So we won!

First off Happy Halloween to everyone! I didn't dress up or anything this year, but that is okay because I have dressed up as a host of other great things. For instance SNL's Matt Foley (van down by the river), Kid who got beat up for his candy (complete with broken candy bucket and only crap candy because they took the good stuff), and of course a drunken Mormon missionary, which I could not have pulled off without the help of my dear mormon friends.

Nope, this weekend I went to the football game which we won...quite handily. I also ate an ungodly amount of sushi...in Laramie......Wyoming. Surprisingly it was good stuff. I was a bit nervous at first, but it was very good, if not a bit overwhelming. I went and did the bar scen a little and got to see one of my best friends dressed as a girl...and very well I might add.

I came home to a mountain of boxes from my friend moving in. I have to say it is gonna be rough in this little 1 bed for a few weeks. I imagine will be more than happy to get into the new one. Happy to have a friend here though.

The week? Oh lots of things, but most I will manage. The most exciting thing is there is snow outside right now gently falling. I MISSED IT! Good night and have a great week.

Heading out.

Well for the first time in a few weeks I will be heading to Laramie for the weekend. Sweet. God I hope that out team can pull some kind of win.

Not a lot to tell you though. I am loving the picture thingy right now, so here is another one to put you to bed this weekend!

Talk to you all on Sunday!!!

EDIT

Check out this one that Ken made. It is a riot!

This may upset some...

...but I am so happy the Red Sox finally beat the biggest curse in the history of the most boring game ever invented! Yay. Seriously, I've seen people more excited about winning a championship on RobotWars.

So yay...finally Fox can return to the quality programming we have come to expect. Bring on Temptation Island 3!

Oh yeah, one more thing. This you gotta see.

Oh man, it's so cool!

With all this fun of getting a new apartment and talking to the apartment people almost constantly, I have come across some interesting information.

You see one some of the biggest selling points of this complex are the awesome amenities. Sure the gym is nice, and so is the free coffee. But I want 2 things to work and they haven't been...the golf simulator and the theater. Well they just replaced both and it is sweeeeet!

I went to the theater tonight to watch Van Helsing which just arrived in my mailbox. Wow oh wow. That thing is amazing (the theater...not the movie so much). I am stoked. Now I just need a bunch of people to come visit so we can put it to good use.

I even had some guy come in and watch the second half with me. Not sure if I made a friend or just found myself a mooch...but I wasn't alone!

Oh, and The Onion had a new horoscope that was particularly funny this week.

Leo: (July 23—Aug. 22)
The population density of Wyoming is very low, but that doesn't mean the people there aren't also out to kill you.

Did you know...

...that if you go to get a key made it costs a total of $1.73, but to send that same key a few hundred miles away it cost about 8 bucks. What a rip! Let's just hope it works when Ken pulls into town on Saturday.

Let me see here...

Well it was an absolute crap week for all of my sports. The Cowboys got hammered and the Broncos got embarrassed, so it is a good time to hang my head low at the office. Speaking of the office though I got a cool job to work on that I start tomorrow and have 3 weeks to do. Looking forward to it.

That is all for tonight folks. I know, I wish I had something more interesting to talk about too, but I don't so...um yeah.

The Corn Maize

Tracked all along I-25 from Denver to Cheyenne are a multitude of corn mazes, normally in the close vicinity of a pumpkin patch. I drive by them on what has become a weekly basis. Well Saturday we went to one.

It all seems harmless enough. There are 2 phases to the maze. We walked through the first one, and with only getting mixed up a few times we managed to find our way out. After crawling through the enourmous rubber giant (innerds and all) we decided it would be best to walk through phase 2.

Welcome to hell kids.

We got lost in that maze for upwards of 2 hours. In fact we were lost in there so long we started to make good friends. Often could be heard someone shouting, "Oh hey, they're still in here too!!!" After being stuck in one part of the maze for at least 40 minutes we started trying every direction one by one. We managed to find our way out, but not before we ate most of the corn.

Oh, and Ashlee Simpson on SNL was priceless. Just know this, if you ever become a major recording artist, direct the guys to play the correct tape for you to lip-sync too when you are live on national TV. It looks kinda phony if you don't.

Oh Boy Oh Boy Oh Boy!

(note: title is funnier in German accent)

Last night between the 4th and 8th innings of the game I decided to find obscure music on the net. Not that it is bad music, but you would never hear/see on MTV or any radio station. I found a few good things, several terrible, but one stood out.

I am a big fan of choral music, mostly because I have spent years in choirs. There is something about a 200 person choir singing that just makes me happy.

And that is why a group of 100 underage girls singing "I Touch Myself" with more passion than most mainstream artists use really "touched" me. I implore of you, if you have a broadband connection you really need to listen to this. It will change you for life...pedophile or not ;-)

Quick note on the weekend. Heading up to Ft. Collins tomorrow to go to the big game with Jenny and Spence. Spence is making Chicken Enchilada Soup a la Chili's. YUM! Go Pokes!

Because you must

Go, read this and read it now.

God I love the Border War. Can't wait till kick off tomorrow night.

I may not like baseball

But I do like sports.

And tonight I am impressed.

Way to go Boston.

I watched baseball

And for those of you who know me, that is not in a part of my normal evening activites.

I, like the rest of America minus New York and several fair-weather fans, would like to see the Red Sox win the World Series. I, on the other hand, probably have a different reason though.

I do not like baseball. Never have, never will. My loathing of baseball came at a young age when I was forced into playing. I remember the day I got on base very well. I lined up, got my bat at the ready, and was promptly hit by the pitching machine. Yay for free bases!

No, I want to see the Red Sox win because I hate hearing about the curse, over and over, every single year. Apparently the Red Sox traded Babe Ruth to the Yankees and have been unable to win a World Series since. Did you know? Maybe you missed it. Maybe you missed every newscast and a mandatory 10 minutes of Sportscenter devoted to it every night.

So go Red Sox go! (And let the Cubs win next year. A goat for Christ's sake!)

Jon Stewart is my hero

If you do nothing else today, you need to watch this interview that Jon Stewart did on CNN's Crossfire.

I mean, wow.

My favorite line? "IF you want to compare your show to a comedy show then by all means. Might I suggest Seinfeld? That's a great show."

So I lied

I know I said that I would write on Friday about what I decided to cook, but I didn't. Oh well. Here is the rundown. I made a butternut squash soup with pureed carmelized onions and giner. I also made an award winning texas chili (no beans) and finished it all off with a crockpot roast that will make your eyes bug out.

It was all a lot of fun to do, and definitley fun to eat. I got to see Barrie Jo and hung out with Spencer and Jenny. Go see Shaun of the Dead. That movie is destined to be a classic. I laughed thoughout the whole freaking thing!

It was very weird to not go to Larame this weekend to see the Pokes. They ended up losing to BYU (sigh) but I will be in Ft. Collins next Friday night to see them take on the Rams.

The week? Ummm, not sure. I think I am going to be doing odds and ends work for a little bit. Frankly I think that is fine. After the past few weeks of having major deadlines and working directly for the prez of the company I could use the break. Hope you all had good weekends and you have great weeks.

It's Official

My good friend Ken, who got layed off in Grand Junction will be moving to Denver, probably by the end of October. It sucks that they closed the Grand Junction office, but I have to admit it will be nice to have a friend in town. He will be staying here in my 1 bedroom for awhile, but hopefully we can get into a 2 bed here.

In any case, I think in the end it will be pretty cool to have a friend in the office with me again. Someone to go get a polish dog and a coke for $1.50 at sams club.

So my weekend. Well I am going to make a post sometime tomorrow on my final recipe decisions. I have narrowed it down and want to get the list to 3 for sure. Then it is a big fun day on Saturday of cooking. Jenny and Spencer are going to come down on Saturday to sample how it all turns out...then we are going to see Shaun of the Dead (which no one else would see with me.)

Anyway, if you don't check in till Monday, have a great weekend! IF you do, well talk to you soon.

P.S. GO POKES! BEAT THE KITTIES!

It seems like...

...I have watched the same debate 3 times now. Sure they talked about domestic issues versus foreign issues, but I don't think I gained any new perspective on the candidates after the very first debate.

It seems I have a request for a recipe though, and that is what I am going to do instead of talking about anything. Oh, I may have a roommate sometime soon because things fell through for a good friend of mine. We will see though.

Wicked Good Pumpkin Seeds

2 cups pumpkin seeds (Normally takes me a couple medium pumpkins, but one will do)
1tsp Worcester sauce
3 tbsp butter
1 tsp salt

Gut pumpkin and make sure you get all the little goo things off the seeds.
Boil seeds in salted water for 10 min
Dry seeds on paper towel
Add Worcester sauce and salt to melted butter and mix till salt dissolves.
Add seeds
Stir til coated
Bake for 1-2 hours at 225°F checking and turning every 15 minutes until the seeds are crunchy and delicious, but not burned.
Toss pumpkin before it rots.

Time oh give me time.

I am very tempted to talk about the Pokes again tonight, as it seems that is about all I have on my mind right now, but I will save some more of that for later.

Interesting start to the week. 2 hours I spent in the lunchroom discussing how to make things better in the office amongst the other engineers. What got accomplished. Oh I would like to be optimistic and say that some really great things came out of it...but I know better than that and know that all the great ideas we had will never come into fruition.

Tis the nature of the job. If we had time to implement these ideas we wouldn't have the problems that we do. But that is the problem in and of itself...there is no time. Heck, if we had time we might actually put jobs out that could physically be built by someone, let alone be sure to "be nice to your project manager."

I am getting really excited about my cook/freeze weekend coming up. I have been perusing some recipes here and there...trying to narrow it down. Should be for a fun Saturday and Sunday!

Believe me now, it's for real.

Can you beleive it? We won again!!! Yet another fantastic football game that the Cowboys put together. The Cowboys, the same ones that won 3 games the last three years I was there, are now 4-1. I am speechless. Well, not really.

Great game though, totally won by the defense. The crowd was great, though smaller than I would have hoped. We actually got into one guys head with the "43's a bitch" chant. He started taunting us back. Yeah, pretty sure he is going to be running the stadium steps on Monday in San Diego.

The rest of the weekend was good. I got to hang out with Keith a lot...not Megan at all, and a few others who decided they needed to see Nick trashed. They got what they wanted, and I got a massive headache.

The week, oh the week. I don't know what to expect and that always scares me a little. I have to finish this job for the prez and then he wants me to do something else. Yikes. Doesn't he know I'm stupid? Come on...blödnick!!!

The weekend has arrived (almost)

Well kids, after a week of long winded posts I have very little to talk about this evening. You are very welcome.

This weekend I am heading to Laramie, yet again, to watch the Pokes play San Diego State University for homecoming. Should be another great time...especially if they win. Not sure about what we will do or when I'll leave, but rest assurred Saturday will be spent at the game.

Oh, and people had better show up this time. It is getting ridiculous. 12,000 fans? Puh-lease!

Have a nice weekend. Nice big updates on Sunday as usual.

The Cinema

There are a few things in this world that can consistently make me happy. Visiting friends, seeing the Pokes win in person, and dining out. But it is always the movies that get me completely wrapped in.

I honestly think that I get too wrapped up in a movie when I am watching it. I put myself in a position to either feel horrible about something I didn't do, or great about something that I did do...not that I did either.

Tonight I had the pleasure in watching a movie that I had wanted to for a long time. In fact I have listened to it's soundtrack so many times I w as already getting a vibe for the flick. I gotta say Eternal Sunshine of a Spotless mind was a great movie. I mean, I don't know if the acting was the best ever, or the cinematography was a mind bending experience.

No, what catches me most in a movie is an idea. A great idea...and this one had it. Choosing to have someone erased from your memory to remove the pain, then realizing that is not what you want midway through the process and trying to fight it. It's ideas like this, and many others, that make the Jurassic Park 2 and Catwoman's of the world hysterically funny in their idiocy.

Long post short: I liked it. I liked it a lot.

Yikes...

...they really went at it in the debate this evening. I thoroughly enjoyed it. I felt that they both made valid points, even if I do disagree with many of them. I was disappointed in some of the side-stepping, but I suppose that is bound to happen.

But I think the thing that pisses me off the most when it comes to these debates is the spin that occurs right afterward from the political parties. The debates are one of the very very few times that you get to see these guys react (though much of it is prepared). I mean, there is a chance for them to screw up ("Global test" - which was completely taken out of context...just a brain fart.) I always feel good after watching one of the debates...until about 30 seconds later when they start talking about who won because of some stupid detail.

It comes down to this. The debates, for me anyway, are one of the biggest influences on my decision. What I try my hardest to do is not let the spin become the decision maker. So how did I handle it this time? That's right, flipped to Iron Chef after the last words were spoken. No spin there...well except for the extreme bias on Hiroyuki Sakai's angler fish stew. What a travesty!

Oh, I suppose I should...

Hey there everyone. Hope you all had really good weekends. I had another very nice weekend...with plenty of bongos and very little alcohol. The Pokes won, which is great, but the attendance was only 12,000...which is not. Hopefully conference season will change all taht. I had a great time with my family though, and ate the most ass-kicking burger I have ever let touch my lips. Seriously, the thing made me cry.

I am also happy to announce that I am back on the wagon with my diet. I bought a new grill today (something I should have done right when I got out here) and started grilling my food again. I forgot how often I did that in California. Anyway, feels nice to have a goal with that whole thing again.

Not sure about this week. I have to work with the prez of the company for at least a couple of days. The job sounds easy, but things have not been at all easy lately. Maybe this will change things. In any case I hope everyone has a great week and I will keep you posted as always.

...oh, and I am totally watching the VP debates Tuesday. Could be more entertaining that Temptation Island 2!!!

Donkey Donkey Konga!

Well I finally found my game last night, and I gotta tell you that thing is wicked addictive. Imagine tapping a plastic bongo drum to all your favorite tunes. Well, I don't think you can get it until you play it, but I can assure you it is a ton of fun.

Work finally slowed down. Most of the job is done and ready to go out, and as far as I know there are just a few things that need to get picked up before it is done done.

Heading to Laramie for the weekend yet again. We have a game against Louisiana-Monroe. They were on the Bottom 10 list this week, so it should be an easy win, but I never count on anything.

Hope to see some of you this weekend. My gramps, Liz and my Mom are coming down for the game. My Grandpa says he has never been to one...well I suppose that will all change. Maybe he'll buy me a beer:)