Jubilation

Mind, consider yourself blown

2010-09-11T17:23:00.001-07:00

I just finished watchiing a documentary originally aired on PBS but I got to watch thanks to Netflix instant streaming (ah, what an age we live in) called Between the Folds. In it, one of the people interviewed makes a statement somewhere along the lines of paper having a memory and that once a fold is made in a piece of paper, that piece of paper can no longer go back to its pre-folded state. You can try to lay it flat but it wants to go back to its folded state. From this, it is possible to make the analogy that a piece of flat paper is like the human mind. Prior to any folds or changes it is blank and is, for the most part, useless. However, once even a single fold or, for the human mind analogy, a single thought is placed into that mind, that thought can not be un-thunk (is that a word?). That thought then goes on to influence other thoughts which then in turn effects who we are as human beings. Just a little origami meets Inception mind-blowing thinking for you :)

Smile!

2010-04-24T19:04:00.001-07:00

Andrea and I went geocaching again today. On one of our caches, we passed by this. It's a smiley face carved into the stump of a tree! Smile!

The Fabric of Our Lives

2010-04-21T19:55:00.000-07:00

Why does cotton have commercials? What next? Rayon, the synthetic of our lives?

Not what it appears...

2010-04-14T18:16:00.000-07:00

No ladies and gents, that's no ordinary bolt you're looking at there. It's actually a geocache that Andrea and I found today!

13 Funniest help wanted signs.

2010-03-15T20:17:00.000-07:00

This one is my favorite...

You can see the others here

Things I found out today

2010-03-12T14:38:00.000-08:00

1. I've become more effective at organizing and running meetings
2. A man can survive at least one day on lack of sleep and food as long as he has at least three cans of Mountain Dew (numbers may vary for women :)

Eagerly awaiting the release...

2010-03-07T20:24:00.001-08:00

More Final Fantasy XIII News & Previews

My new commute home

2010-02-02T14:55:00.001-08:00

Sent from my Verizon Wireless BlackBerry

IMG00012-20100129-0704.jpg

2010-01-29T05:18:00.001-08:00

Sent from my Verizon Wireless BlackBerry

it was full of throwback goodness.

Random thought...

2010-01-21T16:18:00.001-08:00

What do you think the people at food network do for lunch?

Sent from my Verizon Wireless BlackBerry

Changes

2010-01-14T16:26:00.000-08:00

Well, things have been a little hectic the past month. First off, I have a new job! Well, sort of. It's a promotion to another center. I will be working at the brand new, state-of-the-art Center of the Future in KC starting Jan 25th. Because of that, I had to get a replacement trained for my current center and on top of that, I had my annuals due for all three of the production areas as well as making sure everyone else got their annuals done, ran my weekly reports and helped enter historical data for other centers. So needless to say, it's been hectic. Did I also mention I tested for my third degree black belt? Three one-hour tests and one two-hour test later, I walk (well, more like crawled out) with my black belt. I also got a brand new phone! Very happy. I've been playing with it for the past month and just a couple of minutes ago, posted my first mobile post! It'll be really nice for geocaching...later...not now...now too cold...

Guess what I just got in the mail today?

2010-01-14T16:21:00.001-08:00

Sent from my Verizon Wireless BlackBerry

Thanks, Nicole!!! :)

Why you should move to Olathe

2009-11-08T20:11:00.001-08:00

Guess what we just got on Wednesday? No, not the three-headed koala I've always wanted. Not absolute power. I'll just go ahead and tell you. It's our free, blue, 65-gallon recycling cart! What makes it even better is that instead of charging us extra, which most metropolitan areas would've done, they made the recylcing service part of the regular trash pick-up service. No extra charge. You go, Olathe!

Whedon offers to buy Terminator franchise!

2009-11-02T15:18:00.001-08:00

That's right! Joss (of Firefly fame) has offered to take the Terminator franchise off of its owners hands for a pretty hefty sum. I got this off the of the /film website (www.slashfilm.com). You can read more about it here. Oh, the possibilities are endless...

Say goodbye to Saturday mail?

2009-08-16T09:46:00.001-07:00

Here's an article that I just read on CNN about the possibility of the post office doing away with the Saturday mail. Unthinkable, you say? Well, not really. In this age of email and with the decline of mail usage, I say it is not only thinkable but also likely. Check out the aritcle here.

Mario Bros. meets Inglorious Basterds

2009-08-14T14:58:00.000-07:00

Exactly like the title sounds. Here's a trailor of "Inglorious Basterds" if it had been filmed in the Mushroom Kingdom. Enjoy! I got it off of a site called slashfilm. If you haven't heard about it before, you should check them out. They have updates everyday and their site covers upcoming movies. You can check them out here.

2009-08-05T20:47:00.000-07:00

Andrea and I started something called geocaching today. Basically, it's a high-tech scavenger hunt. You go to a site ( http://www.geocaching.com) and find a list of coordinates for "caches" which can contain anything from CDs to pennies or nothing at all. You then enter the coordinates into a GPS device and locate the cache. In any case, there's a piece of paper for you to leave your name and the date you found the cache on. Very fun.

We found it in the trunk of a tree and the log was a little wet so we put it in a ziplock bag to help protect it in the future.

What's in a name?

2009-07-30T17:01:00.000-07:00

Tony's the kind of guy that everyone seems to like. He's agreeable, laid back, and just enjoys hanging out. He's comfortable eating out with others or alone by himself. He's quiet, contemplative, and has eyes that gleam with a mischief that makes you wonder what lurks behind that serene countenance. Who is this Tony, you may ask. He seems like a swell guy, maybe someone you'd like to know. Well, you're in luck. If you're reading this, you probably already know Tony. Tony is my alter ego. Now let me explain. I frequent a lot of restaraunts during lunch that requires the person taking the order to ask the name of the customer. These places range from McDonald's to, as in today's case, Panera's. Due to my soft-spoken nature and the uniqueness of my name, when the person who calls out the customer's name (usually not the same person that took the order) calls my order out, it comes out as either Juan or, in those rare instances when I actually take the time to spell out my name, Tone. So rather than going through all that trouble, I tell them my name is Tony. It's easy for the restaraunt employees to spell and I have yet to have anybody butcher it so it's really a win-win situation for all involved. What's funny is that I usually pay with my debit card which has my name spelled correctly on it. No one has yet to catch that little inconsistency. This is usually the point where that mischievous gleam in Tony's eyes are most prominent. There's just something exhilirating about getting away with a little white lie. So the next time you visit a restaraunt that inquires whether they can get a name for that order, give them one. No one ever said it had to be yours ;)

Home again, home again...

2009-07-17T00:44:00.000-07:00

We made it back to the states safely without too much trouble. All the flights came in on time. Currently working on posting all the pics on my flickr account. They should be up soon.

Exodus

2009-07-06T19:58:00.000-07:00

Yes,for those of you wondering, we made it to Vietnam alright. We spent the fist two days in Ho Chi Ming city visiting my mom's family. On night number two (I number nights now because I have no idea what day it actually is), we visited my grandma on my mom's side's grave and had dinner (not at my granma on my mom's side's grave). The dinner was good. Kind of an all-you-can-eat buffet style held out in the open. Then we spent night three out in the country. Highlights from that night include me climbing a coconut tree (harder to do than you think, especially after it's just rained), "driving" a moped (I drove it around the parking lot), and getting bitten by what I can only assume was, and hoping was, a bunch of mosquitos. Highlights from night four including heading out to the ocean to a riverwalk sort of place. The moped ride there was thirty minutes so that was fun. After that, we had dinner at a seafood restaurant. Really reasonable prices for how much we ate and drank. I think it wound up being about eight US dollars per person. Then we went to a karaoke bar (mostly because my cousins wanted to). No, I didn't sing. Today we're in the city and so, I have spent about twenty-four hours flying only to sit in front of a computer screen and type all of this out :) I think we're going to do a little shopping today and hang out a little bit. Plans for tomorrow? The BEACH!!! I'll try to post pics when I get back on the 16th.

How to make a dangling guinea pig toy

2009-04-26T09:09:00.000-07:00

You have to love the English language. I saw the above title of an article on my Google home page and had to investigate. I mean really, did the author mean a toy made for guinea pigs that dangle or a toy made from guinea pigs that dangle. One little word that changes the entire meaning of the title. In case you're wondering, the author meant the former and, alas, not the latter. If you want, you can find the entire story here.

What's your favorite type of party?

2009-03-25T16:30:00.000-07:00

Well, mine happens to be a tea party, so Let's Tea Party! well, my favorite type of party isn't really a tea party but that was my witty segway (sp?) into a new band I just heard of today. I listen to a podcast called the Naked Scientists where they go over science info. One of the podcasts featured Geek Pop which is basically Woodstock but on a virtual stage instead of a physical one and with "geek" music instead of rock. One of the bands featured is "Let's Tea Party". They've got some pretty good songs on there. If you've got some time, stop by Geek Pop. The site is a little wonky but just go there and click on the play button for the highlights and you'll be able to hear Let's Tea Party (they're the first band featured). You can also listen to some more of them at their myspace page.

CJ7

2009-03-20T20:14:00.000-07:00

Got a spare hour and a half? You couldn't spend that time any better than by watching CJ7. Synopsis? Boy goes to prep school. Dad is poor and works his butt off at a construction site to pay for things boy wants. Boy wants robotic toy dog classmates have. Dad can't afford it. Dad goes to dump to look for toy. Picks up alien-dog. Hilarity ensues. The kid does an excellent job as an actor. Steven Chow (of Kung Fu Hustle fame) is rather mute in the role of the father. He doesn't excel but then again, the story isn't about the father. Check the movie out if you can get your hands on it. You can thank me later. Just a word of warning - it is subtitled and I wouldn't suggest watching it any other way.

Letter to rude lady who cut in front of me at Five Guys Burgers and Fries

2009-03-12T10:50:00.000-07:00

Nothing pisses me off more than inconsiderate people. NOTHING! So here's the story:

I took today off and decided that a cheeseburger sounded good for lunch. I had to stop by Target and pick up some stuff for dinner anyways and Five Guys Burgers and Fries was close by. I walked in and waited in line like everybody else. Just before I got to the front of the line, another register opened up. Just at that moment, a lady walked in the door and walked right in front of the register that opened up. By this time I was already moving into the new register line so the person behind me moved up to the line I was previously in so I was pretty much stuck in the new line. Anyways, the lady beat me to the new line. She pulls a piece of paper out that had seven or eight orders on it (apparently, it was for her office lunch) but might as well have been Santa's list of naughty and nice children for all I cared. She gives the order to the waitress, pays for her order with a credit card and then has the nerve to ask for change for a ten dollar bill! Anyways, by the time I got to the front of the line I was already pissed but to top it all off, the waitress, who should have told the lady to go to the end of the line, had the gall to ask me if I'd like a large order of fries with my order! urgh! So, anyways, rude lady that cut in front of me, if by any chance you're reading my blog, this is what I should have said to you:

Excuse me. The line starts back there behind all those fine people you've so inconsiderately cut in front of. Now waddle back to the end of the line and wait for your turn like everybody else. Now fuck off and have a nice day.

Did I mention I have no patience for rude people?

We'll take a cup of kindness...

2008-12-31T14:11:00.000-08:00

In the spirit of the new year, here are the lyrics to Auld Lang Syne to save you the trouble of searching for it yourself. If you're looking for the good rendition of the song and you can find it, I highly suggest the Straight No Chaser version of the song on their "Holiday Spirits" CD.

Should Auld acquaintance be forgot
And never brought to mind?
Should Auld acquaintance be forgot
And days of Auld Lang Syne

For Auld Lang Syne, my dear
For Auld Lang Syne
We'll take a cup of kindness yet
For Auld Lang Syne

And here's a hand, my trusty friend
And gives a hand of thine
We'll take a cup of kindness yet
For Auld Lang Syne

For Auld Lang Syne, my dear
For Auld Lang Syne
We'll take a cup of kindness yet
For Auld Lang Syne

For Auld Lang Syne, my dear
For Auld Lang Syne
We'll take a cup of kindness yet
For Auld Lang Syne

For Auld Lang Syne, my dear
For Auld Lang Syne
We'll take a cup of kindness yet
For Auld Lang Syne

We'll take a cup of kindness yet
For Auld Lang Syne

Happy New Year's everone!

I hate itunes!

2008-12-28T16:29:00.000-08:00

Now anyone can make a blatant statement. For a statement to have impact, it must have details that back it up. Case in point, I just downloaded a song off of itunes. I then transferred it to the folder that all my music is so that it would sync with my zune. I then checked my zune only to find that it wasn't there. I then checked the file properties only to find out that it was protected which means my zune can't play it. Now I didn't get my major in business in college but one would postulate that the more people that have access to a product, the more revenue there would be to possibly generate. Why would you do something stupid like encode your media so that it would only play on your media player? Some would argue that it is so that apple would sell more ipods but then why would a consumer purchase a media player whose content won't play on anything else besides said media player. Especially since there are other open sourced media players out there (refer to my post on Zune made previously). Anyways, it's a good thing the song I downloaded was free or else I would have been pissed. Unfortunately, this has become way too common an occurance for me though. A couple of months ago, I bought an audiobook off of itunes and then transferred it to my zune. Again, it didn't play. I didn't worry about it too much then because it was, after all, my fault for not checking to see if the file type was compatible with my zune. Fast forward to about a month ago. Microsoft announced that the Zune would support audiobooks from audible.com which was where I purchased my audiobook from (indirectly through the itunes page) so I thought all my problems were solved. All I had to do was download the media organizer and then transfer it to the Zune. Once again, because I had purchased it through the itunes store, it was protected and won't play on my zune so if I want it to play on my Zune and just about any other media player in the world, I have to redownload the audio book. Well, that was a longer rant than I intended it to be. How was your Christmas?

Ipod Killer

2008-12-12T16:23:00.000-08:00

I've had my Zune for almost a year now and I think I can honestly give it a decent review. Unlike most reviews though, instead of starting off with the pros, I am going to start off with the cons, mostly because there are so few.
Cons:
-I will start off with my biggest con first. The selection in the Zune Marketplace (the software used to purchase music, videos, etc.) is relatively scant compared to itune at least as far as videos go. They still have a nice selection of video podcasts and music videos but their selection of tv shows and movies is not the greatest.
-TV shows purchased through Microsoft's Zune Marketplace will not, at least as of yet, play through the xbox. This is easily enough remedied if you want to see the videos on your zune player through your tv by a docking station and some component video cables.
-TV shows, movies, audiobooks purchased through itunes will not play on your zune. Mp3s, assuming they are DRM-free, will play just fine. This is because most of itune's media has DRM.
-Digital copies that come with some of the newer DVDs do not, at least currently, transfer to the Zune. They play fine on the Windows Media Player. This is really a big disappointment for me because I recently bought the Digital Copy version of The Dark Knight specifically for the purpose of watching it on my Zune on my business trips.
-Microsoft points do not translate easily into dollars. 99 Microsoft points do not translate into $0.99. Most tracks cost 79 Microsoft points which is approximately $0.99. Because it does not translate easily into dollars, it is VERY easy to spend more money than you think you are.
Hopefully most of these cons will be addressed in the next software upgrade.

Now on to the pros:
-The Zune Marketplace interface ROCKS!!! It it so user-friendly and intuitve. You can sort your music by album, artist, song, date albums are added, etc.
-MixView. Basically, the best way to describe this is to give you an example. Say you're into the Goo Goo Dolls. If you double-click on their profile a collage will show up with artists that inspire them, that they inspire, other listeners who have them as their favorite artists, and other albums they've released. This is great if, you're like me, you enjoy finding new types of music based on stuff you already like.
-Free updates. All updates to the zune software are free of charge.
-Screen size. The screen on the zune is about 3.5" which, I believe is larger than most, if not all, the ipods currently out there.
-$0.99 albums. That's right. You read it right. Not $0.99 tracks. Whole albums for $0.99. Zune has certain artists that it is promoting for the month and they will sell their whole album for 79 Microsoft points which, as stated before, is approximately $0.99.
-Free stuff. Yeah, F-R-E-E. Zune has free songs. Full-length songs. Right now, Zune has a playlist of Christmas songs that you can download for free. Basically, Zune takes one or two songs from the Christmas albums of various R&B artists and puts it into a playlist you can download. They also have a free playlist sampler that you can download just as a thank-you for purchasing a Zune.
-Backwards compatibility. At least so far, Zune has been pretty good at making sure that the software is backwards compatible with all their generation one Zune players.
-Wifi. You can sync your zune to your computer wirelessly. You can also send playlists to people nearby if they also have a Zune. Also, they have an agreement with McDonald's so that if you're in a McDonald's with wifi, you can download music directly through your Zune instead of having to wait to sync with your computer.
-Zune Pass. You can download as much music as you want for $14.99 a month so you can try out different artists and albums. The only downside is that you don't actually get to keep them. If you down renew your pass, you lose all the music you downloaded but didn't purchase. At least that was before the new and improved program. Now, you have the option of keeping up to ten tracks you download each month. They're your's to keep even if you don't renew your Zune Pass.

If you're trying to decide between a Zune and another mp3 player and need some help, feel free to leave a comment. I'm off to enjoy my free music!

Changes

2008-11-17T16:32:00.000-08:00

I had the day off so I actually have time to update my blog a little bit so that's exactly what I decided to do. First off, on the right hand side, you'll notice my zune tag which basically shows you what the last albums I listened to were. I believe if you click on an album, it'll link you to the album page where you can listen to 30 second samples. Just underneath that is a list of the podcasts I'm listening to right now on my zune. Below is a brief description of what the podcasts are so you can go ahead and stop reading now if you're not interested in that kind of stuff.

A Way with Words: A radio call in show where the host talks about word origins, regionalisms, etc.

Ask a Ninja: A video podcast comedy that answers email questions the way a ninja would.

Chuck vs. the Podcast: An audio podcast that talks about my current favorite sit-com, NBC's Chuck airing Monday nights at 7:00 PM central.

Get-it-done Guy: An audio podcast that helps you become more efficient.

Howstuffworks: An audio podcast that explains exactly that, how stuff works. Each podcast lasts about one to two minutes.

Inspiration Weekly: An audio podcast that tells inspirational stories each week. Each podcast lasts about five minutes or so.

JobDig: An audio podcast that helps your professional life.

Let's Talk Organizing: An audio podcast that pretty much does what the title states.

TFormers: One of my indulgences. Talks about Transformer news including toys, tv series and the movies.

The Mind of Men: An audio podcast talking about random guy things including politics, what to look for in choosing an digital tv, etc.

The Naked Scientists: An hour-long audio podcast that goes over the latest scientific information. The hosts are from England so you'll probably notice the accent.

The Public Speaker: An audio podcast that gives tips on speaking in front of large groups of people.

The Totally Rad Show: A show Shannon got me hooked on. It's a video podcast that talks about videogames, movies, etc.

Zune Insider, Zune Luv, Zunited: Audio podcasts that talk about the latest Zune news.

"The monkey's his uncle?"

2008-11-17T15:50:00.000-08:00

Overall, yesterday was a pretty good day once I got out of work. As you can probably tell from the pic above, I was lucky enough to get to see the Lion King Musical before it left the KC area (we saw it at the very last possible showing). If the Lion King is showing in your area, I highly suggest you go see it. It is definitely worth the price for the costumes alone if nothing else. The cast was excellent and the songs were great. There are a couple of new songs (apparently, they made a movie about the Lion King... :) that didn't appear in the cartoons and portions of the show were interpretive dance. The voices of the actors are sonorous and melifluous (fancy words...) and sound almost exactly like their cartoon counterparts.

Not only did I get to see Lion King but before I left work, I had to get gas and decided to buy a lotto ticket. Guess I got the right one.

Burton to film Alice

2008-10-28T16:13:00.000-07:00

According to an article I just read, Tim Burton is to do a remake of Alice in Wonderland. Should be interesting. On tap to be in the movie are, of course, Johnny Depp and Helena Bonhem Carter (sp?), as well as Alan Rickman (Love Actually, Harry Potter), and some others. If you want, you can read the full article here. I just hope it's not another Willy Wonka...

Transformers 2 Trailer (2009)

2008-10-19T20:34:00.001-07:00

It's not really about what you think it's about... :)

Mutiny on the High Plains

2008-10-14T16:45:00.000-07:00

Andrea and I installed a flag pole to our house this weekend. In anticipation of this, we had ordered two pirate flags a couple of days before. Anywho, the flags arrived today and I'm here to post the pictures in all their glory. In case you're wondering, we got the flags from amazon.com. Two flags for $5 total. The shipping cost a little over $5. Below is one of the two flags we bought. The other's pretty much the same except without the crossed swords.

Today...

2008-09-22T18:13:00.000-07:00

Today, I did something that I hadn't done in a REALLYY long time...I ate my first happy meal since I was about ten.

The reason I chose today to eat my first happy meal in over 18 years? Well, see from the picture below. Yup. It's freakin' awesome!

The Microsoft Trifecta

2008-09-18T20:12:00.001-07:00

Well, it has been done. I've finally completed the Microsoft Trifecta. I use Microsoft Windows, I own a Microsoft Zune, and I, as of today, am the proud owner of a Microsoft Xbox 360. A coworker had a spare one he had been wanting to get rid of so it now resides at my place. I haven't had the chance to do much with it yet. Basically, I've had the time to plug it, synced the wireless controller, and made sure the machine worked. I'm going to wait till tomorrow to play with it (I have to buy a hard drive so it can save my profile...)

Finally here

2008-09-08T15:36:00.000-07:00

Well, I finally made it to Evansville, IN. After waking up at 4 this morning to catch a flight that should've left at 7:10 AM (but didn't due to weather), I had the pleasure of sitting in Cincinatti's airport for 6 hours because I missed my connecting flight. Well, I'm finally here in my hotel room which, at least so far, seems pretty nice. I'd suggest staying at the Fairfield Inn East the next time you're in Evansville.

twenty years later...

2008-08-26T15:45:00.001-07:00

It's amazing how some things stay the same after so long. Just a couple of minutes ago I popped a game into my nintendo (wii) and it didn't play. How did I fix it? I ejected it and blew on the game. Popped it back in and voila. Trick still works like a charm. If only everything were still that easy to fix...

Cuban banned for life from Olympics

2008-08-23T13:01:00.001-07:00

My wife and I were wandering through nbcolympics.com today and I ran across a photo of a good kick to the face. I thought it was during a tae kwon do sparring match but as I looked closer, I noticed that one of the competitors had his helmet in his hand (not a good place for it to be) instead of on his face. I looked at my wife and told her, "That's a stupid place for your helmet to be, pointing to the competitor's hand. Then I said, "The helmet goes there," pointing to his head. Then I looked a little closer and noticed that the other competitor (the one that got kicked) had a tie on. So I thought to myself that's a stupid uniform to be sparring in. Then I looked at the heading. It looks like the Cuban competitor didn't quite like the way the match turned out. The other "competitor" (the one with the tie on) was actually a ref! The Cuban competitor will probably be expelled from the Olympics for life and most likely, his coach will be too. You can see the pictures and read the story here. The photo I saw was the third one shown in the gallery.

Merry Christmas

2008-08-21T20:58:00.000-07:00

What's that in the picture you ask? Why that, my friend, is a kringle - a traditional Danish pastry. I told a couple of people that I was going to Racine and they all said that I had to go and get a kringle while I was here so that's what I did today. The one I had was cream cheese flavored. It was pretty good. Tasted like a Danish. It was HUGE! It cost me about $5 and was about the size of a serving platter. Well, that was my random post.

synth in

2008-08-21T20:43:00.000-07:00

I get a complimentary copy of USA Today delivered to my room every morning and as I perused its contents I came across an article about photosynth, microsoft's new program. basically, what it does is it takes all the pictures you upload about a single subject and figures where the photographer is in relationship to the pictuer and basically stitches all the phots together for you. now this in itself is nothing new. what makes photosynth different is that you can zoom in on each of the components of the pictures. that's not explaining it too well so here's another description in microsoft's own words:

"First there was the snapshot, and then came video. Now there is Photosynth, a new service available at photosynth.com that will change the way you experience and share photos.

You can share or relive a vacation destination or explore a distant museum or landmark. With a nothing more than digital camera and some inspiration, you can use Photosynth to transform regular digital photos into a three-dimensional, 360-degree experience. Anybody who sees your synth is put right in your shoes, sharing in your experience, with detail, clarity and scope impossible to achieve in conventional photos or videos.

Synths constitute an entirely new visual medium. Photosynth analyzes each photo for similarities to the others, and uses that data to build a model of where the photos were taken. It then re-creates the environment and uses that as a canvas on which to display the photos."

The article mentions that this is just a beta program so there are improvements on the way. Some things that they are looking into fixing:

1) privacy - right now, any 'synth' you upload can be seen by everybody

2) it takes a while to upload the pictures and when you click to zoom in, some computers may take a while for the zoomed image to come into focus.

Check out the page if you have some free time. Kinda interesting.

deadly, clean service with a smile

2008-08-16T13:18:00.001-07:00

I think that if I were to run a ninja training school I would send initiates to be trained as hotel maids to see if they have what it takes to be a ninja. Think about it, have you ever caught a hotel maid in your room? Yet when you leave the room and come back, it's spotless. I've only caught a maid in my room once (it takes a ninja after all) since I've been in Racine. So there you go. If you're in need of a silent assassin, put a want ad out for a hotel maid. In other news, I only had to work till one today so I've been spending time wondering around town. I've made stops at Toys R Us and Barnes and Nobles (got the zombie survival guide) and am now in the hotel recuping.

Packing

2008-08-10T08:12:00.000-07:00

Gonna be spending most of the day packing and doing fun stuff. Gotta get ready for my trip to Racine, WI tomorrow. Work's sending me there to train some of their employees so they gave me a per diem check. I call it my GPS check (that's what I'm buying with it later today...well, and food). If you're interested, you can follow me on twitter.

Twitted

2008-07-16T15:52:00.001-07:00

Well, I've caught up with the rest of the world and joined twitter.

Experiment

2008-07-16T14:43:00.000-07:00

Here's a fun experiment to try sometime: Walk up to somebody (preferable someone you know) and start a conversation with them in whisper then walk up to somebody else and start a conversation with them by yelling. Do they do the same? Here's an even funner thing to try: Walk up to somebody and start a conversation with them in whisper and randomly yell parts of your sentence. Let me know how that goes if you decide to try this.

NEW Discovery Channel Commericial - Boom De Yada!

2008-07-02T18:40:00.001-07:00

kinda catchy

I like food.

2008-03-28T11:30:00.000-07:00

I like food. Plain and simple. I like food. And not in the way that normal people like food. I like food in a way that is entirely immersive. I enjoy food with all five senses. I enjoy the way it's presented, the way it smells, the way it sounds as you chew on it, the way it feels, and especially the way it tastes as each particle of food is caressed on each taste bud. I even enjoy events where food is the main event. For instance, tonight, my wife and I are going to a dinner theatre at the local high school. The school is nationally recognized for it's cullinary program and they're supposed to have some gourmet-y food there tonight. Then tomorrow, we're going to a Japanese steakhouse with some students from Japan. So I implore you, gentle reader, do not simply devour your food. Enjoy it.

I'll see you in Hell

2008-03-11T03:59:00.000-07:00

Yes folks, the pope, in his infinite wisdom, has deemed it worthy to spend his time devising a list of yet more sins. From the people that brought you the 10 commandments of good driving, it's the new and revised 7 new sins! Trying to lose weight? Why not participate in creating poverty? In just two months, you too, can be watching the pounds melt away in Dante's ninth circle. Join now and we'll throw in a free one hour session of one-on-one personal training with the dark prince himself. In case you're wondering, the 7 new sins are:

1. "Bioethical" violations such as birth control

2. "Morally dubious'' experiments such as stem cell research

3. Drug abuse

4. Polluting the environment

5. Contributing to widening divide between rich and poor

6. Excessive wealth

7. Creating poverty

Happy National Grammar Day!

2008-03-04T14:35:00.000-08:00

As I am sure that you are all aware, today is National Grammar Day so go out and have a grammarific day!

Now if only Roy would come out of retirement...

2008-02-26T16:03:00.000-08:00

For those of you that haven't heard, the Avs have reaquired both Adam Foote and Peter Forsberg! This announcement came just several days after they reactivated Joe Sakic. You can read about it here. My master plan's all coming to fruition... Now to talk Roy into un-retiring...

15 Most Annoying Video Game Characters

2008-02-23T17:03:00.000-08:00

Ever wonder what the 15 most annoying video game characters were? Well, we did too so we went to this link and found out. Read #1 and tell me you didn't do the same thing to that character. I know I did at least a hundred times..."Me too"(says Andrea).

Who gilded the lilies?

2008-02-23T11:38:00.000-08:00

I was watching TV earlier today and heard the host make reference to gilding the lilies which of course, got me to thinking about where the phrase came from. I'll save you the trouble of googling it. According to takeourword.com, the phrase comes from Shakespeare's King John. "To gild refined gold, to paint the lily...is wasteful and ridiculous excess." Just a fun little phrase so I thought I'd blog it.

verbophiles unite!

2008-01-24T19:48:00.001-08:00

If you love the english language like I do, you should check this site out. It's a radio program about language questions and grammar. You can also get podcasts from the site.

the story so far...

2008-01-12T11:56:00.000-08:00

well things have been pretty busy since the last time I posted. where to start...well let's start with Christmas. we went to Andrea's extended family for Christmas eve. Christmas day we (Andrea and I) opened our gifts.

She got me a Roomba (we call it Roombie). after that, we went to Andrea's mom's and exchanged gifts. then we left for Garden and spent Christmas day with my family. after we got back from Christmas, we received a package.

it was our Aerogarden! we paid for most of our wedding and Christmas gifts with a credit card and we saved up enough points for it. go us! we also finally started working on our bathroom.

it looked like a tornado hit it. then a couple of days ago, my work sent me to North Carolina to train their training coordinator and some of their staff. I just got back yesterday night.

build your vocab, feed a child

2007-12-17T11:50:00.000-08:00

I meant to post this site up awhile ago but never got around to it so I forgot all about it until today when I heard a report about it on npr.

the site is www.freerice.com

basically, you go to the site and and they give you a word and a list of options for definitions for the word. as you answer more questions correctly, the difficulty level of the word goes up. nothing new, right? well, here's where the revolutionary part comes in. for every word you get right, the site donates 10 grains of rice to help end world hunger. as the word difficulty goes up, the more grains of rice they donate per correct word. how can they afford to do this? they have sponsors that pay for ads on their site which they in turn use to pay for the rice. just yesterday alone they donated 167,077,300 grains of rice. so, if you have time, stop by their site, build your vocab, feed a hungry kid.

I give it two phones up

2007-12-14T13:09:00.000-08:00

as some of you may know my phones been gone for about two months now. in any case, as of today, I have a new phone with a new phone company (same phone number) so you can start reaching me at my area code 785 phone number again if you need to.

866-411-SONG

2007-12-09T14:58:00.000-08:00

ever had a song come on the radio and not know what the song is? well now you can. just punch in the above number and hold the receiver up to the radio and the phone'll tell you what the name of the song is.

alvin, simon, theodore...

2007-10-13T20:33:00.000-07:00

yes my friends. it's true. alvin and the chipmunks are coming back from the '80s. not only them but if my sources are correct some little blue men (and maybe a blue chick or two) may be coming back with them... you can read about it here

undead ninja giant

2007-10-08T19:50:00.000-07:00

I finally dug out my giant model a couple of days ago and this is as far as I've gotten so far. I've made a couple of conversions to the model. if you have any ideas to make it more undead-y or ninja-y, let me know.

you don't see that every day

2007-10-05T12:16:00.001-07:00

I took the day off from work because my brother's getting married tomorrow and I have family coming in from out of town. This being the situation, I spent most of the morning cleaning up. As I was cleaning the fridge out (something I suggest doing more often than bi-annually), I heard the roar of something that sounded like cannons coming from the distance. Much to my dismay, no cannons, no pirate ships, not even an anchor anywhere in sight. Where could that sound be coming from? I thought to myself. And then the answer came marching from below the horizon (or around the corner if you prefer). The cannon roar was coming from the drum line of the marching band. Apparently, today is their homecoming parade or something. It's not every day that a marching band marches down your street and past your house.

radiohead gives away free music

2007-10-01T16:13:00.000-07:00

yes you read it right. the band radiohead is giving away free music. I first heard the news on npr on my way home from work and decided to give it a try. apparently, the band recently broke away from its record label and as a way of protesting against big record labels and their fixed pricing, the band is "giving away" their music. well, there's a catch... they aren't really "giving" it away. when you enter their website at www.radiohead.com you'll be asked to click enter to enter their site. then you'll need to click continue. you'll then be given the option of either pre-ordering the discbox or the digital download. the discbox comes with the usual CD, an ehance CD, a vinyl, some cool artwork, and a hardback copy of the lyrics. the downside? it costs about 40 GBP or approximately $80. if, however, you click on the download option, when you check out where the price should be you'll see a question mark. you can put ANY amount you want in there...even free! I wound up putting 5 GBP in there (the equivalent of $10). as I see it it's a win-win situation for all. Radiohead gets higher profits (they get all of the profits as opposed to having to pay a percentage to the record labels) and the fans get what they want - great music at a great price. now a couple of caveats: 1)the currency is in GBP so if you have any hesitancies about ordering stuff online internationally, this deal is probably not for you. 2)the download isn't officially released until Oct 10, 2007 so you can't download the songs until then. 3)there is a 0.45 GBP (approximately $1) processing charge so the CD download officially cost me $11.14 (5 GBP donation + 0.45 GBP processing fee). so if you like good music and sticking it to big record labels give radiohead a try. if you do wind up doing this, drop me a comment about your experience on the radiohead website. peace.

Heroes season 2 (september 24)

2007-09-23T18:12:00.001-07:00

I am soooo looking forward to this...

from the market

2007-09-22T11:32:00.000-07:00

guess what this is...

here's a hint...

yeah...I dance like this in real life...

2007-09-19T19:39:00.001-07:00

yup. that's my sim shakin' his groove thang

it's like seeing the future

2007-09-18T14:44:00.001-07:00

sometimes I like commuting. like today. my wife called me and wanted me to grill something for dinner and have it ready for her when she came home. I told her that it was probably not such a good idea because it was raining so hard in lawrence. sure enough about ten minutes after I reached olathe the monsoon hit. I am a genius!

happy halloween

2007-09-16T19:30:00.000-07:00

in honor of halloween next month I thought I'd start working on some grave guards. here's one of them.

giving 1200%

2007-09-16T19:25:00.000-07:00

what has 1200% of your daily recommended Vitamin C you ask?

Across The Universe - Trailer

2007-09-15T09:47:00.001-07:00

when I first saw the trailer for the movie I thought to myself that there was no way I was going to go see this movie. but then again, I thought the same thing about moulin rouge. since then, they've released trailers that are a whole lot better than the first one I saw and now I can't imagine not seeing this movie. it looks like moulin rouge meets the part in forrest gump about the war demonstrations and instead of using random songs to tell the story, they use beatles songs. you can see other clips of songs at their website: http://acrosstheuniverse.com

we're expecting...

2007-09-01T09:18:00.000-07:00

Andrea went to the farmer's market today and bought a couple of bunches of basil and mint. we found a caterpiller on one of them and figured it'd be fun to watch it grow so we're gonna keep him. we haven't given it a name yet. any ideas?

it's still so cuuuuutttteeee!

2007-08-31T19:15:00.001-07:00

the game comes out sept 18. until then, you can do what I do. look at this picture and giggle a little.

monkey bread

2007-08-28T16:54:00.001-07:00

yes my friend. such a thing does exist. it, unfortunately, is more bread than monkey. in fact, it has absolutely no monkey in it at all. it, according to my wife, is some sort of cinnamon roll-y thingy which actually looked pretty good.

felicitas felix?

2007-08-24T14:52:00.001-07:00

to start off, today's pay day. then when I went in to work, one of the managers came and got me and handed me a visa gift card for $100. apparently, our company did pretty well last fiscal year so they were rewarding all of their employees. we also got a tote bag of some sort (I forgot to pick mine up). then when I got home, both of the packages that andrea and I had ordered off of ebay came today even though we ordered them on different days. isn't that strange? maybe I quaffed some of that felicitas felix.

tea'd out

2007-08-23T19:43:00.001-07:00

Andrea and I went to a tea ceremony yesterday night at her mom's boss's house. as part of the ceremony, the lady that was doing it brought over some kimonos from japan. here's two of them. the one Andrea has on cost about $100,000 US dollars according to the lady.

guess what someone forgot...?

2007-08-01T19:16:00.000-07:00

update

2007-07-23T14:10:00.000-07:00

two weeks ago, I applied for a new position at my job. well, I got it and have been training for it since then. today, I found out that I was also given the second position I applied for so I actually have two positions now. so I have lots of training to do in the next couple of weeks. what am I gonna do tonight? probably just sit back, watch tv, and maybe paint.

a storm's a-coming

2007-07-16T08:19:00.000-07:00

a storm's a-coming. you can smell it in the eastern wind. you can see it in the flashes of the cannon. you can hear it in the din of war. we, the people of the ninja isles will be ready for it when it comes.

well deserved

2007-07-07T10:32:00.001-07:00

I just had the best sandwich I'd ever made. it had sliced beef, salami, honey ham, two slices of cheese, mustard and mayonaise on honey white bread. I'm not sure if it tasted so good because it actually was good or if I was hungry or if it felt like I earned it cause I had just gotten done mowing the lawn in 80+ degree weather. in fact, I think that's why pickle moved to minnesota. he claims it's for his job but he just didn't want to have to mow his lawn as much. lazy pickle.

friggin' awesome!

2007-06-30T13:55:00.000-07:00

is it mr. potato head? is it optimus prime? it's both! it's optimash prime!

zombies are people too

2007-06-26T12:26:00.000-07:00

I was at work today and the company released a revision to one of their operating procedures. apparently, as of now, donors who are deceased are to be permanently deferred from donating. apparently, we've been having problems with donors who have passed away trying to come back in to donate. do you hear that zombie donors. no more donating for you. I think it has something to do with the smell... take a shower then come back and try again.

what the futures holds for me

2007-06-23T20:10:00.001-07:00

andrea, her mom, her sister, and I went out to dinner tonight after church. we went to a local chinese buffet. they got fortunes like "you will soon be singled out for a promotion". I kid you not. this is the fortune I got:

pics

2007-06-23T10:21:00.000-07:00

here are a couple of pics from our honeymoon. I would've had more but my batteries ran out so I only got about fifty or so pics in total. andrea has a lot more. if you want to see more pics, you can check out my facebook page.

I just had to put this picture up. in case you're wondering, yes, that is a goat crossing the street and yes we are passing a car in the right hand lane (they drive on the left hand side because they're technically british)

just a fun scene from one of the restaurants we ate at

andrea and I at the italian restaraunt. it was one of the nicer restaraunts so we had to dress up. dress up meant long pants and a shirt with a collar for guys.

andrea and I on our tour of the island. the peak in the background is one of the pitons. there are two of them. that's what the island is best known for (the twin pitons). that and the saying "no pressure no problem". there's a volcano on the island so there's constantly steam coming up. as long as you see the steam, you know that pressure isn't building up and you need pressure for an eruption so "no pressure, no problem".

we're back!

2007-06-23T09:55:00.000-07:00

as most of you that read this blog with any regularity already know, Andrea and I are now back in the states. we had a lot of fun in St. Lucia. I got sun-burnt and stung by what I can only assume are micro-jellyfish. but all i all it was a blast. we went scuba diving, hobie catting (sailing on a catamaran), and beach bumming. scuba was lots of fun. it'd been about two years since we'd been certified and we hadn't gone since then so we had to take a refresher course. as for hobie catting, they give you a five minute speech and give you a boat. that's the gist of it. your job is then to not crash into any boats larger than you (the smaller ones are ok to crash into though) and, here's the tough part, maneuvering your way back into the port from whence you came. it's a lot like kiteflying in that you spend a lot of time trying to catch the wind. I think we spent about thirty minutes actually sailing and the other hour and a half figuring out how to get back into port (there was almost no wind that day). the rest of the time there was spent going on tours of the island, eating, and just playing on the beach. we'll post pics later.

Dillons

2007-05-27T17:19:00.000-07:00

I made my first foray into the dillons in olathe today. Yes, my new place is close to a dillons too. Even closer than the other place actually. I've gotta admit it feels kinda strange walking into another dillons. I don't know exactly what the feeling is but it's a feeling of knowing that it isn't your dillons. nothing's where it's supposed to be and they don't have all the produce they're supposed to have. I suppose I'll just have to get used to it. well, I'm off to cook my very first meal at the new place (rigatoni with sausage and a salad..mmmmm...food...)

thar be pirates!

2007-05-24T05:01:00.000-07:00

one of my friends works at the movie theatre in lawrence and last night, they had an advanced screening of the new pirates of the caribbean movie and I was lucky enough to go. in short, I think that overall the movie is better than the other two. there is quite a bit more humor with several plot twists involved. that is not to say, however, that action is lacking. there are several fight sequences and explosions. there are also several cameos scattered throughout the movie. my only semi-complaint about the movie is about the soundtrack. true, it is better than the second movie but nowhere near as good as the first one. unfortunately, they brought Hans Zimmerman back for the third installment of the pirates trilogy instead of Klaus Baudelt. although Zimmerman's music is usually great, it felt like for the pirate trilogy he just did variations on Baudelt's previous score. overall, I'd give the movie a 9 1/2 stars out of ten. see it for yourself and be your own judge.

7.50

2007-05-17T19:49:00.001-07:00

what can you get for $7.50? the answer is Mirrormask. if you don't own a copy of it yet, you can get one at Best Buy. you can also get a little over two gallons of gas at the local gas-o-mart. so how much did it cost me to fill my tank? a little over five mirrormasks worth. yup. $39.50 for a full tank of gas. that's ridiculous! well, enough of my gas rant. off to relax.

beds are soooo much softer than floors

2007-05-14T19:23:00.000-07:00

I've been sleeping in the new house for the past couple of nights and we hadn't gotten our new bed in yet so the obvious alternative is the floor which would be fine if, like most newer homes, the living room was carpeted. our house, was built in the 1920s. everything is hardwood. well in any case, we finally got the bed in and I finally purchased the frame tonight and put everything together. it is soooo much nicer than hardwood floor. it's probably even nicer than my full-sized bed. well, off I go to enjoy the bed.

hooked up

2007-05-11T17:09:00.001-07:00

it's official! I now have cable and cable internet in the new house. yea!

update

2007-05-01T19:08:00.000-07:00

what've I been up to? well, we closed on the house on thursday and we finally got access to our house on saturday so basically I've been busy cleaning. we haven't gotten very far in the process yet. as of saturday and sunday we've only been able to clean about three of the fifteen or so storm windows, changed one set of locks on the door, painted one door, and puttied all the holes in the wall. we're gonna try to paint the living room sometime later this week.

yea! I'm back!

2007-05-01T18:59:00.000-07:00

well, for the past two weeks, I've been trying to get back onto blogger. as many of you bloggerites know, they recently merged with google which means that you now must bow down to the google gods to use your blogger accounts. well, I being the weak and lowly mortal that I am, did such bowing and in said process was required to enter a new user name and password. well, long story short, I was cleaning out the computer registry and cleaned out the cookies that had the password and user id stored in it and couldn't for the life of me figure out what they were. well, just today (not two minutes ago), after much trial and tribulation, I was finally able to deduce my user id (go me). and much like a lowly mortal begging at his god's feet for a boon, I had to send a request to have my password reset. all this to say I'm back! and, like Kratos, google gods I say to you, beware! for your reign of tyranny is over!

clearance granted

2007-04-05T21:23:00.000-07:00

great news! you have been granted security clearance to get a rare glimpse of the war room. you may notice holes in the ceiling but don't mistake this as a weakness in the impenetrable fortress that is my war room. it is simply a defensive tactic used to lure enemy nations into thinking that we have a weakness.

the creative process

2007-04-05T21:11:00.000-07:00

sometimes I'm just in awe of the creative process. I was bored this evening and thought I'd try a little doodling (which I hadn't done in a while). this mishapened mutant is what I came up with:

after much more doodling and many revisions, I came up with this semi-decent drawing:

cowabunga dude!

2007-04-02T13:13:00.000-07:00

for those of you not in the know, nintendo releases new virutal console games for the wii on mondays. I just checked today's list of games and on it was TMNT the original game! I so totally downloaded it and will be spending the next couple of hours blissfully reliving my childhood. totally gnarly!

we have a house!

2007-03-29T20:10:00.000-07:00

well, after countering the seller's offer, we have a house! we just got the news tonight that they accepted it so that's good. we're paying full asking price but they'r paying $2500 in closing cost. I have to sign paperwork tomorrow and set up a home inspection so still lots of work but I should not be homeless when my lease runs out.

newgen hut

2007-03-21T13:11:00.000-07:00

andrea and I went out looking at houses again today. it's our second trip in as many weeks and I think we found one that we both really like. it cost a little bit more than I was prequalified for but upon calling the bank, I found out that it was actually in our price range. we actually could've gone up a little higher if we had to. well, in any case, we're probably gonna put in an offer on it in a couple of days. it's a pretty nice starter home. 2 bed, 1 bath, with an optional bed room in the attic. 2 car garage with an unfinished basement (finally, a place to put my air hockey table...). its about a five minute walk from downtown olathe and is close to her family and about half an hour east of lawrence so not too bad. it also has a pretty large covered front porch which will be really nice when it rains outside. it needs a little bit of work but other than that, it's pretty much ready to be moved in to. well, that's it for now. we'll see if they accept the offer.

thar be pirates!

2007-03-11T21:47:00.000-07:00

but not yet. the trailer doesn't come out till March 19th.

a blast from the past

2007-03-11T21:33:00.000-07:00

I was cleaning out the file cabinet tonight to make some more room and came across something some of you may remember:

Boyabus kissabus pretti galorum
Girlabus likabus, wanta somorum!
Poppabus hearabus bigga smakorum,
Kickabus boyabus outta backdorum.
Boyabus limpabus alway homorum.
Swearibus kissabus girli nomorum!

:)

weekend plans

2007-02-16T08:27:00.000-08:00

I've got the next three days off and andrea's out of town so what am I gonna do? clean, clean, clean, clean, paint, wii/ what a wonderful life for me.

food pills: way in the future or here today?

2007-02-15T19:33:00.000-08:00

what could this be?

let's add water and find out...

it's a ball of tea with a flower wrapped inside!

2007-02-12T22:08:00.000-08:00

Pirates of the Great Salt Lake Trailer

"it's that damn Johnny Depp"

2007-02-12T15:32:00.000-08:00

Spiders On Drugs

poke Jesus!

2007-02-09T16:07:00.000-08:00

well, I finally joined the 21st century and started a facebook page and myspace page. it doesn't have anything on it yet but I'll work on it eventually. anyways, I was looking at pickle's facebook and saw that jesus hernandez was on there and I just couldn't help it. I just had to poke Jesus.

2007-02-04T00:28:00.000-08:00

stop kicking the copier...

you just never know...