Der Dutchman is Der Delicious

For Thanksgiving, I picked up my cousin Carrie and we went up to my parent's in Toledo. Carrie lives in Marysville, which is northwest of our house (in Hilliard) and is on the direct path to my parents' house (if you take the back roads). On the way home, we got a little lost and ended up in Plain City (in between Marysville and Hilliard). As we were trying to find our way, we passed a resturant called Der Dutchman. The name reminded me of the show Dead Like Me (only on DVD, but a really good show) because the characters all meet at a place called Der Waffle Haus. I really wanted to go to Der Dutchman because it has 'Der' in it's name. Sure, der is only German for 'the' but I am a simple person. So, last night Jessica and I went out with our friends Barb and Brian and we ate at Der Dutchman. It has a normal menu and a buffet, so most of us got the buffet. It was pretty limited in choice, but the quality was outstanding. Imagine all of your favorite comfort foods: ham, chicken, roast beef, meatballs, mashed potatoes, stuffing, beans, corn, YUM!! It was a little pricey for a buffet, but TOTALLY worth it. We walked in, sat down, and was done in under an hour. It was amazing since the parking lot was jammed packed.

After dinner, we went to Barb and Brian's house and played on their Wii for a bit. I think it convinced Jessica that we need to get one. I am fine with that, since it was pretty fun. We played the bowling game and I boxed Barb once. My only concern is how I will connect it to our TV which already has sat TV, DVD, and the Xbox connected to it. I guess I will need to figure it out. The boxing game was fun and made me sweat a little.

As a side note, it looks like the Buckeyes will be playing for the National Title again this year. Both West Virginia and Missouri lost. The only question is going to be which team will meet the Buckeyes. The experts seem to think it will be LSU. I am a little nervous about the Buckeyes playing in the title game again after last year's ass whipping they received from Florida. Hopfully, they have learned a lesson and will not take their opponents lightly. GO BUCKS!!!

We Find Out Today

One one hand, it sucks that the Buckeyes' fate is in the hands of other teams, but on the other hand, all they need to do is sit, wait, and see what happens. Ohio State is number 3 in the BCS rankings behind Missouri and West Virginia. Both teams play today, Missouri against Oklahoma and West Virginia against Pittsburgh. The best shot for OSU is that Oklahoma beats Missouri. It has happened already this season. Honestly, I am happy no matter what happens. It has been a good season for Ohio State. #3 in the country and whooping on M*ch*g*n is a great season in my book. If both Missouri and West Virginia win, Ohio State still goes to the Rose Bowl for a probable game against USC. Not a bad deal. Honestly, a match up with West Virginia scares the crap out of me. The way Illinois mobile QB tore us up is a pretty good indicator that WVU would run through our defense as well. Well, I guess what happens happens. No matter what happens, Ohio State is going to get to go to a good Bowl game.

I have been doing pretty well playing poker lately. I'd say that, over the past month, I am up about $200. I was keeping track of the exact amount of my winnings and losses, but I was getting depressed watching the negative amount increase. I am basing this turn around on the movie Rounders. It is about poker players. I had become too cautious ad was playing my cards more that I was playing the players at the table. Texas Holdem is more about reading the players and betting on what you think they have than it is about betting on the cards that you have. For example, last night, I had two 5's in my hand and totally bought the hand. There was a king, queen, and some other cards all higher than my 5's. I kept betting the whole way, knowing there was no way I had the best hand, and was able to win me a big pot. Good times.

It's Barf-tastic!

So, I pick up Gabriel from the bus stop Wednesday and he didn't seem himself. I asked him if he was OK and he said he was ungry and his tummy hurt. I got him home, game him some chips, and he didn't touch them. Uh-oh. I knew there was a problem. He trued to go to the bathroom and them laid down on the couch. Some ttime went by and he then sat up. I asked how he felt, he said his tummy hurt still and I asked, "Do you think you are going to throw...." Bluuuaaaarrrrrrffffff!!!! All over the new couch. Twice. And then again all over his bed later in the evening. That was all for him, but now Alydia is barfing every 20 minutes or so all through the night. Jessica gave her some medicine, so hopfully it will stop so that they can get some rest.

On a side note, I dropped a HUGE bomb last night bowling. My first game was a 130. I haven't bowled a 130 in about 20 years. I . WAS. PISSED. I stopped trying to bowl with finesse and just started whipping the ball down the lane. The results were a bloody finger, a blister, and a 226 and 198.

My Tech "Support" Nightmare

So, you all know I play my Xbox online. A LOT. Probably too much, actually, but I think I am an addict. Anyway, to do this, I have a wireless router. Or, I HAD one. When playing Halo 3 online, I would get an error message saying that my NAT was moderate and I would have problems finding matches. Also, I was having trouble connecting to one of my friends online because our networks were incompatable. Well, I started looking at my wireless network on my Xbox, then on my computer, but I couldn't find a way to change my NAT to open. So, I called Time Warner. They said it was probably a router issue and that I should call Linksys. I did. And the nightmare begins. Now, I am a very patient man. I see no need to get pissed off at people trying to do their jobs, even if they are doing it badly. I almost lost it with Linksys. After the tech told me to try a few things, he told me to download an update that would fix my problem. I did so, opened the program and was told to disconnect my modem. Instead of disconnecting it from my router, I unplugged the power to my modem. I have cable phone, which is through the modem. I lost my tech guy. I called back because now I had NO internet connection. After more time on the phone with a different person, she tells me she thinks that my router is defective and there is nothing else she can do. HELLO!!! IT WAS WORKING CLOSE TO FINE BEFORE I CALLED YOU HUMPS!!!!! All three computers were connected, I was just having some Xbox issues. I was given an apology and a new customer service number to call. Probably the complaint department. Rather than fucking with them, I just went out to get a new hard line router. No more of this wireless bullshit for me. Alas, still no internet connection. Since this was an issues I was starting o have without the router, I called Time Warner again. Not once. Not twice, but THRICE!!! They were all helpful, but the first two didn't sem to know what they were doing. I got all the same advice I would get from my tech people at Nationwide: "Turn it off and on again. See if that helps." The third techie, a cute sounding female named Heather (yes, I remember you name when you get me access to the internet for my Xbox addiction) told me that the Linksys humps hooked me up with a static IP address and it was screwing everything up. So, I bet my old router is fine. Still, after buying a new router, running all of the cable, and drilling a hole in my floor for my Xbox cable, I am NOT going to try to bother with the old router. No thanks!

Got My BSG Fix

Battlestar Galactica Razor was on Saturday night. It was pretty good, but added more questions to the piles of questions left by the season finale. Basically, it was the story of the Battlestar Pegasus from the point of the Cylon attact to meeting up with Galactica. The story was good and there were some good action sequesnces. It was a little disappointing because Razor basically showed you stories that were already told, like shen Kane killed her XO when he didn't order an attack. We also discovered that Kane was a lesbo and shagged the blonde Cylon. Why we needed to find that out, I don't know. I guess they wanted to add some shock value. I won't get into the story too much because I don't want to ruin the fun for those of you that haven't seen Razor yet. I feel like I can make it to the March premire of the next season.

General Updates

Thanksgiving was pretty good yesterday. We went to my parent's house in Monclova (outside of Toledo) for turkey and all the fixin's. It was all pretty good, but I think my mom is getting a little lazy and she cooked it all in advance and just heated everything. At least it all tasted like leftovers. Still good though. We got to spend the day with my aunt, uncle, cousin, brother, and his wife. The kids always like seeing their grandparents.

I forget if I mentioned this, but the new Xbox 360 I needed to get is working well. It is nice and quiet. The only this I needed to do was recover my gamer tag. Oh, and I lost all of my saved games. Still, my online rep is intact and my status of a kick-ass level 25, grade three captain in Hal0 3 is intact as well. Plus, I got two free games with the Xbox. Forza Motorsport 2 and Marvel Ultimate Alliance. I played both a little, but I am so addicted to Halo 3. It's a sickness, really.

Probably the most exciting news is that Jessica finally got her driver's license. Don't ask me why she never had it before, I don't know the answer to that. It was irritating and a pain being the sole driver in the house. Now, she has more freedom and I have more sleeping time since I don't have to drive her to work anymore. I am not sure what is going to cost more though, the money I spent on driving her to and from work or the money she is now spending shopping. Just kidding. Yes, she has gone shopping a few times, but always for things we need.

Happy Turkey Day!

I may not be posting again until after Thanksgiving, so I just wanted to wish everyone a Happy Thanksgiving. I hope you all get some quality time off from work and enjoy some time with friends and family. I will be traveling up to my parents' house for the day. Nothing too exciting. Just going to eat too much with the family.

Sorry, More Sports

Sunday Cleveland blew a 13 point fourth quarter lead to the dispised Baltimore Ravens. Old school Browns fans would say that Pittsburgh is the main rival of the Dawgs, but I think Baltimore should be more hated. Back in the day, Browns owner Art Modell ripped the Browns team out of Cleveland and moved them to Baltimore. Hence, the Ravens were born. I feel that every win over Baltimore is a mighty 'Fuck you Art!' Anyway, the Ravens took the lead at the end of the fourth quarter. Flashes of last week and Cleveland blowing a lead to Pittsburgh went through my head. This time, with three seconds left, Phil Dawson's 51 yard field goal attempt bounced off of the upright, bounced off of the goal post support, and out onto the field. It was called a no good kick, but when they realized that the ball hit the back of the support post (it had gone though and bounced back) it was then called a good kick. The fans had left, the Ravens had left, only the Browns were hanging around until the correct call was made. The game went to OT and the Browns won. We may be looking at a Wild Card team here.

In the BCS:

Two of the six teams above OSU lost this past week. Although the Rose Bowl is a great trip for the Buckeyes and they will play a top ranked opponent, the National Title is not out of the question:


1. LSU 10-1 - Plays a good Arkansas team and then the SEC conference championship game.
2. Kansas 11-0 - Plays #4 Missouri and possibly the Big 12 conference championship game.
3. West Virginia 9-1 - Plays #20 UConn and Pittsburgh
4. Missouri 10-1 - Plays #2 Kansas and possibly the Big 12 title game.
5. Ohio State 11-1 - Done until the Bowl Game

There you go. While unlikely that the Buckeyes will go to New Orleans for the National Title game, it is possible. At least one of the teams above OSU is going to lose. I will watch these upcoming games, hoping for the best, but still completely satisfied with a Rose Bowl game. Ohio State will likely face USC, Oregon, or Arizona State. Probably ASU, who they faced in the 1997 Rose Bowl ( I was there).

OSU 14 scUM 3

Final M*ch*g*n joke:

Q: What kind of car does Jim tressel own?
A: Lloyd Carr

It was not the most exciting game, nor was it the best game that Ohio State has played this season. However, an Ohio State win over the hated Team Up North is always a great game. Although the score of the game was pretty close, 14-3, the game was really a blow out. Ohio State held M*ch*g*n to 3 points and 91 yards. Are you kidding me? 91 yards? Can we say, "good defense"? Mike Hart was held to 44 yards on 18 carries and the Buckeye defense sacked Chad Henne enough to make the Blue's total rushing yards 15. WOW! I LOVE it considering the fact that Mike Hart was running his mouth again this year. He said something like, he'd rather lose to Appalachin State instead of losing to OSU. Really, the entire Wolverweenie offense was terrible. Their run game sucked, their pass game sucked, they could catch a cold if they tried. The Buckeye offense struggled as well, but Chris 'Beanie' Wells ran for two touchdowns, including a 62 yard run (222 yards total). It was a pretty good game all in all. It was obvious that the OSU defense showed up and was going to hold the scUM offense. Lloyd Carr is expected to retire tomorrow.

My mom sent me a list of 'Buckeye Rules' today. I won't post them all, but here are a few of the good ones:

*Never agree to get married on a Saturday that Ohio State is scheduled to play football. There are typically 40 other freakin' weekends to choose from...make her/him choose one of those!

*When Notre Dame plays Michigan, it is mandatory to despise both teams. There are no winners.

*If your child says the "M" word, send them to time out.

*If you child says it again wash their mouth out with soap.

*Admit that secretly, you wished you played tuba and could dot the "i."
You'd even be willing to put on a few dozen pounds to look the part.

*Drinking alcohol before 9:00 A.M. is, at best, immature, and likely, a sign of a serious problem. Except on Buckeye game day.

*If your wife asks you what was the greatest night of your life, admit the truth - that it was January 3, 2003

Game Time

Today is the day. The Game. OSU vs. M*ch*g*n. This game has lost a little bit of it's mistique after both teams lost their games last week. It will still be for the Big Ten Title and the winner will likely go to the Rose Bowl, but Ohio State's chances of going to the National Title game with a win over the Blue has gone into the toilet. The toilet hasn't flushed yet, but five more teams would need to lose in order for the Buckeyes to be considered in the National picture. Honestly, I am not concerned with that. Right now, all that matters is a major ass kicking to be laid upon the Wolverweenies.

Last night I watched a special on HBO about the Rilvary. It was an hour long show about how the rilvary started and where the hatred came from. It was amazing some of the comments from fans on both side of the border. I am bad with names, but a news anchor from one of the networks said something about how people from Ohio weren't as intellegent as those from M*ch*g*n. I never watched his broadcasts. Another good comment from a M*ch*g*n alumi came from a football player (I forget who, but I think he does NFL commentary now) said that he has started talking Tressel up to all of the NFL teams. "We gotta get that guy out of there." Tress has owned the Wolverweenies, only losing one game. Another great quote came from an ex-OSU player, "It smells like hot dog water (up there)."

The special went back to the 1800s when Toledo was a disputed territory between the Ohio and M*ch*g*n border. That's right Toledo-born readers. We were close to being born in M*ch*g*n. How would my perceptions have changed? My love of OSU is based on my being born in Ohio. If the dispute would have gone the other way, would I have gone to scUM? Would I be wearing maize and blue instead of scarlet and gray? The game started with scUM owning the game with something like 14 or 15 wins in a row over OSU. Then OSU won a lot and it went back and forth. There have been brawls after the game, riots after the game (on each campus) and general hatred bewteen the states.

I won't bore you with all the details of the game and the rivalry. Let's just say it is big. The documentary is a good show to watch, if you get the chance. I think that the Buckeyes should roll, especially if Hart and Henne are both hurt. OSU 35 scUM 7.

When asked why he went for two points after a touchdown late in the fourth quarter with a HUGE lead over M*ch*g*n, the late Woody Hayes answered, "Because they won't let me go for three." True Story.

Jokes for the day:

Q: What do you call a pretty cheerleader at the University of M*ch*g*n?
A: A visitor.

Q: How do you get a scUM cheerleader into an elevator?
A: Grease up her hips and throw in a Twinkie.

A Buckeye fan, a Wolverine fan, a nun and a stunning blonde are riding on a train. Suddenly the train heads into a tunnel. A loud smack is heard and as the train rides out of the tunnel the Wolverine fan is rubbing his face. The nun thinks: "Serves him right for trying to grab the blonde." The blonde thinks: "Serves him right for trying to grab the nun." The Wolverine fan thinks: "The Buckeyes fan was probably trying to grab the blonde, missed her and grabbed the nun instead. Then she tried to smack him in the face and missed." The Buckeye fan thinks: "Next tunnel I'm going to smack that stupid Wolverine fan again."

Q: Did you hear about the power outage at the University of Michigan library?
A: Forty students were stuck on the escalator for three hours.

GO BUCKS!!!

Joke of the Day

A guy named Bob received a free ticket to the OSU/Michigan game from his company. Unfortunately, when he arrived at the stadium, he realized the seat was in the last row in the corner of the stadium way back in the South Stands-- he was closer to the Goodyear blimp than to the field.

About halfway through the first quarter, he noticed an empty seat 10 rows off the field, right on the 50 yard line. He decided to take a chance and made his way down to the empty seat.

As he sat down, he asked the gentleman sitting next to him, "Excuse me, is anyone sitting here?"

The man said "No."

Now, very excited to have such a great seat for the game, Bob said, "That's incredible! Who in their right mind would have a seat like this at the OSU / Michigan game and not use it?"

The man replied, "Well, actually, the seat belongs to me. I was supposed to come with my wife, but she passed away. This is the first Ohio State game we haven't been to together since we got married in 1967."

"Well, that's really sad, " said Bob. "But you couldn't find a friend or relative to come with you?"

The man replied, "No. They're all at the funeral

M*CH*G*N Joke of the day

A child is removed from his home because his parents are beating him. The social services person places him with this aunt. A month later, when the social services person checks on the boy, she learns that the aunt is beating the child as well. The child is removed again and places with his other aunt. Once again, the social services person checks in and finds the child is being beaten still. She suggests that the child be placed with is grandparents. At this, the child bursts into tears and says that, on his stays with his grandparents, he is beaten the worst of all by any of his relatives. At a complete loss. the social worker takes a strange turn and tells the boy that he can go live with anyone he wants. After some thought, the child says he wants to move to Ann Arbor to live with the M*CH*G*N football team. When asked why, he says, "After watching some of their games, I don't think they could beat anyone."

GO BUCKS!!!

FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK

I don't really want to talk much about the game Saturday. Needless to say, OSU fell to Illinois at home, on senior day. It was the worst performance that I have seen from OSU since the National Title Game in January. Illinois just out played and out coached the Buckeyes. It looked like a good start when OSU took a touchdown lead in the first few minutes of the game, but Illinois came right down a tied it. I do think that the refs missed a fumble that lead to an Illinois TD, but that doesn't change the fact that Illinois beat the tar out of the OSU defense. It was terrible. I was SO angry at the coaches. All that Illinois was doing in the final two drives was runnning QB draws. HELLO!!! PUT A SPY ON THE FUCKING QB!!!! Let a linebacker hang back and blast the fucker when he runs!!! Well, I must say that, after watching that game I am glad that OSU is most likely out of the title race. Oregon and LSU would most likely have pounded the Buckeyes in the title game. Now, we need to look forward to the M*ch*g*n game and, hopfully, a trip to the Rose Bowl.

The Browns lost too. They blew a 21-9 lead on the Steelers. This game had some terrible calls. It was pretty clear that these were pro-Steelers refs. I saw about three holding calls on the Steelerws that were missed, including one that was an obvious tackle in the backfield when the Browns lineman was getting close to sacking Rothlesberger. It was pathetic. Was was more pathetic was how the Browns offense rolled over and died in the second half. I was SO pissed at that game, probably even more so that the OSU game. That game shocked me more than anything.

So starts BEAT M*CH*GAN week. I would have liked to have been able to say that we were going into the game 11-0, but that is not the case. The Wolverweenies lost their game against Wisconsin, which I sorta saw coming. Both Hart and Henne sat out this game due to injuries. A few good hits on these guys and scUM's chances this Saturday could evaporate. They won't be able to beat the Buckeyes with a freshman QB. The game hasn't lost too much of the excitement, since the winner will win the Big Ten and go to the Rose Bowl.

M*CH*G*N Joke of the day:

Q: How many University of M*ch*g*n freshmen does it take to screw in a light bulb?

A: None. That is a second year class.

Ten Down, Two to Go

So, the Buckeyes have rolled to a 10-start again. This season is starting to look alot like last season, only it was supposed to be a 'rebuilding year'. Now, they are 10-0 number 1 in the country, and poised for another shot at a National Title. I actually think that this team is better than last year's squad. Maybe not as much pure talent, but definately a better team chemistry and attitude. However, before we get to the title game, there are still two pretty big games to play. What am I saying? These are HUGE games.

First, Illinois rolls into Ohio Staduim tomorrow. Illinios is 7-3 overall and 4-2 in the Big Ten. Their conference losses came against 5-5 Iowa and the resurging Wolverweenies from 'up north'. they have a good offense lead by Juice Williams, who is a pretty big threat at QB, both running and passing. The game starts at 3:30 and is the final home game for the Buckeyes. That means that the crown is going to be WAY into the game. Although I think we should be able to win this game, Illinios has shown potention to cause an upset, beating both Penn State and Wisconsin.

The final game of the regular season comes against the hated Wolverweenies from M*ch*g*n. After a HUGE upset by Appalachin State and a pounding by Oregon, the 8-2 boys in blue have resurged and are tied with Ohio State in the Big Ten Standings. So, as usual, the Big Ten championship will probably come down the The Game. Not to mention the possibility of OSU going to the BCS National Title Game. A few things that Ohio State has going for them are the facts that Mike Hart and Chad Henne have both been playing hurt and they have to go to Wisconsin this week. The Badgers are probably looking to put a beat down on someone after getting beat by Ohio State last week. So, the Wolverweenies will probably be beat up pretty good when the Silver Bullets roll into Ann Arbor.

What an exciting season this has been so far. GO BUCKS!!!

Time for a New Xbox

So, I think my Xbox is dead. I was playing me some Halo last night and the game froze. So, I turned off the console, and the ring of lights that should be green were red. I think it is referred to as the Red Rind of Death. I checked the power, made sure everything was cool to the touch, tried again, and nothing. I guess I could research some more and see if it is something that can be fixed, but I bought a 2 year replacement plan from Best Buy and my Xbox is only about a year old. Can you say, 'New Xbox?' I knew you could. Actually, this is my second 360 to go down. I am SO glad I got the replacement plan. I thought it was a necessity, considering all of the performance issues reported with the Xbox 360. I am hoping that I will be able to get one of the new and improved black models.

Halo 3 killing tip:

Get a mauler (a big pistol looking thing), get in close, and shoot then hit the melee button one right after the other. The shot takes your opponents shields down instantly and the bash in the head finishes them off. Works almost everytime. The only things that can beat you at close range age the shot gun and energy sword. It's a great combo.

Another Good Game

The Browns are now 5-3 and are actually looking like a contender for the playoffs this season. I don't want to get ahead of myself, but I am feeling pretty good about the Browns chances to eek into the playoffs. They were down to the Seattle Seahawks, but roared back to take the lead in the fourth quarter. Seattle was able to tie the game in the waining seconds of the game to force overtime. They then drove down the field, but were stopped by the Browns defense on a fourth and inches play. Cleveland then got into field goal range and won the game! It was the most fun I've had watching a Browns game in a long time. It was an exciting game with a great outcome!

Go Dawgs!!!

What A Game!

There were ups and downs, but mostly ups. Ohio State ended up handing Wisconsin a sound beating. The Buckeyes started a little slow at first. Sure, they were up 10-3 at the half, but Wisconsin made some good adjustments at halftime and went on top 17-10 in the third quarter. That was that, as the Buckeyes scored four unanswered touchdowns and went on to win 38-17. It was really a fun game to watch. It wasn't one of these games that OSU had won in the first quarter. The TV commentators started to say all of the "number one is on the ropes again" talk and mention how all of the top teams in the past weeks have been upset. I was getting a little worried after Wisconsin scored to go on top and then stopped OSU cold on their first drive of the second half. Then, both the offense and the defense got on track and they bowled over Wisconsin in the fourth quarter. It was great.

In other news, Boston College lost, so now there will be a new #2 in the BCS. It will probably be #5 Oregon, who beat #4 Arizona State soundly, or #3 LSU who eeked one out against # 17 Alabama. They won on a last minute TD pass. I'm not sure which team I would prefir in the #2 spot. Both are pretty good and neither team has any ranked opponents in their remaining games. I believe both teams will play in conference championship games though. Honestly, I would rather that Boston College stayed in the #2 spot, but that didn't happen. I think that Oregon has a shot at leap-frogging LSU due to their solid win over the #4 team whereas LSU struggled against the #17 team.

The Team Up North barely pulled one out against their in-state rivals Michigan State. The final score was 28-24 and scUM had to score in the closing minutes of the game to come out with the win. I have to say, they really turned their season around. After back-to-back loses to open the season, including one against a Div 1AA team, I honestly thought the Wolverweenies were going to joint Minnesota in the bottom of the Big Ten ranks this year. However, after 8 straight wins, it's starting to look like the game in The Big House is going to be a real challenge. The one thing that OSU has going for them is that Wisconsin gets a shot to beat on the boys in blue. I get the feeling that Wisconsin is going to have a chip on their shoulder after OSU handed their asses to them. They play traditional Big Ten football though, so scUM should have a good shot at winning that game. It looked like Mike Hart was banged up again yesterday, so he may not be 100% for the rest of the season.

GO BUCKS!!!

Movies I've Seen Lately

As you know, I have NetFlix. I love this service. I get at least six DVDs per week for less than $20 per month. Sure, I don't always get my first picks, but when I ask for movies that are just out it can take a while. Anyway, I get alot of TV shows that I watch and return, but when I get a movie I usually burn it a watch it at my leisure. Well, movies have been piling up. The beauty of NetFlix is, I get movies I don't really want to buy, but renting them is fine. Anyway.... :

- The Reaping - This is a movie starring Hillary Swank as a religious miracle debunkafier. Kinda like Skully from the X-files, but not with the FBI. She investigates a town that is suffering the 10 plagues that hit Egypt (frogs, locusts, rivers running with blood, etc.). It is a pretty good story, but it jumped around alot and was hard to follow at times. There were alot of twists and turns. I give it 3 of 5 stars.

- Hostel part 2 - The story of a Slyvakian hostel that lures tourists in order to sell them to killers continues. If you saw Hostel, you know the story. This movie wasn't as gorey as the first and I think the story was better in this one. 4 of 5 stars.

- The Gridiron Gang - A bad boy's version of Remember the Titans. Only The Rock plays Denzel's part and the interracial highschool football team is a group of juvie inmate gang members. The concept is the same: They have to become a team to win football games. Pretty good. Not as good as Remember the Titans. Let's face it, The Rock is no Denzel. Similar ending to a done to death story. Pretty good though. 3 of 5 stars.

- Million Dollar Baby - Another Hillary Swank film. Rocky goes chick-style. A female boxer comes out of no where to become a contender. It was actually a pretty good movie. Sad ending though. It also has Clint Eastwood as an actor and the director. He always seems to like those sad ending movies. My guess is he misses his 45 from the Dirty Harry days. 4 of 5 stars.

- Smokin' Aces - The only two things about this movie were a few good action sceens and Ben Afleck looking like a main character in the beginning, but getting killed in the first half hour. I almost turned it off, but the action sceens kept me in it. There was a twist at the end that I am sure the writer thought was creative, but it really just made me hate the movie even more. One star for the action and one star for Ben Afleck getting smoked. That's two of 5 for you non-math folks.

- 30 Days of Night - I had to go to the theaters for this one. It is a vampire movie set in a town in Alaska that has thirty days of darkness once a year. It was pretty freaky. The vampires were not like Ann Rice vampires that would wine and dine you before killing you. They were fast and brutal. There were A LOT of scares in this film. It was pretty gross at times too. I enjoyed it, but didn't like the ending. It was pretty lame. 4 of 5 stars because of the weak ending.

- Transformers - I saw this in the theater way back when, but I got the DVD too. It is really an excellent movie. Fun to watch. 5 of 5.

- Ocean's Twelve - BORING - 1 of 5 stars.

In my queue:

Night Watch - a Russian film about people with superpowers. Looked interesting.
Knocked Up - Saw it in the theater. Funny and it has hottie Katherine Heigl
1408 - Looks scary
Zodiac - about the Zodiac Killer
The Warriors - 70's cult classic movie. It's kinda corny, but a fun movie to watch.
American Psycho - NetFlix says I'll like this one
Donnie Darko - (see above)

Any other movies I need to watch? How about TV shows?

They're ALL Big Games Now

This Saturday, Ohio State plays Wisconsin in the Horseshoe. I keep saying that the game every week is the biggest game or the scariest game, but this time it may be true. Wisconsin ALWAYS makes me nervous. Although Penn State worried me last week, I wasn't as concerned as I am for tomorrow's game. Wisconsin has won something like 5 game in a row as Ohio Stadium. I had an OSU vs. Wisconsin cookout a few years back and it was a bust when Wisconsin thumped the Buckeyes. So far, the Badgers are 7-2, with their losses coming at Illinois and at Penn State. Currently they are 21st in the BCS poll, but are unranked in some of the other polls. They have a huge runningback that will be a new challenge for the Buckeye defense. Most of the backs that have run against OSU have been small, quick backs instead of big bruisers. It will be interesting to see if the OSU D-line will be able to block the holes so that they can bottle up the Wisconsin running game. I think that OSU should win, just as long the offense can keep rolling like they did at Penn State.

Speaking of Penn State, did you all see that YouTube showing the Penn State fans throwing bottles and crap at the OSU fans? If you haven't seen it, you will probably need to watch news stations since the video is being taken off of YouTube due to legal proceedings. If you missed it, basically two OSU frat boys went to their Penn State fraternity chapter (they were invited) and were berrated and abused by the pack of Nittony Lion fans. As they walked away, they were pelted by beer bottles. I told you they were assholes.

GO BUCKS!!!

Too Much Going On!!!

So much to post, so little time:



1. I mentioned in Woody's Halloween post that I am venturing into the world of satellite TV. So far, I am not impressed. Well, there have been some positives and some negatives:

Positives - 1. We have new remotes for all four TVs. With cable, you would get a remote for one TV and the rest of your TVs would have standard cable with the TV remote changing the channels. Our new set up have remotes for all TVs and the main menu comes up on all TVs. Makes channel surfing easier on the other TVs. 2. We now have the Big Ten Network, which is the whole point of this. The Wisconsin game got picked up by the Big Ten Network. 3. Free HBO and Cinemax for three months. 4. We now have 30+ HD channels, rather than the 17 we had through cable.

Negatives - 1. We have had reception issues. They either set us up wrong or put the dish in a bad spot. They are sending someone out tomorrow to hopfully fix it. 2. Our phone doesn't work since installation. I think that Sat TV needs to have a phone line and I think they plugged it into the place that our cable phone was plugged into. Nice. 3. The DVR and navagation menus aren't as user-friendly as with cable. I am starting to think I should have just switched to a cable company that had the Big Ten Network. 4. When installing in my office, then knocked down a shelf that displayed my Star Wars Legos. My office floor now looks like the result of the final battle of Return of the Jedi. And they didn't bother to tell me they did it. Assholes. 5. Whole new channel line up to memorize.



2. Last night was Trick-Or-Treating in our neighborhood. Jessica likes to decorate for Halloween, so our yard looked pretty creepy. I took pictures that you can see on my Flickr page. Gabriel was Jango fett and Alydia was the cutest (and blonde) Snow White. I tried to get a good picture of her, but she couldn't hold still. I guess Gabe was a bit of a stick in the mud and was complaining about being tired after thirty minutes. We have a lot of kids in our neighborhood, so 'Beggars Night' is a big to-do. Lots of homes decorate. I wanted to hide and play Xbox all night, but I was dealing with the Sat TV bullshit. We had some older kids show up for candy. At first I frowned at this, but then I remember Woody, Moe, and myself driving from house to house asking for candy.



3. I finally saw Spiderman 3 on DVD. I have to say, I was not impressed. It was OK, but I don't think it was as good as 1 or 2. It seemed like they jammed too much story into one movie. Sandman, Venom, and the Goblin? I will say that the Venom effects and the fight scenes were pretty sweet, but the rest of the film was a little weak, in my opinion. Kirsten Dunst wasn't even caught in a downpour to make her shirt wet. Her wet-shirt-nip-shots are about all she brought to the previous movies. In 3, all she brought was her bad acting and irritating snaggle tooth. I know, I'm mean.

Another Multi-Topic Post

I find it easier to post alot of things all at once. Sure, I could try to post daily, but I am not usually on my computer daily. So, I guess you just have to deal. :-)

1. OSU ROLLED over Penn State - All of the OSU doubters had the spread for this game at 4 points. Who could blame them? The last regular season game that the Buckeyes lost was at Penn State, at night, during a 'white out' (when the crowd wears all white). Saturday's game was at Penn State, at night, during a 'white out', and OSU had lost 5 of the last 7 games at Penn State. The Buckeyes, however, kicked the SHIT out of the Nittony Lions 37-17. The only reason it was that close was due to two OSU mistakes: an interception that ended an OSU scoring drive and a kickoff that Penn State ran back for a touchdown in the final minutes of the game. It was TOTAL DOMINATION by the Buckeyes. 9 and 0, with just three more games!

2. My birthday was OK. We went shopping and ran some other errands. Jessica cooked me dinner and then I lost a poker game. I got good cards, but got screwed by the cards. I flopped two pair and got beat by a straight and then I flopped a straight and got beat by a higher straight. Oh well. My parents also came to town to 'celebrate my birthday', which really means they wanted to come down to hang out with my children. I love my parents, but sometimes my mom drives me NUTS!! She has a little OCD, so she can't leave a mess alone. So, she cleaned my house, basically. Why complain, you ask? While it can be nice to have someone come clean your house, it kinda makes you feel like shit when your mom does it. It's like we don't do a good enough job, so she needs to come do it herself. I sometimes have to tell her to sit down and play with the kids. True, sometimes I leave some clothes in the dryer when I know she is coming so that she will fold it, but it can get pretty excessive. This was one of those cases. Not only was she cleaning, she was giving me looks like I wasn't doing enough. Ok, first, she invited herself down this weekend, which is ok since the kids LOVE when she visits. Second, it was my birthday weekend and I wanted to relax a bit. Instead, I was doing laundry. Can't a guy sit and watch football all weekend long? Whatever. I still love my parents, even if my mom is a little pushy at times.

3. I got a few neat OSU toys for my birthday. Jessica got me a stainless steel fflask with the OSU logo on the front and a Beat M*ch*g*n countdown clock. It can work like a regular clock, but it has a countdown mode with days, hours, minutes, and seconds until the OSU vs UM kickoff. Like this one. As of right now, there are 19 days, 3 hours, 23 minutes, and 30 seconds. My parents got me an OSU squishy pillow. I like presents.

I am old

I am taking tomorrow off to celebrate my 33rd birthday tomorrow. I can't believe that I am 33. I don't really feel like 33. I guess I have nothing to base that statement on, since I have never been 33 before, but I always used to think that people in their 30's were old. I am going to try to sleep in, relax, have my favorite dinner (schnitzel, mashed potatoes, and either peas or asparagus), maybe do some shopping, and then play some cards. I feel a little bad playing cards on my birthday, since I am sure Jessica would rather I just hang out with her, but I have a monthly game that is on the last Friday every month. Still, it should be a pretty good day. I notice that I have been reflecting on some things in my life. I don't think that there is anything I would do differently, but I have caught myself thinking 'what if' questions. I don't have any regrets though. Mostly, I have been thinking of old friends and missing certain people I don't see anymore. Luckily, most of the people I miss have blogs, so I can check in on them from time to time.

In other news, Ohio State has a HUGE game this weekend against Penn State. This is definately the game that worries me the most in this season. Well, at least until they play Wisconsin. Then Illinois. Oh, and M*ch*g*n. Man this is going to be a tough last four games. Anyway, Penn State is always a top team in the Big Ten. Add the fact that the game is in Happy Valley and a night game and it makes it double tough for the Buckeyes. The last regular season loss that OSU suffered was at Penn State at night. Ohio State is probably the better team. They definately have the better defense and if the offense can hold on to the ball, they should be able to control the game. Still, I am a little nervous about this one. The "experts" are picking OSU to win, but I'm sure they will all have a little party if the "upset bug" bites the Buckeyes in the ass.

GO BUCKS!!!

The Weekend and a rough week ahead

Time to recap the weekend:

1. Ohio State beat the shit out of Michigan State. But then two stupid OSU mistakes put the Spartans close and made a game out of it. Ohio State rolled in the first half and shut down the MSU offense. They were averaging over 400 yards of offense per game, but the Bucks held them to under 200. 14 of the MSU points were off Ohio State turnovers. Other than the fumble and the interception, the OSU offense looked great, getting points off of two 90+ yard drives. It is going to be tough this week as they travel to play Penn State, who eeked one out at Indiana. The 'experts' seem to think that it will be impossible for OSU to go undefeated this season, but I honestly haven't seen a great game from any of the other Big Ten schools that the Buckeyes play in the upcoming weeks.

2. The Indians prooved that it sucks to be an Ohio sports fan. Aside from the 2002 OSU National Title, I can't really remember an Ohio team winning a championship. The Cavs blew it in the NBA last year, the Buckeyes blew it in both football and basketball last year, the Browns have sucked since returning to the NFL, Cincinnati Bengals had a close-but-no-cigar season last year, the Columbus Destroyers lost the Arena Boal last year, and the Columbus Bluejackets have never played a playoff game. Well, at least Johnny must be happy about the Indians dropping three in a row in the ALCS. Honestly, I knew the Indians were in trouble when they got their butts handed to them in games 5 and 6. If I were more of a baseball fan, I would be upset.

3. I got to do the fun chore of putting a new post in the ground for my mailbox. The old post broke. It was either dry rot, or someone knocked it over. I think it was just dry rot though. The wook looked pretty bad. It was a pain to dig up the post though, what with the concrete holding it into place. I hope I did a good job putting in the new post. It is level and all, but I never worked with concrete before. I worry that I may have used too much water or didn't give it enough time to dry. Well, at least the mailbox is back up.

As for the week ahead, I am taking this Friday off, so I only have to work 2 days. Woo-Hoo!

Bad Feelings

1. It is not good to be in the NCAA football top five this year. You may say, "Why Eric, it is good to be in the top five. Then you have a chance to play for the National Title." While this is true, i the first seven weeks of the football season, 11 teams that were ranked over then #12 Ohio State have all lost, moving the Buckeyes up to #1. Another team that benefited from the fall of so many teams was #2 South Florida. The Bulls were undefeated and poised for a Cinderella season if they could win out to go to the title game. Well, they didn't. Another top five team has fallen from grace. Rutgers beat SFU 30-27 last night. Rutgers shuold be used to it since they beat #3 Louisville last season in a similar fasion.

2. The Indians sucked a big one last night, losing to the Red Sox 7-1. The Indoans' pitching was terrrible and their hitting was terrible too. Now they have two games in Boston. I am getting a bad feeling about this. The Red Sox are a very good team and they could easily win three in a row to go to the world series.

3. Ohio State starts the main part of their Big Ten season tomorrow. I have a bad feeling after seeing all of these other top ten teams get dropped. Michigan State always seems to play OSU hard. The Buckeyes will need to bring their A game for the rest of the season if they want to go unscathed through the rest of the year. I doubt that they will get tot he National Title Game as a one loss team.

More Stuff

1. Anyone have satellite TV? I was thinking about getting Direct TV, but have never had anything but cable TV. I have been worried about bad reception from satellite TV. Plus, I would have to learn a whole new channel scheme. I am already pretty much set up for satellite. At least we have a dish on the roof already. There are two reasons I want to make the change: 1. the Big Ten Network and 2. They are adding a ton of HD channels (over 100). Time Warner doesn't have half that amount. Let me know if you have satellite and if you like it.

2. The Indians are up big in the series against the Red Sox (3 games to 1). The series could be over tonight, if the Tribe can pull out another win. They would face the Colorado Rockies in the World Series. I don't know how excited I am about that. The Rockies are something like 19-1 in their last 20 games. That is crazy.

3. You can call me Lou. I am now a lieutenant in the Halo 3 multi player world. I don't know if that is because I am good or just because I have played alot. I win some games, but others I get my ass handed to me. Mostly, I am a solid 2nd or 3rd place. There are a few maps that I excel and a few that I blow chunks. I guess it depends on if I know where the good weapons are.

A Good Weekend

1. I didn't have to work, which is always nice

2. Already mentioned in the previous post that OSU won. Now we know they are #1 in the BCS poll. GO BUCKS!!!

3. The Indians split the first two games at Boston, so the series is tied one one and they are heading back to Cleveland for game 3. Go Tribe!!!

4. The Browns won yesterday, taking down the Miami Dolphins. The Browns are now 3-3. I don't know if they will make the playoffs, but they are looking pretty good to go .500 for the season. Still alot of football to play.

5. Friday night was Halo Heaven. Some of my buddies and I got on Xbox Live and teamed up. We had 7 people playing most of the time, so we mostly did Slayer (free-for-all) but when we dropped down to 6 people, we started playing team Slayer. We even banded together for some 6 vs 6 team slayer against other teams. IT WAS GREAT!!!! The best was when we were in a six man team and were placed in a 'Shotty and Sniper' game. You get unlimited shot gun and sniper rifle rounds. Anyway, someone on my team said they hated shotty and sniper, so I said we could veto the map if we wanted to. Someone on the other team said something like we were gay if we vetoed, we were pussys, and we we all N---ERS!!! Can you believe it? Well, Tommie (one of my teammates) is a black guy, so we didn't take kindly to that remark. Let's just say that kicked it up a notch that game. We won, and of my team's 50 kills, I had 19 (I LOVE Shotty and Snipers). Nine of my 19 kills I kicked the shit out of the ignorant jackass that dropped the N-bomb. Asshole.

In The Driver's Seat

It was another good weekend for the Ohio State Buckeyes. Not only did they crush Akron 48-3, like they should have, but the number one and two teams both got beat. This should put Ohio State in the driver's seat for another run at the National Title. the BCS ranking come out today, and OSU should be either #1 or #2.

First, #1 LSU wass downed by #17 Kentucky. No, they weren't playing basketball. Apparently, KU went out and got themselves some football players this season. The game went to three overtimes until LSU finally got stopped on a 4th and 2 play. It looked like they ran the exact same play all four downs. I think that, after being stuffed the first few tries, they might have thought about a pass play. Oh well.

Second, the Oregon State Beavers topped Cal by three points. I could no believe how badly Cal screwed up. They were down ten points, with just a few minutes to play. They took the ball and quickly scored a TD to get within 3 point. Then, they got the ball back with about a minute left. They again drove down the field to get well within fieldgoal range. On the last play of the game (with about 13 seconds left) the Cal QB took the ball, looked for someone to pass to for the win, but then tucked the ball away and ran with it. He was stopped short, they were out of time outs, and the clock ran out before the field goal team could get on to the field. In this case, the coach should have said, "If no one is open, THROW THE BALL AWAY!!!!!" Apparently he didn't, and they lost. Oh well.

Now, Ohio State has the meat of their schedule coming up. LOTS of scary games to play. The last four teams could all potentially be ranked when they face OSU. However, if the defensekeeps playing the way they have been and the offense can keep the ball rolling, I think these are all games OSU should win:

Michigan State - Beat the tar out of Indiana yasterday. They were also close in their losses to Wisconsin (37-34) and Northwestern (48-41). Michigan State always plays OSU tough.

@Penn State - The last time OSU went to Happy Valley, they got their butts whipped. It was a night game and the fans did a 'white out' where they all dress in white. This year, it is another night game. I am really worried about this game after PSU beat the crap out of Wisconsin 38-7.

Wisconsin - I am a little less worried about this game after Penn State dismantled the Badgers. Wisconsin is pretty beat up this season, with both of their starting wide receivers out for the year. Still, Wisconsin always seems to be the one game that OSU falls asleep for.

Illinois - Illinios is a strange team this year. they have won some big games, but just lost to the Big Ten kicking post, Iowa 10-6. It was an U.G.L.Y (you ain't got no aliby) game.

@M*ch*g*n - scUM is a having a weird season this year. they dropped their opener to Appalachin State and the next game against Oregon, but are #2 in the Big Ten after winning their last five games. It looks like they are back on course and a scary opponent.

GO BUCKS!!!

Some stuff

1. Season 1 of 30 Rock is on free viewing o NetFlix.com. I don't watch it normally, but I think I like it. It's very reminiscent of Seinfeld. It's not like Seinfeld, but it has the same kind of feel and humor. It kind of sneaks up on you. I may put it on my DVR schedule. I can't believe how much I like Alec Baldwin.

2. Game 1 of the Indians against the Red Socks starts tonight. However, it is going to clash with some Halo 3 action. I think we are going to have about 6 or 7 people in the party. It should be a good time.

3. OSU gets to knock around another in state 'rival' this Saturday. Kent State rolls into town tomorrow. I am not sure if it will be on TV or not. I may be one of the games that got put on the Big Ten Network. Hopfully there will be some other good games to watch.

4. I drove myself crazy bowling last night. I started out with a 224 and finished the night with a 150. How do I drop 74 pins from one game to the next? I couldn't figure it out.

5. The parents are in town this weekend. My mom goes through withdrawals when she doesn't see the kids frequently enough. It is always nice to see them, but I always feel like I need to do chores. My mom is a major busy body. She can't sit still and she can't pass a mess without cleanig it up. It is kinda nice though, I can leave a load of laundry in the dryer and the next thing that I know, it is folded.

Go Tribe!

So, Cleveland offed the hated New York Yankees this week. I know, I probably shouldn't be posting baseball since I am not a huge fan, but I can't help it. It is so rare that we Cleveland fans get something to cheer about. The Browns are terrible, the Cavs got their asses handed to them in the NBA finals, and the Indians have been out of grace for about ten years. One thing is making me angry though. It is the same thing that pisses me off about all national sports coverage: instead of talking up the Indians, the new is all about what's happening with the Yankees. Who fucking cares? I guess it is a big deal since they have all these good players that are probably going their own way now, but isn't the stopry supposed to be Cleveland vs Boston? The Goat is talking trash about it already. Big suprise, eh? I lost my password to his blog, or I would give him my two cents. At least he shares my 'fuck the Yankees' attitude. He's just looking beyond the Indians. I hope the Red Socks do that too. I heard a commercial for the series calling the Indians the "Cinderella Indians". What the FUCK??? Cinderella? To me the term 'Cinderella' means a team that is not supposed to be in the race. Live St Mary's College For the Blind in the NCAA tourney. THAT would be a Cinderella team. The the Indians had the best record in the MLB. Does THAT sound Cinderella? Another reason why I hate the media. Ohio sports get no respect until AFTER then win the titles.

Another example of this: I watched a college football show yesterday and there was a story about LSU, USC, Cal, and they were showing scenes from M*ch*g*n's stadium. Nothing about Ohio State. It's OK though. It is better to fly under the radar until you win it all. then no one sees you coming.

New Link

I added a new link to my blog yesterday. It's nothing too exciting, but if you want to see where my ancestors are from, take a peek. It is a family tree that my Uncle Terry researched and created. It goes pretty far back too. The only catch is that some of the information may not necessarily be correct. Some of the records have been lost due to fire, war, people moving around, etc. so there are gaps here and there. It is neat that there are pictures too. Basically, my uncle has been sending letters to anyone that has the last name Rhodes and has lived in or has relatives in the area of my ancestors.

I am also adding all of my CD music to my IPod. I have a 30G IPod and it is half empty, so I figured I would fill it up more. It is going to take a while. I forgot how many CDs I have that have fell out of the listening rotation. I either forget I have them or I only like one or two songs on the album. I think I will listen to a wider variety of my music now after I get it all on the Ipod. I may even get creative and make some playlists, like a 'one hit wonder' list for those bands that I only like one song.

The Browns got their asses kicked yesterday and the Indians dropped on to the Yankees. Not a good day for the Cleveland teams. As expected though, OSU is now #3 in the ranking.

How Do You Show You Deserve To Be Top Five?

Kick the shit out of the #23 team in their own house. And that is just what Ohio State did to Perdue yesterday. Ohio state shut down the Perdue offense allowing only 4 yards of rushing. The game could have been a lot worse for Purdue, since Todd Boeckman gave away three interceptions. They were all deep passes, so they were almost like punts, but the score could really have been something like 45-7 instead of 24-7. Also, OSU dropped about four possible interceptions. It was a little frustrating seeing these mistakes, but OSU totally out played Perdue. The only touchdown that Perdue could muster was in the final minutes of the game when the first string defense was pulled.

A few other good things that happened for the Buckeyes:

1. USC fell asleep and lost one to Stanford. Stanford scored alast minute touchtown to go on top. Since USC was #2 and OSU is #4, we are at least going to be #3 this week.

2. Wisconsin got HANDLED by Illinios. Sure the score was 31-26, but the Illini really out played Wisconsin. This creates a weird situation in the Big Ten. The 'top' two teams that were predicted to win the Big Ten, Wisconsin and M*ch*g*n, are both needing someone else to lose in order to be in the Big Ten title chase. I guess M*ch*g*n is 2-0 in the Big Ten, but their overall record will take them out of the chase in the long run. As you can see, Illinois is the big suprise this year.


Big Ten Standings
TEAM
CONF. W-L
OVERALL W-L
Ohio State
3-0
6-0
Illinois
3-0
5-1
Michigan
2-0
4-2
Wisconsin
2-1
5-1
Indiana
2-1
5-1
Purdue
1-1
5-1
Penn State
1-2
4-2
Northwestern
1-2
3-3
Michigan State
0-2
4-2
Iowa
0-3
2-4
Minnesota
0-3
1-5

Indians against the Yankees: 2 and 8

I am not a huge baseball fan. I am an Indians fan, but not an avid fan. I will watch a few innings if there is nothing else on, but in general, I get my Indians updates on the news. If they win, cool. I just can't get excited about a season that has over 100 games played just to see who gets into the playoffs. I think I have some ADD. But the playoffs is something I can get up for. Well, the Indians are in the playoffs and are taking on the Yankees. In the regular season, the Indians are 0-8 against the Yankees. A little scary. However, in the post season, the Indians are 2-0 against the Yankees. Yeah! That is why I don't get excited about the regular season. The games don't really mean that much. At least not until September when there is a race to see who gets the playoff spots. As an Indian fan, I HATE the Yankees. I also dislike any team that throws huge amounts of cash around to try to buy a title. I don't think that should be allowed. What do I know though? Well, one more win and the Indians will polish off the Yankees and the pinstripes will take their big paychecks home for the season. Rough life. GO TRIBE!!

Scary game tonight: OSU vs Perdue. A top 25 opponent in a hostile environment scares me a little. They are doing a 'black out' at Perdue, where the fans all wear black. I am not sure that this a good strategy for a night game. Sure it will be loud, but the fans in black will blend in to the darkness. If the offense keeps rolling, it should be a Buckeyes victory.

GO BUCKS!!

More Updates

Sorry for the blogging of multiple topic lately. Hopfully it makes it easier for y'all to pick and choose what you want to read.

1. Halo 2 vs Halo 3 - I finished the Halo 3 campaign. It was fun. I liked the ending (?). It was a conclusion that was satifying and kinda left an opening for Halo 4. All in all, I like 3 alot more than I liked Halo2. Why? Xbox Live. The multi player games are F U N. I am getting better too. I am a level 5 Spartan now and I have actually won several matches. I am EZE2112 if you want to test me.

2. My NCAA 08 football record is getting better. I am on a 4 game win streak. The difference in my game has definately been my offensive skills. I am juking more and am able to break tackles, plus I am getting good at audibles when needed. I LOVE spreading the defense with 5 wide receiversand making a hot read to a quick pass under the coverage. I haven't been stopped since adopting this strategy.

3. BSG...... Razor??? - When watching the disappointing Eureka season finale, I saw a commercial that caught my eye. Apparently there is a BSG spin off already. It called BSG - Razor. I don't know much about this show yet, but they are having two minute teasers during Flash Gordon on Fridays. I doubt I will DVR Flash for this, but the flashbacks will be on the SciFi.com much like the Resistance BSG webisodes. Anything BSG should be good, in theory. I just hope they do not ruin the franchise with this spin off. As a side note, I think BSG starts this month. WOO-HOO!!

4. Speaking of NCAA 08, I finally finshed my first Dynasty. Ohio State is the NCAA 08 National Champions after beating USC. I got an achievement, won some awards...it was pretty anti-climactic. Still, gamer points are gamer points.

5. I was considering buying the new World Series of Poker Xbox game. I need to check and see how many people are still playing online with the old game before I upgrade. I guess there will be some cool features in the new version, but if I can play multi player online with the old version, I see no need to upgrade. I rarely play the career mode.

Sorry this was so Xbox heavy in content. I guess there isn't too much going on at the moment. Still, Xbox is pretty fun in my book.

Weekend Updates

1. Good weekend for OSU football. Ohio State won at Minnesota, #5West Virginia lost, #3 Oklahoma lost, #4 Florida lost, and #7 Texas Lost. This means that the Buckeyes have leapt from #8 to #4 in one weekend. Woody is happy too since his Cincinnati Bearcats are climbing the charts too. I just hope that the guy I poked fun at on his post doesn't show up on my door step later in the week. I just wish I know how Woody keeps getting his picture taken with hot college girls.

2. It was a good football weekend all around as the Cleveland Browns won too. They beat the hated Baltimore Ravens. I say 'hated' because the Ravens were the Browns before the traitor Art Modell ripped the team from Cleveland and went to Baltimore. I feel like a turd, since I picked the Browns to lose in my Pick'em game. After seeing them lost to the Raiders last week, I lost some faith in my boys. Never again though. I am going to pick Cleveland for every game now. Especially since they seem to play up to their opponents. They are 2-2 and #2 in their division. Who'd a thunk it?

3. I am almost though the campaign for Halo 3. At least I think I am. It just has a climactic feel building up. The game has been alot more fun that Halo 2. The new weapons and gadgets are fun. I found a flame thrower that kills good. I also got into some multi-player games. I thought I would get my ass kicked alot, but held my own. Out of six games I played, I got my ass kicked twice, was in the middle of the pack twice, and was the top Spartan twice. One of the games, I had so many kills that the other players were actually teaming up against me. I was getting a little irritated, but my 25 kills beat their combined 24 (10, 10, and 4). I need to figure out how to join some team slayer games and how to host my own games. I have about 10 friends that have the game.

4. I played some dards Friday night. Two games, I came in second for the first one and lost badly the second one. It was fun though.

Hodgepodge

What a fun word: hodgepodge.

1. OSU takes on Minnesota this Saturday. The game is going to be a late game and will be televised. Our neighbors are having a party and the game on a big screen, and the invite said that the local news channel will be broadcasting live from the party. We may go, but I don't know for sure. OSU is favored big against a struggling Golden Gophers squad.

2. Bionic Woman was good. You can definately tell that the Battlestar Galactica creators are behind the Bionic Woman. Not only the writing, but the cameos from BSG actors. Cheif Tyrol and Starbuck are in guest spots, and the lawyer from Baltar's trial is a permanent fixture on the show. It stinks though, because Bionic Woman is on at the same time as Ramsey's Kitchen Nightmares and Criminal Minds. I am in DVR HELL!! I actually had to dig up a VHS tape and record BW the old scool way.

3. Bowling last night was OK. I was a little below average, but considering I set a losty average of 199 the first week, I was bound to slip a little. I think I ended up with a 540 series (about a 180 average) so I will drop down overall to a much more managable 190 average. I guess my dreams of joining the PBA are going to shit. Still it is always a fun night out.

4. I am going to try again to diet. It is SO hard considering my love of food and drink. Protein, salad, and water doesn't make for an exciting dining experience. Still, when I eat junk food, like I have this week, I feel like crap. Mostly worn down and I always have terrible heartburn. When I eat healthy, no heartburn.

I hope everyone has a good weekend. GO BUCKS!!

Halo 3 Overview

Woody is leary about it, but Lefty loves it. Halo 3 was released at 12:01 am Monday night (Tuesday am, technically). I posted about H3 already, but that was back when all I had to write about was the Beta test they had on Xbox Live. Now, I have the full version and have been playing alot of it. Not as much as Lefty, who said that he finished the campaign already. I am getting there, but I am trying to pace myself. My complaint about H2 was that the campaign seemed short, but that was probably because I played it non stop. I decided that I am going to complete the campaign, maybe twice, before I start gettingmy ass handed to me by 12 year olds on Xbox Live in the Slayer Pit.

So far, H3 has been alot of fun. There haven't been any big suprises like in Halo or H2. At least not yet. From reading Lefty's post, it seems as though there may be. There are a few changes to game play, but mostly more weapons and more vehicles. For example, if you find a gun turret, you can rip it off it's mount and run around with it. The only down side is that it is heavy and slows you down and it will run out of ammo and can't be reloaded. There are new gadgets too, which is a complete change for the Halo games. There is a bubble shield, deployable cover, power drainer, portable lift, trip mines, flares, and something that regenerates you. I won't go into all of their different uses, because I forget I carry them most of the time. Still, they add a nice new element to the game. I'm not going to spoil any secrets or suprises. However, if you have ab Xbox 360 and end up getting Halo 3, my XBox Live ID is EZE2112.

Another Spectacular Dr Who Episode

I was wondering, after the great 'Weaping Angels' show last week, how are the Dr Who writers going to keep the momentum going in this best season of Dr Who to date? They have used Daleks. They have used Cybermen. They have used Daleks vs Cybermen. What other nemisis from the classic Dr Who series could be trown at the new Doctor? The answer? The Master. If you never watched the old series, the Master is to the Doctor as Moriartyis to Holmes. Both are Time Lords and both are polar opposites. The doctor tries to make things good happen with his Time Lord power and the Master works from a place of anarchy and greed. I won't get into the episode too much, but if you saw the previews from last week, you know Captain Jack is in the show and an 'ancient enemy' is back. Still another home run by the Dr Who writers. I can't wait for part two this week.

Big Boobs Do Not A Hooters Girl Make

Jessica and the kids went to King's Island with my mom and cousin Carrie yesterday. Honestly, it was nice having the house all to my self. I had to work, but it was a nice, quiet setting for a change. Anyway, since they were gone, I had to fend for myself for dinner. I decided to go to the new Hooters down the road for some chicken wings. Now, before you call me a perv or a womanizer for going to Hooters, just know that I genuinely LOVE the wings there. They are meatier than BW3's and I like the hot sauce alot. So, I went, got a beer, and snacked on some yummy grub. Now, if you don't know, all of the servers there are women and they all dress in short-shorts and tight tops with their boobies popping out. I had never been to the new Hooters just down the road from me, but I had been to the other two in Columbus. The girls are all pretty, but there are some that just should not try to squeeze themselves into those Hooters outfits. Now, I know that I am not attractive or in shape and if I were to try to wear one of those Hooters outfits, people would run. That's my point though. I would NOT subject people to the site of me in a Hooters outfit. The women at the Hooters weren't run away bad, but some of the girls should reconsider the Hooters Girl look. They may think, "But I have Big Boobs." Yes, but you weigh 185. All in all, my meal was very yummy and the girls were all nice and attractive. There were just one or two that made me wonder if they had a mirror at home.

Ladies, I am sorry if the previous post offends you. I love all women: short, tall, skinny, chubby, white, black, Asian, Latina, Arabic, red heads, blondes, brunettes, young (not TOO young), old (not TOO old), you name it. I am in no way advocating that all women should be skinny with big boobs. You are all beautiful. To explain my point in a different way: would you like to see me at a Chippindales male review? No, you wouldn't. That's why I would never work as a male stripper.

As a side note, OSU won BIG and Cleveland Browns lost by 2. The Indians won their division though. Go Tribe!

I Hate The Big Ten Network

I have mentioned that I hate the Big Ten Network. I just wanted to say it again. Instead of watching Big Ten games on the networks all day, I have to watch games that I don't really care about. Like, some Florida team against Kentucky. SNORE!! Oh, there is also Kent St vs Akron. SNORE!!!

I also hate Time Warner Cable for not picking up the Big Ten Network. They don't want to pay the extra money it would take to carry the channel. It would only be a buck or two per customer if they were to pick up the Big Ten Network. I would pay it.

On a side note, OSU just scored against Northwestern, two minutes into the game. GO BUCKS

Big Ten Kicks Off

Ohio state has it's Big Ten opener tomorrow. They take on the Northwestern Mildcats. It should be a W for the Buckeyes, since Northwestern is having an off year. You never know though. Once the Big Ten season kicks off, all bets are off. Depending on which OSU offense shows up, it can always be a close game. If the Buckeyes stay on track with their balanced offense, they should win them all, up until the first big test of the year against Penn State followed by another big test against Wisconsin. An 8-0 start sounds great to me. A perfect season sounds even better, but I don't know that I would want to be in the title game against LSU or USC after last year's beat down by Florida. One thing at a time though.

In other games, Penn State is getting their crack against M*ch*g*n this weekend. This is usually a game I try to watch, since both teams are traditionally Big Ten power houses. However, with the Wolverweenies bad start, this game has lost some of its luster. I may switch my picture in picture from the UM v Penn St. game and the LSU v South Carolina game. I have to admit that I like LSU. They are my favorite team (after OSU) to use on NCAA 08. Still, I'd rather see LSU lose this one so that OSU can move up in the rankings. One thing at a time though, eh?

GO BUCKS!!

A Few More Things

1. My Bowling League starts tonight. Thursday is now the greatest day of the week again. I get to go out of the house, hang with the boys, and blow off some steam. There is also a Thursday night poker game right across the street from the bowling alley. Total guys night out package. There are strip clubs all over the place in the area if I want to try for the trifecta (kidding). I love the family, but a night out is exactly what I need sometimes. Hopfully, I can keep my average around 190's this year. I think it would be too much to ask for a 200 average.

2. I think I mentioned this before, but Dark Angel (season 2) was a farm for Battlestar Galactica. Gaeda, Duala, and Chief Tyrol all had bit parts. Dark Angel isn't the best show in the world, but it is a fun watch.

3. Smallville season 6 is out on DVD now. I went out and bought it on Tuesday. Smallville is a show that just keeps getting better and better. I won't go into it too much, in case you haven't seen the show, but I will say it is worth the watch. They are making Lana Lang Smallville's rollercoaster. Everyone gets a ride. Also, they introduce the beginnings of the Lustice League of America. The Green Arrow, Cyborg, Aquaman, and Flash team up with Clark to foil one of Lex Luthor's schemes. It was a pretty good episode.

A Few Things....

1. Cleveland defeated Cincinnati in the NFL yesterday. It was one of the first times in a long while that I watched a Cleveland Browns game and I watched from start to finish without turning it off in disgust. The offense look GREAT. Woody isn't too happy about this, being a Bengals fan. I, however am THRILLED. It was a HUGE change from last weeks ass-kicking they took from Pittsburgh.

2. Torchwood works for me. It is a Dr. Who spin off that has started running on BBC America. It is similar in plot to The Men In Black movies, in that, there is a covert group of special agents that track and capture aliens that land on Earth. It is a Dr Who spin off in that, Torchwood was created by the queen back in the 1800's after an encounter with the Doctor. Also, it has a character named Captain Jack Harkness, who was in several Doctor Who episodes. He is from the future, so I'm not really sure how he came back to the 21st century. He is also invincible after being resurrected by Rose when she was infected by the Time Vortex. If you watch Dr. Who, you understand.

3. Best Doctor Who ever this past Friday. If you haven't seen it yet, you are in for a treat. Usually, the really good episodes are two or three parters, like when there are Daleks or Cybermen, but this was a stand alone episode and it was spactacular. I made Jessica watch it and she really enjoyed it too. It was a very creepy episode. The strange thing about the episode is that the Doctor and Martha were barely in it. The episode revolved around Sally Sparrow, who has to solve a mystery in order to save the Doctor. I won't go into it, but WATCH THE SHOW!!! I think that Doctor Who may be becoming my favorite show to watch. It is still a close second to BSG, but if they keep going down this 'Cylons can hear Jimmy Hendrix' path, I may need to make a change. I mean, come on! Cylons could listen to Jimmy, but they could never HEAR Jimmy.

4. Is anyone else looking forward to the debut of the Bionic Woman? I have some doubts, but I believe this show is from the creators of BSG, so I am on board. At least for a few episodes. Also, coming up soon is the season premire of Heroes. Yeah! I love when new shows start and I can stop watching crappy television.

5. So far, Bioshock is pretty good. It is very creepy and a little scary to play. Basically, you are in a plane crash near the entrance of Rapture, and under water city where scientists are give free reign to do any kind of experiment they want. It basically drives the entire population insane and you have to figure out why. Lots of killin' of crazies. I won't get into it much, but so far it is fun.

6. OSU went up a spot in the polls. You'll get that when you play a good game and beat your opponent convincingly. They are now #9. GO Bucks!

Finally looking Top ten

Ohio State looked pretty good yesterday against Washington. The final score was 33-14. It should have ended 27-7, but Washington's offense scored in the final minutes agains the Buckeyes' second string defense. The first half was a little slow, with Washington taking a 7-3 lead on a last mintue TD pass, but Ohio State was running the ball and moving pretty well. It wasn't until the second half that the Offense took over, scoring 24 points. The last OSU touchdown was a simple run play that broke open into a touchdown. I don't think they were trying to score, it just happened. It was one of those things that, the player still wants to make a play, even if the game is basically over. Still, this has been the first game where OSU appears to deserve their top ten status.

Side note #1 - Notre Dame is terrible this year. Being my second favorite team, I must say I get a chuckle out of this. All of the ass kissing thrown at ND's direction irritates me and now they suck. I think it is hilarious. M*ch*g*n killed them 38-0.

Side note #2 - Cleveland is leading Cincinnati 13-7. I need to rub this in on Woody now because I doubt it will last the whole game.

Bioshock

I have been a little bored with my Xbox games lately, so I went out and bought Bioshock. Actually, I traded some games for it. I got rid of Oblivion, NCAA 07, and Crackdown. I would keep playing Dead Rising, but my disk got scratched somehow. Anyway, I needed something other than NCAA 08 and my poker game to occupy my Xboxing hours. At least until Halo 3 comes out. The guy as Game Stop said that Boishock was fun. I haven't had the time to play it yet, but it looks pretty cool. It seems like it will play like Prey, where you need to use things in your environment to get through the game. From what I've read, you get taken down to an underwater city full of genius scientists who have run amuck. Or, their experiments have gone amuck. My guess is that you need to go around and stop thes scientists and their experiments. After I start playing, I will update you and let you know how things pan out. I may get held up once Halo 3 comes out. I just needed something to get my FPS groove on.

I am starting to hate ESPN

Ok, I don't normally watch ESPN too much, but I have been watching quite a bit this week. I'm not sure why. Probably because my mom is visiting and, instead of playing my Xbox, I have the TV on something that everyone likes a bit: sports. My parents both like Indians baseball and football (pro and college). I also like watching poker, which has been on ESPN all week. Anyway, I am getting sick of shows like Sports center and the other 'news' shows on ESPN this week. Why? Because they are taking stories and beating them to death and also wasting time with non stories (in my opinion).

The story they are beating to death is about that Bills player that had a spinal cord injury. I feel really bad for the guy, honestly. It is terrible that something like that would happen to anyone. What bothers me is the constant replay of of the hit that caused the injury. Over and over, different angles, in slow motion, close-ups, and then showing him twitching: basically, they are using the most terrible moment in this man's life to improve their ratings. I think it is sick. I know it is a story, but they should show the guy a little bit of respect and allow him to have some privacy and dignity, instead of using the worst moment of his life to gain ratings. Tell the story, then let it go.

The non-story is the insane amount of coverage that the Notre Dame vs UM game is getting. ESPN.com has UM as their main cover story. Two 0 and 2 teams playing each other isn't news, it is a joke. Sure, It is news that these teams, who are usually top in the country, are both 0-2, but now that they proved they suck, why should anyone care that these two disappointments are playing each other? I don't. I guess one team's fans will be happy about a W, but there are plenty of 0-2 teams out there and none of them are getting near the same attention. What about the 2-0 Buckeyes going to 2-0 Washington? Both teams are 2-0, OSU is #10 in the country, and Washington has two big wins over quality teams, but the game is barely scoring a blip on the radar. Oh well. I am over it already. If they big college football news is that both M*ch*g*n and Notre Dame suck, I am ok with it. It could be worse. They could be covering OSU being terrible if they had lost their first two games....... Good thing they are 2-0 and ranked 10 in the nation. I just hope that the offense blows the 3 point spread out of the water.

GO BUCKS!

Same Old Browns

I had my head in the ground a while ago when I thought that the Cleveland Browns were going to turn things around this season and be pretty good. Why wouldn't think that? they had a pretty good pre-season and won three of four games. They looked pretty good. My eyes have been opened though. After a solid 34-7 ass kicking by the Steelers, I no longer have any illusions of grandeur. unless things change drastically, they will have another terrible season. I have to scratch my head and think, 'why?' Is it the coach? Lack of players? Why is it that some teams are bad for a while and then end up becoming one of the NFL's power houses? Maybe when Brady Quinn learns enough of the offense to start playing, things might improve. However, with the way the O-line was letting Frye get killed all day, I doubt Quinn will want to start. In Frye's defense, there were alot of dropped passes and fumbles that weren't his fault. It was a pretty bad display over all. A poor team effort. I'll give them a few more games before I swith over to the Colts bandwagon.

What a Weird Game

I went to the OSU game yesterday. It was pretty fun, but the first half was pretty painful to watch. The OSU defense was stellar, allowing Akron to gain only 71 yards of total offense. 30 of those yards were allowed in the fourth quarter after the first string defense was taken out. The only points allowed were from a safety and the final score was 20-2. One thing that Akron has going for them is one hell of a punter. He pinned OSU deep on several occasions and could really kick the shit out of the ball. OSU's offense looked terrible in the first half and only managed a field goal. Yup, at the half, the score was OSU 3, Akron 2. Boeckman threw two interceptions and OSU gave up two fumbles. Even with those mistakes, Akron's defense really came to play. I think they just wore down in the second half and OSU's running game finally took over the game. The band looked and sounded great. I was really impressed. Sure they always look and sound good, but you know how it is: "The band was always better when I was a member...."

On a side note, M*ch*g*n got their asses handed to them by Oregon. It was really embarrasing for The Blue and their fans. There were anti-Carr posters in the crowd at the game and cheers from the crowd when Henne (the QB) got hurt and was replaced by his backup. Wow. They went from #5 in the nation to an unranked joke. All of their offensive starters, that would have been drafted, returned for one more chance at the National and Big Ten Titles and a chance to beat OSU. Now it is doubtful that they will end up with a winning record. An 0-2 start is unheard of up in Ann Arbor. I almost feel a little bad for them. Almost. Still, if they can get their defense in order, they could be a threat down the road.

Weekend Fun

I have a busy Saturday planned. I am getting up at 7:00 so that I can meet up with my marching band buddy, James, for a trip to campus for the OSU vs Akron football game. I wasn't going to go to a game this season, with the ticket prices to high, but when the words 'free ticket' came into the conversation, I couldn't resist. James and his wife get season tickets (they are grad students) and she is preggers and doesn't want to wear herself out at the not-so-exciting games. Good news for me! Sure, I would rather have tickets to a Big Ten game, but I am not going to be pickey. Not only is James hooking me up with a free ticket, he has some friends that are having a tailgate party before the game. Free eats and drinks too! I guess the tailgaters are from the percussion section after I left the band. James also has contacts in the band still, so we are going to be sitting on the floor for Skull Session. That is the band's warm up session over at St John's arena. Usually, the arena is packed and you have to get there super early for a seat or sit up in the nose bleed section. Since we have floor seats, we can mosey in late and enjoy good seats. James also wants to hit Rally at Riverwatch or Hineygate (or both). Then the game, of course, followed by a party at our house for Jessica's birthday. Nothing big, but I will need to get the food ready and clean up some. It should be pretty fun. I just wish that fun activities like this would spread out a bit. I would rather have the game one weekend and then the party another weekend, but this is how things worked out. I will just need to recover for a while Sunday.

Go Bucks!

I suck

I have been trying to improve my NCAA 08 football skills. I haven't had so much luck in the matter. I don't think that I am coordinated enough. I can run some plays really well and I can beat the crap out of the AI opponent in the Dynasty mode, but when it comes to playing live opponents, I keep getting beat. Not always badly, but my record is something like, 7 and 16 or worse. The problem is, I play anyone that challenges me, no matter what their ranking may be. Some of the people I play obviously play alot and have put in the time it takes to know all of their teams plays, strengths and weaknesses. I don't have that time. I know a few playes that work well most of the time, but I have a hard time adjusting my game when necessary. One of the things I am starting to play with more are the audibles on offense and putting men into motion. I think that once I get used to calling motion and checking to hot routes, I will starting seeing more results. I tried playing around with these options in a game last night and got my asshanded to me. I am not fast enough on the uptake to make adjustments. Another problem I have is that I am not really quick with checking down to additional reveivers. I tend to focus on one receiver instead of being able to see all of them and then hitting the right button to pass to the open guy. I would see the A receiver open and hit X. Interception. I think I just need to play around with the game some more and get better at my reads and progressions. I hope to someday get my record to .500.

Bad Beat Weekend

In two ways:

First, I had a card game Friday. I came in third, but the bad beat came down to the last two players in the last hand. Mike had Q-2 and josh had 10-2. the flop came up Q-2-6, so Mike had two pair and Josh was crushed with only having bottom pair (QQ-22 vs 22). The only way for Josh to win the hand and the game, was for the turn and river cards to both be 10's. Basically, a 1% chance of winning. The turn came up a 10. Now he had a 4% chance to win. Low and behold, the river was another 10. Wow. I have never seen anything like that happen before.

Now, the bigger beat: M*ch*g*n getting beat at home by Div 1-AA Appalachian State. WHAT!!!???!!! On one hand, it is always good to see M*ch*g*n lose and even better to see them humiliated by a team they should have dominated, but this is really a bad blow to the Big Ten conference. One of its power house teams was beat by a team that isn't even programmed into the NCAA 08 football game. Granted, App State is the two time defending champion of the Div 1 AA conference, but they shouldn't be able to beat any Div 1 school, right? I can imagine all of the tears and cries for Lloyd Carr's head on a pike up in Ann Arbor. What does this mean for the rest of the Big Ten? Well, it is possible for the Wolverweenies to regroup and come back strong, but if their defense doesn't gel, the Big Ten race could come down to OSU and Wisconsin. Fine by me. Still, I always like to see UM do well so that The Big Game at the end of the season has more meaning.

As a side note, OSU won their opener against Youngstown State by alot. they didn't look too fancy, but there were few mistakes on either side of the ball and the new QB, Boeckman didn't make any bad mistakes and looked good on several plays. The running game could have been better, considering they were going aginst a Div 1 AA team themselves. Still, it was a starting point for the season and the next few games should be smooth sailing. Hopfully, the Buckeyes will take away a lesson from UM's bad beat: just because you should win a game, doesn't mean you will.

So Much To Post

I have a few things I want to post about today, but will try to keep things simple. I will get into this past weekend of football later in the week.

Last night, Jessica and I went to see Rush, my all time favorite band. It was great! I was a little concerned with getting there on time since Jessica had to work and then I-71 was backed up pretty badly, but we got there in time for me to use the little boys' room and get to our seats. We had pretty good seats, but were farther back than I would have liked. We were in section F, row EE, which was center stage at least. I could see the guys really well and had a full view of the stage, so I was happy. Here is what they played:

Limelight
Digital Man
Entre Nous
Mission
Freewill
The Main Monkey Business
The Larger Bowl
Secret Touch
Circumstances
Between The Wheels
Dreamline

INTERMISSION

Far Cry
Workin Them Angels
Armor and Sword
Spindrift
The Way The Wind Blows
Subdivisions
Natural Science
Witch Hunt
MalNar
Drum Solo
Hope
Summertime Blues
The Spirit of Radio
Tom Sawyer

ENCORE

One Little Victory
A Passage to Bangkok
YYZ

I enjoyed all of it except for the cover song, Summertime Blues. I think that a group with such a huge library of great songs shouldn't play covers, even if it is one of their favorite songs. they could have slipped in 2112 Overature in its place and I would have been WAY happier. They also played a few of their "B side" songs, like Digital Man and Witch Hunt. I also thought the encore could have been stronger than One Little Victory and A Passage to Bangkok. YYZ was great though. I was suprised that they skipped Closer to the Heart and Working Man, which are always crowd favorites. Still, they hit Spirit of Radio, Tom Sawyer, and played most of the songs off of the new album. I tried to call Rinnert during the drum solo, he answered, but I don't think that he could understand anything I said over the sound. He hung up. My guess is that the live concer doesn't translate well over the phone. Still I hope I made him jealous. The solo was GREAT by the way. Over five minutes easy. My highpoints were when they played Natural Science (my favorite song by Rush), Dreamline (which had a spectacular laser show to the music), and Far Cry (which had pyrotechnics). I hooted and hollared almost the entire show. I think I may be getting old since this mellow, new sound of Snakes and Arrows is growing on me. I listen to the album more than anything else on my Ipod at the moment.

The boys are showing that they are still having fun with an intro of animated snakes and arrows. Alex Lifeson wakes up acting scared and says, "Wake up honey. I just had the strangest dream... there were snakes everywhere, and arrows." Neil Peart gets up next to Alex, they look at each other and scream. Then, Geddy Lee is dreaming of a Scottish man, played by Geddy Lee, yelling and belittling him (Geddy). It was funny. Then, the South Park boys are dressed up as "Lil' Rush" (Cartmen was Geddy) and start playing Tom Sawyer. Cartman sings the lyrics something lite, "The real Tom Saywer built a boat and went down the river with a black guy..." Stan tells him to, "Shut up fat ass, thise aren't the right words. That's huck Finn you dumb ass. Let's try it again, but do it right this time. One, Two, three...." and, of course real Rush kicks into tom Sawyer. It was pretty funny. Holy cow what a great show!

Go Bucks....wait. I mean Go Browns!

It's been a while since I have felt optimistic about an upcoming NFL season. That's because I am a Browns fan. Since they were ripped out of Cleveland, moved to Baltimore, and then reinstated in Cleveland as an expansion team, the Browns have been dismal. Bad season after bad season made me hang my head and hide my Browns gear deep in the back of my closet. This year, the preseason games have given me a little bit of hope. With a 3-1 preseason record, the Browns are actually looking pretty good. I know, I know: preseason games don't mean squadoosh, but anything positive can make a Browns fan feel good these days. I have joked about becoming a band wagon Colts fan, but if you know how dedicated a Browns fan is, you know that was just a BS statement. After beating the Chicago Bears 19-9 last night, and looking pretty good by the way, I am thinking that maybe we could have a .500 season. Dare I dream about a 9-7 season? Perhaps a Wild Card birth in the playoffs? I dare! The Browns' defense stone walled the Bears first team squad more than once and the offense moved the ball pretty well. Really, special teams was the key to last night's victory. There were several punts that the Browns' kicker put inside the 10 yard line and the punt returner was repsonsible for a touchdown, returning a punt 70 yards for the score. I didn't see the whole game, but what I did see made me feel like this year may be the year of positive change for the Browns.