Any home viewing suggestions?

Now that I have my NetFlix up and rolling, I'm compiling lists of movies and TV shows that I want to get for my home viewing pleasure. I like that I can get movies that I would normally not buy or rent unless I had this NetFlix convenience. Go to a video store and pay $3.49 to rent Elektra? I don't think so. Add it to my list of 20 movies I get in a month for $18.00? Ok. I have a Queue full of movies to watch, but am concerned about the next couple months when I run out of ideas. I guess there's plenty of shows I want to catch up on, but what happens if I run out of ideas. I hate searching for films on NetFlix because the browser isn't very user friendly. If you add a film to your queue, there is no way to get back to where you were on the search list. The return to browsing button takes you back to the top of the movie list and then you have to go through all of the movies you've already searched through. So, I thought I'd shout out see what everyone out there could sugest to me. Any good new or old movies that I should watch? What about TV shows that I need to see? My buddy is going to let me borrow the Sopranos, so I was able to take those off my list. So, what are your favorites? I'm pretty diverse in what I like to watch, so no idea is a bad idea.

For all you Joss fans....

As some of you may or may not know, I am a fan of the Buffy the Vampire Slayer TV series. Yes, that makes me resemble a teen aged girl in some ways, and yes, that show has been cancled, but I own the DVDs and have been watching some of them of late. I started off with season three a week or so ago (I need to get 1 and 2 back from Amy) and am now watching season four. Let me tell you: Season four is when this show gets good. One through three are good and entertaining, but the first disk of season four has made me laugh out loud several times already today. It is definately when Joss starts employing more of a sense of humor with all of these characters. For example, in their first day of college, Willow is excited and talks to Buffy about how all of the "throbbing knowledge" on campus and how she can feel it "thrusting inside" her and "spurting" wisdom. She then claims that the conversation went somewhere she had not meant it to go. MUCH funnier in the show, but you get the jist. There are a few major changes that make the fourth season better than the first three:

1. Angel is off with Cordelia and Wesley on his own spin off show and is replaced by a new recurring vamp, Spike. Spike is a much better character and (according to my wife) is much better looking than Angel.
2. The gang is out of High School and have moved on to college. There is much more plot potential and the plots do get much better.
3. Willow becomes more of a witch (and eventually a lesbian. that may be season 5 though) and plays a greater roll in the action.
4. More Oz. No, not the HBO homo-erotic prison show, I'm talking about the character Oz. He plays a bigger role in the plots and is one of the funnier characters.

Well, for those of you that like Joss and his wacky sense of humor, you should watch the previous seasons of Buffy. Be patient through the first three seasons, which are still good, but the fourth is a step above the rest. One of the episodes even won an award. An Emmy, I think.

Help Wanted

So, We've decided that we are going to paint in Gabriel's room. He so into Star Wars and Star Wars toys that we are going to go with a Star Wars theme. We'll paint the walls all (not sure what color) and put some glow in the dart stars all over the place and then either find someone to paint a Vader mask or a Death Star on the wall. As the icing on the cake, I am trying to find Star Wars Diecast ships to hang from the ceiling in a battle type formation. THAT has been the hard part. I can't find any of the ships that I want to hang. Well, I guess that's not true. I have found Vader's TIE Fighter (which I have learned is not named TIE because it looks like a bow tie. It stands for Twin Ion Engine or Exhaust. not 100% sure), Boba Fett's

Slave One

, and two standard TIE Fighters. I have my mom looking too, and she has found a

Mellenium Falcon

. I just can't find any Rebel ships. I need X-wings, Y-wings, A-wings, and B-wings. I'll be happy with X-wings, since I'm not 100% sure that the other ships are out there to buy. I think the Y-wing and A-wing are, but not the B-wing. I've searched Toys-R-Us, KMart, Meijer, and WalMart (sorry Bryan) to try to find these ships. Therre is no where that I have found to buy them online (except for Ebay, but I don't want to pay for the toy plus get gouged for shipping). So, what I would like, is for you fine friends of mine to keep an eye out when you go to a toy store or one of the mega marts mentioned above and look for some Rebel ships. There seems to be a bunch of Clone Wars and Sith vehicles out there, just not the old school Rebel ships. Anyway, if you see one and could pick one up for me, I would appreciate it. I would reimburse you and even cover shipping fees if you are not in Columbus. I'd be happy with a few X-wings, but any Rebel ship is welcome.

Diest update : I am 1/4 of the way to my goal of losing 100 pounds. I need to get on our treadmill some more, but the diet is working pretty good.

the best $17.99 per month I've ever spent

Sorry that it's been a while since I've posted. I feel like Rinnert. I haven't had too much going on lately, so nothing to write. I do have some good material for when I have time for a long post. We emptied some more boxes and Jessica found something interesting. I'll give you one clue: WWW. If you can guess what this might be, you get bonus points. Granted, the points are worthless, but hey, they are a bonus. It should be funny for those of you that went to high school with me.

OK. The best $17.99 per month I've spent. You may have read about this on Amy's blog: NexFlix. I have heard the commercials and have thought about getting NetFlix before, but I finally just went to the site and signed up. If you've never heard of it, you pay a flat monthly fee and then you add DVDs t a 'que' of movies that you want to watch. NetFlix then sends you the first movies (or movies) on you list. If you pay the flat $9.99 per month, you get one movie at a time. If you pay $17.99, you get three movies at a time. I went with the Cadillac version. You then return the movie in a pre-paid envelope and they send you next DVD. I signed up on Monday and got my first three movies on Wednesday. The cool thing is that the movies come in individual envelopes so you can watch one, return it, and get the ball rolling on receiving your next movie. I'm going to try to milk this as much as I can to watch as many DVDs as I can. It will be easy since I watch DVDs while I work. Since I'm not going to pay any extra, I will be more likely to take chances on movies that I may not have watched otherwise. I started out by getting the first three disks of season one of the Soprano's. I've always wanted to see the show, but never had HBO. So far, it is really good. Sex, violence, drama, the Mob. It's got everything. So anyway, if you watch many DVDs, I recommend that you check out NeFlix. Apparently, they are kicking Blockbuster's ass because I saw a commercial from Blockbuster indicating that they are going to start going DVD rentals in the same way as NetFlix. Nothin like trying to play catch up.

First ER visit

Well, after almost four years (it will be his birthday this Friday) Gabriel finally got to have a trip to the emergency room. He fell and cut his eye on an end table. Not his eye, really, but really close. It was a little scary, what with all the blood. Luckily Jessica had just gotten home, so the trained medical person of the family was there to take care of things. We called her dad to come get the other kids, so that they wouldn't need to sit around the hospital with us, and then ran off to Children's hospital downtown. Let me say, this was probably the fastest visit to an ER ever. We were in and out in less than an hour. No other patients were waiting, so we were taken right back, checked out by a nurse first, then the person that would fix Gabe, and finally two doctors. Instead of stitches, Gabe's face was glued shut. The stuff they use is like Super Glue, but without acitone, so less burning. I was so proud of my little guy. He was very brave the whole time. Funny too. He kept telling everyone that he hurt his eye on the table and that he was going to beat up the table. Then he started telling everyone that he was going to have a Star Wars birthday. I'm really glad that his eye wasn't damaged. As you can see, it was really close.

Will I Ever Grow Up?

I don't mean to say that I want to grow taller or bigger. I'm plenty grown up in that manner. What I wonder is will I ever lose the little kid in me? Granted, I don't really want to lose that little kid in me. I like that I still have 'childish' interests. For example:

I recently put up some shelves in my basement office. Some of you probably think, "good idea, Eric. You probably need the storage space." Well, the reason that I put the shelves up is so that I had a place to display my Star Wars Legos. That's right. I have a Tie Interceptor, B-Wing Fighter, a Tie Bomber, and Slave-1. Plus alot of mini lego ships. I like the old school ships more than the ships from the new movies. I'd live to get a AT-AT, Millenium Falcon, Start Destroyer, and Death Star, but they are all over $100 kits. It's not like I play with the ships (much), I just really like building them.

I like video games ALOT. I know, a lot of adults these days like video games, so maybe this is not a good example. Mu favotites are first person shooters. I could play Halo 2 all day. I also like Doom 3 alot. However, I have small children and am not really allowed to play gorey shooters much anymore, so I play Star Wars, Knights of the Old Republic, which is less intense. I will get an Xbox 360 when Halo 3 comes out.

I like board games. Monopoly, Starego, and the best of the best: Risk. I actually got Risk for my computer a while back just so that I could play more frequently. I once tryed to play Axis and Allies with Rinnert, but the fact that the game instructions suggested that you set up a place to play where you can leave the game up for a few days made me lose interest. A few days to play a game? I don't have the attention span for that. I guess other adults like board games too, but when you throw Magic, the Gathering into the mix, that elevates my standings as a childish person. Yes, I play Magic. I don't actively buy new cards anymore, and I don't get to play ofter, but that is because I don't have anyone to play with. I used to play alot in college, but the people I used to play have moved away.

WHOA!!! I just had a revelation. Looking back on what I worte, it dawned on me. I am not too childish, I'm just a big nerd! Not that there is anything wrong with that. I kind of like my status as a big nerd. You get to do a lot of fun stuff (like building Legos) that 'cool' people may take for granted. Honestly, I would be a bigger 'nerd' if I could afford it. I had to give up my comic book collecting back in college because of low funds. I'd probably still be reading several books if I could have afforded them throughout the years. Wolverine, X-men, Stormwatch, Excalibur, they were all good. Plus, I'm sure there a alot of other new books that are good that I have no clue about just because I've been out of the scene. Also, I'd have the Star Wars Legos mentioned above if I could afford them.

Bad beats and shitty luck

Well, I had my poker party last night. I played well, made the right bets and calls, and was second out. GRRR!! It started out when I had two pair and got beat by a full house. Then, I had a pair of aces and was beat by another full house. The final blow was when I had three aces, THREE ACES, and was beat by, guess what, a FULL FUCKING HOUSE!!! It was the worst night of bad luck that I have ever had playing cards. It's one thing to have no cards at all, but to have good hands get beat by better hands, that's just shitty. The probability of a full house in a Texas Hold'em game is something like 80 to 1. I wasn't called on bluffs. I just got beat time and time again. Frustrating!

Want a Good Read?

Well, if you do, you should really stop reading this blog. It's truely terrible at times. Really. Anyway, as some of you may know, I do have a degree in English Literature. Yes, a college thought I was smart enough to gradjeyate. As a Lit major, I read a ton of books and stories. I still read alot. I thought I'd share some suggestions of things I've read that some of you (that actually read for pleasure) may enjoy:

1. The Yellow Wallpaper - This is a short story (I forget the author. Sorry.) about a woman that is 'ill' and her husband puts her in a room with wierd yellow wallpaper. Basically she kind of goes crazy. I won't get too into it, but it's pretty interesting how the author gets insideof the woman's head as she goes down the road to loony town.

2. The Fall of the House of Usher - Another short story, by Edgar Allen Poe, that is really dark and creepy. The basic story is about a old family manor owned by the Usher family. It is a very old house and a very old family (like it goes back several generations) and there is some creepy dark stuff going on in the house. I won't reveal any of the suprises, but it is a very good story.

3. Shakespeare - I know, I know. It is hard to read Shakespeare because of the olde English language, but once you get used to it, the plays are really excellent. If you ever get a chance to see a play, I'd recomend it. I saw Much Ado About Nothing back in my college days and loved it. It was hillarious! Of course there is Hamlet and Romeo and Juliet as well that are both very good. I remember seeing Romeo and Juliet in Mr Durbin's high school English class and snickering when Juliet's boobie popped out. Good times.

4. The Left Behind book series - If you've never heard of these books, they are religous fiction. I bought the first book because the cover was interesting and the discription on the cover was interesting. It is about the End of Days and the story about several people that were left behind after the Rapture (when all Believers were taken to Heaven and non-believers were left behind to choose between Christ or the Anti-Christ). I had no idea that it was a religous book when I bought it, and I am by no means a religous person, but these books were great. They really make you think about things. No, I did not convert, but if I start seeing some of the things described in the books start happening, I'll be singing a different toon. The last few books start getting a little preachy, but I still highly recommend these books. They are easy to read and written very well.

5. Xanadu - Xanadu is my favorite poem. I think it is by Coldridge, but I may be wrong (I did not have a high GPA as an English major). The poet was on some sort of drugs that made him hallucinate this whole scene and he wrote is all down. It's pretty dark and slightly demonic. If you like Rush (the band) then actually wrote a some called Xanadu that is based off of the poem. I read it first in Mr Durbin's English class in high school and the poem is the reason why I have no respect for that man as a teacher. I wrote a paper on the poem and my interpretation was different from his, so he gave me a C. How can a teacher reduce someone's grade for interpreting a poem differently? I was so mad.

Well, there you have it. There is alot more that I've read and liked, but I don't want to bore everyone. Feel free to chime in with your favorite books and stories. I need to find some new stuff to read.

Sorry, it's been a while.

I guess I'll give Mona's butt a break and post something new. Does that sound as bad in your brain as it does in mine? Anyway, the reasons for my not writing much lately are basically that I've been a little busy and I haven't had too much to write. Right now, I am burning some CDs for in the car. Fun stuff. Actually, Jessica's mom, grandma, and two aunts are here, so I'm hiding out a little. I guess that makes me a bad person, but oh well. Something neat: Jessica's aunt is an antique person (no, she's not an antique, she's into antiques) and she had me look up the china that we got from my mom (it was my Grandma Kenney's) on the internet. Apparently, a tea cup and saucer set is worth $40. We have 12 sets. So, basically, the china we got fom my mom is worth over a grand. Wow. I need to get photos and add it to my home insurance.

Diet update: Depending on which scale I use, I've lost between 15 and 25 pounds and am averaging about a pound a day. At this rate I will hit my goal in three months or so. I doubt it though. It's not good to lose that much weight that fast. I found a picture of me from when I was 16 and can't believe that I actually looked that skinny. I was never skinny, but it is obvious that I've put on a few pounds. All I've done so far is stop drinking alcohol, stop eating so many carbs, and walk on the treadmill every few days. It's been really easy. I miss drinking a little, but that's the worst of it. I've had more energy, no heartburn, and can already notice clothing fitting better. Plus, this is a bit gross so I'm sorry, I poop a lot less. I mean a lot. I should have started this diet years ago.

I've been watching the third season of Alias. It is very good. I have one more disk to watch and then I'll be starting on season 4. The third season isn't a good as season 2, but it is still really good. Lots of twists and turns. We watched The 40 Year Old Virgin last night. It was SO funny. Imagine the sexual inadiquacies of a 14 year old wrapped up in a 40 year old man that rides a bike everywhere and collects superhero dolls. It had some goofy parts, but overall, I liked it. We also got the Wedding Crashers, but haven't had a chance to watch yet.

Mona's Butt

As pay back for posting my crotch on her blog, I am posting a picture of Mona's butt on my blog. I'm hoping that a picture of an attrative girl ass will increase the hits I receive on my blog. Probably not, but we shall see. I also have several more Mona pictures that I can post, should she feel the need to put up any more embarrasing shots of, say, my ass. Some day I may post the nice pictures that I have of Mona and my other high school friends, but it just seems like more fun posting the embarassing ones.

Shopping Spree and Diet Update

It's been five days since I started my diet. That means five days of eggs, meats, and veggies. No more bread, desserts (or deserts), or the hard thing for me, alcohol. Honestly, I am doing OK with it all. I actually feel like I have more energy now than I did before. I can't say if I've lost any weight, but Jessica said that she has lost four pounds since the last time she weighed herself two weeks ago. To help out, we went out and bought a treadmill. I'd rather do my excercise in the privacy rather than outside or in a gym in front of skinny, pretty people. We should get a scale so that we can track ourselves.

On top of the treadmill, I went out on a shopping spree yesterday. Sorta. As I mentioned before, my Xbox is on the fritz. Well, I guess I should say that my OLD Xbox is on the fritz. I went ahead and sprung for a new one. I went to Best Buy, which I was feuding with, and got an Xbox with a game with it. I also went ahead and bought the two year replacement plan. Within the two years, if I decide upgrade to the 360, they will give me the full price of the Xbox in trade towards the 360. So, it's like I put a down payment on my future purchase of the Xbox 360. I just need to remember to upgrade within two years.

On top of the Xbox, I bought seasons 3 and 4 of Alias. I am totally a DVD bitch. It is like an obsession. I know I could get on Netflix and pay a monthly fee to get all the DVDs I want over time, but I am definately a instant gratification kind of guy. I also bought one of the coolest DVD sets I have ever seen. R30, Rush's 30 year anniversary DVD. I havn't watched it yet, but it contains 2 DVDs of live Rush concerts and interviews. Also, there are two audio CDs, I assuming of live music, that I had no idea were in the package. It also included a booklet of pictures and two guitar picks that were stamped with Geddy Lee's and Alex Lifeson's autographs. The only way this package could have been better is if there were some Neil Peart drum sticks included.

general news

Texas Hold'em Party: I am having a poker party this month on the 28th. I don't know why I play. I never seem to win in big games. I won a few games with small groups, but I just can't get over the bubble when it comes to bigger games. I usually play pretty well, but have bad luck or make a bad bet that knocks me out of the game. Anyway, if you read this blog and want to play, just shoot me an email or add a comment to let me know. An email would be prefirible.

The Great Rhodes Reduction: I am starting the South Beach diet. It's time to stop gaining and start losing. I love food. More specifically, I love food that is bad for me. Basically, I am highly reducing the amount of sugar and carbohydrates that I intake. Oh, and I can't drink alcohol anymore. That is going to be the hardest for me. If you have kids, you know what it feels like to just need a whiskey and Sprite. We are also buying a treadmill. I don't know exactly how much I weigh now, but I know that it is way too much. I tell you what, I started this on Saturday, and I already feel like I have more energy after starting to eat healthier. The first two weeks is 100% carb free. Then, you start adding a few carbohydrates here and there. I would like to at least get back to my college weight. I think my high school weight is a bit out of reach. Honestly, anything would be an improovement.

Three Years and Still Truckin': January 6th was my three year wedding anniversary. It doesn't seem like Jessica and I have been married that long. It really puts into perspective just how quickly time moves. On top of that Gabriel is almost four. Before I know it, he and Alydia will be in school and Noah will be on his way to college (if he wants). Wow. Anyway, for our anniversary, I bought a dozen roses for Jess and we went out to dinner. We wanted to go to Bravo, which is an Italian place, but the wait would have been almost an hour. We drove a round to try to find a different place, and about an hour later, we got a table at Chili's We are so impatient. It was still a good dinner. It was like our last meal before starting the diet. I wish it would have been Italian, but the chicken and ribs were still pretty good.

The Basketball Buckeyes lost their first game Saturday to Indiana. It was a two point loss, which is disappointing, since they were up 17 in the first half. Still, it was a great game to watch. I think that the guy that had the last shot for OSU was fouled, but kudos to IU for coming back to win that game. The game definately proves that OSU is legit in the Big Ten this year. Losing by 2 at IU is almost as good as a win at home. IU is tough. The whole Big Ten Conference is going to be tough this year. The experts say that 7 or 8 teams have a shot at going to the NCAA tourney.

Great BCS games

Four BCS games, four good games.

1 West Virginia vs Georgia - ESPN reporters seemed to imply that WV was only in this game because they won their title game and that they did not really deserve to be there. Well, they won. It was a wierd game though. I didn't watch it all, but West Virginia we up big in the forst half and then barely won after Georgia came storming back.

2 Penn State vs Florida - This game was painful to watch. I think that the kickers missed 27 field goals and extra points. It was more like 4 or 5, but it was a poor kicking display. The game could have been over 3 or 4 times if the kickers of each team would have made a kick here or there. It was on until 1:00 am. I didn't want to stay up that late, but I was invested.

3. The BSC title game, USC vs. Texas - This game was pretty good. It went back and forth all game long. I watched most of this game, but turned it off after USC went up two scores with less than ten minutes left in the fourth quarter. I figures that they would win and that I would have to listen to the commentators talk about how good USC is. Apparently, I missed a great ending to the game as Texas came back and won. I'll catch the highlights on ESPN. Leinhert, the USC quarterback, was very whiney and disrespectful to Texas. He said something about how USC was the better team, but Texas made the plays to win. By definition, I think that the better team is defined as the team that makes the plays to win. Actually, this game was an illustration of why Vince Young should have won the Heisman. He carried his team to the win. I'm just glad that USC did not win. I was getting so sick of hearing how good they are. Honestly, I think that Ohio State could have beat both of those teams at the end of the season.

4. Ohio State vs. Notre Dame - What a game. It wasn't as good of a game as the Rose Bowl, in the sense that the Rose Bowl was very dramatic, but it was a great game if you are an Ohio state fan. The Buckeyes basically dominated the Fighting Irish. Over 600 yards in total offense? Are you kidding me? A glimmer of hope for the Buckeyes next year as almost all of the offensive players ae returning next year. Anyway, The Bucks had 617 yards total. The 34 - 20 score could have been alot worse than it was for the Irish, but Ohio State had a few turn overs and had two field goals blocked. Potentially, it could have been 50 to 20 in the Buckeyes favor. The commentators started calling the Fiesta Bowl the 'Tressel Bowl'. The Buckeyes have been there three times in the last four years and have won all three times. Lets hope that they win a fourth next year. If you don't know, the National Title game is in the Fiesta Bowl next year. The final AP poll has OSU ending 4th. If you think about it, they only lost two games. One to the National Champions and the other to number 3 Penn State. Not bad.

One of the fun stories of the Fiesta Bowl was the whole AJ Hawk, Brady Quinn, and AJ's girlfriend being Quinn's sister. The woman was actually given a microphone and asked to do some interviewing of her brother. Of course she said that she was hoping that the Irish would win (her brother was standing right there). She had one of those clever shirts on that was half OSU and half Irish. Anyway, I mention this because they showed her face on TV after AJ Hawk laid out Brady Quinn. It looked like she was about to jump out of her skin. Can you imagine their next family dinner that AJ is invited to? The thought makes me chuckle a bit.

Looking to next year, OSU is losing 16 seniors, including their kicker and their entire linbacking corps. Also, their starting center, plus, junior Santonio Holmes is coming out a year early. That kinda stinks, but if I could make millions of dollars after my junion year of college, I'd do it too. Still, most of the offense will be returning and the linebacker corps next year should still be pretty good. The experts put the Buckeyes in the top five for next seasons pre season poll. I'm already looking forward to it. Most of their big games, including Penn State and Michigan, will be in the friendly confines of Ohio Stadium. The one I worry about is the rematch agains Texas, played in Texas. It should be another great season.

It's on!

It's finally time for the good bowl games to start. Now, I mean no disrespect to the 50 or 60 some teams that went to bowl games like the the Stay Free Maxi Bowl, I made that up, but come on....there are only, like 216 teams. With over all of the bowl games, that means about a third of them get to play in a bowl game. There used to be 12 Bowls. Now, all you need to do is win 6 of 11 games and you get to go to a bowl game. I know it's a money thing. There are enough sponsors out there to fund all of those games and the schools that get invited are willing to play one last game in order to get some more cash. It makes for some pretty boring games though. I say that it is time for the good games to start because the top teams play after or on 01/01. Since New Years day landed on a Sunday, the NCAA seems to have opted to push back the Bowls since the NFL still had some games going on. So far, the Big Ten is not fairing well. They are 0-3 so far. Michigan lost, so we should maybe look for a new coach up in Ann Arbor. Carr is starting to look like Cooper. Anyway, back to the topic. Starting at 11:00, Iowa gets things going against Florida. It does not look good for the Big ten again. Then, at 1:00 Wisconsin goes up against Auburn. Again, I am not too hopful that the Big Ten will get a win. Since it is Alvares' last game as head coach, the Badgers may rise up to the occasion. Then, the big one starts at 4:30. OSU vs the Irish or Notre Dame. I wanted this match up since early November. Really, this is the best bowl game opportunity for the Buckeyes. Both teams are in the top 5 of the polls and, other than playing for the title, this is probably the biggest bowl game of the year. It is hard to look back at this past season without wondering, 'what if?' What if Vince Young hadn't made that final TD pass in the Shoe? What if Troy Smith had been playing that whole game? What if the Penn State game were in Columbus? Both of those games, resulting in a loss by less than 7 points, could have gone just a little bit differently. It makes you think, could OSU beat USC if they had gone undefeated? No one would think they could, but no one thought they could beat Miami hack in 2003. Well, I guess it doesn't matter. The main thing is that the Bucks are in a huge game against a good opponent. It should be a great game. Penn State gets Florida State tomorrow. This should be a good one too, but I think PSU will dominate. As for the Rose Bowl, I really hope that Texas can shut up everyone talking about how great USC is. I am tired of ESPN gushing all over USC for the past month. They're good. I get it. They are going for three titles. I get it. They have a great offense. I GET IT!! Honestly, I think texas is better. Sure USC has two Heisman Trophy winners, but I really think Vince Young should have won the trophy this year. He has carried his team several times this year. Really, he is the whole package at QB. The worst part about him is that he may be back at Texas for another year and OSU goes to Austin next season. Well, back to the point again. The three game I care about:

OSU 34 - Notre Dame 28
PSU 42 - FSU 21
USC 35 - Texas 38

Alias

I've been buying old seasons of TV shows so that I have some background noise and distractions while working at home. Otherwise, I get really bored. It started out with BSG, as stated in previous blogs, but I bought seasons one and two of Alias as well. Season one was pretty good, I guess as good as any season one of a series (except BSG. you GOT to watch that), but season two....WOW. The story is riveting and exciting, there are twists and turns everywhere. If you don't know, the basic story is about Sidney Bristo (Jennifer Garner), who thinks she is with the CIA, but really is working for a bad organization, SD-6. She finds out and becomes a double agent for the CIA to bring down SD-6. She goes on missions and other secret agent stuff. Her father, Jack Brsto is also in the same boat and they end up joining forces. The plot is too complex to really go into detials, but it is definately worth the time to watch. If you are a guy, this show illustrates exactly how hot Jennifer Garner really is. I thought she was cute, but some of the outfits that the puts on in this show are jaw dropping. The first season she is in this skin tight dress that could probably fit in a shot glass when scrunched up. It was pretty hot. It's kinda like taking James Bond and all of the hot girls they add in the Bond films for sexual tension and putting them all into one character. If you've never seen the show, I recommend that you that you take a look.

Shows I'd watch

As you may or may not know, I am a fan of the Buffy the Vampire Slayer TV series. True, that may make me a bit girly, but I am not a member of the fan club or anything. I loved the movie with Kristy Swanson and Pee Wee Herman. I think a guy from 90210 was in it too. Pee Wee's death scene was priceless. Anyway, as it often happens, Buffy was in a bad time slot for me, so I did not see all of the shows as they aired. My solution, DVDs. I own seasons 1-7. I think it was a good thing that the show was ended. The plots were getting a bit weak and there is only so much Sara Michelle Gellar that one can take. Seriously though. The show was entertaining and fun to watch. I think I may start at the beginning and watch them all in order again soon. I just need to get seasons 1 and 2 back from Amy. Anyway, back to subject. I think that Buffy needed to end, but there are a TON of spin offs that they could persue based off of the Buffy story. Sure, there is Angel, which is over and done with now (I never got into Angel too much), but there are other characters that deserve a shot at a series. Here are my ideas:

1. Willow - She is one of my favorites from the Buffy series. She is a powerful witch (and a lesbian) and I think that it would be entertaining to see where she goes after leaving Sunnydale. I guess there is already a successful witch show out there (Charmed) but I think that this would work. Certainly better than the terrible sit-com that Allison Hannigan ended up on. There could be different temptations for Willow to go to dark magic and things like that. Oz could join up every once in a while and Willow could keep her hottie slayer girlfriend. I'd watch.

2. The Watchers - Giles would be in this one. It could go into more detail about the mysterious Watchers that tended to hinder Buffy more than help her. This one may not be as good as the one with Willow, but it could be interesting.

3. The Slayers - In case you haven't seen all of the Buffy series, I am going to ruin the ending for you.....so STOP READING unless you want to read how it all ended!! Since Willow and Buffy made it so that all potential Slayers get their Slayer powers all at once, there are now many teenaged and pre-teen girls out there with bad ass powers and no idea what is going on. The remaining Slayers from the Buffy series could travel around and recruit/trian these new Slayers in the ways of ass kicking demons. Just because Sunnydale is gone, doesn't mean that the vampires and demons around the world are all gone. I think that this has the best potential for a strong, ongoing series. Willow could also be in this show since she is dating one of the Slayers. Buffy coulf pop in every once in a while when SMG realizes that her movie carreer is going nowhere and she needs some extra cash. They could get a cool black van, like in the A-Team.

Battlestar Galactica 2. whoa

Merry belated Chrismahanaquanzica everyone! I hope everyone has a good time with friends and family. We were able to get all of our family visiting done in one weekend. It was nice because we usually have to spread things out over a few weeks. We saw Jessica's dad on Christmas eve, her mom and grandma, and then her aunt and grandpa, on Christmas, and finally my parents, brother, aunt, uncle, cousin, and grandma the day after Christmas. It was alot of driving and visiting with family, but I was glad to get it done in a few days instead of a few weeks or a month. We all had fun and the kids were happy with their presents. Gabriel kept opening everyone else's presents for them. They let him, of course. He's so funny some times.

Well, I found BSG 2.0. I bought it for the kids to give it to me for Christmas. I watched alreadyand all I can say is wow! It is such a great show. It is a terrific mix of a new, original show and the story from the old school TV series. If you never watched the old show, the effects were typical for the era, the acting wasn't great and the story was cheesey at times. The base story was the same, the Cylons attacked and killed all humans except for a 'fleet of rag-tag ships' and one Battlestar. Some of the trials and tribulations are similar, they look for water in both series and Cylons were always popping up and attacking. The differences lie in the quality of the acting and improved effects and story writing. I highly recommend this series. Buy the DVDs. I've watched the first season three times already and plan on watching 2.0 several times as well. New episodes start in January.

So, I fanally saw Serenity. Twice.

***spoiler alert***

I went out to buy the Serenety DVD yesterday. I was upset that I did not catch it in the theaters, but I guess I waited too long. I made up for missing Serenity in the theaters by watching it twice yesterday. Once right when I got home and the second time after Jessica got home so that she could see it. The movie did not start out quite how I expected it. I guess I didn't really have an idea of how it would start, since it would have to be geared towards people that have seen Firefly as well as those that have not seen Firefly. I guess that Joss did a good job setting up the story for those who have seen the TV show and for those who have not. The original Browncoats get some background to River and Simon's past and the newbies can see why River is so messed up. All in all I really liked this movie. The story was good, the acting was good, and the effects were incredible. I could go to a three hour movie filled with nothing other than sci-fi space battles and be thrilled. I just loves my CGI. Serenity also had the perfect mix of story, comedy, action, and sexual tension that are Joss' trademarks. I was also glad that all of the TV show's original cast was able to make it into the film. I didn't think Shepherd Book would be in it since I did not see him in the trailers, but I was wrong. I guess the part he had was rather small, but he was in it. Honestly, I never much likes Book too much. I think that if they Joss had the time on the TV series to go into why he knew sow much about the Alliance and had high military clearance, the character would have been much interesting. Oh well, he's dead now. The villan of the movie was good. No, not as in good. I mean that he was a good villian. The one thing that made me a bit angry was that Wash was killed in the end. I really like his character. In fact, I think he my favorite. I made this determination during the Firefly TV movie type thing. Mal, Jayne, a Zoe were out in space salvaging good from another vessel and Wash was playing with plastic dinosaurs. "Damn your inevitable betrayal!" Funny. He also had great lines in the movie. I think the best line in the movie was from Kaylee. She was talking about Simon and River leaving the ship and she was mad because she and Simon had not had sex yet and she said something like, "I ain't had nothing twix my neathers for the last year that hasn't been run on batteries." I may not be exact on that quote, but you get the idea. Mal had some great one liners too. And Jayne. I won't quote them all, so just go watch the movie. There is certainly room for a sequal to this movie. The ship was rebuilt and repainted and I'm sure that there is more Serenity plot inside of Joss' head. The only question will be whether or not he will get the funding. My guess is that he will, but probably not as big of a budget. We're probably going to get a made for TV movie or a straight to DVD release. That's fine by me just so lone as the story continues. I just hope that any future movies are not centered around River being a bad ass killing machine. The way she took care of the Reevers was quite Buffy-like. Especially at the end of the fight when they show her standing over the dead Reevers with the two axes.

As a side note, I looked for BSG 2.0, which was also supposed to be out this Tuesday, but did not see it at Target or Best Buy. Was the release pushed back? I'm wondering if maybe it was just sold out already. That show realy kicks ass.

Guess Who

By popular demand, here is a picture of Alydia.

Go Buck!....Basketball???

As you all know, I am a huge OSU football fan. I am also a closet OSU basketball fan. I say closet fan because, since the final four run they had a while back with Scoonie Penn and Michael Redd, the basketball Bucks have been pretty bad. They weren't terrible, but certainly not a contender. I still watched a game here and there, and I was clapping in my living room when they knocked off #1 and undefeated Illinois last year, but hoops didn't get me up as much as the gridiron games. The Basketball Bucks are 7-0 and ranked for the first time that I can remember for a while. I have seen a few games and they look pretty good. Their outside shooting is dynamite. They also have Terrence Dials, who is pretty good in the middle. So far, several of the Buckeye wins have come over lesser opponents at home, but they have had two quality road wins at Iowa State and St Joseph's (or maybe St John's. I forget for sure). The best part about this season is that it's only going to get better next year. Thanks to the NBA starting to restrict the age of players joining the league, OSU is going to get the #1 recruit, Oden (I think that's his name), who would have been a high NBA draft pick if the age restriction hasn't been enforced. We will finally have a basketball program that will rival our football program. I know it's rare for a fotball school to have a good basketball program too, but it's becoming more common lately. Michigan State has always had a good b-ball program and they are a pretty good football school, but they are in the minority, it seems. Texas is in the top ten of the hoops world and are playing for the fooseball title this year, so there is another school with good programs in both sports. The dream is that both the Basketball and Football Buckeyes will both take national titles next year. I can dream, right? Actually, it is plausable. The b-ball team is getting great recruits and have a solid coach and the football Bucks should have a dynamite offense next year. Hopefully the defense will be able to step up after losing the entire lineback corps. Well, I can hope, right?

Places I want to go

Jessica and I have never really been on a vacation together. I suppose that we went to Las Vegas to get married, which was a lot of fun, but we have not done any vacations just to go on vacation. Mostly because we have no money, but also because we don't have time off together. We work opposite days so that we can watch the kids. We are wanting to take trips, it just doesn't happen. Well, if we ever do get the chance, here is a list of the places I want to visit:

1. Someplace warm when Ohio is under a foot of snow, like Puerto Rico, or Jamaica. I want to be able to sport my Speedo thong and not feel a bit chilly. I also want to be able to look into the ocean water and be able to see the bottom. I'm sick of Ohio lakes where the water is murkey and gross.

2. A Disney park. You know. For the kids. I've been to both Disneyland and World. I don't remember much of either, but I would mostly want to go so that the kids would be able to have a good time. Also, some of Jessica's family live out in CA, so we could make an event of it all.

3. Europe. I'm not sure where in Europe, but I could probably use Heather's blog as a guide. She and Paul have gone to a lot of neat places. Honestly, I rarely check her posts because I get jealous. I would probably try to stay in English speaking areas. I'd totally have to hang out with some soccer huligans though. If you aren't a Manc, you're a wank.

4. Las Vegas. Yes, I've been there, but we didn't really get to experience everything that we wanted to. I want to go to a real show (we went to a free one) and I want to go when it's warm so that we can hang out at the pool. Plus, I want to be able to gamble a bit more than we did. I'd love to get into a poker game, but doubt I'd be able to afford it. It would also be fun to check out a club. I'd feel out of place, but it would be a cool experience.

5. New Orleans. I put a question mark here after the hurricanes ruined the city a bit. Plus, I've been there twice. I was able to experience Burbon St. but none of the historical buildings or cemetaries. Jessica likes haunted things, so we'd maybe check out the haunted spots.

6. Canada. I've been to Niagra falls and Toronto as a kid and I want to go back. The Falls were neat. We also went to a park called Marine Land. It was like Cedar Point meets Sea World. It has a crazy roller coaster that scared the shit out of me. Of course I was only 8 or 9.

7. NYC. New York kinda scares me because of the sheer size of it. I'd like to go and see the sights though. Plus, I need to try out for Who Wants to be a Millionaire. I always get up to the $25000 question without needing lifelines. I kick ass at that game from my couch.

8. An OSU bowl game. I've been to four, but while in the band. I had obligations and couldn't go where I wanted when I wanted. The Rose Bowl would be cool. Or, if the Sugar Bowl ever gets back to New Orleans, I could take care of #5 on the list.

9. The Grand Canyon. Actually, any National landmark or tourist attraction. I'd like to go to Alaska some day too.

10. A cruise. Disney has a cruise line that has a kid's area that watched the children while you go have fun. That could be neat.

11. Local attractions. Cincinatti, Cleveland, the Old Man's Caves in Hocking Hills, Cedar Point, Kings Island, Amish Country.

12. Along the sporting line, I would like to go to a NCAA basketball tournament some day. Final Four would be cool. Maybe OSU will get the tournament soon.

I hate kickers

No, not field goal kickers or soccer players. I'm talking about the card in poker known as the kicker card. For example, if two players both have a pair of tens, the tie breaker goes to whomever has the highest card in their hand. A pair of tens with an ace beats a pair of tens with a jack. Get it? Well, as you may or may not know, I played in a poker game last night. I started out slowly, but picked up some momentum and some chips when I took my buddy Rick out. He went all in on me to try to scare me out of a pot (which almost worked). I called him and won. I love having bragging rights. Anyway, I made it to the final table and down to the final seven players when I got my ass handed to me. I had jack ten, two tens come up on the board giving me three tens, so I went all in. The guy that called me had a ten and an ace in his hand. The ace beat the jack and I was out. I can't beat myself up about it though. I played the hand correctly. I thought the guy had two pair, but had no idea that he might have another ten. Why would I? The odds of it happening are lower than low. Then the odds that he could beat my jack kicker were even lower. Oh well. I lasted longer than all of my bowling buddies, so, like I said, bragging rights.

random thoughts

So you are thinking, 'Aren't all of your thoughts random, Eric?' The answer is, 'Yes, they are.' But usually when I post, I have a specific topic. Ok, not really. Step off.

Comments: I am curious as to why I don't get many comments on my posts. I guess my posts aren't too interesting. I thought I'd get more than I did on my 'Boobies' post. The only one I got was for my 'Media Whore' post a while back. I guess I can't complain too much. I look at other people's blogs and their comments a are rare as mine. I'm not going to get down about it. I like posting on my blog. Woody has a much more interesting blog that I do, and there are times when he doesn't get comments other than for his quote game. I myself am guilty of checking posts and not commenting. Well, when I look at my site meter, and people are at least looking at my blog, so that makes me happy. I just need to step up my game and make things more interesting, I guess.

Bowling: As you may know, I am in a men's bowling league. It is split into two halves, 13 games each half and one last week to determine the champion (27 weeks total). We are at our last week of the first half and my team is dead last. It is frustrating because I am bowling better than I have in a long time. I am currently carrying a 180+ average. I think I had a 190 once, but it was only for a few weeks. The cause of our woes seems to be that people bowling us are always have a good game and just edge us out. We've propably lost about 15-20 games by less than 30 pins. Last week we lost one by 2. I could have tied it if I srtuck out in the tenth frame, but I only managed two strikes and an 8. Well, at least there are two halves, so we have a chance in the long run.

Poker: I played some Texas Hold'em last Friday. I had my ass handed to me. Not because I play poorly, I just didn't get any good cards. When I did get two cards, I'd play, but would get beat. For example, I had a flush in one had and my buddy beat me with a bigger flush. It's rare that two people hit a flush in Texas Hold'em.
I have a poker plug and play game that is pretty fun. I play in the tournaments. I win sometimes, but I think that the computer cheats a bit. It's certainly geared up so that multiple players get good hands more than should happen. I am playing in a tournament on Friday that I am pretty excited about. I should do ok if I can stay in my game plan. The hard part is playing with people that you don't know. You need to learn tells and figure out how they play. It can be tough. I just need to stay in control of myself and not gamble too much. If I wait for the cards to come, I am confident that I should do well.

SOAD: System of a Down is probably the most origional hard rock band that I have heard in years. Most of the new groups all sound like clones of each other. SOAD kicks all of their asses. The music is good, the lyrics are origonal and often make a statement. I highly suggest buying Hypnotize and Mesmerize, their latest CDs. Hypnotize is probably the better of the two. If I have any complaint about the group, it's that they usually have one or two weird songs per CD that I could do without. The rest of the music more than makes up for these odd songs.

mmmmm....boobies

No, it's not an attention grabber. I'm really going to post about breasts today. For some reason, the idea popped into my head and I decided to run with it. Ladies, please don't be offended. I mean no disrespect. I respect all women for their minds and personality. Now, I probably won't post anything that is deeply insightful, or anything that everyone hasn't thought of before, I just thought that it'd be interested to post about one of the most important things in a man life (straight men, of course). I mean think about it, how many times do you guys look at a woman and your gaze hovers below the collar line? And ladies, how may times have you had a conversation with me and thought to yourself, 'Ok Eic, my eyes are up here....'? Is there anything more attractive or attention grabbing than women's breasts? Maybe if a guy had a giant Johnson and was in some really tight pants..... No. Boobies are better. Now, before I proceed, I am not trying to offend anyone. I just think this is an interesting topic.

In my opinion, women's breasts are one of (or two of, I guess) the most inportant things in the world to men. Now, you are thinking, 'Come on, Eric. What about the war?' Yes, the war is terrible and a big thing, but think about it. How many ways can you say 'war'? Battle, strife, police action, skirmish, war, I can't really think of too many ways to say war other than to say war. Now, how many words and phrases have been created in reference to breasts? Boobs (boobies), tits (titties), knockers, hooters, melons, jugs, rack, twins, sisters, twin bald guys in a shirt... and then ways to discribe different sizes and shapes: torpeedos, mountains, itty bitty titties, tig bitties, fakies, perkie, droopy, I'm sure there's more, but I need to draw the line somewhere. To further express how important breasts are to society, how many times has a woman with large breasts walked into a room and you or you friend asks the question 'Do you think they're real?' Ladies, how many times have you caught guys looking at your breasts? Think about all of the women that get implants. Think about the stories you hear about your large breasted female friends getting out of speeding tickets by showing some cleavage.

I admit it. I love breasts. I don't know why. I just know that I like how they look and how they feel. Real, fake, big, or small it doesn't matter. I guess I don't like ginormous fake boobs that are so big that they are comical. It has to be plausable that they may be real. (For the record, I'm really more of an ass man.) On a show I once saw about breasts, it said that human females are the only mammal that the milk producing ogans are external when not lactating. I know that it ruins a bit of the attractiveness when you call them 'milk producing organs' but that is what they are. The show speculated why this is, but there was no definative answer. The only solid answer they really gave was that breasts are there to attract mates. DUH!

Some things that I've always wondered about:

1. Why are men more attracted to larger breasts? The scientific mind may say it is because men feel that large breasted women are able to provide more nourishment for thier offspring. Of course we all know that is bullshit. Men are attracted to large breasts because of the same reason they were attracted to the big car as a child. We all like playing with big things as apposed to small things. Personally, I don't care about size. As long as they are there and I am allowed to touch them, I am happy.

2. Why are female breasts attractive, but man boobs are not? Think about it, everyone, men and women, have probably looked at a woman with nice breasts and appreciated what they saw. Of course men, women probably thought, "She's quite lovely." and men thought, "Wow, nice rack." but the general appreciation is there. A guy with bitch tits doesn't get the same appreciation. He could not unbutton his top and get out of a speeding ticket. Is it the hair? Sorry, I hope I didn't just gross anyone out. It's just me being curious.

Questions Answered Today

Wow. What a day in college football yesterday. Of course, Texas and USC won their games big, proving that they belong in the National Title game. The big suprises were when Florida State beat Virginia Tech and Georgia beat LSU. Since the number three and five teams both lost, Ohio State should move up to number 4 in the BCS ratings, making them a sure pick for a BCS game. They will probably eng up at the Fiesta Bowl against Notre Dame. We find out today at 5:00 pm.

I'm watching the Pittsburg/Cincinnati game. It resembles the game Cinci played against Indianapolis. Lots of offense, little defense. I guess I'll pull for the Bengals, sice they are the Ohio team. The Browns are playing too, but are not on TV. Woody should be happy since the Bengals just went on top.

We got our Christmas shoppipng for the kids done last night. Shit toys are expensive. Expecially now that we have three kids to buy for now.

My Xbox is on the fritz. I don't play it much, but Noah does. The disk tray won't open and the status light flashes red and green. I need to take it to get looked at, I suppose. I guess if it's dead, I'll just have to spring for the Xbox 360 sooner than I wanted to.

Highschool Pictures

Lucky chair. So, in the spirit of Mona's blog, I went though and found a few more pictures to put up from my highschool years. The first is Amy and Mona in a chair at my parents house. That's hot. The second is from our senior year band banquet. McNutt was so little. He's the guy we were holding. It's funny how much, and how little we've all changed through the year.

Media Whores

Sorry Woody, but I'm about to bash your profession a bit. Nothing personal....

I don't know if everyone is aware (for those of you that don't live in Columbus) but the daughter of OSU band director, John Woods, was murdered in New York city last weekend. Tragic for any parent to find out that their daughter was killed, but this also touches home for me because I was in the OSU Marching Band and knew Dr. Woods. I even had seen his daughter a few times on the sidelines during games and on Bowl trips. Of course, she was only young teen at the time, and I never talked to her, but I was aware of who she was. I have to say, this is the first time that anyone that I knew (even if just romotely) was murdered. I saw her picture on the news and could see the little girl I remember from ten years ago. Now, I probably won't send flowers or attend the memorial, I am the kind of person that feels that family and friends of the deceased should have their privacy when mourning, but I caetainly feel badly for Dr. Woods and his family. One of the worst things in the world happened to them, they lost a child. I could not even imagine what that would be like.

I am calling this post 'Media Whores' because it sickens me how stories like this are treated in the media. I understand that it is their jobs to report the news and, at least locally, the death of the OSU band director is news. However, the media does not need to confront Dr. Woods to ask him how he feels. How do you think he feels? Happy? NO! His daughter was killed. Then, on top of the death of his daughter, the media needs to point out that, while she was attempting to become a Broadway performer, she was currently working at a strip club. Why do they need to make a big deal of that? Sure it raises an eyebrow at the situation, but the reportes don't need to ask Dr. Woods about that aspect of the situation. What if he did not know about that aspect of her life. How would you like to learn that your child was a stripper and have that fact broadcast around the state? Maybe she was broke and facing eviction and needed to get cash fast. And then some reporter gets in your face and asks you about it? I would deck the guy. Now, I heard on the radio that the title of the story that comes across on the AP wire has changed from 'OSU Band Director Killed' to 'Stripper Killed'. It really makes you think about how much the media dehumanizes people. I guess it is a society problem these days. It is a lot easier to hear reports on TV or on the radio that say 'stripper killed' instead of 'daughter of Dr. John R Woods, director of the OSU marching band and public figure that has given years of his life to his school and society and has touched the life of thousands of students and people across the state and country, was brutally and senselessly murdered'. Sorry. I don't mean to preach, but I can't help but feel angry since I know Dr. Woods. I also can't help but feel angry because I am a father and if someone were to reduce my children to a headline, I would feel pretty angry. I guess it's the public's fault because people seem to eat up headlines like this like candy. I mean, look at Jerry Springer. Would he have a career if people weren't depraved enough to watch about sexually active teen hermaprodites that want to get pregnant? Again, I don't mean to preach. I know that the media is doing their job and I respect that. I just get a little upset when a tragic story is turned into something that it's not just to gain more ratings.

Questions Answered

Over the past few days, I have done some research and some soul seaching and have been able to answer some very important questions. In order to save you the time and effort of coming to these answers yourself, I thought I'd share:

1. PETSMART - Is it pronounced Pets Mart, or Pet Smart? The same question was posed by Larry the Cable Guy in his stand up routine when he asked if the school his friend's kid went to was Hank Williams Junior High School or Hank Williams Jr. High School. Jessica and I have posed the question to ourselves a few times in jest. Well, we went to PETSMART Friday before going to see the Harry Potter movie. We got our dog some treats and a new collar. While checking out, I was overwhelmed with the urge o pose the question to the cashier, "So, is it Pets Mart, or Pet Smart?" I was totally being silly and joking around by posing this question. Little did I know that I was going to get an answer. The girl said, "I'm pretty sure that it's Pet Smart." She turned to her manager and asked, "Didn't it just change or something?" and the Manager replied, "Yes. It was Pets Mart, but it is now Pet Smart. They change the 's' from lower to upper case." So, there you go. The answer to that age old question.

2. Farts are not to be used as fore play (This could also be called "Why Eric should not drink wine while gassy) - During my extremely gay TV night of watching Extreme Makeover Home Edition, Desperate Housewives, and Grey's Anatomy (I justify the last two shows because of the hot women in the cast, but I have no excuse for Home Edition) I was drinking some wine. I had a frustrating day with the kids and the wine was helping me relax a bit. The thought of having sexual relations crossed my mind, which happens alot when I drink. Well, I was taking Gabriel up to bed and Jessica came in the room. I felt some pressure in the back side area, so I (drunkenly, remember) pointed and fired. The result, one of those multi tonal, HI-larious farts that make everyone in the room laugh like crazy. I laughed like crazy, Gabriel laughed like crazy, Jessica, alas, did NOT laugh like crazy. The exact quote was, "Well, YOU aren't getting any tonight." DAMN! Well, I was mad because 1. no sex and 2. it was so fucking funny that I did not understand the problem. Anyway, this answers the question I posed long ago about whether or not farts are OK during sex. Apparently, they are not even OK hours before sex.

3. Buckeye Bowling - Looks like they will probably go to the Orange Bowl or Fiesta Bowl. Their Likely opponent, Notre Dame. Looks like I may get my wish. We'll find out for sure this weekend.

Harry Disappointment

So, last night my parents were in town, so they said that they'd watch the kids and let Jessica and I go out for an evening. Of course, we took them up on the offer. She ad I went to El Vacaro, a Mexican place, for dinner and we then went to the local movie theater to watch Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire. I have been looking forward to this movie for some time. I was a bit worried because I had heard that a lot of stuff from the book, that I deemed important to the story, was going to be cut from the movie. Well, my worries were well founded. I should have known it was going to go wrong when we entered the theater and noticed how dirty it was. There was pop corn everywhere, the floors were sticky, and the bathrooms were foul. We're never going there again. All in all, the movie was entertaining. The effects were good and the action sequences were exciting. However, I did not like this movie as well as I have liked the previous films. If you check out the comments in my last post, Rinnert nailed it by saying that the editing was bad and the story was really choppy. Especially at the beginning. You go from walking to the portkey, to the Quidditch World Cup camp ground, to the World Cup match (which they didn't show at all), to inside the tent after the match, to the Death Eaters appearance, and then to Hogwarts all in about ten minutes. Well, it seemed like ten minutes, but it was probably longer. If you have never read the books, you didn't miss much, because the meat and potatoes of the story was all there. However, a lot of the sub plots and small details, that make this one of the best books in the series, are missing. All in all, it was an OK movie. I'm sure we'll get the DVD and watch it several times, just like the last three movies. The problem is that the books are getting longer and more detailed, so it is impossible to fit all of the story in a 2 1/2 hour movie. What they should have dont is make it a double feature and throw an intermission in the middle. I would sit through four hours of a movie if it means getting the story done properly.

Here's what was missing (Don't read farther if you don't want any spoilers):

1. No Mrs. Weasley. She plays a pretty big roll in the book. Not so much in the plot, but mostly as a mother figure for Harry and a lot of humor.

2. No Dursleys. The book starts out with Harry in the Dursley home and a hilarious sceen of the entire Weasley clan busting in on them. Ton Tongue Toffee..Nuff said.

3. The Quidditch World cup was shortened greatly. In the book Krum was made out as one of the heros of the match, adding to his reputation and character. Also, there is a lot of changes in what exactly happens at the match and you miss out on some background of some important Ministry of Magic caracters. Yes, the Death Eaters show up, but are scared away when a house elf, under the Imperious Curse, sets off the Dark Mark using Harry's wand (she had stolen it).

4. The book has a lot more with Rita Skeeter and the stories she gets from Hogwarts, even though she is not allowed on school grounds. Hermione is the target of several of the stories and gets her revenve at the end (another missing detail in the movie).

5. No house elves what-so-ever. Dobby is the one that gives Harry the gillyweed, not Neville. Also, Winky is the house elf that sets off the Dark Mark at the Quidditch Cup Match and gives a lot of information about Barty Crouch Jr. and Sr. Also, there is a big story involving SPEW, a house elf liberation movement that Hermoine started.

6. No class learning. Yes, there was a Dark Arts sceen, but in the book, Moody teaches Harry how to resist the Imperious Curse, which helps him later in the grave yard.

7. Some things that really bothered me about the movie are: 1. the way they made Mr. Filtch look like a bumbling idiot instead of the mean caretaker that is always trying to catch the students breaking the rules. 2. Snape was too nice in the movie 3. The scene with Sirious Black in the fire place was done poorly. It looked like he was made of the burning coals instead of showing up as a green disembodied head. Clearly this was so that they couls avoid paying the actor for five minutes of work.

8. Fred and George were greatly down played in the movie. They have big parts in one of the sub plots of the book.

I'm sure that there is more that was missing, but the things listed are the items that really bothered me. Especially since some missing details (like the lack of the house elves and Mrs. Weasley) put in to question how much is going to be cut from the next movie, The Order of the Phoenix (the best book of the serries so far, and the longest).

Rough Ten Days

Starting today, I have a hard ten days ahead of me. It starts out with working today, then having three days off thanks to Turkey Day, then I work one more day (getting paid OT), have two off, work one day, and have two off. That is awesome! Granted, I will have to watch the kids for most of those days off, but that's OK. Also, we are having Thanksgiving dinner at our house, so I will be busy cleaning and cooking too. Here's our menu:

Turkey (of course), stuffing, mashed taters, sweet taters, green bean caserole, cranberry sauce, ham, pies, and other various goodies. We are making everything except for the pies and ham. Jessica's dad (a former chef) is going to help us with the turkey. My only concern is the oven space issue. We have a big oven and we bought a thing that you can put three things in at once, but we have five items that need baked. It could get a bit harry getting everything warm at the same time. It's all going to be yummy though.

We are going to go see the new Harry Potter movie tonight. I am looking forward to it, but am a bit worried about all of the things that will be missing from the book version. It is expected that they will have to cut some things since the book is so long, but how do they choose what to cut and what to keep? I had heard that one of the things they were going to cut is everything envolving Mrs. Weasley. That would suck because she is a great character and has some important areas in the story. Wel, I'm sure that they will keep the vital information in the movie. I worry even more about the next movie. The Order of the Phoenix is an even longer book than the Goblet of Fire. TONS of action.

We Are The Champions, My Friends....

Well, co-champions at least. That's right! The Buckeyes were able to storm back from nine points down with less than eight minutes left in the game to beat the Blue. It was by far the most spectacular ending that I have ever seen in an OSU vs UM game. It's probably the third best ending I have ever seen of an OSU game following number one, the win over Miami for the National Title in the Fiesta Bowl, and number 2, the last minute win over Arizona State in the Rose Bowl. I have been critical or Troy Smith in the past, but he played like a pro during the last two scoring drives for the Buckeyes. The best play of the game came during the last drive with about a minute left when Smith started to scramble, but then rolled out and hit Anthony Gonzalez at the UM 5 yard line. It was a spectacular catch with Gonzalez getting up ended, yet still holding the ball. The Buckeyes were their own worst enemy in this game, turning the ball over twice on two fumbles. Both turn overs resulted in two scores for the U of M. OSU also missed an extra point and a field goal. If those kicks had been made, the last touchdown would not have been needed. Well, it was still a victory. A sad aspect of the game was that Bobby Carpenter was injured during the first defensive play and was out for the game (and maybe longer). He was clearly upset about missing his last chance to play the Blue. The OSU defense rose up to the challenge of losing him and held the UM offense to 32 yards rushing. What a great game to watch.

Other good things happening in the college football world:

#3 Miami lost to Georga Tech
#8 Alabama lost to #11 Auburn

It would have been nice if Michgan State could have beaten Penn State, but we can't have everything that we want. USC almost lost to Fresno State, but not quite. It would have been nice to see Penn State and Texas play for the title since they both beat Ohio State. It would be interesting to see tose games played over with the new OSU offense that is playing so well. Now we just have to wait to see who the Bucks will play in the Bowl games. It will likely be Miami in the Orange Bowl. That would be good.

Revenge

I finally got my scanner to work! Well, my brother-in-law did. He is a computer tech support guy. It took a while to figure out what was wrong. Apparently, since I have both HP Image Zone and HP Imaging on my computer, there is a patch that is needed to allow them both to work on the same system. I wish that I could figure out computer problems like that. Oh well.

Everyone, I hope that you enjoy the lovely picture of our good friend Mona. I am posting it due to the picture of me that she posted a while back. Yes, that's a mullet that you see. Sexy. It only seems appropriate that I post this picture of Mona showing off her sexy 80's hair too. In her defense, I did think that she was one of the most attractive women in our high school, so she must have known what she was doing. Anyway, enjoy.

GO BUCKS! BEAT THE BLUE! Also, Go Spartans! Beat the Lions! Big week in NCAA Football.

It's M*ch*g*n Week Baby!

In case you are wondering why I put *s where vowels should be in the word M*ch*g*n, it's because I've learned that when you type fowl, dirty words, it is polite to cover parts of the word with some sort of symbol in order to protect the more sensative readers. Other examples: F*ck, Sh*t, C*ck S*ck*r, you get the idea. It's just my way to keep my blog clean and unoffensive.

The Buckeyes ROLLED over Northwestern this past Saturday. I was worried after the Wildcats drove down the field to score the first touchdown of the game, but Ohio State made a few adjustments on defense and made it the only touchdown that the Wildcats scored. On to of that, the Buckeye Offense seemed possesed as it racked up 48 points. I guess that special teams helped out a lot when a Northwestern punt was blocked and AJ Hawk took the ball for a touchdown. I enjoyed watching this game 100%. The defense was hitting hard and causing turn overs, special teams was blocking kicks and having bug punt and kickoff returns, and the ofensive line was sticking blocks and Pittman was running through them. Even Troy Smith played well. The only gripe I have about Troy was when he tried to force a pass to Santonio Holmes down the field when both Ginn and Gonzalez were WIDE FREAKIN' OPEN for short passes that would have resulted in at least 15-20 yards. Oh well. All in all it was a great performance. I was very happy that AJ Hawk went out on a big game at home. He's probably my favorite player this season. This past Saturday, he had 8 tackles, caused a fumble, and returned a blocked punt for a touchdown. He's a finalist for the Butkus award, which goes to the best linebacker in the nation. Not only does he hit like a truck, he's smart and well spoken. All three of the OSU linbackers kick ass.

I am a bit offended by the polls this week. Ohio State has moved up to number 9 in both the AP and USA Today polls, which is good since there are two one loss teams behind the Bucks, but Norte Dame, another two loss team, is ahead of the Buckeyes in both polls. Now, Notre Dame definately deserves to be a top ten team, but Ohio State lost to the number two and number five teams in the country and the Irish lost to the number one USC and UNRANKED Michigan State (who Ohio State beat soundly). Why does the team that barely lost to USC get more props than the team that barely lost to Texas? This is why I want the Irish in a bowl game. If I were to dislike a team more than I dislike M*ch*g*n, that team would be Notre Dame. It would be a great ending to a season to go up north and beat the Blue and then follow it up with a victory over the Irish.

It's Beat the Blue Week! Ohio State travels to that whore of a city, Ann Arbor, to take on the Wolver-meenies of M*ch*g*n. Now, in case you can't pick up on my subtle hints, I'm not a hugh fam of the boys in blue. Back in my college days, it seemed like every year the Buckeyes were on the verge of a Big Ten or National title, only to be thwarted by the team up north. Let me tell you, as a former band member, it is a LOOOOONNNNG ride home after losing up in that hole of a stadium. Luckily, Tressel seems to have figured out how to beat the Blue. He is 3-1 as a coach againse that team. I heard on the radio that the Buckeyes are a 2 1/2 point favorite to win the game. I don't know if that makes be feel confident or worried. Really, it doesn't matter what the point spread is or what team records are when it comes down to this game. When OSU and scUM get together, either team can win. If Ohio State's offense and special teams keep going as well as they are, they have a good chance to come away with a win. I'll be glued to my TV, I tell you what.

GO BUCKS!!

I love Thursdays

True, I have to work, but Thursday night is my night out to blow off steam. As you may know from previous posts, I have a bowling league on Thursdays. It's a mens league, which is cool because we can all get together and have a good time without worrying about any female judgement. It's not that we are out of control or anything like that. I would say that our inner boys come out for a good time. No, not those inner boys. Pervs. Yes, I like bowling. It is my thing. However there is a dark side to my one night of fun. My team has been getting it's ass handed to us all year. Each week is worth seven points. Two for each game and one the entire series (the three games added up). We have only been able to take three points in one week all year. Needless to say, this has cemented our place at the bottom of the league. We were excited about last night because we took the first game (first time this year). The thought of winning all seven points, or even five, crossed our minds. The team we bowled against were then possessed by PBA bowlers and all threw 200+ games. Needless to say, our asses were handed to us once again. We were able to win the third game, but the beating we took in game two was sufficient enough that we only took four points instead of five (they took the total series point). Well, at least the league is split into two halves. We can finish in last the fist half of the league and still come back and win the second half to get into the championship game. A bright side about last night is that I had a pretty good week of bowling. I started out with a 200 and then a 165 (not too great). At the beginning of the third game, I stated that I was going to roll a 235. Alas, I was unable to do so. I was off the mark by 2. Sure, 233 is still good, but I was still off. I'm trying to get myself up to a 190 average. Right now I'm at 184, but after my 598 series, I may go up a pin. After bowling, we sometimes go into the bar for a while or we head off to Roosters for some grub. Last night was a bar night. I can't believe how much beer we put down. Probably about six or seven pitchers. Not all by ourselves, of course. OK mostly by ourselves, but we had some help with the last few pitchers. I'm not sure what the final pitcher count was because, as I was leaving, my buddies were ordering another one. I don't think I'd have made it home if I had more beer. The bad thing is trying to wake up for work on Friday. Ugh! At least beer doesn't give me bad hangovers like whiskey does.

On a side note, Ohio State has a home game against Northwestern tomorrow. I can't believe that this is the last home game of the season. It always goes so fast. The best time in the sports year is college football season. They really need to extend the season another week or two. I would love a BCS playoff system using the top eight teams in the Nation. The losers of the first round could go to lesser Bowl games, the losers of the second round could go to a better bowl game, and the finalists would play for the title. It will probably never happen for some reason or other, but it would be nice to have the top teams all playing each other so that the cream would be able to rise to the top. Well, as long the Buckeyes win out and get a good bowl game, I will be happy. As for this weekend, I think that the Bucks' defense should shut down the Northwestern offense well enough so that the Buckeye offense will be able to get to work and win the home finale.

Best Zombie Movie Ever.

Well, maybe not the best, but Shaun of the Dead is definately the funniest zombie movie ever. Target had it on sale for pretty cheap, so I grabbed a copy. I'd seen bits and pieces of it before, but this was the first time I'd watched it from start to finish. It was HI larious. If you've never seen it, I recommend it. It's a spoof on George Romero's Dawn of the Dead. It's a British comedy, so some of the gutteral English is hard to follow, but once you get used to it, it comedy just keeps coming. I also bought Office Space on DVD. Also a very funny movie. Escpcially if you'd ever worked in an office.

I want the Irish

Since it is apparent the Ohio State will not be playing for the National Title this year, I have been hashing it over in my head whom I would like to see the Buckeyes play in a Bowl Game. It comes down to three teams:

1. Notre Dame - I always love it when the Buckeyes get a chance to play the Irish. Back in the mid 90's, during my college hay day, OSU trounced Notre Dame in back to back years. I know that doesn't mean that the Bucks would beat them if they were to play this year, but I'd love the chance. True, Notre Dame almost beat #1 USC, but the Bucks almost beat #2 Texas. The programs are both huge and the meeting would be monumental.

2. Texas - Yes, I want a rematch. The Buckeye offense has been amped up and is moving the ball much better than when the Longhorns were in Columbus. I still think it was a travesty that the QBs were switched every other possession. The only thing I could see as a problem is that now the Texas offense seems to be rolling alot better now too.

3. Penn State - Another rematch issue. I'm prety sure that if the game was played at OSU, or even a neutral site, the Bucks would have won that game. The Penn State crown won that game for the Lions.

I honestly would be happy with any Bowl Game against a top ten team. I think that, with the Buckeye defense, which is awesome, and the much improved offense, the Bucks could roll with any team in the top ten. What I don't want is for the Buckeyes to matched up with an inferior opponent. I always like watching the Buckeyes, no matter who they play, but I would prefir a game with some meaning. Alas I am looking ahead. We still have two big games coming up this season.

This coming Saturday, Northwestern is rolling into town. The boys in purple and black are always a bit of an enigma this season. They are on more ups and downs than someone with a day pass to Cedar Point. They have a good offense that can roll up alot of points, but their defense is a bit lacking.

Next Saturday is the Big Game up in Ann Arbor. It never matters what the records are for the Buckeyes and Wolverines, it is always the game of the year. Both teams are always up for this game and the Wolverines love to spoil the season of the Scarlet and Gray. The rodents are on a bit of a low season this year, but I'm sure that they will put forth their best effort against the Silver Bullets. After all, the one loss that Penn State has came to them in Ann Arbor.

Buying the pot and Buckeye news

No, not the illegal kind that you go to the seedy parts of town to buy. 'Buying the pot' is a poker term for when you have a shitty hand, but bet big hoping that everyone else folds. I worked that ploy masterfully at least three times last night while playing Texas Hold'em. I had five people over, so it was a small game, but still fun. I played very well. Actually, I won, so I am pretty happy. That will make three times in a row that I have won poker games. They haven't been huge games, but still, a good thing for my playing confidence. About mid way through the game, I had a pretty good chip lead (I had more chips than the other people in the game) so I was a bit of a bully with my bets. I'd bet enough that people would have to go all in or bet most of their chips to call me. I won't bore you all with the details.

The Buckeyes did well yesterday. They played Illinois, which is a team that the entire Big Ten has been beating up on. The offense did well in the second half, but sputtered a bit in the first half with two field goals after getting first and goal inside the Illinois 10 yard line. Special teams had a bit of a brain fart on a piont after TD attempt when the ball was snapped badly and Illinois ran it back for a safety. Other than that, the defense stiffled the Illini offense. Now, Ohio State is tied for #1 in the Big Ten. Unfortunatey, Penn State has the tie breaker since they beat OSU this year. So, the Buckeyes need to beat Northwestern and M*ch*g*n and Penn State needs to lose to Michigan State for the Buckeyes to win the all out Big Ten title. The good news is that Penn State plays at Michigan State. The bad news is that Michigan State is not playing too well this year. I guess more bad news is that Ohio State has to go up north for the big game this year. I feel confident that the Bucks can win out if the offense keeps on the roll it has started over the past few games.

It's getting to be time to start thinking about the Bowl Game situations this year. It is hopeful that, if they win out, OSU will get an at large bit to a BCS bowl game. If they win the Big Ten outright, they will automatically go to a BCS game. It's looking pretty good for the Buckeyes since three teams ranked higher that OSU lost yesterday. Virginia Tech, UCLA, and Florida State all lost. That should mean that OSU will go up a few places in the polls. I will be more than happy with a top ten finish this season. A chance to play for the National Title would have been nice, but I don't think anyone will be able to beat USC this year. I guess Texas might be able to with that QC they have. I always hate when teams always win titles. The commentators start throwing around words like 'dynasty' and hype up things more than they really need to be hyped. Oh well.

Texas Hold'em Tutorial

I'm having another poker game at our house (first one at the new place) and since I tend to post about playing poker every once in a while, I thought I'd give a few tips so that you all know what I'm talking about. If you have played any type of poker, you know the hand rankings:

1. Royal Flush - A, K, Q, J, 10 of all one suit
2. Straight Flush - any 5 consecutive cards of all one suit (ex. 3, 4, 5, 6, 7 all hearts)
3. Four of a kind - four of any one card value (ex. 5 of spades, five of hearts, five of diamonds, and 5 of clubs)
4. Full House - two of one card, three of another card (ex king, king, king, two, two)
5. Flush - five cards of all one suit (all clubs, hearts, spades, or diamonds)
6. Straight - any 5 consecutive cards of any suit
7. Three of a Kind - 3 of one card
8. Two Pairs - two sets of two different cards (two 2s and two 3s)
9. Pair - two of the same card (two aces)
10. High Card - the higest card is the Ace

With Texas Hold'em, you can have many players at one table (I wouldn't recommend more than 10 at one table). The dealer deals two cards to each player, one card at a time, starting to the left, and going clockwise. There is a round of betting based on the two starting cards. (I will go over betting later) After the betting is completed, the dealer puts the top card of the deck aside (do not show this card). This is called a 'burn' card and ensures that the dealer is not cheating. The dealer then turns three cards face up, called 'the flop'. Each player uses these three cards in their hands. There is another round of betting. Then, another card is burned, and another card turned up (called the turn card). There is another round of betting. A final card is burned, and the last card, called the river card, is turned face up. There is one last round of betting, and then after betting is completed, the players remaining in the game show their cards and the best hand wins the pot. It is possible for ties, in which case, the winning players split the pot equally.

In itself, the game is easy. The skill and strategy lies in the betting. Since each player shares five cards that are turned up, the key is to try to guess what your opponent may have and guess if you can beat them.

Blinds - Blinds are forced bets that insure that there is money in the pot. There is a big blind and a small blind. The person to the left of the dealer pays the small blind and the next person to the left pays the big blind. The big blind is usually double the small blind (ex. $5 and $10). Blinds are increased regularly (usually based on time or on the number of hands played) and are usually doubled each time they go up. If you are playing a cash game (instead of using chips) you can set an ante instead. Ante is an amount of money that each player has to put into the pot at the beginning of each hand.

The way betting works, after the blinds are paid, the person to the left of the big blind has the chance to call (meet the big blind amount), raise (the minimum raise is equal to the big blind and there is no maximum), or fold (get out of the hand). If any player raises, each player must meet the bet amount to stay in the hand. If no one raises, the maximum bet amount is the big blind. Each player must at least meet the big blind to stay in the hand. It seems confusing, but it's not. If any one raises the bet, you must meet the bet or fold. This is where strategy comes in. If you want to try to bluff, bet big and hope no one calls you. If you have a strong hand, you want to bet, but try not to scare anyone off. A good strategy is 'limping in' or betting small so that people won't guess that you have a strong hand. Another strategy is the 'check/raise'. You ckeck, or don't bet anything, hoping that someone else will bet. You then raise the bet higher. That way, your opponent has already put in some money and is more likely to call the bet. You really need to be a good judge of character and a bit of an actor to be an effective better. Look for patterns in your opponents bets.

Side Pots - Side pots occur when one play goes all in and two other players call him (meet the bet) and then continue betting. The player remaining in the hand that has the fewest chips can only win the money based on his bet. In other words, if the person with the fewest chips has $500 and bets it all, he/she can only win $500 of their opponents money. If there are multiple people in the hand and betting goes above $500, the additional money goes into a side pot. If the person with only $500 wins the hand, they get the main pot based off of the $500 then bet. The rest of the money, or the side pot, goes to the next best hand. It is a bit confusing and is best to have an experienced player keep track of side pots.

I've probably made this game souind a lot more confusing than it really is. Really, it's not. Watch some World Poker Tour or the World Series of Poker. They are often on ESPN 2 or the Travel Channel. It's a really fun game and addicting. There is a plug and play version of the game that you can buy for about $20. It's a good way to learn.

My Pet Peeves

No, I don't have a pet named Peeves. I'm talking about things that just urk me. It takes a lot to get me riled up, but if you want to do it, here's how.

Driving:
1. I try to be a safe driver. I'm not a Sunday Driver that goes 10 miles per hour below the speed limit, but I go the pace of the traffic around me and make sure that I keep safe distance from the car in front of me. My number one pet peeve is when other drivers take advantage of the safe distance and cut in front of me on the highway, thus eliminating my safe distance.
2. Drivers that pass in the left lane, then cut in front of you to get into the right lane in order to make an exit 20 feet away when there is miles of space behind you. Just slow down a tad and get over behind me. That extra milisecond of time that you save by cutting me off isn't worth it.
3. Drivers that refuse to move over one lane to let traffic enter a highway when there is room for them to get the hell over.
4. BIGGEST ONE OF ALL!!! On Feder Rd. the road I need to take to turn left on to Hilliard Rome Rd. is set up wierd. At the corner of Feder and Hillard Rome, there is three lanes, One turn left, one go straight, and one to turn right. There is an access road on the left side that leads to a Bob Evans and oil change placeThere are often cars on the access road wanting to turn left on to Feder Rd. When waiting to turn left, I think that it's nice to stop and allow the people from the access road some space to turn on to Feder. Well, what the FUCKERS I HATE do is zoom up the center lane and then cut into the left hand turn lane in the space I left for the access road people. It has happened at least three times since I have moved out here. People are just ASSHOLES. Who the hell are they to think that they are more important and feel then are allowed to cut in front of people. If I had my gun in the car, I may have to pop a few caps in them.

Cell Phones and Email
No, I do not dislike cell phones. They are a great tool to keep in touch with people and are great in case of emergency. No, I don't hate email. I email as my primary way to keep in touch with people. The pet peeves are when you try to call someone on their cell phone and they, not only don't answer, but they also do not reply to any of the messages that you leave for them. I am getting older and time seems to be going faster, and quite frankly, I no longer have time to mess with people that do not have the common courtesy to call me back when I leave a message on their cell phone. If you're busy, fine. Call me when you get a sec. But do not just blow me off. If I take the time out of my day to call and say hey, at least have the courtesy to call back and say "Hey, I'm pretty busy, can I call you later?" It's what friends are supposed to do. Also, what is the point of having a cell phone if you don't answer it when it rings? The same goes for emails. If someone takes the time out of their day to send an email to you, it should be your obligation to respond to the message. It only takes a minute. As it is, there are a few people out there that I am no longer trying to contact anymore. Not that if I see them I will ignore them or denounce their friendship. I just won't actively try to make contact with them anymore. If I don't rate high enough to give me a call back, they will no longer rate high enough for me to initiate a call. I have plenty of other friends. Now, I don't expect people to read this and think that they need to call me or email me to confirm their friendship. I understand that old friends sometimes move away and get new friends and new priorities. There are plenty of people that I consider friends that I only see or talk to once or twice a year. The pet peeve is when I call or email and then am blown off. I'm not going to sweat it, I just won't call or email them anymore. No biggie.

I got a rock.....

That it a Charlie Brown reference, in case you are one of the few people in this world that have not seen "It's the Great Pumpkin Charlie Brown!" Anyway, tonight was Halloween and we went Trick-or-Treating. I think that Columbus changed it back from 'Beggar's Night' because it was derrogatory implying that kids are beggars. People are just nuts. Alydia went as a Flower, Gabriel was Darth Vader, and Noah was the Grim Reaper. We only went for a short while because Gabriel was being grumpy and Noah was bored. I think he's probably getting too old to enjoy trick-or-treating with his parents. Since we all went, we left a big thing of candy on our door step and it was cleaned out by the time we were back. It kinda irritates me bacause it was probably bigger kids without parents with them that just cleaned out everything instead of leaving some for everyone else. Oh well. There isn't too much you can do about it.