather and then cold again. I can't wait for Spring. I can start sitting outside and enjoy my cigars. I sat by my bedroom window yesterday afternoon and had one, it was too chilly to sit outside.

I had an Arturo Fuente 8-5-8. A medium bodied smoke. Got it for Valentine's day. It was a tad harsh as the place it was purchased doesn't humidify their cigars. It would have benefited from being in my humidor for three weeks.

Medium bodied, had a woody flavor and a bit spicy over the first third. It never mellowed as it should have which I chalked up to not resting enough in a humidor. The Fuente quality was still present though. If you ever get a Fuente you know that you are in for a quality cigar. I have another 8-5-8 and two Fuente Hemingway Signatures in my humi now. These are resting until this Summer though!

PC Blues

I've been fighting my PC the past two days while only taking time out to go to an Indian Casino for a break for a few hours with the GF.

First I had DVD rom problems. Then I had to reformat since my Adobe software wouldn't install. Then more DVD rom problems! I kid you not. Then the Vista installation went awry. Then this morning I got Adobe to install but now my audio drivers are missing!!!!

GGGRRRR!!!!!

Installation

I started installing my new hard drive and Windows last night. I got Vista installed and now I'm installing the updates.

Have to get a new tire today. I've got one that has the cords showing. Needs to be replaced and now that I have some extra coin that's what's going to happen!
Might go to one of the local Indian casinos today. It'll be a warm up for Vegas!

My GF got me some scotch and cigars for Valentine's day! How cool is that?

Double Payday!

I'm happy happy joy joy today! I got my federal refund and I got paid!

Bad news is that we might have to work a day this weekend to get things ready for an inspection. That would put a damper on my three day weekend but at least I'd still get two days off.

I'll get time and a half for the inconvenience. Not a bad deal if I have to work.

Stephen Fowler

Has become quite the internet sensation and the focus of much criticism now.
For example www.stephenfowlersucks.com is a real website and lists every demographic that he insulted as well as the fallout he is experiencing.

He has had to resign from two boards he was a member of due to the bad publicity.

There is now a pseudo dictionary entry in pop culture:
fowleristic

Main Entry:
fowl·er·is·tic Listen to the pronunciation of narcistic
Pronunciation:
\foul-er-is-tik\
Function:
adjective
fowleristic (or foul-eristic as the midwest would say) describes a person who is very narcissistic, verbal abusive with little or not empathy towards others. People who like to use more simple words would call this person snooty and pompous.


Cara G. suggested:
fowler (fow-ler) n. (pl. fow’lers)
a person showing extreme lack of couth when addressing others he considers beneath his social and/or academic status, “That mean man is a fowler.” (fow’ler) v. to speak with contemptuous rudeness, to express judgments about, “Didn’t your mother teach you not to fowler your fellow man/woman?”

(fow’ler ous) adj.
impolite, showing no respect or consideration, “Calling someone a “dumb redneck” is fowlerous.” (fow’ler ly) adv. *To fowler by association, using hate speech because of what you’ve been taught by a fowler.


from Webster:
fowlerification (noun)
The process by which a person or situation acquires, or is victimized by, fowlerous properties. "With the final insult in regards to the shotgun, Stephen declared the fowlerification complete."

Fowlerifism
an elitist ideology that tenets of which believe that only those with a certain kind of education and who live in a certain geographic area are entitled to respect and dignity. "Fowlerifism masquerades in forms of liberal ideas, but at its heart is a kind of academic apartheid."

While I disagree with the last entry of Fowlerifism the rest is accurate. I do believe that liberalism is a stepping stone to this sort of behavior as demonstrated by great liberals in history Stalin, Hitler, Castro, and Pol Pot.

Boiling Blood

From someone in the Mid-West I'd like to say that I hope to run across this man's path someday. As All Mighty God as my witness I hope I do. Fortunately for him he will never stoop to venturing to my state. I share two things with him, his pithy t-shirt wardrobe which I happen to share (not the messages just the format)...and we are both carbon based lifeforms.

Other than that this man is arrogant, hates America, hates anyone who is lesser than he is or at least his view of lesser, and is just out and out mean. He is also the poster child of the elite in this country who feel they are better than the common man.

He is raising two robot children who will carry on his ways and that is likely his sad legacy. His wife is apparently so intellectually listless that she follows him blindly, at his beck and call.

I've known some arrogant people in my life but thankfully this trash was not among them. San Francisco is a good place for him and his ilk. This man continually degraded this woman for no other reason than to humiliate her. Not only her but this country, our military, and 99.9% of everyone else in it. This man is the human embodiment of the liberal elite in this country and exactly what they believe of everyone in it.

Everyone who has ever served and has worn a proud uniform of this country has protected this man's right to say these things. They have paid in blood for his right which he earned, not by being born here but by naturalizing as a citizen. Our military has done this for him. Thank you Mr. Stephen Fowler for exercising your God Given and military protected right. However sir that is where we part ways.

My vocabulary is failing me at the moment as I'm finding it hard to describe my anger. I'm a forgiving person by nature, live and let live but sometimes you must make a stand to keep good people from the tyranny of such cruel and inhumane people.

Mr. Fowler I shall pray for you tonight. I shall pray that you experience true and genuine compassion.
I shall pray that you be brought to a place in your life where you see your actions and be brokenhearted over them.
I shall pray that you are not allowed to destroy your two precious children any further.
I shall pray sir that you learn what love is and what it isn't.

Sir I shall pray for your very soul which is no doubt an abstract concept to you, foreign and an invention of the unwashed masses.

Tornados

They missed us yesterday but we caught some rain for a while and some thunder. They were all to the South. I really don't think anyone was expecting tornadic activity in February though.

It really caught people by surprise. March and April it is expected but February? Bizarre weather for sure.

I think there are eight people who were killed yesterday, that is what I have read anyway. Some damage but I know the power company was out fixing the damaged lines immediately after and even during the storm in places.

Its really windy out this morning, likely will be this way all day.

My Apologies To Barry Bonds

That's right after the current A-Rod scandal over steroids I have done some serious reflecting on what steroids means to the game of baseball. I haven't been a huge fan of baseball since the strike. No secret there but I do catch a game now and then when something big is going on.

So now that the one man who was supposed to erase Barry Bonds from the record books admitted to using steroids I had to wonder how exactly have steroids hurt baseball?

The season home run race between McGuire and Sosa was very compelling and lifted the entire game when droves of people were staying out of the stadiums. They brought their road show to your town and sold it out. More people followed that intense race than had paid attention in years! It was drama and good and because of steroids.

I say let major leaguers use steroids if they want to. Lets get the home runs back up there over sixty per year and not forty like it is now. Barry Bonds...well people bought tickets just to boo him! I don't like him, no use for him but now it isn't because of his steroid use. He continued to deny it while there is massive amounts of evidence proving him a liar.

Very similar to Roger Clemens who is STILL shouting from the highest mountain that he is clean while there is DNA evidence saying he is a liar. Steroids really hasn't hurt the game of baseball, sure it has hurt the players in their long term health but it made the game watchable. Athletes were able to jump higher, heal faster, hit the ball harder.

Now we have a game of singles instead of triples and homers. Bunts instead of doubles. Yawwwnnnn. I want to watch the closer who throws 100 mph for an inning again. I want to watch things that interest me and steroid free baseball just doesn't.

In today's economic times disposable cash is going to be saved instead of spent. Baseball will be screaming if not begging for that money to support massive payrolls. Stadiums will see their attendance drop dramatically as our recession deepens and the porkulus package fails. There are one hundred sixty two games, who is going to care about a White Sox - Oakland series in July as it is?

Teams will need that extra edge to make the game compelling again. They will need a McGuire or a Sosa race. They will need a Barry Bonds to boo. They need steroids.

First Rain

Of the season is going on right now. It seemed to rain most of the night, quietly. No big thunderstorms, just a light rain that didn't freeze to everything. It's probably sixty degrees out right now, cool but not cold by any means.

Back to work today. It will be a long week as I'm expecting my federal tax return this Friday which also happens to be my payday. What a cool day that will be!

A double payday! Woohoooo! Other than that it should be a fairly easy week.

Beautiful Day

Yesterday was great! Calm, warm, and a perfect day to sit outside and enjoy a La Flor Dominicna Ligero L 500 Cabinet which is a very strong, full flavored cigar. It clocks in at 5 3/4 x 60 which is a massive ring gauge and a bit bigger than a Robusto in length.

To start with it I clipped the end and toasted the foot. A soft flame lighter would have taken forever to toast something this caliber so I used my triple flame jet lighter. It took a few seconds then it was on to actually lighting it.

Massive clouds of woodsy smoke filled the air. The first half inch was a bit stout and peppery. There is no doubt that this was a full flavored cigar. Not quite as powerful as the Joya de Nicaragua which is the strongest cigar I've had. The JdN is quite a bit smoother though.

I believe that the taste difference came from the Oscuro wrapper on the La Flor Dominicana. The wrappers really do provide at least 50% of the flavor and I really haven't had many Oscuros. Overall I wouldn't buy this cigar, this one was gifted to me in a contest. If I have had more of a developed palate for an Oscuro wrapper then I would know a bit more about what to expect.

It did mellow out about half way into the cigar and became much less harsh. The one rule of thumb is never judge a cigar by the first half inch. That was certainly true regarding this particular cigar. Don't try it if you are a cigar newbie. It will over power you.

I received my PIN number yesterday as well! So I went to activate my debit card and now I finally have access again to my checking account! I'm thrilled! I'm normal again!

Fun With Twitter

A few months ago I decided to jump upon the Twitter bandwagon. I really didn't utilize it very much. Now though I've found several cigar smoking twits, several twits that lean my way politically, and just some fun twits.

Twitter is very simple. You have one hundred forty characters to update what you are doing. You can update it as often as you want. You can tweet pictures, links, or just text. It is a fun and efficient way to keep up with people of a like mind.

There are several really great apps for the iPhone but right now I'm using Tweetie. It will find nearby tweets, allows you to follow or un-follow twits. Just a great little app!

Follow me! Search for blugill

Weirdest Love Story Ever

You long time readers know I'm a huge Kevin Smith fan, even got an email from Kev that I posted a long time back. So tonight I was thrilled to finally watch Zack and Miri Make a Porno.

Two life long friends in deep debt decide to make a porn to pay off their bills. What ensues is everything that it takes to make a no budget movie....and a bit more. With a solid classic Kevin Smith cast and the offbeat humor this is Chasing Amy redux.

Funny, touching, gross out (although not as much as Clerks 2) and lots of heart....foul mouthed heart but heart anyway. It was a lot like my group of friends in a few parts...well minus the gratuitous amounts of sex. A handful of people turn into wonderful friends and a patch work family.

This movie in its own way explores friends and lovers as only Smith can do. His finger firmly on the pulse of cutting edge dialogue and charm. Its a good mixture and it works.

Watch it, not with kids around though but watch it.

It's All Good

The CT scan turned out just dandy. No kidney stones what so ever and everything is healthy.

Had a great lunch at BDubs with Beersnob, Chianti, and the date. Came home then and took a nap. Its a good day to be off. A bit windy however it is warm.

Scan Day

Yep, in just a few minutes I'll be drinking a quart of this wild berry contrast stuff for a CT scan in a couple of hours. I should be out of there in about an hour and then I have a full day off!

Woohoooo!

Have lunch plans with my friends and girlfriend at BDubs (Buffalo Wild Wings) for some lunch and trivia. I'm going to have a great day! Not a lot of plans this weekend but I'm sure it will be fun!

Yep, No Access

Wednesday has come and gone and still no access to my checking account via checks or a beloved check card. Perhaps Thursday is the day?

This is also my Friday. Tomorrow I have a CT Scan as a follow up to the kidney stone problems about this time last year s you long time readers will recall. It doesn't take all day but the dye they gave me made me feel woozy and not good. I really didn't want to go to work feeling like that so I'm off all day.

It is early in the morning at nine so I won't have a ruined day either. In and out, maybe two hours max and I'm good!

Still No Access Again

I had to go to the bank again yesterday to get more cash as I still do not have a debit card or a regular check book. I asked a place I go to daily if I could write a temporary check for fuel and they said they couldn't accept it.

I was really hoping that I'd get everything yesterday in the mail but alas I have not. So I'm on cash again for another day.

This is a tough way to live....well relatively speaking.

Tuesday And No Access

You'll remember when I mentioned last week I had to close my checking account and open a new one. Well the problem became how can I get paid when my direct deposit was going into my old account and it was already in work by the time I had to close/reopen.

So my bank was supposed to catch the deposit and reroute it into the brand new account. They didn't until I called them, now it is fixed though however I had to stock up on cash since no one in town will take a temporary check for anything but the purchase price. So say I want to go eat at a place that doesn't take checks I have to bring cash. Or if you need cash on Saturday afternoon or Sunday when the bank is closed, you are also screwed.

Sometime this week I'm going to get my debit card and a new box of checks to replace the other brand new box of checks that are now worthless.

The next step is that I pay all of my bills online and have to go through each one of them and change account information. No big deal and I'd have been more upset if my account had been broken into however it is still a bit of a hassle.

I've got enough cash to last the week now. Hopefully I'll come home from work and find my brand new debit card in the mail!

Hall Of Famer

The show Warner put on for the losing team was enough to put him into the Hall. 31 of 43 for nearly 400 yards, 3 tds, only 1 int. Yeah, taking the lead late in the fourth quarter and almost beating a team most of the experts said would blow out the Cards.

No doubt. Kurt Warner deserves to be in Canton. I was disappointed in the outcome but as I blogged before I really didn't have a dog in the fight. I just wanted a good show and a good game and both happened. I got to spend watching it with the date and friends and that was great. Had a lot of good snacks and that was great.

It was a fun and busy weekend as I mentioned before it would be. Now it's back to work time. I'm ready I guess. A little drained after the weekend but it'll be nice to get back to work and get some rest. Hehehehe!

Super Bowl Sunday

Yeah I know I blogged about this yesterday too but by golly it is the last game of the season! No one watches the pro bowl so that game doesn't matter....not even to the pros.

So last night we had a huge surprise party for Beersnob. He came home from Qatar and believed he was in for a quiet night with Chianti and her new beau. Well we hide everyone and when he shows up and walks in, we all shout and he was genuinely surprised and taken aback.

It was great! We had close to thirty people there and it was a total success!

So today is also Super Bowl Sunday. Yeah most everyone I talked to are wanting Kurt Warner's story to continue its fairy tale course. They really don't have anything against the Steelers but really would like to see the underdog win the day. They think a story like that would lift the national mood a bit! I think it just might!

Yesterday there was also a poker tournament among friends and coworkers. I was put out early on a great hand but I made it a couple of rounds in and had a great time!

It was also one of the most historic days in Iraq as they had elections and there was no violence! It was one of the most successful elections in their history and a true vindication of the Iraq policy. I really don't think you will hear that news in its proper context on the networks though.

Iraq is a free country and a baby democracy in an unstable part of the world. This year is off to a great start!

Busy Day

I've got breakfast in about an hour with soem friends, a poker game at noon, I have to make a seven layer dip for a party tonight, and THEN a party tonight.

Then tomorrow I have another seven layer dip to make and then the big and last game of the season! The Super Bowl!

More than likely out of ten games Pittsburgh would win seven to eight games. Playing one game though...well lightning can strike. Fitz can make a big play. Boldin can be healthy and a threat. Warner can make that super accurate throw. Big Ben can throw a couple of picks. Ward might not be 100%. A lot can happen in one game.

This could either be a Steeler's blowout or a slim Cardinals win. The key is how the Arizona D stops the Pittsburgh O. The interesting match up will be the opposite. How will the stifling Steel Curtain contain the explosive Cardinals offensive unit that can score on any play.

I've got no dog in the fight, just want to see a good game and spend time with my friends. Bring on the Super Bowl commercials! Not thrilled about Springsteen though. Always felt he was pretty overrated and bigger on the East coast than in the middle of the country where I live. Never saw his appeal. Tom Petty was far better as a choice last year.

Truly Historic

With all of the history being made in the month of January one of the most historic events of all time happened today.

Michael Steele was elected as the first black chairman of the RNC. To tell you the truth yeah, Obama is historic but so was Condi Rice and she was subject to daily ridicule and abuse. Her story was every bit as compelling as Obama's story. She is far more qualified to be President than Obama is. She is definitely smarter and more professional. It's just her politics were wrong from the left's point of view.

Michael Steele is another American success story and he will undoubtedly come under intense scrutiny and personal attacks. Instead of being praised for doing things his way without government help he will be accused of being not black enough or some other such silly attack. Instead of being a role model for all kids on what is possible, Steele will be vilified for his beliefs of personal responsibility and tradition.

Where are the commemorative coins now?

Big Weekend

Got a lot on the agenda this weekend. Have a somewhat business meeting Friday night with my date, and a long time friend with his wife.

Turns out I might find a part time gig for some extra cash. Something creative and something that might actually be marketable. Who'dathunkit? I might have a marketable skill....

Anyway there is a lot to be discussed before anything is for real yet.

Then Saturday I'm having breakfast with the date, and friends. Saturday afternoon I have a poker game and then I have to make some snacks for Super Bowl Sunday at Beersnob's house!

Yes Beersnob is back in town after his tour in Qatar! It will likely be too cold for cigar smoking however. No big deal, Spring will be here soon enough! By the way, my payday that is supposed to be in my account isn't there like it should be. I'll be calling as soon as they open their doors...

Started Fine!

After the Sun came out yesterday and I got my charger on it for about fifteen minutes the truck spun over fast enough to start. Woohooo!

Most of the icy roads melted off yesterday, roads are safe and clear. Supposed to get up to about fifty today! Almost a heat wave. I hope Spring is around the corner. Some warm weather sounds really nice now!

Yesterday cost me less than an hour of leave. I worked until the normal time so I saved quite a bit by going on in. Tomorrow is payday in my new checking account. The problem is that the company can't change my deposit information that fast. It is going into my closed checking account. The bank said they would catch it and reroute it.

I hope they do. This concerns me!

Too Cold

For my diesel to start today. I've almost ran down the batteries this morning to get it to start. I've got my battery charger, which was on loan, on its way back to me already. It was plugged in all night but it can still have problems in this kind of cold.

I might need some Power Service for the fuel. I don't think it has gelled up but it might have. It had plenty in the last tank and I only put a few gallons in the other day so it should have had enough in there to prevent gelling.

Once it warms up today it should be fine though. I just need a bit more cranking power to kick it over.

Now for the real problem, I had to close my checking account yesterday and open a new one. I won't get my debit card or checks to access my cash until next week. The bank notified me that their processing center was compromised and I needed to close my account as a precaution.

Yes I have some temporary checks but most places don't take checks anymore and opt for cards or cash, and these are temporary checks on top of that. I've got cash with me but if this is a costly repair which I don't think it will be, then I'm screwed.

I believe that a battery charger and a little Sun and I'm golden.

Ice Storm

My work place is closed right now. Don't know if it will be open later on today or not. I've got the Suburban warming up, I'll let it run for an hour or so.

Does a diesel good to be warm anyway. This isn't as bad as the 2002 storm that we had that took out our power lines for a few days but as for driving it is just as bad. The radar shows more coming in for today.

All of the schools are closed. I'm sure most of the businesses will be closed. It's a good day to just stay at home. It's cold out, it's nasty out, and there is more coming. Perfect recipe to call in if I have to!

Graycliff Espresso Robusto

Yesterday I had a Graycliff Espresso. Graycliff is a brand of cigars that originates out of the Bahamas and has a small company there. The story is that they have a dozen rollers and that's it.

The Espresso Robusto is a dark wrapper, it looks like a Dark Sumatra or Oscuro. I originally thought it was an Oscuro because of its super full flavor, however the description says it is a Costa Rican Maduro wrapper. Some descriptions call it a dark naturale so I'm not exactly sure which it is.

This is like drinking black coffee, which is how I drink coffee. Full on flavor. The Espresso isn't a bargain cigar. Some in the Graycliff line command a full price as well ticking in at over twenty dollars apiece.

I purchased these on Cigarbid.com a few months ago for less than twenty dollars for five of them. Now you can find them priced as high as ten dollars apiece.

The Graycliff is a truly good cigar. Graycliffs are about quality over quantity and their limited production can speak to that. If you find one you'll be doing yourself a favor if you have a palate geared towards the full flavored cigars before lighting one. Otherwise a lot of it will be lost on you but that's ok too, at least you can say you had a Graycliff!

Joya De Nicraragua Celebracion Consul

Yesterday while sitting by my bedside window in a love seat I had a Joya de Nicaragua Celebracion Consul. It was a 4 inch by 52 ring gauge, crillio wrapped cigar. The Winter has really put a crimp into my cigar smoking so the Sun had really warmed up my bedroom and it was pretty warm by the window. It made the perfect place!

I was listening to the Cigar Dave Show online and there was a nice draft taking the towering plumes of smoke outside into the Arctic chilled air. This was a very nice cigar, it was a smooth, medium flavored stick. A bargain at just around two dollars too. The construction was solid, no draw problems at all. It had a little heft in the hand. The wrapper did start to come apart towards the nub but that is generally expected but not to the degree it did on this cigar.

The flavors were consistent all the way through. To start it was a bit spicy then it was a little cocoa and a little fruit, so it ran along the sweet line instead of the earthy or leathery side. I'll definitely pick up a few more and perhaps in a different size next time. This was great for about an hour of smoking time. Not a beginner's cigar at all but for a seasoned cigar smoker it would fit the bill as a go to smoke.

I'm down to about one cigar about every two or three weeks right now. A far cry from the cigar per evening in the Summer. I can't wait for Spring....

Orb Live

One of the most amazing apps for the iPhone I've found is called Orb. The problem with the iPhone is the limited storage. You can get up to sixteen gigs and that's it. That isn't very much.

Yes there was a time when sixteen gigs was "more than you would ever need", those days are long gone. I've got the eight gig 3G model of the iPhone and I can easily fill it up, I could fill up a sixty four gig model if it were available!

So along comes the app store and some great developer content! Orb was actually around long before the app store but I never jailbroke my iPhone to use it.

So what is Orb? Orb is an application that you install on your PC and your iPhone. You create playlists on your PC, all of your audio files, all of your video files, all of your pictures, all of your documents and then you can stream that to your iPhone!

You aren't limited by the iPhone's limited storage anymore! I've ripped lots of movies to put on my iPhone to watch but I had to choose what to put on there because of the space. NOW I can take all of that off of my iPhone and just stream it there over the cell network!

HOW COOL IS THAT?!?!?!?!

A Good Night!

I got a text Wednesday evening about meeting Chianti and a few friends for drinks Thursday night and a light supper. I'm all for that! Love my friends!
Unless I'm busy I'll always make time to spend time with my friends. So we are at Wild Wings and I've had a craving to play some trivia most of yesterday so I get a playmaker thingy and proceed to take first a handful of times!

Then J shows up! Trivia king! He always pushes me to play better! We spar a few questions and then its on like Donkey Kong! I beat him by a mere eighty points! A few of the group decide they want to go karaoke and I decide I'm not going to go karaoke so we all hug, say goodbye, and head in our own directions.

So if you are ever at the local BDubs, look me up. I'll play ya some trivia!

Vacation Approved!

The end of March a group of friends, my date, and I are going to Vegas for a few days! It is a group celebration of birthdays that happen to be within a few weeks or months of each other.

I can't wait! We are all staying at the Luxor! So it will be great to stay and organize what we are going to do from the same place.

I plan on going down the Caesar's Place and going to Casa Fuente! A large cigar lounge and the only one licensed by Arturo Fuente. They make some great cigars! Including the expensive Opus X line. I had two of them resting in my humidor and gave them away so I really haven't tried one yet.

People are mixed on them. Some believe the scarcity and price of an Opus X is what makes it a great cigar while others feel it shouldn't command the price it does because it is an average smoke at best taste wise.

I believe my taste has developed enough to tell if it is good or not. No one argues the quality or the construction of an Opus X, just if the taste should demand the price it does.

Anyway I hope to give a couple of those a try in late March!

Siriusless

So I get to work yesterday and turn the shop's power on. Lights, heat, and Sirius radio right? What happens? The Sirius receiver says no antenna detected.

So I go outside where the antenna is and find that the wire has been pinched apart and in fact no antenna is hooked to the receiver. It was right!

So the entire day there was no Sirius radio in the shop and it was too quiet. It sucked! Once you are used to that kind of entertainment it is tough to go without. I listened to a few podcasts while working. That made the day easier but still everyone who came in the shop asked why it was so quiet!

So hopefully we can get the antenna fixed today.

Great Day Off!

Yesterday was a federal holiday so I had the day off. First of all my date and I and two others had lunch at Chili's and then later on for supper a group and I drove to Stillwater and ate at the Texas Roadhouse and had steaks.

Good time, good food! Great day off!

It was worth the drive and it is worth it to spend some quality guy time with a great group of guys.

Cardinals Steelers

This is going to be a great match up!

I am pretty sure that the NFL wanted an all Pennsylvania Super Bowl however it wasn't to be. I believe most of America just likes a underdog story.

The Cardinals haven't won a championship in sixty one years which is the longest drought in sports aside from the perpetual championshipless Chicago Cubs.

The Steelers have five Lombardi trophies and are one of the most successful franchises in NFL history.

It will be a really good Super Bowl! It could make Kurt Warner a guaranteed hall of famer. He took two franchises to the big game, NFL MVP twice, Super Bowl MVP, one of the most accurate passers ever. Yeah he has the credentials. If he wins this game it is a lock.

The Steel Curtain D, well if any D out there right now can shut them down it will be this one. Although you couldn't really tell against a weaker Baltimore offense yesterday but the Steelers really held them in check most of the game.

Both games were really good but when the Eagles made the third quarter comeback yesterday and the Cardinals knew they were finally in a dog fight it got really good! The Cardinals put together a game winning drive and held the Eagles in check to win the game.

Yeah this will be a really good game coming up!

AFC/NFC Championship Games

Two good games are on tap today. First off I'd like to see the Cardinals and the Steelers play. I wouldn't have a problem with the Cardinals and the Ravens as that would have the best QB storyline.

You would have the veteran Kurt Warner, the feelgood story of the NFL against the rookie Joe Flacco. Both have skillfully guided their teams thus far and are almost willing their teams to win.

The match up I really don't want to see is the Eagles in any match up. I'm just not an Eagles fan. I don't care for them what so ever. I do think that Arizona can beat Philadelphia today at Arizona.

A lot of people believe that Pittsburgh/Philadelphia is the best game for the Super Bowl but eh....I just don't see it. Arizona has been very bad for very long. I have blogged a few times about how bad they are most notably when Edggerin James went there in free agency and I proclaimed he had retired from the NFL.

I had Larry Fitzgerald on my fantasy team this year so I feel a little loyalty that way. I like watching the Steelers play and that would be a great game for the Super Bowl. The Eagles just don't have anyone exciting to watch outside of Westbrook. McNabb is ok but he is just so erratic and tends to collapse in big games. Granted he has no big name receivers to throw to.

So my hope for a good Super Bowl match up is Arizona/Pittsburgh. Big Ben against Kurt Warner!

Great Evening Out!

Met some friends with my date at Buffalo Wild Wings around six and played trivia there for a while and got supper and a couple of drinks. Then we headed over to the pub, I thought I scored the best table in a very crowded place however it was reserved so we decided to head over to the best place in town to get a quiet drink.

The Blue Note! Love that place! Not crowded usually, great juke box, you can talk and watch hdtv without any problems. Then we decided we wanted more trivia so we headed back over to BWW and played and got a late night snack around eleven.

Then it was time to go home! I was exhausted, well fed, had lots of great moments with my date and my friends, and I wanted to go to sleep!

I love payday Friday's on three day weekends!

Payday Friday And A Three Day Weekend!!!!

These happen rarely at my place of employment however they are a great thing when they do happen! The calendar falls just right and everything falls into place.

Who doesn't like a three day weekend?
Who doesn't like payday?

Two great things that go great together!

Not too many plans this weekend. I thought I had a poker game to go to tomorrow but I haven't heard back from the guy. If that doesn't happen then there are two good football games on.

The season is three games shy of being over. No one watches the pro bowl anyway so I really don't count that game. It won't be long before I turn my attention to college basketball. I enjoy that quite a bit as you long time readers will know. March Madness is just incredible! Love that time of year!

The Arrival

The cigars were between my screen door and door yesterday after I got home from work!
I was excited to see the works of art I had ordered, the Padrons.

I unboxed them and took them to my humidor. Putting them into my humi I noticed the bands were not what I ordered. They were Padron 1926 40 Anniversary and not the 80 year.

I contacted the company and I could either ship them back and they would credit me shipping or I could keep these and they would refund the difference. I chose the latter. These are also super premium, a tad cheaper but not much. The taste profile is full and rich. The shape is more of a pyramid instead of the torpedo.

Both are maduros. So that's what I did, kept these and when I order the 80 again I'm positive they will send the 80s!

Raul Julia And My Dog

There is a great quote by the late Raul Julia, "Maybe it's like becoming one with the cigar. You lose yourself in it; everything fades away: your worries, your problems, your thoughts. They fade into the smoke, and the cigar and you are at peace."

For you long time readers you will recall when my dog Ace died. The truth is that I understand this quote after discovering it last night. During his last few weeks I could see Ace was getting feeble and having a harder time getting around.

So every evening I would go outside in a lawn chair, a drink, a cigar, and my dog. We would spend a couple of hours together, his head on my lap and I'd scratch his ears. The evenings were mostly quiet and peaceful, if they were anything other than that I never noticed or cared.

Ace would lay down at my feet and I'd rub him with a foot. Enjoying his fading company and a cigar at the same time, they enhanced each other while I was merely a bystander. He would nap and I would savor his company regretting that I didn't spend more time with him when he was younger.

I wasn't a very experienced cigar smoker at the time, only a few months and maybe a few dozen sticks into my journey. Now I can look back and really appreciate those times even though it was just this past Summer. They are something I'll remember for years, how perfect the evenings were, how soothing his company was, how great the cigars tasted.

The world fell away. The everyday grind wasn't as bad. Nothing much mattered except my dog and my cigar.

The Devil Site

After my friend Bob introduced me to the world of cigars, very generously I might add. I started my journey into learning more about them. It was quite overwhelming at first. I didn't know a Maduro from a Churchill.

Once I learned that there are different sizes and wrappers, not to mention brands, then it was easier. The guys on the message boards were and are very helpful...and again generous with newbies and helped guide me into what I should know.

One thing I learned by reading is about the devil site or cigarbid.com. This is a place where you used to be able to buy cigars cheaper than catalog prices and get a fairly good deal. Now a lot of people know about it and tend to bid just to bid and the prices frequently go higher than what you can buy them from Cigarsinternational.com which owns Cigarbid.com.

You really have to pay attention when bidding and make your maximum bid just that. Well this past week I purchased two five packs of Joya de Nicaragua brand cigars. They are known as some of the strongest made. After they rest in a humidor for a while the harshness goes away but the strength is still there. These are for seasoned cigar aficionados and not for newbie smokers who would likely toss their cookies.

I had one this previous Summer and it was strong. Very rich in flavor though. Not harsh but it was very full flavored. I only had one at the time which is why I decided to stock up over this Winter for Summer time.

It is great when you can sit outside on the lawn with a drink, most times water for me, in the evening and relax after work with a cigar. I spent many evenings like this over the past Summer and warmer Fall days. This Winter I have had exactly three cigars and all of those were on very nice days.

So I've learned it isn't an addiction. You don't inhale them and you don't see cigar smokers rushing off of a three hour flight to the smoker's lounge. You find the right time and the right place and hopefully have good company with you to enjoy a relaxing cigar with.

Padron Serie 1926 80 Years Maduro

I decided to get a special cigar for when Beersnob comes back from his deployment in Qatar so I settled on this cigar!

It is a masterpiece of cigar making. Watch the video review and you'll see why this one is very rare. They have one buncher and one roller making this perfecto sized cigar. That means its shape is sort of like a torpedo and its size is 6 3/4 inches long by a 54 ring gauge or 54/64s of an inch. It is a big cigar.

It is also the most expensive cigar I've purchased and likely will be the most expensive cigar I'll ever purchase. I've had some Padrons in the past and they all have been among the best I've tried.

The Maduro wrapper will lend a full rich flavor and account for about half of the taste of this cigar. The wrapper will always account for about half of the flavor. If this had been wrapped in a Connecticut wrapper it would have been a more mellow cigar. Around the medium range.

I ordered four of them as I couldn't afford a whole box and the individual piece price was well over thirty dollars per. I got this just a shade under the MSRP. They are extremely hard to find online as this is a rare cigar and very limited in production. It will be a worthy evening when my friend Beersnob and Bob (my friend who introduced me into the world of cigars) light these up. I'll have one left over and I will likely save that for a special event. It will likely get better over time in my humidor.

Everyone Picked The Panthers

I think Arizona saw how all week long they were told they had no chance since they were 0-5 when heading to face the Eastern teams. They had no Anquan Boldin to pull the double team off of Fitz. And they hadn't won two playoff games in forever and a half.

All of the Fox announcers picked Carolina to win. All of the ESPN announcers picked Carolina. No one had Arizona winning this game.

What happened?

Arizona intercepted Jake Delhomme five times and Arizona took advantage of those chances with points!

Now Arizona will either travel to the Giants next week for the NFC Championship game OR host Philadelphia! That adds quite a bit more drama to that game as the Giants will be an overwhelming favorite at home against the Cardinals.

It will be a great day of football today!

NFL Playoffs

This week is one of my favorite weeks of the NFL! Yeah there are only four games but they are really good games!
The wild card games are over with and this is the first week that the top seeds play! That means that either there is an upstart underdog team who could knock off a top seed or that the favorites won and the match ups will be a LOT better!

This weekend we have Baltimore vs. Tennessee: Should be a solid defensive match up as Baltimore should neutralize the potent Tennessee running game. If you want to see prime time D, this is your game!

It is almost universally accepted, except in Arizona that Carolina will win this game. Now that Anquan Boldin likely won't play I'd say that Carolina is the easy favorite here. Not much confidence in the Arizona D to put the brakes on the Carolina running tandem of DeAngelo Williams and Jonathan Stewart.

Tomorrow the most even game out there with the Eagles and the Giants. Two teams who pay big when they have to and really not until. The Giants have had tons of drama due to Plaxico and just being the Giants. They are like the Eastern version of the Cowboys off the field. Then you have the Eagles who are always looking to part ways with Donovan McNabb, no they aren't, yes they are, no they aren't....well you get the picture. If Westbrook gets to running well then more than likely they can dominate time of possession and have a great shot at winning this game.

Then the late game on Sunday is Pittsburgh and San Diego. This will be the game I am most interested in seeing! Is Big Ben healthy enough after his concussion to lead the Steelers? Will Rivers guide the Chargers into the AFC Championship game? Will this be LT's last season as a Charger? Will Sproules take over as the feature back for the legendary LT?

Yeah, this is a great weekend!

The BCS Champion?

Is Florida really the best team in the nation? I would argue that Utah deserves to play for the title now against Florida. USC might have a historically dominate defense but they lost a game to Oregon which got beat later by Utah.

Utah suffers from a lack of exposure and an unfairly weighted conference that isn't recognized by the BCS. If there is going to be a national championship game then they really need to include any undefeated team out there and do away with the automatic bid system.

The Rose Bowl gets the PAC 10 and the Big 10 champs....well who cares. Those two conferences are riding on their history of when they were dominate conferences. Do yourself a favor and research their bowl records this season.

The Big 10 especially is in decline and will continue to decline as more and more premier talents go to warmer weather schools. Who wants to go to Michigan when you can go to USC where it is sunny and warm year around?

Simply put the BCS is busted. Unless it includes all of the conferences then you will continue to get deserving teams left out of the equation. The mid-major conferences now that get left out of the BCS games are deserving of playing in the top tier games. If Ohio State can play and get beaten every year in a bowl game and keep getting asked back then I know that Utah or Boise State deserve to give it their best shot.

Thursday

Not a lot on the schedule today. Work and watching the game tonight at the pub. I didn't get paid yesterday but for sure today. I received an email from our treasurer and he said to drop by anytime.

I told him I'd come by today at lunch and then I can get to the bank. Its best not to be walking around with a few hundred dollars on you. LOL!

I really don't care about who wins the game tonight. It is best that there would be a playoff system. I believe Utah has a legitimate right to be there. Now they likely will finish about fourth if they are lucky in the polls.

Merging Two Favorite Things!

For those of you long time readers and longer time friends you know I love me some satellite radio. For those of you long time readers you know I've had my iPhone for almost a year now and love it to pieces!

Now both of them are going to come together better than chocolate in my peanut butter and peanut butter in my chocolate.



This is simply an amazing app that is now in beta. Yes you could get some unofficial apps if your iPhone is jailbroken. My iPhone isn't jailbroken as I have been waiting on some apps that I really would like to have such as the above app.

I also want a great customization app but it doesn't appear to be happening right now. I get sick of staring at the same icons on my iPhone and would just like to change them up from time to time like my wallpaper.

I'm excited about this app coming out though! It will be great to have access to some great mobile music where ever I'm at...over a cell network!

Payday!

Our fantasy football treasurer has had surgery on his wrist and elbow and on top of that has the flu so he really hasn't been up to dividing up the money as of yet. He promises that it will be today and gave me a brief account of what I've won!

Nearly six hundred dollars! I'm sure he will email me later on when the funds are divided up and I will be able to swing by his home after work. That's really nice when you can get an in between paychecks paycheck!

Which reminds me this is also a three paycheck month! Those rare times of the year when the dates fall just right and we get two full paychecks without union dues taken out and one paycheck when dues is extorted....I mean paid.

Going to be a good day!

First Day Back To Work

It went alright. I knew that I was either going to be very busy or very unbusy. Turned out to be in between. So-So busy.

I had subscribed to the Tedtalks podcasts a few days earlier and had about twenty talks loaded into my iPhone. Ted.com rocks. It stands for Technology, Education, and Design.

They have people from all fields come to their place and give talks. From life on Mars to Billy Graham, from a guy who talks about gangs work when they sell crack to how Chinese food has changed the world. John Hogeman (from Pc vs. Mac fame) has a particularly touching talk about missing time.

Ted is great and if you have never been you should visit and watch a couple of talks.

I also loaded up a few talks by my favorite theologian R.C. Sproul. He is simply brilliant especially in terms of making very complex matters very simple and understandable.

After that I subscribed to a couple of other podcasts but they are alright but not as good. So I've got plenty of entertainment at work to keep me going until work picks up as 2009 starts. This time of year is slow but picks up dramatically when Spring rolls around.

Bret Michaels Can't Find Love

So now he is taking his show, once housed in a mansion, to the road on a tour bus.
Rock of Love 3 is now on the air. I gotta tell you, there must be a silicon shortage because these women have it all.

Somehow I don't believe that Bret will find love this time around either....well not if the ratings are good anyway.

I guess he has had his fill of mystery groupie STDs so how do you kill two birds with one stone? You take your show on the road and essentially turn this into a thirty day party where he gets his choice of producer screened adult industry women (read strippers) and mentally unbalanced chicks to have crazy monkey sex with....and you film it.

So exactly how bad do you have to be to wind up on the third show? You weren't quite good enough to be reality famous on the first two shows of psychos and drama queens so you get to be on the third show?

Perhaps Bret needs to break down and date Flavor Flav. NOW THAT would be quite a show!!!!

Fun Evening

Last night I went to Nathan's house and everyone played board games. That was a lot of fun! Yesterday was gorgeous out! I decided to go to Starbucks and get some coffee. Weird for me but I did go and got a big cup. It was free because they didn't have what I ordered ready. I tipped them anyway because they were nice.

So then I went home and decided that since it was barely over seventy degrees out it would be great for a cigar. So I went to the humidor and picked out a Gurkha Nepalese Warrior. A great tasting, mild/medium cigar. About an hour of enjoyment was had outside with my coffee and the cigar.

That will likely be the last warm weather cigar I'll be able to enjoy until possibly Spring. It just doesn't seem likely that it will warm up again in the next few weeks.

Later on yesterday afternoon it started to get windy and then cold. So literally in the matter of a few hours it went to seventy two down to twenty eight last night when I got home.

....And So It Begins

AS I wrote earlier this morning there was a ground incursion in waiting....well now it has begun. Tanks are repositioning around Gaza and preparing to enter, escalating this conflict to a war.

It won't be long before Iran stirs the pot.

Two Days Left

Of my vacation. Today and tomorrow and that's it. I've got to go to work again. I'm hungry but have some seven layer dip in the fridge from supper last night.
There is a place here that makes some great seven layer dip! That and some chips and you have a great meal!

Oh well that's the worst thing that I've got on the horizon. At least I'm not a Hamas terrorist in Gaza. Now THAT is having some problems! Israel is poised for a ground incursion and are just biding their time before wiping out the Hamas leadership.

I've seen and read reports online about who broke the ceasefire and I side more with Israel than Hamas. Hamas has been firing up to eighty rockets per day over the past few weeks into southern Israel and call me crazy but that seems like breaking a ceasefire agreement.

Gaza is a tiny, densely packed place. Over one million Palestinians live there. There is little in the way of jobs and nothing in the way of prosperity. They are a people pretty much dependent upon food and financial aid. That's a place I would never want to be let alone live.

So yeah, I'm going to work in two days. I've got a great paying job to go back to and I'm not in Gaza.

NASA's Wacky Sense Of Humor

I was watching the NASA channel the other day, I wish I had blogged about it then but I didn't. Anyway it was live mission coverage of the International Space Station or ISS.

The astronauts were unpacking a piece of exercise machinery and having problems with a bolt. They were taking off the launch restraint packing and a bolt that had the nut taken off was in a bind. The astronaut had tried a punch and hammer, vice grips, and a pry bar. It still was in a bind so they talked to mission control about the problem and mission control was really trying to be helpful with the most obvious things such as a pry bar.

At one point the NASA engineer mentioned that there were activists concerned about the welfare of any sardines being harmed in the removal of the bolt. The astronaut misinterpreted the remark as serious and thought it was about them being sardines in the ISS. So essentially it was joke fail.

It was really fascinating to see this happen. I had to leave while this drama was happening so I am not sure if the astronauts got the bolt removed to assemble the exercise machine or not.

The things you will see on the NASA channel....

Self Reflection Time

As per most people's custom, well those who are self aware enough to know that you should occasionally reflect on where you have been and where you might be headed, I've spent a bit of time reflecting today....in between naps....and getting fuel and food.

2008 was a good year for me. It had its down moments but I believe overall it had at least twice as many up moments. Yeah my retirement fund tended to collapse a little bit towards the end of the year. That kind of sucked, especially if I had been close to retirement age. Didn't get me down too much though, I even bumped up my contribution by another two percent. Why not take advantage of a down market?

I met someone who is very smart, nice, and fun! That was in around October, we'll see where this is headed but it is looking good! Planning a trip to Vegas in March. That was a good thing.

My dad and brother put aside their differences last week on Christmas and have started out fresh. This is something that has bothered me for the last couple of years and I believe that it is going to be pretty good now.

My dog died. Not a good thing but I still had my cats which as quirky as they are, kept me happy.

I was introduced in March to a brand new simple pleasure in life which in hindsight I probably should have blogged about more as it was pretty interesting material. I mentioned to my friend Bob that I was interested in sharing a cigar with him someday. He responded by giving me a humidor and about forty premium cigars. I was completely astounded. I started out researching all things cigar. Every Summer evening that was pleasant I spent about an hour in a lawn chair with a cigar, my iphone's music files, and a drink of some sort....mostly water but sometimes one of a more adult nature.

Anyway I have learned a lot about cigars and since it has been cold out I also learned I don't need them at all. Cigars are about relaxing, preferably with a friend if you can, a beverage, a nice evening, and enjoyment. As you don't inhale a cigar you don't do it for a nicotine fix. You don't see cigar smokers running off of an airplane to light up a Padron 1964 Naturale. Anyway that was a good thing that happened.

I had my twentieth year class reunion which I blogged about quite a bit. I enjoyed that!

Had that bout with kidney stones early last year, that did kind of sucked but since then I've really kept up on drinking tons of water. I am more aware of a lower sodium diet but haven't kept to it like I should be the past few weeks.

I was more involved with the theatre this past year than I ever thought I would have been. Turns out I have a hard time saying no if someone asks for help on a project. Really enjoyed my time at the theatre and I've learned a lot. We'll see how many projects I get involved with in 09.

As far as being a bit more introspective about 2008 I guess that I've gained a few scars, healed a few older wounds, and I'm anxious for more. I've still got a selfish streak that I fight constantly. I've had stumbles and set backs to plans and machinations of grand design. I've wondered lots of why, lots of when, and even more how. I don't reckon that this self introspection will even be fully complete as it is a sign of self growth, learning, and evolving. I was in a living rut for a long time and since I've started writing this blog I made marathon like strides away from that rut.

Away from living decay and mental atrophy. Yeah I've got my down times but who doesn't. They are fewer and farther between now than ever before. More often than not things get better now than before.

2009 is sure to be just as good and likely better!

Happy New Year!

It was a roller coaster year for sure but overall I enjoyed 2008. The party I went to last night was pretty raucous. I enjoyed it quite a bit even though I stayed sober. I was the DD twice. At least two people got sick. One, my date, injured her knee exiting the house when she stumbled from the step as I was trying to catch her.

I bought breakfast stuff yesterday to make breakfast for everyone who stayed over and I'm headed back over there in a few minutes to cook. I'm sure that no one is up but it will give me time to get things ready and get me some coffee.

My friends are the best. Last year we all became a lot closer as friends and a sort of family. Love my friends.

2009 will be a great ride with them!

When Reality Interferes With Fantasy

There is a phenomenon I've picked up on the past few years. First I noticed it when I was playing Everquest back in the day, then as that morphed into several other MMORPG games....well all of the other MMORPG games out there I sunk hours and hours into.

Then I noticed it when I saw the movie trailer for Darkon and eventually the documentary. Watch it or refer back to my blog post about Darkon.

Now this might be the next incarnation of the trend of not being happy with your own reality and injecting massive amounts of fantasy into your life.

The idea of being a crime fighter is appealing to most people. However when it comes to reality you go out in a costume, walk around, hope to find exactly what? A crime in progress? Ok so you happen to come across a gang banging dope slinger and confront him...in your costume.

Well you can imagine exactly what would likely happen. Not to mention the repercussions of the eventual driveby shootings of his dope slinging gang banging homies on your secret lair.

All of this makes me wonder again why people strive to be a hero in a fantasy realm instead of a hero in the real world. They could go out and about helping the elderly in real life clothes, it would appear that the costume would hinder that endeavor.

Tom Cruise Reviews

“…his earnestness suggests at best some kind of fictional American soldier trying to infiltrate the Luftwaffe.”
Roger Friedman - Fox News

“In the end, you just have to wonder why a flick featuring a one-armed, eye-patch-wearing Tom Cruise who tries to kill Hitler isn’t more fun than this.”
Sean Burns - Philadelphia Weekly

“But with a cardboard Cruise at the core of ‘Valkyrie,’ you just never care.”
Brandon Judell - Culture Catch

“He’s distractingly bad.”
Christy Lemire - AP Movie Critic

“Tom Cruise the movie star never disappears into Claus von Stauffenberg the brilliant military man.”
Moira McDonald - Seattle Times

“Alas, incongruous vocal intonations aren’t even the most significant problem plaguing Singer’s film, what with Cruise — missing a hand and saddled with an eye patch, making him seem like a National Socialist pirate — apparently engaged in a contest against himself (and cinematic history) to see how long he can hold the same, intensely resolute expression, and the answer unfortunately turning out to be 120 minutes.”
Nick Schager - Slant Magazine

“If Mr. Cruise doesn’t work in ‘Valkyrie,’ it’s partly because he’s too modern, too American and way too Tom Cruise to make sense in the role…”
Manohla Dargis - New York Times

“Cruise cannot suggest the aristocratic hauteur or the steely authority needed in this role. Watching ‘Valkyrie’ (which begins with a tense, well-staged battle scene in 1943 Tunisia in which Stauffenberg nearly dies), you wonder why the German officer we’re rooting for is an American, while most of the other Germans are British, except Wilkinson, who is English but really does seem like a Nazi.”
Michael Phillips - Chicago Tribune

“Most disappointingly, there’s a gaping hole at the center of ‘Valkyrie,’ and his name is Tom Cruise.”
Alonso Duralde - MSNBC

“Think of ‘Valkyrie’ as a reasonably entertaining drama about the time Tom Cruise tried to kill Hitler.”
Mick LaSalle - San Francisco Chronicle

“…he’s quite simply bad in ‘Valkyrie.’ It’s arguably his worst performance.”
Brian Tallerico - HollywoodChicago.com

“Cruise is unconvincing and stiff as the disenchanted Col. Claus von Stauffenberg.”
Claudia Puig - USA Today

“His penchant for disfiguring or masking his famous face (’Vanilla Sky,’ ‘Minority Report’) has hit the silly point, yet he’s still too showy to disappear into the role. Plus, he may be the poofiest-haired Nazi in history.”
Joe Neumaier - New York Daily News

Gee...who didn't call this a while back?!?!?!

Good Vacation So Far

Really enjoying doing nothing and having no responsibilities! I'm sure it will go old soon enough but right now I'm sort of forced to do nothing. I'm almost broke after Christmas and I won't get paid from the fantasy league win yet. Hopefully this week though. Our treasurer went in for surgery yesterday and he keeps the funds in his safe deposit box.

So hopefully in the next day or two I'll be fully funded again!

Other than that I've been destroying my low sodium diet....not intentionally but I just don't really want to eat low sodium right now. I'm on vacation after all.

One More Week

Of vacation is left! So it is about half over. It has been great so far and I'm thrilled it has been good!

Today is supposed to be really nice out. Over 60 for the high. My cold is just about gone. I feel pretty good now. Still excited for winning my fantasy league, that was pretty sweet.

I'm watching the news reports about the Israeli attacks on Hamas in Gaza. It has been in retaliation to the nearly eighty rocket attacks a day over the past few weeks and months. They finally had enough and decided to clean out Hamas. Hamas has refused to acknowledge Israel as a sovereign state and undermine all peace talks.

It should be interesting to see how this wraps up, if they stay confined to Gaza or spread out onto other territories. Israel can pretty much take out any country in that area with their firepower.

On a lighter note, the Dallas Cowboys flopped a huge belly flop yesterday. They had to win to get to the playoffs and wound up being destroyed 44-6 I believe. They have become the New York Yankees of the NFL. Its a good thing that the NFL has a salary cap or they would have been buying every free agent and Jerry Jones would have gone broke by now....and still wouldn't have bought a championship.

Black Monday has started and so far the Cleveland, New York Jets, and Lions head coaches have been fired. I'm sure there will be more to come. The Lions need to dismantle the entire management structure and rebuild. It is very difficult to become 0-16 in this age of the league. You have to make a LOT of bad decisions in a row to be that bad.

It almost has to be a concerted effort to be that bad! They did it though, as much as last year was a masterpiece of a season for the Patriots it was a culmination of years of bad decisions for the Lions which resulted in sort of an inverted masterpiece of a season.

It Happened!

My team went off and finally fulfilled its year long potential!
I tied the highest score of the season with seventy five points!

It was an amazing day! I wrapped up the points championship, won first place this week, and tied the high score! With seven hundred eighty six points I dominated!

I won the points championship by a comfy fifty nine points. So now I'll be likely be singing a lot of Queen's We Are The Champions for a while! Thank you very much!

Wrapping Up The Championship!

Currently the second place team would have to score exactly sixty one points to beat me out for first overall. Not only that but this week my team is in the midst of having that mythical "going off" week I knew was coming!

Right now I'm sitting at fifty eight points. Peterson scored a bonus td, Turner had a td and tons of bonus yards, Andre Johnson had two tds and bonus yards, the Steelers had a huge defensive day scoring me fourteen points by destroying Cleveland, Larry Fitzgerald has one td right now against the Seahawks....and I still have Rivers going tonight as well as my kicker Matt Prater.

I'm sitting in first place right now not only in the overall league score but this week! I'm in line for a double payday! This would cap off my most successful season in my money league to date. In over a decade of playing this has been my best year even though I've been close and in the money before.

So I'm at fifty eight points and counting....

Testees

Yeah, Testees. I watched the entire first thirteen episode season yesterday and I've got to tell you that it was really funny. There were some genuine laugh out loud moments over the course of the show.

Here's the breakdown, the show airs on FX and just wrapped up its first season about a month ago. Two thirty somethings who really have no goals or aim in life are human guinea pigs for Testico, a drug testing company. There are some great pop culture references, not quite as many as in the brilliant Spaced but enough to keep you occasionally surprised.

The stuff they test is really where a lot of the comedy comes from, the episode where they lose their memory is great, the episode where they get glued together is LOL funny, the episode where they test the pheromones is outstanding. And that is just three of the ten! There really isn't a weak episode here.

You can catch the series on Hulu.com and with almost no commercial breaks. There is the occasional fifteen second break for Absolut Vodka but that's about it!

So if you have some time off, catch it!

Head Cold

Yeah I've had a head cold the past couple of days and it really isn't the way I wanted to spend my time off. It is just about over with now though. The congestion isn't as strong and the cough is less than it was yesterday.

I've been pretty buzzed up on cold medications the past two days. Oh well the past three days didn't cost me anything in leave as they are company vacation days! Next week I'll be a lot better and I'm sure I'll come up with some way to spend my leave wisely!

I'm sure there will be some quality napping next week. Perhaps lunch with friends. I know there is a huge New Year's Eve blow out at a friend's house he just bought! I'm really looking forward to that!!!!

Opens At #4

As I predicted Valkyrie has opened lower than expected. It debuted yesterday on Christmas as the number four movie nationwide. In the top spot is the Owen Wilson/Jennifer Anniston pic Marley and Me. So essentially Cruise is being beat out by a dog, Brad Pitt (which is understandable) and Adam Sandler.

This was Cruise's second lowest opening performance since 1986. His lowest was the agenda driven Lions for Lambs which was soundly rejected by the American viewing public.

Quite honestly this was still higher than I expected it would do. There is a weak slate of movies out right now in the holiday season. Nothing huge and epic that would drive better numbers. No huge Pixar holiday classic, no massive epic, nothing huge.

I would love to see Gran Torino, the latest and possibly last Clint Eastwood endeavor as a director and star. Alas it has not opened here. It appears to be a Bronson meets Eastwood vigilante movie, well if the trailers are accurate. If that is the case I can't wait!

Merry Christmas!

To each and everyone of you Merry Christmas!
I hope you find yourselves in the company of loved ones!

A Great Night!!!!

All of my friends decided to get together for the holidays this year so last night was the night.

We all cooked something and brought it, I volunteered the meat so I cooked some drip beef (really yummy!) spiral cut ham, and a pork loin. It was all great but not as much fun as having all of my friends together.

That was precious.

I wish everyone had the same quality of friends that I have!

Holidays

What would the holidays be without a little drama? This drama is pretty good though, I've got to do quite a bit of cooking today.

Quite a bit for tonight. A spiral cut ham, easy enough to cook right there but I'm trying a new recipe for a roast that was outstanding at work. Someone brought it in and I've got to say it was incredible and it is kind of labor intensive. Soooo I'll start that around noon since we are eating around seven tonight.

I've got to brave Walmart at one point as well today. That'll be an adventure! It isn't even eight o'clock yet in the morning, I should be there right now in fact! Perhaps I'll do that. I'll go start the truck and jump into the shower and get that done while the whole town isn't out there yet.

One Week Left!

Week seventeen is coming up and I'm in first place. Not only that but I put nine points on second place and thirteen points on third place.

Fourth place is basically out of contention to overtake me. I'm sixty seven points ahead of that team. In our league it is very difficult to make up points. We don't give many bonus points so we are really a td and yardage league. If the players don't score tds they don't get many points. So if your team doesn't have many tds then you don't score much.

One week left and I've got a thirty nine point head start going into the games next week. It feels good too. That is a good sized head start. Not as big as last years, the first place winner had nearly two hundred points. He had Ladanian Tomlinson and two other players who had career years. It wasn't even close. He won first many weeks in a row and I think he had things wrapped up by week ten.

Which reminds me I'm sitting at forty seven points going into tonight and I'm in first place right now. One team who is contention has forty four points and has the Chicago Bears D/ST. So I can be caught, it just feels good to be in first right now. Another player, Beersnob in fact, has three players going tonight and has thirty six points so he has a good shot at first as well.

Week 16

I've already mentioned my lineup but to recap it is Rivers, Peterson and Turner, Fitz, Holt, and Johnson. Praters is my kicker and I'm running with the Pittsburgh D against the Titans today.

I'm concerned about the Cardinals game since it is in a blizzard in New England. That will really limit what Fitz can do even though he is a beast. He could really have a great game or a terrible game.

At this point I just have to outscore two teams as the fourth place team is almost fifty points back with only two weeks. He could catch up to one of the other teams but I really doubt if he could bring it all the way to number one.

If I continue to put points on two teams then I should be really good come next week! It could be a very happy new year!!!!

Bowl Season

Starts today! I've got my office pick sheet in and after today I'll be off and running!
Even though the BCS is a catastrophe there are still a couple of good games out there to watch.

Oklahoma State vs. Oregon will be a very good match up.
Normally I wouldn't care about any Big 10 team as they all pretty much suck anymore but the Fiesta Bowl will be interesting to see how many points Texas can run up on Ohio State. I think the over under is around 90...

TCU vs. Boise State is one I'm really looking forward to. I do enjoy watching Boise State play ball. They are exciting and very tough. They really deserved to be in one of the best bowls.

Utah vs. Alabama should be good and if Utah wins it will lend further weight to destroying the BCS system. Go Utah!

Maryland vs. Nevada, I can hear you now, What?!?!?! Nevada vs. Maryland?!?!? Yeah, not because of the teams but because it is played on the Boise State home field. Yeah, it is on the Smurf Turf and with the weather being what it is right now it will likely be a snow or blizzard game! Now that is worth watching! As for who is playing? Who cares, bring on the weather!

Those are the games I'm looking forward to! As for the "big" games? Eh....it really won't settle anything until there is a playoff system in place. So I am pulling for chaos to win out this year!

Yes!

Yesterday was my Friday! I'm off for two full weeks! My next day at work will be January 5!!!!

I didn't have anyone playing last night. I left David Garrard on the bench as I am going to start Rivers. Peterson and Turner will go head to head this week and I'm sure they will both want to out duel the other one. I'm hoping that is the case anyway!

I'm still 30 and 35 up on second and third place so a really good week would almost win me the league and a nice paycheck! That would be incredible! I am planning a trip to Vegas this coming March and that would cover it!

Why

Do I always wait to the last minute to Christmas shop? Actually it isn't the last minute yet, next week will be and THAT is when I plan on Christmas shopping.

As big as I am about planning things out you'd think that I would have been doing this months ago! But NNOOooooOOOooo.....I have to wait until NEXT week to Christmas shop! How nuts is that?!

It isn't even that I hate shopping or anything. I would much rather buy a gift for someone else than have someone buy one for me. Maybe I'm wired a bit differently but honestly I know I'm the hardest person in the world to buy for. If I want something I usually have it. If I don't (like a 52", 1080p, plasma or lcd tv) then I'm trying to save for it.

Oh well, such is the way I think I guess. So if any of you have any ideas about getting me something, do me a HUGE favor and donate that money to a charity or adopt a family to have Christmas for. Let me know ahead of time and I might have some left over to kick in to help YOU out.

Three More Days

And then I'm off for two full weeks. Yeah I know I've mentioned this a time or two the past couple of blogs but you know something? I'm excited about not being at work for two weeks!

There has been a big to do at work lately anyway about one section being behind so they are asking for volunteers to go and work there. The problem is though that there is no guarantee that there will be people called back from the layoff. It goes a bit more indepth than that, lots of union and company rules to abide by and overlook you know.

Anyway no one is happy about how they are going to do it but they are happy that it is going to be done. Does that make sense? If you worked where I worked it would make perfect sense.

My main concern is getting people who were laid off back to their jobs. My job happens to be pretty recession proof. We aren't dependent upon lots of market factors that dictate how many people work or not. The layoff happened well before the financial crisis and in my opinion was planned when the company bid the contract a year ago. I believe they bid layoffs into their price.

I might go to the union meeting this coming Saturday, there is likely going to be a fight and lots of yelling and screaming at Johnny Friendly, our corrupt union boss. People want accountability and they don't feel they are getting it.

Personally I'm grateful for my job! A very good friend was laid off and I keep him informed about any jobs that might be posted so he can get back to work, even if it isn't the job he left. One came up yesterday and I believe he is going to take it, he would get all of his benefits back and because it is a different pay grade he will go to the top of that pay scale. He was making more when he was laid off, I don't believe they will call him back in the next year, maybe ever.

Cold!!!!

It barely hit 13 degrees yesterday afternoon. That really wouldn't have been so bad except for the wind that accompanied freezing cold! I've been running my faucets night and day since Sunday to keep everything flowing.

Had my experiences with frozen water and broken pipes a few years back....that really sucks! Won't let it happen again that's for sure.

The third place team had Brian Westbrook last night and he apparently didn't score anything for him so I maintained my overall lead! Two more weeks to go!

Weezy will be in this week to visit for the holidays! I can't wait to hang out with her, I miss her quite a bit. She has been doing wonderfully well in LA pursuing acting and it will be great to see her in a couple of days!

Increasing The Lead!

I've now got a thirty point lead over second and a thirty five point lead over third in my fantasy league standings!

This is exciting! I was able to increase my lead over the two teams I really needed to put points on. With two weeks left in the season a thirty point lead is pretty good. Not enough to be comfortable with but it is nice. If my players maintain what they have been doing it will be really good!

Well the show is over, it closed yesterday and we all pitched in to tear down the set. That was quite a chore. It took about three hours to finish.

Finally I get some much needed rest! After the past three weeks of doing something nearly every evening with the show it will also be a bit weird. You'll actually be wanting to go and do something with the show but there is nothing to do since there is no show.

That's alright though, I'll get over that part in a day or two! Five work days left until I take a two week vacation! That is thrilling! No plans, just get to do what I want when I want!

Week 15

Well the season is winding down. I'm out of the playoffs but still leading the league in scoring. Three weeks total and I'll be good!

My lineup this week looks like this, Rivers, Peterson, Turner, Fitz, Johnson, and Holt. I'm going with Feely as my kicker and the Pittsburgh D as they take on the Ravens.

I might change the D though and put the Giants in as they take on the Dallas team in turmoil. Its a tough call but still it is only the defense and special teams.

Today is my last show of Yes Virginia! I'm worn out. Last night was a sold out crowd and it was a really good audience. Today's show is a producer's matinee. The proceeds are going to the March of Dimes though which is really nice.

This week is my last working week of the year! Five days and then it is two full weeks off! I'll get my Christmas shopping done, spend lots of time with those I love, and just relax the last of the year away!

Its Time

For the yearly TO meltdown in Dallas. Every time there is a news story about the Dallas Cowboys the theme to the old tv show Dallas needs to be the bed music.

Terrel Owens has been vocal in the past few days about his quarterback...as he has done in the past when he burned down the 49ers and the Eagles after that. TO seems to have a limited life span as a team player.

As long as he feels he is getting the ball he is happy, when he feels he isn't getting enough attention he is unhappy. This past week he claimed that Tony Romo and Jason Witten have been drawing up secret plays to freeze TO out of the game.

Well lets see if TO has a beef here.
Week 12 vs. the 49ers TO had 7 receptions for 213 and 1 td.
Week 13 vs. the Seahawks TO had 5 receptions for 98 and 1 td.
Week 14 vs. the Steelers TO had 3 for 32 and 1 td.
Those are good numbers.
Let's take a look at Witten's numbers.

Week 12 vs. the 49ers Witten had 1 for 11 yards.
Week 13 vs. the Seahawks Witten had 9 for 115 and 1 td.
Week 14 vs. the Steelers Witten had 6 for 62.

So TO had 15 receptions and Witten had 16. TO had 2 more tds and 155 more yards than Witten. I can't find a dropped balls stat but I'm sure it is out there somewhere and I would almost wager that TO had more dropped passes.

Look as much as it pains me TO is likely a hall of fame receiver. The thing is that Witten might as well be a hall of fame tight end and is one of the best tight ends in the game right now.

So since the numbers really don't make TO's argument there has to be something else eating at TO. He is just another NFL diva receiver who doesn't appreciate his status in life right now.

He has made generational money. He gets paid to play a game he loves. He is featured on one of the most popular teams in the NFL. What exactly is eating TO? I believe he might have some psychological imbalance where he can never be satisfied. He appears to be jealous of Jason Witten. That's kind of cute but not very professional.

Last Three Shows

Last night's show was probably the best show for the actors. They all did outstanding jobs and were really on.

Its Friday and I have one more week of work before I'm off for two glorious weeks!!!!
I'm very excited about that!! I haven't had two straight weeks off before in a very long time!

Just need some down time after the past two shows! I've been at the theatre almost every evening with a few exceptions since a week before Twelve Angry Jurors started in October!

Yeah, just need some down time.

Typical

Icy roads yesterday, warms up a bit, clear roads this morning!

That is our weather. It is really rare we have slick, icy roads for more than two straight days. It happens sometimes but not often. I'm ok with that though. It was certainly very cold and is right now even. Got the Suburban warming up right now. I like stepping into a warm cab! I guess that is a simple pleasure, a warm cab on a cold morning.

Well I don't have anyone going in tonight's game which features the Bears and Saints. I won't be turning in my lineup this morning. I could as it probably won't change between now and Sunday but I'll just hold off in case I decide to pick someone up.

I think I'll go to the pub tonight before the show starts. Well it is really a full on dress rehearsal with a special needs crowd we are putting on for free. Been ordering Irish Coffee the past couple of times I've been there. Nice and warm on a cold evening!

Minor Snow Storm

Our first storm of the year hit yesterday. About an inch of snow but it had rained some first and that is what froze and is under the snow.

The roads are slick and icy. I've had my Suburban running for almost a half hour now. A warm diesel is a happy diesel! Yes I plug it in at night too and have anti gelling fuel additive in the fuel.

Well rehearsals start again tonight. We have a show for special needs kids tomorrow night that is like a rehearsal but with costumes. Then another three show run with the set strike being on Sunday afternoon.

That will take a good two hours to take apart and put up. Maybe a bit longer. After that I have some down time, much needed down time! My two week vacation starts the following week! I'm thrilled about that!

I Lost

My weekly match up which also happens to be the first round of the playoffs. I was winning by a comfortable margin too!

That's alright though, I did maintain first place by eighteen points! My team can maintain that or increase it! The payoff for any of the top three places will be a nice one!

Its cold outside. Not icy like they were predicting though and that's nice. Today The Dark Knight comes out on DVD! Great movie that I'm looking forward to seeing again!

BCS Debacle

In what seems like a yearly occurrence the BCS has botched college football. If I remember correctly the BCS was made to put the best teams in the best bowls. So tell me why in the world Ohio State, Cincinnati, and Virginia Tech have BCS games while Texas Tech, and undefeated Boise State don't.

Yes yes Boise State isn't a BCS school but they are unbeaten and deserve a better bowl game than 9-4 Virginia Tech. It is all about conference champions and automatic bids. That is why this system SUCKS. Everyone in America is crying out for a playoff system except a handful of NCAA executives and heads of the conferences.

A playoff system would be the best. You take the top teams regardless of conference and put them into a playoff bracket. That way the teams who are in the best conferences who beat each other up aren't penalized as much as the teams who play NO ONE like Ohio State and USC. Their schedules are pathetic!

It is a travesty to any college football fan to put some of these teams into good bowls. We deserve better.

In other news I'm now back on top of the points lead as our playoffs started yesterday. I am the only team over six hundred points with six sixteen. Second place has five ninety two and third checks in with five eighty two. So I've got a decent lead and if my team pulls together one more game like yesterday I think I'll have it secured. I'm in second place going into tonight with forty eight.

First has fifty seven. I won my playoff match up as the second seed and have moved onto the next round.

So So Second Show

The audience was horrible and nearly unresponsive. They really either didn't have any energy or they just thought the show was bad which it wasn't last night. The cues were good, the actors were on, they didn't lack any energy.

Some audiences are great and respond to everything and then some are like last night's audience and they are flat from the start.

Today's show is a producer's show, they will be very responsive since they kicked in some money to make the show happen. It also happens to be during the games today so I won't really know how my team is doing until later in the afternoon.

That's alright, it will be a nice surprise to see how they are doing while I'm not watching. Maybe they will really go off this week and I won't know it until later! That would be an incredible surprise!

I'm meeting friends for lunch today at eleven. That'll be fun, always is!

So today I am starting with fifteen points, my opponent has ten in the first round of the playoffs. I'm the second seed after last week's loss so I'm taking on the fifth seed. Would have been the the top seed if it hadn't been for last week.

It's alright though! This is a new week!

Opening Night

There were some jitters among our youngest actors on opening night. Nothing that wasn't worked out by the second act though. All in all it went very well.

The crowd was a little flat but did pick up some later in the show. A couple of the actors were sick and really had to step up their game to cover for that. With a large cast it is bound to happen this time of year.

This was a very long week. I didn't think Friday was ever going to get here to be honest. I was going to work, coming home for a short time and then heading to the theatre until nearly ten every evening. Then repeating the process the next day. I need a vacation.....which I'll be taking at the end of this month for two weeks!

I plan on doing nothing I don't have to!

Fifteen Points!

I got a nice amount of points from Philip Rivers last night as the Chargers routed the Raiders! I'm now in first overall this week and in the league! The week is barely underway and I'm looking forward to the games.

The problem is that I won't be able to see much of the games as there is a Producer's show on Sunday afternoon.

So it is kind of a good news bad news thing. I'm in first but won't see my teams play.

Last night's final dress rehearsal went very well! The friendly crowd was into it, the clapped several times that were unexpected, laughed at all the right parts, and enjoyed the show. I blew one cue badly as I brought the lights down a few lines too fast.

Despite that everything went well and everyone enjoyed the show!

Best Rehearsal To Date

There were few flaws, my cues were perfect, the spotlight was perfect, the ADHD kid was not on stage a couple of times which made the other actors relax and those scenes came off perfect, we finally have a show!

I'll be there bright and early for the show tonight. Well not so bright and early as I'll be there around 6:30 and it will be dark and cold but I'll be there!

This is the first show with an audience, a test audience of family and friends but since some of the kids haven't been in front of an audience before it will be a good experience for them. Last I heard the tickets were going really quickly and really close to being sold out for a couple of shows!

That's really good when that happens!

Second Act Chaos

I've been to rehearsal every evening for Yes Virginia, There Is A Santa Claus as I am running the light board and computer that dims the lights. The first act went well, the actors were on, the cues were flawless.

We took the break between acts and came back and nothing went right. Our spotlight guy was a tad late and had to use another light on the fly for the spot. One of the actor's child is in the show and apparently he is ADHD and can't sit still for two minutes or remember anything from five minutes ago. He jumped a large scene with a line and from then on my cues were off, several of the actors had a hard time following, and it just descended from there.

Hopefully the show tonight will be better.

Still Second

But I gained ground on third place and now am only one point behind first! I can live with that. I knew it would tighten up as the season wound down. This is just happening now instead of later.

The only year that we haven't had a close race for the overall lead was when a team had LT in his prime a couple of years ago. He won by around two hundred points and came in first several times that season on the weeklies.

It was a runaway victory all around for him. Peterson isn't having that kind of year but if he have had a run of twenty tds this season I would be that dominate despite my receivers under performing td wise.

This is going to be a tough run in the next four weeks. I really need my team to step up and do what it did during the start of the season and get into the sixties for a couple of them to have a good chance at winning it all.

Second Place

Again!

I've lost my heads up match this week badly, 59-32. I've also lost first place to the second place team and now trail 569-562 overall. I've got Andre Johnson going to night and if he breaks out and has a stellar game I'll be back in first.

Third place put a ton of points on me as well and I lead him by a mere two points but he is done for the week.

This wasn't a good week for me at all. It started out so promising with two tds from Larry Fitzgerald and then went no where. Turner had a good rushing game. Peterson had a good game. Rivers did nothing. My kicker had a mere five points. Usually he is good for double that.

Its alright, there is just a three way chase for first place now!