Fitz Day !!

I better get home today, and find a package in my mailbox with the new CD. Even though I have been listening non-stop at Paste Magazine's site. I want my CD !!

So, tell me what you think this is a picture of?

Is it the pilot seat of a fighter plane?
Nope, it is the drivers seat of the Carver One, car/tripod/motorcycle/thing-a-ma-jib.


Head over to their site to see more crazy images/videos. This contraption has a 45 degree turning angle.

After work today, before I rush home to check my mailbox, I plan on hitting a store to buy Iron Man on Blue-Ray !! w00t ! I should also have three movies at home waiting for me.

The Dog Problem
Giovanni Ribisi (I told Kel yesterday, if I ever have a son, I want to name him Giovanni)
Lynn Collins
Scott Caan
Kevin Corrigan
Sarah Shahi
Trailer

Life of the Party
Eion Bailey
Ellen Pompeo
Clifton Collins Jr.
Trailer

Forgetting Sarah Marshall
(Do I need to link a trailer?)

Last night after work I met my Dad for an early movie. We went and saw 'Righteous Kill'. I gotta say, I would give a kidney to hang out with DeNiro and Pacino for a few hours. I enjoyed the movie, I won't spoil it, but here is a hint, the score is now 1-1. That's all I'm saying. What was great about the movie too, is that they are partners, I can't recall the last time they were on the same side, Godfather II, with DeNiro playing the young Vito Corleone, and Pacino in the present as his son, still one of my all time favorites. The stories these two probably tell over a bottle of scotch must be legendary.

When I got home, I took a quick shower hoping it would make me feel a little better (didn't) and sat down to fold some clothes and watch my Monday shows.

1. Big Bang Theory (why'd they change the time slot, I would have missed it if I didn't have a weird feeling.
2. Two and a Half Men
3. How I Met Your Mother (Regis did a great guest spot)
4. Chuck Premiered!!
5. A Special episode of Life. (Great show, normal time is Fridays)
6. Worst Week (This show has had a few funny moments, I haven't decided if it will make it into the must record rotation)

Tonight is Fringe!!! Cindy.....don't be mad, I will probably be watching a movie, or four tonight, I told Kel last week I have gotten into the habit of DvR'ing my shows so I can skip the commercials when I play them back. I haven't given up yet on this show yet.

That's all I have for 2day,

Ciao!

(now playing, hehe, Streaming Album from paste magazine.)

E-Baby

Ugh....I'm.....sick. One of the worst parts of being single is when you are ill. Nobody to give you sympathy, or coddle you while you spend all your time whining about how you are sick. My throat is a little sore, and my nose won't stop running.

One of my favorite ad campaigns the last year or so has been E-Trade and the 'trading baby'. I saw a new (new for me) spot, so I thought I'd share a few.

Clown




Mobile Baby (new one for me)



So Easy




Love those ads. I think if I could switch careers, advertising would be a good one for me.

I spent most of the weekend miserable. I watched a couple movies from Netflix, to reply to Kel, I am actually meeting my Dad after work today to see 'Righteous Kill'. I watched '88 Minutes' and a movie called 'Off the Black'.

88 Minutes, is the so called thriller, starring Al Pacino. He plays a professor who also does forensic psychiatry for the FBI. It was decent, but nothing spectacular.

Off the Black, stars an aging Nick Nolte, who has been a umpire for high school baseball for 40 some years. The title is a baseball term, meaning the pitch just missed the strike zone. He is invited to his high school reunion, and decides to go. The twist is, he talks a local kid into pretending to be his son, to pay him back for tee-peeing his house. I liked this one.

Sunday, I hit the kitchen since I was feeling a little better. I made the following

Taco Pockets (Rachel Ray)
Pretty much season a hamburger patty like you are making tacos, but cook it like a burger. Place the burger into a flour tortilla with lettuce/cheese/taco sauce.

Caesar Spaghetti (Rachel Ray)
Like Caesar salad? This was supposed to be spaghetti with Caesar flavoring, but I think I burned the garlic, so it might take another run in the test kitchen. You cook down some anchovies, add lemon zest, garlic, and then chopped up escarole. Once the escarole wilts down, you add the spaghetti. For the sauce, you take an egg yolk, and mix it with some regiano cheese, and pepper.

Quesadilla Saute. (Ask Aida)
Poblano, serrano, and jalapeno peppers, sauteed with onions, garlic, and chicken broth!
Technically the recipe called for mostly poblano's, but I made a mistake at the grocery store and bought serranos! After sauteing, simply create your quesadilla on a cookie sheet, then bake til done.

My William Fitzsimmons cd did not arrive yet, but I wasn't really expecting it to. The official release date is tomorrow, and check out how cool this is! When I bought the album, I got a free one year subscription to Paste Magazine. I had never heard of them either, but apparently they are a magazine that features indie bands. Every magazine comes with a sampler CD, how sweet is that! Well, even cooler, I got an email Saturday saying they were streaming the whole album on their site. This guy is in my top 5 favorite artists, so take a minute to go over and listen to a few songs. All you need to do is head here then look on the right side of the webpage for the 'paste station'. Click the 'Album Streams', then 'William Fitzsimmons-The Sparrow and the Crow'. I like the whole cd of course, but I recommend you check out 'Find Me to Forgive' or 'Further From You', Actually listen to the whole thing!!

Look for a BIG announcement later this week,

ciao!

(now playing....streaming feed from paste!)

How to Rob.....

I just finished watching a pretty good flic, so I am going to share.



How to Rob a Bank (dvd)
IMDB

Nick Stahl ... Jinx
Erika Christensen ... Jessica
Gavin Rossdale ... Simon
Terry Crews ... Officer DeGepse




Jason 'Jinx' Taylor: "Did you know that statistics say that 98% of all convicted criminals have successfully committed at least one previous crime before they were caught? That means that almost everyone gets away with it at least once. "

ciao!


(PS...My William Fitzsimmons cd shipped yesterday!!! I'm crossing my fingers it shows up soon)

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Now playing: William Fitzsimmons - If You Would Come Back Home
via FoxyTunes

New Movie Trailers!!

Just wanted to share some new trailers I found yesterday..

A couple of these are just new trailers, and some are new movies, if that made sense. What I mean is they released a second newer trailer for a movie, and some of them I have never shared before.

Synecdoche, New York



Waltz with Bashir



Flash of Genius



Religulous



Body of Lies



Watchmen (I have to hype this one, I'm very excited for it)
Go here to read about the graphic novel the movie is based on.
When I posted yesterday, and used my FoxyTunes plugin, the song playing is the same one in the trailer.




In case you were wondering, FoxyTunes, is a add-on for Firefox. It allows you to control your media player (mediamonkey,itoones, windows media player, etc) in your browser toolbar. This also adds their 'signatures' feature. I have a small treble clef icon right below the 'preview' when posting an entry here. If I click that, I have the option to add a signature at the end of my post with the current or a previous song that had recently played. Check it out if you use Firefox.

ciao!



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Now playing: Kings of Leon - 17
via FoxyTunes

ahhh Television....and the Emmy's

Did anyone actually watch the Emmy's Sunday night? I try to avoid most award shows personally. I used to try watching MTV's but awhile back they switched to M-Rap-TV. There are a few hip-hop songs I like, mostly the older stuff, but it seems everything on mtv is all rap now. Someone please tell Puff Daddy his 15 min are over. Making the band?? I want to work for P Diddy??? Talk about someone who is still living the hype. I mean every song I know of that he did was sampled, and was a duo, probably because his suburbanite middle class 'street' lifestyle is a horrible talent.

I did look yesterday to see who the big winners were, even if I hardly ever agree.

Go here to see the full list.
Outstanding Drama Series
Winner - Mad Men (amc)
My choice of Nominees - I'd say Lost, but I missed most of this season, and I have Dexter in my netflix que. The few edited episodes I watched on channel whatever I liked what I saw. So
My choice of not Nominated - Breaking Bad (fx), Life

Outstanding Comedy Series
Winner - 30 Rock
My Choice among Nominees - It's a toss up, between 2 1/2 Men, The Office, and 30 Rock
My Un-Nominated Choice - How I Met Your Mother (all because of Barney), Rules of Engagement

Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series
Winner - Bryan Cranston - Breaking Bad
My Choice among Nominees - I have to agree with the winner, the dad from Malcom in the Middle
My Un-Nominated Choice - Damian Lewis

Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama Series
Winner - Glenn Close - Damages
My Choice among Nominees - No clue, I have never seen any of the shows nominated!

Outstanding Lead Actor in a Comedy Series
Winner - Alec Baldwin - 30 Rock
My Choice among Nominees - Charlie Sheen
My Un-Nominated Choice - I have to agree with Alex, every line he has on that show is money.


Outstanding Lead Actress in a Comedy Series
Winner - Tina Fey - 30 Rock
My Choice among Nominees - Never watched the other nominated shows


Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Drama Series
Winner - Zeljko Ivanek - Damages
My Choice among Nominees - Michael Emerson -Lost

Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama Series
Winner - Dianne Wiest - In Treatment
My Choice among Nominees - never seen any of them

Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series
Winner - Jeremy Piven - Entourage
My Choice among Nominees - Neil Patrick Harris, hands down should have won.

Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series
Winner - Jean Smart - Samantha Who
My Choice among Nominees - Pushing Daisies Kristen Chenoweth
My Un-Nominated Choice - The ladies from How I met your mother.

Outstanding Lead Actor in a Miniseries or Movie
Winner - Paul Giamatti - John Adams
My Choice among Nominees - I agree with the winner

Outstanding Lead Actress in a Miniseries or Movie
Winner - Laura Linney - John Adams
My Choice among Nominees - Of the mini-series nominated this is again the only one I saw, and agree with the winner.

Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Miniseries or Movie
Winner - Tom Wilkinson - John Adams
My Choice among Nominees - Three of the 5 nominated were all from John Adams!

Ok, that's enough of that, the rest of the categories sort of put me in a dull haze and make me want to take a nap. I do think the show Life was snubbed, and the biggest snub was NPH not winning the best supporting in a comedy, about 80% of the reason I watch that show is his character. The other 20 is mixed with the story and these three reasons.

1. Cobie Smulders




















2. Alyson Hannigan




















3. I'm not sure how much longer she will be a guest, but my girl from Scrubs..
Sarah Chalke















What other TV premiers am I waiting for?

knight rider (the movie a few months ago wasn't horrible, so it's on the fence)
9/24 7pm NBC

gary, unmarried
9/24 7:30pm CBS

my name is earl (last year was a letdown, hopefully they bounce back)
9/25 7pm NBC

the office
9/25 8pm NBC

chuck (hellllo Yvonne Strahovski)
9/29 7pm NBC

pushing daisies
10/1 7pm ABC

my own worst enemy (can slater pull off a TV version of Bourne and memory loss?)
10/13 9pm NBC

30 rock
10/30 8:30pm NBC

Enough TV,

Well this will be my last week with the trainer. I swear I am going to try and set two days a week I go to the gym though, what I am swearing on I will leave out, since I even doubt this will happen. Last night I did set three records in the same round of Tiger Golf, and won a trophy ball. I almost had my second hole in one! I whipped some booty and had 11 consecutive birdies, one of those was an eagle too (counts as a birdie as well). The trophy ball was for the birdie streak, I set records for most birdies, most greens hit, and least putts for that course. I think I'm getting the knack of the game I'd say.

That's probably enough rambling by me today, better try and find some work to do.

ciao!

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Now playing: Smashing Pumpkins - The Beginning Is the End Is the Beginning
via FoxyTunes

tick tock

Do you ever feel like everything you do goes in circles? Get up, go to work, come home, repeat. Go to grocery store, cook food, watch TV. I have this urge inside to sell everything, and disappear, Into the Wild/Razor's Edge style. Maybe write a book, as I traveled the globe.

I need to clear up last week's KU post....

Raspberry, Kel, I don't want to be misunderstood, I am fine with people who support their favorite sports teams. What gets under my skin, is the so called mega-fan, who have to talk down any other team, and lives in this delusional world that their team is the best ever, nobody can beat them, and you are a loser if you don't like the same team. I have plenty of KU friends, of course, I live in Kansas. What I was trying to post, is there are different types of fans. The completely sane, normal ones, and the 'you suck we rule' fans. I was merely aggravated by my bowling team members who instead of 'talking' about basketball, they wanted to put me down for not being a KU fan. I could be a fan of anyone and if it wasn't KU, then they would attack me. It's like invasion of the body snatchers, if you don't support KU then they sniff you out and try to invade your mind so they can melt it, remove it, and therefore making you into a KU fan.

This was a decent weekend. Friday I left early to meet my cousin for some golf out in DeSoto. It's not the fanciest course, but for $20 after 3pm, I am fine there. It's a little more laid back too. My short game was horrible, but I had some good drives off the tee. Afterwards when I got home I played some Tiger Woods PS3, watched some TV, and went to bed. I got up around 7am Saturday, and was going to watch some Food Network, before running some errands. I jumped in the shower, and missed a call from my buddy Alex. He and his very cool girlfriend wanted to go see the new Dane Cook movie 'My Best Friend's Girl', and they invited me to come with. It was a hilarious movie, full of great one liners, it's pretty vulgar, and I was a tiny bit uncomfortable even having Alex's girlfriend there. She was cracking up too though, but I am from that old school mold, with it engraved that kind of language is not appropriate around women. I cuss with the best of them, but if a female is present, it's a rare slip if you hear me curse. After the movie we went over to Granite City for lunch, and then went by Alex's girl's Mom's place. She (her Mom) has an herb garden and they had been promising me some fresh herbs for awhile. We left and I had a bags of Rosemary, Dill, Cilantro, Oregano, Sage, and even some peppers! When I got home I was exhausted, I watched Ask Aida from that morning, made a grocery list, and took a nap.

Sunday I ran to the grocery store early, so I could make a recipe from Aida's show. I bought ingredients to make all three recipes actually. I thought I had enough rice at home, but I didn't so I only made one. I started marinating some chicken, and from the show, a pork loin roast. You marinate the roast in Orange and Grapefruit juice, along with cilantro, Serrano peppers, and garlic. When it's time to cook, you strain the marinade, and then use it to make an orange sauce. I haven't tried it yet, but might slice some up for dinner tonight.

I mixed in some Tiger Woods, and oh my gosh, I got my first ever hole in one on the game. It was a par 3, with a decent wind coming at me. I put a little extra muscle on the drive, and a slow backspin to the right. When your shot is going to be close, the screen changes, and changes to a semi slow motion, and then 'dink' it rolled in. Barkley was just as excited because I screamed like a little girl. Pretty silly when you live alone I know.

I drove up to Target while my food was marinating, to get some doggie treats, and look for a PSP game. Since I'm playing Tiger on the PS3, I am pretty sure my go-to game on the PSP won't be enuf to entertain me on trips. When I got home, I watched Sons of Anarchy from last Wednesday, I tossed in that movie I recommended 'Find Me Guilty' and True Blood was on last night too. One of my favorite quotes in the movie is when Vin Diesel is talking to his daughter from inside jail.

Jackie DiNorscio
"You know what the two most beautiful words in the English language are?"
"Things change...."

I went to bed around 10 last night, and was asleep by 10:30, which is unusual for me.

Ok, that's it for today..

ciao a presto!

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Now playing: Weezer - My Name Is Jonas

gee thanks IT guys

So yesterday was my work from home day, yet when I woke up, my laptop would not even connect to the internet, let alone the network here at work. After trying for about an hour, I made the drive into the office. Guess what, no luck here either. I was going to have to take it into the walk-in PC clinic here on campus, but fearful they would be re-imaging my hard drive, and that I would lose allot of stuff, I spent most of the day backing stuff up to my external passport drive, I keep my music on. I finally took it in around 2:30, and they said it would be 5:30 before they could even look at it. So I went on home. They called around 5:30 that night and said it was ready, I could pick it up when they open at 7:30 am. I left home this morning late so I wouldn't have to sit around waiting on them. I got my laptop around 7:45, and here it is 9:15, and I am almost back working. You see the first boot I did, Outlook popped up and said it was not closed properly, and had to do some checking. Once that was done, my desktop went blank, a restart, and another outlook popup.

So I gotta say (begin sarcasm) these IT guys deserve a raise, they have waster almost a full day of mine between yesterday and today. It all traced back to a software push they did Wednesday.

Bowling scores!! Much more normal, I was a little nervous, and Andy and Jerry pissed me off or I think I would have done better.
1st game: 169
2nd game: 172
3rd game: 179

You could almost say I won the last two for us, I mean it was a team effort of course, but when I got up to bowl in the 10th frame of the second and third game, we were still behind. I guess you could say I did my part, and didn't choke. In the 2nd game I struck out (3 strikes), so when Andy got up to bowl, we had the lead, and he could have guttered, and we would still have won. The last game, I almost called shenanigans on the other team. Their strongest female bowler, carries a 170 average, and in the first two games she didn't come close. So mysteriously the third game her shoulder hurt too bad, and she decided she couldn't bowl. That means they got to carry her average. We went into the 10th frame of that game 101 pins behind (we gave them 72 every game handicap). Well I was on a strike going in, and my first two balls were strikes (gobble gobble turkey) My third I left 2 pins, but we had taken the lead again.

Here is what pissed me off though, K-State was playing Louisville on the TV's. I'm not a college football fan at all, but I asked Andy if they were still winning, he said he wanted them to lose because it was K-State. I said I rooted for them over KU (who I can not stand). That sparks this huge argument about North Carolina and KU basketball. I don't mind joking around, but he and Jerry just try to piss me off. I know Andy barely watched KU last year, and Jerry is a Nebraska fan. At one point I said the biggest reason I hate KU is the fans. Sorry if you are reading this, but it's true. KU fans are asses. Being a HUGE North Carolina Tarheel fan, and watching every game televised, I know that the final four game between KU and UNC was horrible. Yes, my Tarheels lost. Yet KU fans can't admit UNC played terrible, instead its 'we whipped your butts' they don't admit UNC almost pulled the largest comeback in a final four, or that on any other day UNC could have won, it's simply 'we killed your team'. I told them to just shut up about it, I bowl bad when I'm pissed off, and that's what they were doing, pissing me off. I have friends who are KU fans and we get along perfectly fine when we talk about NCAA Basketball, but most of my KU fan friends I won't discuss basketball with them, because they act like jag-offs about it.

Ok, rant over. Today I am leaving early to go shoot some golf with my cousin. We have a 3pm tee time, so I will need to leave around 2:15 to get there and change into some shorts.

I have a ton of email to catch up on from yesterday, so I better get to work, it appears Outlook is ready, hopefully it behaves.


before I go, watch sarah 'animal killer' palin flip flop in an interview, and demonstrate she doesn't know what the word 'doctrine' actually means.

ciao!

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Now playing: Rage Against the Machine - Vietnow

Fringe.

So I still haven't decided if I like this new show or not. I know the ads all claim the critics are saying its the BEST NEW SHOW!!!! Here are my concerns.

It is a poor ripoff of X-Files, which I loved. What I liked about X-Files was the supernatural aspect of the cases. This week they are investigating aliens, next week some guy that slimes people then eats them, etc. So far, both episodes of Fringe are about experiments one of the now good guys did in the 70's before being sent to a mental institute. These science projects were somehow continued after he was shut down. It's all about crazy science stuff too. The premiere they inject the lead actress with LSD, and other stuff to allow her to communicate with her partner who is in a drug induced coma. Last night, I don't want to ruin it, but they use a special electronic camera to read the last image burned onto a dead girls retina. They are investigating another supposed failed experiment which speeds the aging process so the government could breed soldiers. Maybe it's the acting, but I don't like it when they magically have a solution for some crazy way to solve the case. Oh, did I mention they are 0 for 2 now. Both episodes the bad guy got away, yes it creates future story lines and is classic writing from the creator who also came up with Lost, and its warehouses of loose ends. I really liked the chemistry between Mulder and Scully in X-Files, even so that in the recent movie, the fact they were now a 'couple' irked me. I preferred the non-intimate relationship.

I can't help think of one of my favorite TV shows of all time. 'Ed' starring Tom Cavanaugh, and the hawtie Julie Bowen. He quits his profession as a lawyer, to move to his hometown and pursue the one that got away. After x number of seasons (I don't remember) it finally happens, and they end up together. The show immediately goes south, and goes off the air. Don't get me started on the legal battle that is still going for them to release the series on DvD.











Back to Fringe, I see the possible storyline of them creating tension between the FBI agent and the madman's son, the guy from Dawson's Creek. Before you ask, no I didn't watch it. Yet another warning, don't get me started on corner mouth talking Mrs Cruise, she annoys me. The hype leading up to Fringe made me think 'ooo a new X-Files' but so far its just seems the writers sat down and thought, what insane experiment can we think of next. I mean they ended the first episode with the dead partner, and the evil (but they don't know it yet) corporation obtaining his corpse. The guy rolling him down the hall is asked how long he has been 'dead', 4 hours was the reply. The secret bad corporate exec says, revive him. I mean c'mon. So far these experiments have been quite the stretch even for so called science fiction. They talk of a 'pattern', hmmmm, sounds allot like the beginning of Lost, and the 'others'.

Anyway, enough of that. Tonight if I don't bowl much better, I mean a ton better, than I did last week, I might see what it takes to melt down a bowling ball. Or how high I need to drop one onto concrete before it shatters. My days with the trainer may be numbered too. I just don't see any results, funny that is the name of the place "results". I still have the gym membership down the street from them, if I'd just use it I think I could do the same thing my trainer is being paid to do, yet isn't. The workouts are just so hit and miss. Last week was pretty good, the week before, I walked on the treadmill for 15 minutes, he had me work on a machine, then back to the treadmill for 2 minutes. Another machine, and treadmill. He isn't focused on his client, taking phone calls, or being late, doesn't remember something we talked about the week before. I don't want to feel like I'm using him, but he is my one shot at getting those Tarheel tickets.

I can't wait for lunch today!! I grilled up those chicken breasts last night......my tummy is growling just typing that. After grilling I played a little Tiger Woods, and downloaded two game demos from PlayStation network. If anyone who actually reads this, is on the PlayStation network let me know, we can hook up online for some gaming. I downloaded Bad Company, and Star Wars: Force Unleashed. I read some pretty poor reviews, sort of, for Force. They said it was a fun game, but some glitches. My biggest hesitation, is they said it took barely 8 hours to beat. For $60 it needs to last allot longer in my humble opinion. I watched last night's episode of
America's Toughest Jobs, which my buddy Andy convinced me to start watching, and then above ranted about Fringe. I actually made it into bed at 10, even though I watched Adult Swim til 11.

If you didn't know, Adult Swim is a block of shows on Cartoon Network, which includes shows like Family Guy, Futurama, Aqua Teen Hunger Force, Harvey Birdman, etc, mostly cartoons, that aren't really for kids.

Here is a video collage of one of my favorite characters on the show. Phil, Harvey's boss.



This a 10 min clip of Aqua Teen Hunger Force (aka ATHF) and yes, its a show about a box of french fries "Frylock', a milkshake 'MasterShake', and a wad of meat 'MeatWad'.



That's it for today.

ciao!
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Now playing: Dean Martin - Arrivederci Roma (with Tiziano Ferro)
via FoxyTunes

ZzZZzzzzz

I am falling asleep, I don't want to get another cup of coffee, I just want to go home and take a nap.

Before I post these....
Raspberry, let me know how it turns out. I have made variations of that recipe, but lately, since it's always been for my sister, I kept it the way she liked. Tonight I am making a recipe that has become a favorite of mine. Garlic & Soy chicken, I like to eat it with some plain old steamed white rice. I have two breasts that have been marinating since yesterday waiting for when I get home. But...I promised myself I would go by Oklahoma Joe's for a Z-Man sandwich. I have been craving one for weeks now. My buddy Frank got me hooked on them. BBQ brisket, with onion rings, and provolone cheese between two hamburger buns, add some Ok Joe's fries, good night.


To try and stay awake, here are some movie trailers...
One quick rant before I start. Why does Tyler Perry need to put his name in front of EVERYTHING???? Tyler Perry's garage sale, Tyler Perry's lunch, Tyler Perry's toilet paper, Tyler Perry's towels, Tyler Perry's in another movie with his name at the beginning, Tyler Perry's got some serious ego issues I'm guessing.


The Soloist




Choke



Quantum of Solace (new trailer)



Four Christmases



Fast and Furious (4?)



Find Me Guilty
In a Vin Diesel mood? This one came out awhile back, and I really enjoyed it. The language is not for the kiddies, but good 'based on a true story' movie. In fact, I might watch it tonight when I get home while I eat my Z-Man. (Be ready, if I recall its 2+hrs long)



Righteous Kill
Deniro + Pacino = me want to see



ciao!


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Now playing: Bishop Allen - Corazon
via FoxyTunes

-24 at Pebble Beach!

As raspberry asked, Saturday my sister and her husband came over for lunch. I made her favorite Italian Chicken and Potatoes. For myself I grilled up some garlic and soy chicken breasts. I like the Italian dish, just not as much as she does. I have made it for her twice in the last month, and I like more variety. I think it's a semi-heavy dish, with all those potatoes. Since that's her favorite part, I upped the amount of potatoes for her. It is a very simple recipe. Put your chicken breasts in a slow cooker, cover them with Italian seasonings, Italian salad dressing, and Parmesan cheese (grated is fine). Chop up some potatoes (after peeling them) and cover the chicken. I pretty much dice up the potatoes since she likes the small pieces. After that, another round of seasoning, dressing and cheese. Then you cook it for 6-8 hours, and it's done. When serving, I top it with a little more dressing and cheese, and butter up some bread.

After we ate, I showed Victor my new games, and we played 9 holes of Tiger Woods '09. I was up 5 strokes when we stopped ;-) It was really the first time I had played it, since I've been hooked on the other Xbox game.

I didn't have any movies to watch, since I pulled a late night Friday watching the rest of Season 5 of The Shield. All I have left is the last disc which are special features (should be shipped tomorrow). After they left I played some more Tiger on my own, to work on my character's skills, and get a better feel for the game. Sunday I played Pebble Beach and after 4 days (in the game) shot 24 under par, to win my first game tournament. I cooked up some Balsamic Ravioli for dinner /lunch today, and ended the night watching the new episode of True Blood on HBO.

The constant rain here is starting to bug me, I really need to mow, but whenever I have time, it's either raining or the ground is still a little too wet. Here is some good news, the ASPCA is having a campaign to air the commercial about Palin's cruelty to animals in Alaska. So far they have managed to get it on the air in Utah. Honestly, I am not a political person in any way, but when the republicans chose her, I went on the war path.

I got a nice letter from my Aunt/Uncle in Scottsdale. They finally watched the full Italy video and loved it. They sent a small $$ donation to me, and told me they will be in town early October. My Dad and Uncle Ray convinced my other Uncle, 'Joe' to come to town. He is notorious for not flying, and since he lives in Albuquerque, I don't see that part of the family very often. Uncle Joe is the one who once had the Treasury dept knock on his door. You see like his brother Ray, they were both in the printing business. Uncle Joe once made some 'funny money' for a church benefit, and he apparently made it look too real! He didn't get in serious trouble, but still a visit from them would be nerve racking. My Mom is going to have a sit down meal on Oct 4th for everyone. We are recreating July 4th in a way, sort of a mini family reunion. She asked me to make my version of Rachel Ray's Chicago Dog Salad again. I change it up and use Italian Sausage instead of (yuck) hot dogs. It's like a grown up's dog with everything, and it is served minus the bun. I offered to help, and make more than one thing, or set it up with her.

Tomorrow Star Wars: Force Unleashed is coming out on Ps3, and I am pretty excited to get this one.



ciao!


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Now playing: Shinedown - If You Only Knew

Don't Yell at Me!!!

So I got like 15 emails from raspberry today, yelling at me about not posting!! After I finished crying for being screamed at, I decided to come give her the fix she apparently needs.

Here is the ad Defenders of Wildlife is raising money to air on TV, about Palin



Last couple days have been hectic. I bowled so bad Wed night I was pissed at myself. My mom and I actually had a little argument, but I explained the next day how I wasn't mad anymore and we are ok.

We had a (and I hate to use this stupid corporate phrase) 'fire drill' Tuesday too. A shared drive we all use in my group was being migrated to a new server. We keep legal documents on it, that we are required to have on record, stuff dating back at least 10 years. Well the lovely IT dept announces anything that hadn't been accessed in X amount of days would be deleted. WTF!!! Our bosses tried fighting it, and all we got was an extension on the move date. My buddy Alex found a fix for us, and guess who had to get this new application installed on every one's PC, make them job aids, and then start copying folders over to the new location.

Yesterday I worked from home, and besides a conference call, some busy work, and my armoire being delivered (w00t!!) I had errands to run. What sucked is the furniture peeps said the delivery window was 3:30-6:30. I quit work at 3:30, and needed to drive into town to get groceries and a few other things.

Yesterday was my older sister's birthday, in fact, we are all meeting up the street today for lunch. I needed to buy specific groceries because I offered to cook for my sister Saturday. She and Victor are coming over around lunchtime, and I am making her favorite, Italian Chicken and Potatoes. The pain is that she is coming for lunch. This dish cooks in the crock pot for 6hrs. Since it tastes best right when its done (don't misunderstand it's good heated up too) the issue is when do I turn the cooker on? If it needs to be finished at noon, if I start it the night before it's done early. If I wake up early, just to push start is the best option. Since I am usually up by 7 or 8, that's prolly what I will do. Except it seems when its raining I actually get sleep. Does that mean anything?

Wednesday I got three movies from netflix, season 5 disc 1-2-3 of The Shield! It is like crack, I throw the disc in and say, I'll watch one, then go to bed. But as soon as it ends, I'm dying to see the next episode, so I watch another, and then another. I am so hooked on that Xbox game, but what I decided was that I could watch the shows, and when I send them back for more, I can play the game.

Anyway, I need to wrap this up, I've been writing it here and there all day so far.


ciao!
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Now playing: Korn - Ever Be

Short post about new stuff....

Real quick, because I am very busy at work.

I added a couple new links to the left. I am sure you also noticed the banner ads I placed about the blog entries. The first one takes you to the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals. The second one is to pimp out William F's new cd. If you go to the ASPCA's site, you can order a free pet safety pack, which includes a sticker to place on your door at home, in case of a fire, alerting rescue personal of how many animals inside need to be saved. Personally, all I would want saved is my animals. The pack also includes a ASPCA Animal Poison Control Center magnet.

To answer a couple comments....

Kel,
Aeon Flux, on MTV was weird, the movie was horrid. I recommend everything I posted yesterday though, if you want to give anime another chance.

D-Lo,
Pack your bags, but be warned, I'm staying at Ciro's house (pronounced Cheer-O) and there is probably only one bed there, so if you don't have a problem cuddling, then let's go!

Raspberry,
I haven't watched any chick flicks lately! My movie reviews have been slacking lately anyway, I used to do a short write-up, post a trailer, links to IMDB, and the movie poster for the film. I will try to get back in that habit. Looking at my Netflix que though, the next 'chick flick is at number, well, you decide, since I'm not a chick, they aren't always obvious. I'll post a trailer for the ones you might not have heard about.

10. Off the Black



11. Run, Fatboy, Run
12. Smart People



14. The Neighbor
(ok, this one probably is a chick flick)



25. After the Wedding



Have a good day everyone.


ciao!

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Now playing: Bob Dylan - One More Cup of Coffee (Valley Below)
via FoxyTunes

My couch missed me !!!

After being so busy the last few weekends I spent this one planted on my couch!

Ok I admit, I played about 20 hrs of that Xbox game, and am now on Disc 3. My biggest complaint is too much cut scenes. If you have ever played a lengthy game, the 'cut-scene' is one of those movie like parts, that you just read and watch. I want more game!!

I did a few other things, but the only time I actually left the house was to walk down to the gas station for more smokes. I stayed up til around 2 am Friday and Saturday nights, so of course Sunday night was the first nite I went to bed around my normal 11pm time, before my 5:30am wake up. I overslept. That's how it works isn't it, the day I actually need to get up is the one I sleep without waking up 2-3 times. (I still woke up around 2am for some reason, before dozing back off).

I watched the three Netflix movies I had also, sending all three back this morning. Invisible Target, was a kung-fu movie that caught my eye, because Jackie Chan's son was in it. It was ok, nothing that blew me away. I was excited to get back into the swing of The Shield, then disappointed the disc I had was the last one of season 4, so all it had was the season finale, and a short documentary (I watched both). I'm not saying I didn't like it, just that I was drooling about getting a full 4 episodes. Guess I have to wait for when season 5 starts arriving. I finished with an anime movie. There are a few must see anime (Japanese animation movies) like Akira, or Ghost In the Shell, Ninja Scroll, and this one easily is now in my must see list. I heard about it on G4 (TV Channel). I'm not into the kiddie anime, cartoony ones. The anime classics I listed above all have a deep storyline, great script, animation, and I'd recommend any of them. The new one I just watched is titled Vexille. I plan on buying this on Blue-Ray when it's released next month. You'll have to read the subtitles, for the trailer, the actual movie you can choose English in the setup. And Kel......this was rated PG-13, so Ty could watch on your discretion.

Vexille




Ninja Scroll
imdb link
(*Kel......this one is NOT for Ty, there is some nudity, and adult content in it!)



---Off topic so far these 'trailers' are fan made, by the same youtube poster. I am going to subscribe to his channel, he does great work.

Ghost in the Shell
imdb link
(*Kel, no on this one for Ty also)
The story here is great, very philosophical, there are a few scenes in it that are amazing.




The classic, daddy Anime of them all. Anyone who has ever seen an anime movie, knows this one.


Akira
Just a note, this movie, was released in 1995, so if you compare the animation from it, and Vexille, you would definitely see an improvement. You have to give props where they are due though, Akira was the breakthrough anime movie for us westerners.



Enough of the Anime, I also watched my recorded DvR of Sons of Liberty, and the premiere of Tru Blood on HBO (Sons on Fx). Both were very good. I was happy to see Tru Blood isn't going to be some cheesy vampire show, like Buffy.

To finish up, some friggin awesome news!! One of my favorite singers has a new album releasing at the end of this month. William Fitzsimmons. I plan on pre-ordering it today. Here is a video from his last cd, which I still listen to, start to finish, every few days.

William Fitzsimmons "It's Not True"



I am guessing that anonymous comment was made by D-Lo? I plan on picking a calendar date for my trip the next couple of days, the wheels are in motion!

ciao!

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Now playing: William Fitzsimmons - If You Would Come Back Home
via FoxyTunes

Eli Mattson

I forgot to say one thing yesterday in response to Kel's comment, regarding my Animal Rights Stance. After years of getting more and more involved, the more I saw, and learned, the more disgust I had for my fellow man. Even after Lisa and I split up, I tried to remain active, but I don't think I'm strong enough inside to take the toll it puts on a person. I am worried if I knew of a way to join one of the more radical groups I would. There are animal rights groups out there the govt has classified as 'terrorists'. Then the next time you'd see me was on the nightly news getting caught breaking into some corporations labs to free the animals they were torturing to "better man", what a joke, I'd love to put everyone of those scientists in cages and poke them with white hot pokers, the ones that are pointed at the end too. I would tell them we have to perform these tests, because how else would we know whether or not white hot pokers straight out of a fire are safe or not safe?

Now, less serious, it's a Friday for criminy sakes.

Ok, I admit it, I'm busted. I have never been a huge reality show person. I can't stand American Idol, but, I do enjoy America's Got Talent. Sometimes the judges are in the way, but last season the finalists were very talented, and I could have been happy with either winning.

This year, I don't have too many favorites. I like the Sinatra impersonator, and the 'Zupa-stars' (only because they are hilarious). I think my favorite so far is a singer named Eli Mattson.

So I did some browsing last night to see if he maybe had an independent self made cd or something out there. He does have a myspace page, which you can hear some songs there. I found some youtube videos that I'll share. Definitely go to his myspace page to listen to some of his songs. I can't find his second performance of the Elton John classic Your Song. If anyone reading this can, let me know please!

Eli Mattson............

Walking in Memphis



Nobody Knows It But Me




All I'll Be




What a great quote after his last performance.
Springer: "'Do you want to bottle up this moment, and save it forever?"
Eli: "No, I want to drink it up, and do it again"

Hopefully this weekend I set a date for the Sicily trip, I'm running out of time.

ciao!

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Now playing: Aqualung - The Lake
via FoxyTunes

People Suck!!

Before I answer Kel's question she left about my late post last night, a couple other things.

Sons of Anarchy premiered on Fx last nite (as well as the new season of The Shield on Tues). I had to DvR Sons, and I'll have to wait on the DvD's for Shield, since I'm still working through Season 4 on Netflix.

Let's go back to Tuesday. I mentioned I bought two new video games, and I admit, I am becoming addicted to Lost Odyssey on Xbox. When I got home Tuesday, I started playing around 4:30, and I was glued to the TV until 11pm !! I stopped for dinner, and I almost started watching a movie, but since it is a 2hr movie, I went back to the game!

Wednesday I was busy, busy at work. I had my new weekly call, which I actually had to discuss a trouble ticket on. I admit I was a little nervous. This call involves my possible/promised promotion, and I am still learning. Most of the people on this call are Managers and Directors, but I stumbled through. When that was done, I had an early lunch, because I had to walk across campus to the test lab, to spend the rest of the day testing. After work, I had the trainer, then rushed home for bowling.

I mentioned I am still adjusting to this new ball, and after having a thumb insert, and some bevelling done around the thumb insert, I wanted to see if there was an improvement. I bowled a 170 my first game, a 179 my second, and a 198 for my third. So, I think it's safe to say I will see that improvement as I continue to adjust. Last week, I set my average at 143, and after an average last nite of 182., my league average will probably jump to maybe 160 or so.

So Kel asked what started me on my beliefs around animal rights. It's sort of confusing, and hard to explain. While dating an ex quite a few years ago, I was not 'into' animal rights like I am now. I didn't grow up oblivious to animal cruelty, but I do blame, or maybe thank, my ex for turning me down this road. We used to foster animals at our house, and at one time we had 8 dogs running around. We would foster them, taking them to pet adoptions and find them homes. Barkley, was actually going to be up for adoption at one time! My ex-girlfriend actually made the change to vegetarian while we were dating, and became more and more involved in anti-fur, anti-cruelty, and animal rights issues. It was like doing the foster work was the gateway drug. She took me along for the ride, and let me tell you, the more you see about how horrible we treat animals, the more I started disliking the human race in general. I joke about moving to a mountain cave and leaving society for good, but if the opportunity presented itself, a few ppl might realizing I wasn't laughing when I said it. I tried to keep that simple, it's like tourrette's, I blurt out my opinions on animal rights. And since you open your posts with quotes here are a few of my favorite animal rights ones.

We have enslaved the rest of the animal creation, and have treated our distant cousins in fur and feathers so badly that beyond doubt, if they were able to formulate a religion, they would depict the Devil in human form. ~William Ralph Inge, Outspoken Essays, 1922

The question is not, "Can they reason?" nor, "Can they talk?" but rather, "Can they suffer?" ~Jeremy Bentham

If we cut up beasts simply because they cannot prevent us and because we are backing our own side in the struggle for existence, it is only logical to cut up imbeciles, criminals, enemies, or capitalists for the same reasons. ~C.S. Lewis

The fact that man knows right from wrong proves his intellectual superiority to the other creatures; but the fact that he can do wrong proves his moral inferiority to any creatures that cannot. ~Mark Twain, What Is Man, 1906

Whether hunting is right or wrong, a spiritual experience, or an outlet for the killer instinct, one thing it is not is a sport. Sport is when individuals or teams compete against each other under equal circumstances to determine who is better at a given game or endeavor. Hunting will be a sport when deer, elk, bears, and ducks are... given 12-gauge shotguns. Bet we'd see a lot fewer drunk yahoos (live ones, anyway) in the woods if that happened. ~R. Lerner, letter, Sierra, March-April 1991

Heaven is by favor; if it were by merit your dog would go in and you would stay out. Of all the creatures ever made [man] is the most detestable. Of the entire brood, he is the only one... that possesses malice. He is the only creature that inflicts pain for sport, knowing it to be pain. ~Mark Twain

I am not interested to know whether vivisection produces results that are profitable to the human race or doesn't.... The pain which it inflicts upon unconsenting animals is the basis of my enmity toward it, and it is to me sufficient justification of the enmity without looking further. ~Mark Twain

Trust me, if I sent you the video of foxes being skinned alive for their fur, you might get sick and ask what mountain cave I am looking at.

Let's end with a couple trailers.


Humboldt County



Sex Drive




ciao!

I may be a democrat this year

this is enough to vote against McCain for me. If Daffy Duck was running against him, his sh!tty VP choice would be enough to vote Daffy.

Chaiyya Chaiyya !

Sorry to get political on everyone on that last post, I rarely pay close attention, but lately I have tried to watch how these elected morons act towards animal rights. His choice really makes me want to register just to vote against him now.

First off, here is a good one for you, the opening theme (and closing credits) to the Denzel movie "Inside Man". Thanks to Alex for finding this gem.



I want a ticket for that train!!!

So, I hope everyone had a good weekend. Mine was busy, busy, busy!

Saturday morning I drove over to my sister's house around 11, to meet up with Victor. We had a quick lunch, and jumped in his truck. My furniture was in the warehouse out near Belton, MO. Once we got there they brought out the dresser/mirror and the nightstand right away. Twenty minutes later, they gave up looking for the armoire. Apparently there was a damaged one in the inventory, so they offered to deliver it once a brand new one arrived. We drove back to my place, and Victor helped me get those two pieces into my house. I had to get my car, so we drove back to their place, stopping so I could re-pay him by putting some gas into his truck. Once I was finally back home I had to assemble the furniture. That was just screwing on all the knobs, and attaching the mirror to the dresser.

When that was done, I started prepping dinner. As a thank you to my buddy Frank, I invited him over to have a couple beers and I would grill up some steaks. I finally made that African spiced butter, and it turned out good. Frank didn't stay long and I had a busy Sunday.

I had called Andy about having breakfast, and he said he could do b-fast Monday, but Sunday he couldn't. He also said once his wife went to work around noon he could come over and stain the deck. When I woke up, I cleaned up the second garage stall, by moving about 15 bags of mulch/ potting soil into the back shed, then mowed the yard, took a shower, and waited. Andy called around 12, and said if I wanted to stain my deck the same color he stained his, I could use the extra bucket he had in his garage. That worked for me, so he came over a few minutes later, and about 4 hrs later we were done.

After another shower, my Mom calls me and asks if I can still go see a late movie. My Aunt (her sister) had been rushed to the hospital Sunday for her appendix (she is being released today after an appendectomy and is ok). I reluctantly said ok, and we planned on seeing a 9:30pm movie. I accidentally fell asleep and was late picking her up, but we still made it on time to see Babylon AD, Vin Diesel's new sci-fi movie. It was ok, the actress playing the 'package' he was delivering was a horrible actor in my opinion though.

Monday I woke up early, and went to breakfast with Andy. After that, I dropped him off then ran some errands. I went by Gamestop (video games) on the way home to trade in 3 games for credit, and walked out with 2 new games.

For the PS3...

Tiger Woods '08




and for the Xbox 360

Lost Odyssey
An amazing 4 discs long too!




When I got home, I had bought some drawer organizer bins for the new furniture, so I put those in, ate some lunch, and it was go time for the dogs. Both of them got baths, and I got three showers. The last one was the only real one, but I had worked up a sweat and a layer of dog hair on me when it was over. I have to close all the doors to the bedrooms/office, and cover all the electronics in the living room for the dog shaking that occurs when they are done. More like when I give up trying to towel dry them.

I threw in the Tiger game, and played a few minutes. Then watched a movie (Beowulf on Blue-Ray) made some dinner, and then tried out the second game. I quit around 10 since that was as long as I would wait for my chicken to marinate. I cooked it up, threw it in some Tupperware, and went to bed exhausted. The chicken is the Jalapeno-Lime flavor, but without a side dish, I didn't bring it into work for lunch. I just finished eating a delicious Chicken Feta flat bread and met Kel (who was wearing omg Capri pants!!) I'm not a fan of the capri's personally.

Ok, that's enough. Real quick a picture of the hawtie in the video above. I found out her name from my help desk friend in India.

Malaika Arora
H.A.W.T. !!!



ciao !!

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Now playing: Caribou - Subotnick
via FoxyTunes