Want a Good Read?

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Sorry, it's been a while.

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

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

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

Mona's Butt

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

Shopping Spree and Diet Update

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

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

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

general news

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

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

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

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

Great BCS games

Four BCS games, four good games.

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

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

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

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

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

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

It's on!

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

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

Alias

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

Shows I'd watch

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

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

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

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

Battlestar Galactica 2. whoa

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

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

So, I fanally saw Serenity. Twice.

***spoiler alert***

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

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

Guess Who

By popular demand, here is a picture of Alydia.

Go Buck!....Basketball???

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

Places I want to go

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

I hate kickers

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

random thoughts

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

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

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

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

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

mmmmm....boobies

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

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

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

Some things that I've always wondered about:

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

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

Questions Answered Today

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

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

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

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

Highschool Pictures

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

Media Whores

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

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

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