Just Under One Week Now!!!!

Yes my friends, one week from yesterday I will have my full fantasy football team drafted and ready to dominate the league this season!

This is one of the highlights of the year for me! All of the preparation, all of the draft strategies I read over, all of the expert's picks I evaluate. I have noticed one thing though, this marks eleven years now for me in this league and a lot of "experts" I have read have less years under their belt.

I feel that sometimes the "expert" title is used a bit too freely. The fact of the matter is that no one knows what is going to happen during the long and brutal season. I remember Jamal Anderson after his breakout season, he set the league record with 400+ carries, I can't recall the exact number at the moment. What happens next season after all of the experts had him as a top 3 lock to be the best RB that season? He blows out his knee which effectively ends his career.

That right there makes me very leery of Larry Johnson this season. He had 420 carries last season, he is holding out right now so it might be a moot point but he has a lot of wear and tear on him which makes him a high risk pick. KC has back up RBs who are looking to step up and show what they can do. They even drafted a rookie RB who could eventually take the reigns as the lead RB!

So now I give you my FFL Commandments:
I. Though shall draft the best RB available in the first round.

II. Though shall draft the best available player for your scoring format in the consecutive rounds.

III. Though shalt not buy the hype of rookies in the first round.

IV. Though shall pay attention to who has been drafted before your pick and not pick the same player. This annoyeth me.

V. Though shalt not pick your secret, sure fire, heavy hitter sleeper in the first round. This is NOT a sleeper, it is an overreach and should show everyone in the room you areth an idiot.

VI. Though shalt not get sucked into position runs. Excluding the RBs in the first round, buck the trend. When owners are picking the same position in a long run, that leaves other high value players available for your drafting pleasure.

VII. Your season is madeth or brokeneth in rounds 3 through 6. Your first and second rounders should be your guaranteed blue chipper studs who you can count on to produce points. The three through six pick are when owners are separated from the rest of the pack and shows your drafting expertise.

VIII. If though shall be able to draft more players with the same bye week the better! Chalk up one loss for that week and dominate the league with a full lineup when everyone else is less than 100%.

IX. Though shalt not be a homer fan. Don't draft more than one player from your favorite team.

X. Have fun with your fellow owners and enjoyeth the day!

Get in a league, they are easy to find even if it is a free for fun league. Have fun with the draft, if your team tanks early learn from your draft and what you can do differently next season. Have a blast!

Good Night, Good Friends!!!!

Last night Wendy, Bob, and I met at the Pub and just enjoyed the evening.

The conversation was good, life was kicked around and discussed to the nth degree. We all talked about our week, our loves, and our fears. This is starting to become a tradition over the past few months that I've really enjoyed and come to look forward to.

In other news Barry Bonds is still happy he isn't Michael Vick as there are now seven people who have agreed to testify against him. The feds are starting to toss around the term RICO which could lead to serious jail time if Vick is convicted or if he pleas down.

How stupid can you possibly be? Look no further than exhibit V.

Its Friday!

Just a short update post here. I am lead to believe that the weather will be cooling off this weekend and as such I might have the opportunity to practice painting!

I'm in a bit of a rush this morning, since it is payday I am also paying my bills this morning so I don't have a lot of blog time. So enjoy your weekends! Look me up if you are bored! Have a wonderful day!

The Macallan

Last night on my way home from work I decided to purchase my next phase in my scotch experiment, a bottle of The Macallan, a twelve year old single malt.

First impressions are that it is far more complex than The Glenlivet and The Glenmorangie, which I found to be the easiest, lightest, almost fruity of all I've tasted so far. The Macallan is heavier, not nearly as sweet, has some smoke and more peat in the taste.

I was going to buy a bottle of from the Islay region but I'm glad I didn't, I know I'm not ready for that taste yet. Lots of smoke and peat and probably the hardest or most complex taste to drink for beginners.

So I feel I've accomplished my goal thus far. I've not sampled all that Scotland has to offer but I've read about each region and know what sounds good to me. Perhaps if I could find a small bottle from an Islay distillery I'd sample it but at this point I really like The Glens much better than The Macallan which comes from The Speyside. You can look up Speyside distilleries and find the characteristics of such fairly easily from this link. It is very helpful!

So that is my scotch report and next time I believe I'm going with an older but not cask strength Glenlivet region whiskey!

So if anyone is out there and would like to head by for a drink of The Glenlivet, The Macallan, or Johnnie Walker Black, please do! You know you are all more than welcome!

I don't recommend the Johnnie Walker though once you have tried a single malt.

Aqua Teen Movie

Yep it finally arrived on DVD yesterday and I picked it up along with the latest from David Lynch, Inland Empire.

I watched all of the Aqua Teen Hunger Force Movie with mixed emotions. I had to wonder if they were using the same writers that they used during the regular show. The wit wasn't there. The jokes were lame. There were no real laughing out loud moments that I have while watching the TV show.

I'm a big fan of the TV show but maybe this show works better in smaller segments instead of ninety minutes.

After the Aqua Teens I put in the new Lynch epic. All you know is that it is about a "Woman in trouble" and that is it. There are no descriptions anywhere to be read on the package. I watched the first couple of scenes and it is Lynch. Odd slices of life that only make sense in a much more abstract way or when viewed as a whole.

While being a lover of challenging movies is a good thing to be I also need to be in the mood for it and last night I just wasn't. I wanted to laugh and enjoy everything. Diving head first into a abstract three hour epic just wouldn't be as much fun at the time. Maybe tonight.

In other news my AC works wonders! It was incredibly cold when I got home while it was 103F outside!!!! I even turned it off around 8ish since it was getting uncomfortably cold!!!!

I hope you all have twice as good of a day as me and I plan on having a pretty good day!!!!

A/C Blues

Well my A/C at home has been threatening to go out for the past couple of weeks by making a really loud squealing noise that reminds me of nails on a chalk board. SO since I usually don't fix something until it is actually broke I decided to break the trend this time and replace it before it went out!

I have a friend with a truck meet me at Lowe's to haul home a nice unit I picked out the Saturday before. Yep I was planning ahead! I purchase the brand new and more powerful air conditioner and we load it up and head home!

What do I find when I get home? My installed unit had decided that enough was enough and had quit sometime during the day. Talk about perfect timing!!!!

I know that this week and maybe for the foreseeable future it is going to be triple digit hot so the brand new AC will fix all that and keep me the happy person I am:)

I know I should just start saving up and have my central unit replaced but this one is one tenth the price and does an incredible job! I had to turn it down last night because it was getting too cold in here! I'm anxious to see how good it feels when I get home this afternoon and it is North of 100!!!!

Sunday Was Nice!

First of all I went to a pretty nice pool party in the afternoon! Around forty people were there and I knew most of them. It was just a really cool time! The reason was because of the court date a couple of days before as I blogged about earlier.

Then it was back home for trashy VH1 celebreality. Rock of Love was just a typical mud football episode with Bret trying to get into the pants of one of the contenders. One of the nutso women wrote Bret a letter telling him about all of the motivations of the other women and only SHE was really here for him. Like he hasn't heard that line before.....

I hope these women are getting the medication they need.

I was flipping back and forth between that and Ice Road Truckers. Spring is just around the corner and the road is becoming treacherous. One trailer broke through the ice already. Three truckers got lost in a blizzard but made their destination after the storm passed. Next week is the finale.

The NFL pre season is in full swing now and every team has kicked the ball around. Very few of the stars have played more than a couple of drives and some haven't played a down yet. Typical as the coaching staffs sift through all of their coal to find the diamond that will help the team deep into the playoffs.

All in all a really good day my friends!

Awards NIght

It was really a lot of fun. I stayed up in the booth for the show and helped out when I could which wasn't much at all.

The food was good, the company was good, the evening was good! Cover of Life won best show, best supporting actress, and one other award that I can't think of while Red Hot Mamas won best actor, best cameo, male and female. Between these two shows they won the majority of the awards! Both shows were also shows I had personal involvement in so I felt pretty good:)

Today is another party to attend and I just have to ponder how good everything really is for me:)
My life rocks, my friends rock:)

Pretty Cool Evening!!!!

Well until we filmed Drinkbusters. It wasn't good, we had the worst drinks ever and the energy was scattered and flat. Everyone wasn't feeling it so I probably won't even edit and post it. I know they wouldn't appreciate it and I like keeping them as my friends.

It was wonderful to see Weezy and have some time to talk with her! She looked great and had a great time at the party. It was a pretty typical, very wild party.

I had a bad tire. It was going bad over the past week and finally gave out before I drove home last night, so this morning I was up early putting on the spare and buying two new front tires. I ran out to Lowe's after that and purchased some templates for the spray painting.

Well templates isn't entirely accurate but they are in a general sense. They are the clay discs that potted plants sit in. I got several sizes for covering planets up. They are heavy enough where the spray won't move them and thin enough to leave a sharp edge on the outside. I also got a long straight edge for water lines and horizons. My painting tools are pretty much complete now!

I just need to get out there and practice.

Camera Is Ready

Batteries are charged, tapes are at hand.

I can't spoil this morning but I can tell you that I'm going to court for the climactic happy ending to the documentary and then tonight guess what?

DRINKBUSTERS RETURNS!!!! We film tonight in front of a live audience!

That's right Weezy, Beersnob, and Chianti are all back in the saddle and ready to test the drinks you want to see! Well in this case the drinks Weezy wants to try, this is our reunion show since she is in from LA this week and taking a short vacation from the many TV shows and movies she has been in. And there are many!

Pre Season football started last night with Dallas romping over Indy. The game wasn't that good but it was football and enjoyed anyway!

So now I've got to get all showered up and ready for the courtroom, it's going to be a long day but a great day!!!!

A Really Good Night!!!!

Well two friends and I continued a tradition last night and sat outside the Pub and had about three hours of great conversation and a few drinks! It was windy but it was very comfortable and felt great out!

I had a single malt scotch, Glenmorangie, which was very easy to drink and had a very light and fruity flavor. I say that in a relative sense since I'm not talking about schnapps or a very heavy fruity based flavor.

I got in around midnight and had a very good night of rest. I feel pretty good this morning!

It looks like it is going to rain outside, I can see lightning in the distance! It is shaping up to be a great day my friends:)

Tomorrow I should be getting the final footage for the documentary project that was started way back in the early part of this year! It'll be a very happy ending and it shouldn't take long to edit together.

It'll be good though:)

Scotch Experiment Update

Last night was the first night that I actually tasted a sweet flavor in the Glenlivet. I believe I'm going to keep to the single malts.

Far be it from me to say I'm anything but a newbie at scotch however I can tell a big difference in blends and single malts now after a few days. The malts have unique flavors and are smoother. Now I'm sure that if you got good quality blends like Johnnie Walker Gold, Green, or Blue label you could tell a difference but right now The Glenlivet is very good and I've read about two others that are a step above it in smoothness and easily affordable as well.

Single malts offer flavors that are unique to particular areas of Scotland. One area offers more smoky flavors while another offers lighter and fruiter tastes. There are plenty of guides online for what areas offer what tastes and if you are interested.

Going to the Pub tonight to meet with friends! I'm really starting to love this tradition! My friends rock!!!!

We have three recipes for Friday's Drinkbusters episode to do and I can't wait! The crew is together again! Beersnob, Weezy, and Chianti! Wooohoooo!!!!
We'll be shooting it with an audience late Friday evening so I'll have it edited by sometime Saturday for sure!

Have a great day my friends!

300

I've finally been able to watch 300!!!!

What an incredible movie it is too! It takes the style of filmmaking in Sin City and expands upon it. Mostly green screen, lots of animated environments, and lots of action! This is a testosterone filled romp in the vein of Gladiator or Kingdom of Heaven.

More drama than historical but a fun ride despite the inaccuracies. The visuals are stunning! Someday I can't wait to see it on a HD system but only after one format wins, either Blu Ray or HD DVD.

One or the other will win and become dominate and then I jump on to the train.

That is beside the point though, the real point is this is an incredible movie and should be watched repeatedly. Again as per many of my reviews, I leave a lot out so you, my friends, can experience it fresh for yourselves:)

It has a substantial amount of blood but it is animated blood, like a dark Pixar movie. I remember claims while it was running in theaters that it was a right wing propaganda movie, well if right wing means brave men fighting for honor, freedom, and against slavery and tyranny against impossible odds then I agree otherwise it was just reviewers who didn't like it.

The scotch experiment is getting much easier. I purchased a bottle of The Glenlivet 12 year old after work and enjoyed that more than the blended Johnnie Walker Black Label. It just tastes different than a blended scotch. Well it should since it is a single malt.

Maybe A New Favorite "Has Been" Show!!!!

I know I've really been digging Rock Of Love for the past couple of weeks now but this past weekend I decided to check out another Has Been show, well with two Has Beens, The Two Coreys.

The Coreys are some of the best Has Beens this side of Gary Coleman! They are hilarious in their own clueless way. Haim seems to shift from event to event without a real direction other than being self absorbed. Feldman is trying very hard to grab onto married life and transferring from party boy into domestic man.

The first episode I watched was where the Feldmans invited this PETA chick over to have supper with them. Haim has pizza delivered and does a lot to bring all of the attention back to himself. Meanwhile the PETA chick goes on this rant about how you absorb all of the karma and pain the animal feels when they are made into tasty meat for consumption....yeah.....

Feldman's wife Susie, I think, has a meltdown because of Haim's constant crossing the lines. Whatever.

Anyway this is a decent show and kind of shows how people deal with not being celebrities anymore. Haim is really more about "The Coreys" than Feldman is who is just trying to move on into a new part of life. Haim is more of the guy who never evolves and is probably a lot like he was when he was two years old. He is really clinging on to any strand of fame he used to have.

It is funny and it is sad.

Even though I took one night off of the scotch experiment I resumed the experiment last night with the Johnnie Walker black label. It is early yet but I'm starting to be able to tell a difference.
Freaky huh?

One Fine Day!

So Friday Chianti asks me to help her move. I can never refuse anything a friend of mine needs if I can actually help or do what they ask of me. So I figured it would be a fun day since most of the people she invited I know and enjoy!

Around 8:30 I head over to her place and we start to load up! We finish around 2:00ish and Chianti treats us to a wonderful dinner and frozen margaritas!!!! She always knows how to treat her friends!!!!

I'm exhausted at this point and instead of planning on going out I decide to stay in for the evening when Beersnob calls and asks a favor, again which I won't turn down and it is for Beersnob afterall!!!! So I agree to film the theater's performance of Four Women West, a play written locally so Beersnob can create DVDs for the cast without copyright infringements.

I head up to the theater around 7 and start to set up and chat with the cast before the performance begins. The show starts and I get all of it on film except the last three minutes or so. Just ran out of tape. I thought the show was less than ninety minutes but it wasn't. Weezy showed up from LA on vacation and we hugged!!!!

After the show we headed to Panevino for a wrap up and chill out session. I get some food and a tequila sunrise (I decided three nights in a row of scotch is good) and they messed up the Sunrise. So after eating and a drink Bob and I decide to head over to the Pub and have another drink. I ask Weezy when she would like to do Drinkbusters and since Beersnob was there we had 2/3rds of the Busters present. It looks like we will be filming around Friday night. It is around midnight at this point so we chill and have some better drinks.

Finally around 1 I decide to head back home and get some much needed sleep. It has been a long day but a darn fine day with darn fine people!

Scotch Experiment Part 3

Last night's selection was Glenlivet twelve year old scotch. It was a smooth single malt. I'm starting to distinguish flavors while sipping.

Which after just three days is not bad in my humble opinion:)

We hung out at a local establishment last night, not the regular pub but one close to it. Feeling Groovy, Beersnob and his family and Bob. It was a good time and much fun was had:)

Have I told you all lately that my life rocks?

Modern Dreams, Treadmills, and Norman Rockwell

So there I was yesterday turning over calendar to a new month and what was there? A painting that hit me very hard. It accurately depicted what I was feeling at the time and what has been rolling around in my head since last Friday night.

It is a Norman Rockwell painting called Boyhood Dreams. Now anyone who knows me knows I love Norman Rockwell's work. It is Americana and timeless.

It features a young farm boy who is sitting on a rail fence that surrounds a garden in which he was working the ground with a hoe. His dog is at his side. They are watching a train go by in the distance. Since it is a painting you are left to ponder what he is thinking about.

For me he is thinking about all of the great things he can do if he wasn’t doing what he was doing. Running away and living an exciting life. He has experienced farm life and yearns for more and different experiences. He longs to see what the world has to offer him. He craves something different, something exciting, and yet there he is, stuck where he is while he feels life is passing him by. He feels like he is missing out on so many things.

The fact that the train is so far away from where he is seated symbolizes, to me, how far he feels he is away from what he would like to experience. The train is moving away from him, as if leaving him stuck where he is at.

This painting really speaks to me, especially lately. I’m starting to wonder exactly how much of a treadmill I’m on. I’m starting to wonder if it is possible to get off of the treadmill. I’m starting to wonder even if it was possible and I could jump off the treadmill, then what? I’m starting to think I’d like to experience much more than what I am currently.

What is out there to experience? What is new under the Sun, so to speak?

Alright say that you are Bill Gates or at least you have his resources. Nothing is impossible to you. If you wanted to buy every team in the NFL, it was all yours with millions to spare. What is there for you to do then? Say you love traveling! Alright, how long would it take you to see every single nook and cranny in the world? Five years tops? Yeah, probably. Then what do you do. What is left to experience then? What exactly do you have to look forward to at that point after you have become Charles Foster Kane at Xanadu.

Do you become unhappy after you have experienced everything and realize there is nothing left OR are you internally unhappy to start which causes you to start looking for new experiences to dull the empty ache you feel inside? Nearly a chicken or the egg problem huh?

Chianti and I were sort of mulling this over last Friday night. We started talking about how much Oprah makes per year and how it is hard to fathom having that kind of money and what to do with it all. It was just polite drinking conversation but the topic stuck with me until seeing the painting today on the calendar. It kind of made me put one and one together and jump started the idea process.

I’m one step ahead of the game in that regard. I know what my passion is. I’m pretty clear on that. I’ve had a tremendous creative streak lately so that is pretty cool as well.

All of that tells me that if I'm on a treadmill it is slowing down if not stopping. If it is stopping then it is possible to get off and if that is possible then anything is possible!!!!

Thanks to Norman Rockwell, Chianti, and a metaphor of a treadmill my dreams are in the process of happening!

Scotch Experiment Part 2

Well it went a lot better tonight. I used a higher quality of scotch and less water.

I held the drink in my mouth longer and tried to distinguish the flavors.
Much easier tonight than last night's experiment.

Day 1

My friends I am a seasoned drinker. I don't drink often but I'm not a stranger to it either. I can handle tequila well. I can distinguish the flavors and good from bad.

Scotch on the other hand was rough. Day 1 was....a struggle to say the least.
I had one drink at the pub hanging with some fine company and having a great time and it took more water being added to the scotch and rocks to finally get it down.

It is a sipping drink for sure. The more diluted it got the more flavors I could taste. I was planning a whole month to learn how to drink scotch but I reserve the right to pull the plug early if I choose to. It was rough, I'm not going to lie to you my friends.

I don't know if I'm going to make the entire month, I don't even know if I'm going to make the remainder of the week if it is as rough as that was last night!

I can tell that drinking scotch is definitely an acquired taste, my friends drink beer and I feel no need what so ever to develop a taste for that. I might just wind up not expanding my horizons and stick to tequila and drinks I'm more comfortable with.

So everyone out there have a great day!!!!

I Saw This Woman

On TV a few days ago and did some research into her.
She is simply amazing.

What she does is hug people. She goes on tours and hugs people. She happens to believe, as do I, that most of the problems in the world can be solved by compassion.

I don't think hugging terrorists would really change their minds much about hating us but for reasonable people who aren't barbarians, yes.

She raises millions of dollars for diasters, thousands wait in line for her to hug them and give them encouragement. She is an incredible person. I'm not Hindu but I'd go see her.

Now for something a little less spiritual and a little more sinful. Tonight I plan on starting a new project. I have some incredible friends as I've written many times and at least two of them have a taste for scotch. I've tried it and didn't really see what it was about.

I understand that it takes a bit of time to develop a taste and start to understand the flavors that go into scotch so during the month of August I'm making a conscious effort to develop a taste for scotch whiskey. Tonight will be the first entry into the experiment.

I hope it goes better than my watching MTV for a whole day experiment that I blogged about a long time ago. I'm sure it is in the archives and a quick search would bring it up.

Wow that was a tough one.