Did I pick up the wrong version of the CD? I only ask because it's half english and half espanole so far. Se hable espanole un poco, but it's not my strong suit. I checked the CD case and it didn't say anything about being a Spanish version, but I am a bit dense, so I may have missed something. So far, I am a bit torn on my opinion of the CD. When they rock out in what is obviosly a song, I like it, but when the fo 4 or 5 minutes with just wierd filler stuff, I start to lose interest. Right now it sounds like birds chirping. I can go outside to hear that. And now it sounds like a psychodelic acid trip with a bird chirping in the background. Now, trumpets. It definately has a Pink Floyd vibe to it, cerca Dark Side of the Moon. Well, the jury is still out on this one.....I just wanted to give them a try before seeing them open for System of a Down tomorrow. It's going to ROCK.
So, I'm offically working from home now. I brought my computer home and got it all hooked up. They asked me, "do you feel comfortable setting your system up by yourself?" I answered, "Do you mean 'Do I feel comfortable plugging an ethernet cable in the back of my computer? Em, I think so." It's amazing how little some people know about computers though. Thankfully I am not one of those people. It was either doing it myself or waiting until Monday when someone could come do it for me. I'll do it myself thank you very much. I couldn't bare another weekend at that place. Now I have a good sterio to listen to and a TV to watch. "Wow, that would be great to put six packs of Be..uh soda in." A Tommy Boy reference
indicating that I have access to adult beverages if I get too overwhelmed. Just kidding. I won't drink on the job. (much) :-)
The Buckeyes have Iowa at home today. It should be a good game, but it has lost some of it's national importance since both teams have lost a game. Iowa Lost to Iowa State and Ohio State lost to Texas. Before that, both teams were ranked in the to ten. This is still a match up between two top 25 teams, but the chances that either of them will play for the National Title has decreased greatly. For Ohio state, they will need to win out and Texas will have to lose (probably). Thanks to the BCS, Ohio State could leap frog Texas, even if the Longhorns win out. Their strenght of schedule is not as good and Ohio State's. It is, of course, possible that if USC loses a game, Ohio State and Texas could be matched up in the Rose Bowl. I would love that. Back to Iowa, they would need to win out and alot of teams would have to lose for the Hawkeyes to have a chance to go to the Rose Bowl. Well, it should be a good game today. It have been raining, so hopfully Ohio State can get their running game going. If not, it could be a long game with bad results. Hopfully, Ted Ginn Jr. will be able to break into open field today. He's been relatively quiet all year.
GO BUCKS!
Saturday, September 24, 2005
Friday, September 23, 2005
Should I forgive Best Buy?
I haven't shopped at Best Buy for over a year. Why? They have bad customer service, they pissed me off, and I hold grudges. I won't get into it much except to say that they wouldn't replace my cell phone when the battery stopped holding a charge just because the screen was cracked. Apparently a cracked screen negates their replacement plan. Never buy those by the way. They are a rip off. The usually only last a year or so and the manufacturers warranty will work just as well. The only thing a replacement plan will do is pad the bottom line for the retailer. Anyway, I need to get some computer related stuff. I could go to CompUSA or Circuit City, but they are a bit out of my way now that I'm in Hilliard. Plus, Best Buy was my all time favorite store until the above mentioned phone incident. they have everything that you would need in the line of electronics. Plus, movies, CDs, books, Xbox games, the list goes on forever.
What I need is a hub so that I can have RR internet on my three computers. I also need an ethernet cable. While I'm there I was thinking about buying a DVD player for the basement, a home theatre speaker system for the living hoom, a CD, and an Xbox game. Could I go to Target and get these things? Maybe. The selection would be smaller and I may not be able to get exactly what I need. Actually, banning Best Buy for live may be a good thing for me. I need two things from the store and look, I add four more items.
I got angry yesterday. I wrote out a long post about the upcoming game and some other stuff. I had links going to Woody, and Bryan. Then, when I came back from lunch my computer was off and I lost the whole post (I was in the middle of it). Pissed me off. I'll try to rewrite it again tonight or tomorrow. I have too much to do today.
What I need is a hub so that I can have RR internet on my three computers. I also need an ethernet cable. While I'm there I was thinking about buying a DVD player for the basement, a home theatre speaker system for the living hoom, a CD, and an Xbox game. Could I go to Target and get these things? Maybe. The selection would be smaller and I may not be able to get exactly what I need. Actually, banning Best Buy for live may be a good thing for me. I need two things from the store and look, I add four more items.
I got angry yesterday. I wrote out a long post about the upcoming game and some other stuff. I had links going to Woody, and Bryan. Then, when I came back from lunch my computer was off and I lost the whole post (I was in the middle of it). Pissed me off. I'll try to rewrite it again tonight or tomorrow. I have too much to do today.
Monday, September 19, 2005
Sports in general
Yes, two blogs in one day. What can I say? I feel productive today.
Well, the Buckeyes rebounded and won their game this weekend over Sand Diego State. I believe the final score was 27-6. Really it was a bit of a dull game. It started off a bit scary with SDSU ripping off an 80 yard TD pass on their first play. They then held off Ohio State for a while before the offense started moving. Honestly, the offense is looking a lot like they did last year, and that is not too good. There were more dropped passes and fumbles. The game would have been a lot closer if SDSU hadn't turned the ball over on their own one yard line. The Bucks were able to punch it in for a touchdown. The TV guys kept going on about how Troy Smith was doing so well and talked about the yardage he was gaining, but to be honest, he didn't really impress me too much. Zwick came in on the last series and threw 6 of 7, or something like that, while they were running out the clock. I really hope that the guy that replaces the Smith/Zwick QB pair in a few years is better than the both of them. The running game looked pretty good with Pittman hitting some holes. The thing that bothers me is that every other team to play San Diego State this year has scored 40+. I know Tressel doesn't run up the scores on other teams, but it would have been nice to see that the Buckeyes could score at will against a weaker opponent. It may be that they were a bit flat after the close loss to Texas, but with Iowa coming to town this weekend, they can't afford to be flat. Iowa is going to bring their A game this Saturday. I have to admit, after the last two games, I am a bit worried about Iowa. Yes, they lost badly to Iowa State, but playing a Big Ten team always seem to fire up the players. Hopefully, they will turn it around and put up big offensive numbers to match the defense.
The Browns won their first game this year. I may not have to keep my Browns shirt in the closet after all. They got destroyed by Cincinnati last week. This weekend they played Green Bay and were able to win by two. It is a bit scary how badly the Cleveland defense can play at times. I didn't see the whole game, but the Browns went up by 9 in the waining moments of the fourth quarter and still only won by two. I hate to say it, but Bralen Edwards showed that he is the real deal by catching a long TD pass. It was actually a rather short pass, but his speed was too much for the Packers DBs to catch. If the defense could stop teams from scoring, they may actually have a decent year.
The Columbus hockey team (The Bluejackets) had a preseason game last night. I think they lost 2 to 3. I am not a huge hockey fan, but I do enjoy going to a game every once in a while. Nationwide sell thier employees discounted tickets since they own the arena. It was a bumer that they had that hold out all last year. I am more of a hockey fan then I am a baseball fan, so I usually follow the season and watch the playoff games. I am a Bluejackets fan first, but also like the Red Wings and Penguins. I don't follow the Pens as much since they got rid of my favoriet player, Yamir Jager. Well, hopefully, the Jackets will win enough to compete for a playoff spot this year.
Cleveland in looking well in the playoff picture in baseball. (I'm mildly interested, remember?) They are 1 1/2 game up on the Yankees for the wild card and 3 1/2 behind the White Sox (?) to win their division. They have been on a bit of a win streak lately. I may actually pay attention to the baseball playoffs if the Tribe makes it in. It seems like in the past few years, they have been finding ways to screw it up.
Well, the Buckeyes rebounded and won their game this weekend over Sand Diego State. I believe the final score was 27-6. Really it was a bit of a dull game. It started off a bit scary with SDSU ripping off an 80 yard TD pass on their first play. They then held off Ohio State for a while before the offense started moving. Honestly, the offense is looking a lot like they did last year, and that is not too good. There were more dropped passes and fumbles. The game would have been a lot closer if SDSU hadn't turned the ball over on their own one yard line. The Bucks were able to punch it in for a touchdown. The TV guys kept going on about how Troy Smith was doing so well and talked about the yardage he was gaining, but to be honest, he didn't really impress me too much. Zwick came in on the last series and threw 6 of 7, or something like that, while they were running out the clock. I really hope that the guy that replaces the Smith/Zwick QB pair in a few years is better than the both of them. The running game looked pretty good with Pittman hitting some holes. The thing that bothers me is that every other team to play San Diego State this year has scored 40+. I know Tressel doesn't run up the scores on other teams, but it would have been nice to see that the Buckeyes could score at will against a weaker opponent. It may be that they were a bit flat after the close loss to Texas, but with Iowa coming to town this weekend, they can't afford to be flat. Iowa is going to bring their A game this Saturday. I have to admit, after the last two games, I am a bit worried about Iowa. Yes, they lost badly to Iowa State, but playing a Big Ten team always seem to fire up the players. Hopefully, they will turn it around and put up big offensive numbers to match the defense.
The Browns won their first game this year. I may not have to keep my Browns shirt in the closet after all. They got destroyed by Cincinnati last week. This weekend they played Green Bay and were able to win by two. It is a bit scary how badly the Cleveland defense can play at times. I didn't see the whole game, but the Browns went up by 9 in the waining moments of the fourth quarter and still only won by two. I hate to say it, but Bralen Edwards showed that he is the real deal by catching a long TD pass. It was actually a rather short pass, but his speed was too much for the Packers DBs to catch. If the defense could stop teams from scoring, they may actually have a decent year.
The Columbus hockey team (The Bluejackets) had a preseason game last night. I think they lost 2 to 3. I am not a huge hockey fan, but I do enjoy going to a game every once in a while. Nationwide sell thier employees discounted tickets since they own the arena. It was a bumer that they had that hold out all last year. I am more of a hockey fan then I am a baseball fan, so I usually follow the season and watch the playoff games. I am a Bluejackets fan first, but also like the Red Wings and Penguins. I don't follow the Pens as much since they got rid of my favoriet player, Yamir Jager. Well, hopefully, the Jackets will win enough to compete for a playoff spot this year.
Cleveland in looking well in the playoff picture in baseball. (I'm mildly interested, remember?) They are 1 1/2 game up on the Yankees for the wild card and 3 1/2 behind the White Sox (?) to win their division. They have been on a bit of a win streak lately. I may actually pay attention to the baseball playoffs if the Tribe makes it in. It seems like in the past few years, they have been finding ways to screw it up.
Harry Potter preview
I was watching TV last night and while flipping to Lord of the Rings :Two Towers, I caught a new preview for the new Harry Potter movie. It looks really good. I probably won't like The Goblet of Fire movie as much as I've liked the other movies because I am reading the book right now. For the past movies, I had either seen the movie before reading the book or read the book long enough before seing the movie that I forgot details. Since I am reading (re-reading, actually) The Goblet of Fire so close to the release date of the film, the details will be fresh in my mind. Already I have a few complaints, mostly about the casting:
Made Eye Moody - In the movie, doesn't look how I picture him from the book. He is supposed to be scarred and gnarled, but the actor looks a little too cartoon character. Plus he is supposed to have a magical eye that can move 360 degrees in any direction, but in the movie it acts like a normal eye.
Fluer - She is supposed to be half Veela (a magical siren type woman who is supposed to be irresistible to men. The actress is pretty, but not as pretty as she should be (according to the discription in the book)
Viktor Krum - In the book, he is supposed to be surley and brooding. In the previews, he looks as thought he could be a stand in on the OC. Too pretty.
Madame Maxime - She is supposed to be big like Hagrid. In the preview, she is tall, but skinny. Not quite what I imagined.
It is disappointing that, after nailing the casting on so many of the charactors, they seem to be slipping on how they cast new charactors. Harry, Ron, Hermione, Hagrid, the Weasley's, Snape, Malfoy, everyone looks like the book discribes them. Now, I'm not saying that the casting is terrible, it's just not as dead on as it has been in the past. Another thing that bothers me is that the layout of Hogwarts is different in the different movies. The first two movies kept the layout rather similar, but the third movie was very different. The biggest difference that I noticed was that Hagrids house moves from right next to the castle to the bottom of a big hill. I know it's due to the new director and all that, but I would think that they'd try to keep the background the same from movie to movie.
Anyway, I am excited about the movie coming out in November. I will enjoy it, but will probably be disapointed in some aspects of the film.
Made Eye Moody - In the movie, doesn't look how I picture him from the book. He is supposed to be scarred and gnarled, but the actor looks a little too cartoon character. Plus he is supposed to have a magical eye that can move 360 degrees in any direction, but in the movie it acts like a normal eye.
Fluer - She is supposed to be half Veela (a magical siren type woman who is supposed to be irresistible to men. The actress is pretty, but not as pretty as she should be (according to the discription in the book)
Viktor Krum - In the book, he is supposed to be surley and brooding. In the previews, he looks as thought he could be a stand in on the OC. Too pretty.
Madame Maxime - She is supposed to be big like Hagrid. In the preview, she is tall, but skinny. Not quite what I imagined.
It is disappointing that, after nailing the casting on so many of the charactors, they seem to be slipping on how they cast new charactors. Harry, Ron, Hermione, Hagrid, the Weasley's, Snape, Malfoy, everyone looks like the book discribes them. Now, I'm not saying that the casting is terrible, it's just not as dead on as it has been in the past. Another thing that bothers me is that the layout of Hogwarts is different in the different movies. The first two movies kept the layout rather similar, but the third movie was very different. The biggest difference that I noticed was that Hagrids house moves from right next to the castle to the bottom of a big hill. I know it's due to the new director and all that, but I would think that they'd try to keep the background the same from movie to movie.
Anyway, I am excited about the movie coming out in November. I will enjoy it, but will probably be disapointed in some aspects of the film.
Friday, September 16, 2005
Help!
Well, it's Friday. I have this weekend off, so I get to try to catch up on some sleep. I say try because it greatly depends on if Gabriel and Alydia let me. I really need to try to get the garage organized too. It'd be nice to park in the garage come winter time.
Bowling went well last night. It was the first wee of our new season. I usually bowl out of my mind on the first week and set an average that I can't possibly hope to keep. I think I had a 215 one year. I started off pretty well with a 193 and 198, but then tanked out with a 161. I can keep a 183 average. I need to get some new shoes. My current bowling shoes are starting to fall apart a bit. We won't know if we won any of the games last night because our handicaps haven't been figured out yet. What a handicap does is level the playing field a bit. It is based off of 90% of the difference between your average and 210 pins. For example, my average is 183, so you'd subtract 183 from 210 (27) and then take 90% of that number. So, my handicap is 24. You then add your handicap to the total pins you bowl each game. It is supposed to make things more competative so that a team that has a bunch of 130 bowlers can keep up with 190 bowlers. Make sense?
You may be wondering why I titled today's post as 'Help!' Well, today is Jessica's birthday and I have no idea what to get her. I thought about some earrings, but if I keep getting her jewelry, she will start expecting it. Any ideas? I think I may just take her out shopping or something. That way she can get what she wants. Unfortunately, she and I a both people that buy whatever we need or want whenever we get the chance. It makes it hard to give people gift ideas. I'll make her dinner and get her a card and flowers too. Is that enough? I already made her a cake. I just like going overboard sometimes, I guess.
Bowling went well last night. It was the first wee of our new season. I usually bowl out of my mind on the first week and set an average that I can't possibly hope to keep. I think I had a 215 one year. I started off pretty well with a 193 and 198, but then tanked out with a 161. I can keep a 183 average. I need to get some new shoes. My current bowling shoes are starting to fall apart a bit. We won't know if we won any of the games last night because our handicaps haven't been figured out yet. What a handicap does is level the playing field a bit. It is based off of 90% of the difference between your average and 210 pins. For example, my average is 183, so you'd subtract 183 from 210 (27) and then take 90% of that number. So, my handicap is 24. You then add your handicap to the total pins you bowl each game. It is supposed to make things more competative so that a team that has a bunch of 130 bowlers can keep up with 190 bowlers. Make sense?
You may be wondering why I titled today's post as 'Help!' Well, today is Jessica's birthday and I have no idea what to get her. I thought about some earrings, but if I keep getting her jewelry, she will start expecting it. Any ideas? I think I may just take her out shopping or something. That way she can get what she wants. Unfortunately, she and I a both people that buy whatever we need or want whenever we get the chance. It makes it hard to give people gift ideas. I'll make her dinner and get her a card and flowers too. Is that enough? I already made her a cake. I just like going overboard sometimes, I guess.
Thursday, September 15, 2005
Bowling night
My bowling league starts tonight. Now, before you go thinking that bowling leagues are only for overweight drunks that just want to get away from thier families, remember, there are some skinny guys in my league too. It is nice to have a night to get out and hang out with the guys. It is a bit of a bummer because the kids are usually in bed before I get home, but it is a great way to blow off some steam. Our team name is 'Big Knockers'. You may think that it is a reference to large breasts (which it is a little bit) but in reality, it is based off of Major League (the movie) when Cerano crushes the ball and the manager says 'big knock baby, big knock!' We consider a strike to be a 'big knock'.
A few bummers about this year though, my buddy Jon has quit the team. He is a great guy and I really like hanging out with him. He's in a relationship with a woman that like him to stay at home a lot. We think that she's a bit controling, but the bottom line is that he's happy with her.
The second bummer is now I live 20 minutes away from the bowling lanes instead of the five minutes away I was before our move. That means less drinking. Or, after much drinking, going to Roosters for a late night snack and sobering up. That means being out super late though. It's ok to do that sometimes, but too many times I feel bad for leaving Jessica home alone with the kids. And I miss them too. It won't be as bad after I start working from home because I will be able to see everyone throughout the day.
One of the fun aspects is that Jesse, a guy on my team, and I always put a $20 bet on who will have the highest average by the end of the year. I usually win, but it adds a little spice to the mix. We both love to trash talk with each other.
We also have a small poker game with every game we bowl. Basically, everyone puts in a dollar and for every strike or spare you get, you draw a card. Split pick ups and rolling a turkey (three strikes in a row) earn you a bonus card and if you roll a gutter ball on your first ball of the frame, you add a dollar to the pot. At the end of the game, whomever has the best poker hand wins the pot. It adds a bit more fun to the night.
This year my goal is to bring my average up to 190. I've been around 175-180 for the past few years, but I think I'll be able to get up to 190. Some guys in my league average over 200 per game. There have been a couple guys that have rolled perfect games too. There are some crappy bowlers too. A couple guys averaged under 100. My biggest problem is consistancy. I can roll a perfect ball, but not every time. It's frustrating.
In Buckeye News, apparently, Troy Smith is going to be the all time starting QB for the Buckeyes. Although I think it is good to have one guy all the time, I don't think that Zwick got a fair shake. He turned the ball over less that Smith and had a lot of his passes dropped. Well, hopfully things will get back on track this weekend against San Diego State. In all reality, the Buckeyes should crush them. I just hope that they figure out how to 1. get the ball in the end zone and 2. get the ball to Ted Ginn. He didn't touch the ball nearly enough against Texas.
In more personal news, I am leaving work early today to go have a chat with Noah's teacher. He hasn't done anything wrong (that we know of) we just want to meet with the guy to ask some questions and try to get some help from him. Noah was not a very good studant last year. He didn't do half of his work and his grade cards were crap. So, we held him back in the fifth grade. There is no way that he'd be able to keep up in sixth grade in a better school district. His math skills are severely lacking. We figured that it would be better for him to repeat this year in the new school district rather than moving on and possible failing and having to repeat sixth grade. So, we are just going to chat with the teacher and see what he can do to help us monitor Noah's progress and motivate Noah to work to his potential.
Jessica's birthday is tomorrow. I have no idea what to get her. Maybe I'll just cop out and get her some flowers and a card. Maybe I'll take her out if we can find a sitter. She'll be 30, so I wanted to do something nice. I guess nothing will beat her 27th birthday when I bought her her diamond ring. I would get her a bowling ball drilled for my hand and hith my name on it, but that would just be too obvious.
I've been seeing Serenity commercials on TV. That makes me glad because the producers are thinking that it will be good enough tat they actually want to promote it. Of course, they also promote movies that are crap, but the previews for Serenity look great. I am much looking forward to going to see it.
A few bummers about this year though, my buddy Jon has quit the team. He is a great guy and I really like hanging out with him. He's in a relationship with a woman that like him to stay at home a lot. We think that she's a bit controling, but the bottom line is that he's happy with her.
The second bummer is now I live 20 minutes away from the bowling lanes instead of the five minutes away I was before our move. That means less drinking. Or, after much drinking, going to Roosters for a late night snack and sobering up. That means being out super late though. It's ok to do that sometimes, but too many times I feel bad for leaving Jessica home alone with the kids. And I miss them too. It won't be as bad after I start working from home because I will be able to see everyone throughout the day.
One of the fun aspects is that Jesse, a guy on my team, and I always put a $20 bet on who will have the highest average by the end of the year. I usually win, but it adds a little spice to the mix. We both love to trash talk with each other.
We also have a small poker game with every game we bowl. Basically, everyone puts in a dollar and for every strike or spare you get, you draw a card. Split pick ups and rolling a turkey (three strikes in a row) earn you a bonus card and if you roll a gutter ball on your first ball of the frame, you add a dollar to the pot. At the end of the game, whomever has the best poker hand wins the pot. It adds a bit more fun to the night.
This year my goal is to bring my average up to 190. I've been around 175-180 for the past few years, but I think I'll be able to get up to 190. Some guys in my league average over 200 per game. There have been a couple guys that have rolled perfect games too. There are some crappy bowlers too. A couple guys averaged under 100. My biggest problem is consistancy. I can roll a perfect ball, but not every time. It's frustrating.
In Buckeye News, apparently, Troy Smith is going to be the all time starting QB for the Buckeyes. Although I think it is good to have one guy all the time, I don't think that Zwick got a fair shake. He turned the ball over less that Smith and had a lot of his passes dropped. Well, hopfully things will get back on track this weekend against San Diego State. In all reality, the Buckeyes should crush them. I just hope that they figure out how to 1. get the ball in the end zone and 2. get the ball to Ted Ginn. He didn't touch the ball nearly enough against Texas.
In more personal news, I am leaving work early today to go have a chat with Noah's teacher. He hasn't done anything wrong (that we know of) we just want to meet with the guy to ask some questions and try to get some help from him. Noah was not a very good studant last year. He didn't do half of his work and his grade cards were crap. So, we held him back in the fifth grade. There is no way that he'd be able to keep up in sixth grade in a better school district. His math skills are severely lacking. We figured that it would be better for him to repeat this year in the new school district rather than moving on and possible failing and having to repeat sixth grade. So, we are just going to chat with the teacher and see what he can do to help us monitor Noah's progress and motivate Noah to work to his potential.
Jessica's birthday is tomorrow. I have no idea what to get her. Maybe I'll just cop out and get her some flowers and a card. Maybe I'll take her out if we can find a sitter. She'll be 30, so I wanted to do something nice. I guess nothing will beat her 27th birthday when I bought her her diamond ring. I would get her a bowling ball drilled for my hand and hith my name on it, but that would just be too obvious.
I've been seeing Serenity commercials on TV. That makes me glad because the producers are thinking that it will be good enough tat they actually want to promote it. Of course, they also promote movies that are crap, but the previews for Serenity look great. I am much looking forward to going to see it.
Monday, September 12, 2005
I'm ok now....
I'm better after fuming for a few days over the OSU loss to Texas. It was a bullshit loss, but we've got more games in front of the Bucks to look forward to. The boy in Scarlet and Grey just need to win the Big Ten Title so that they can get into a BCS game. I think it will be possible to win out the rest of the season. The othe Big Ten teams that OSU will play have some definate chinks in their armor. That's all I have to say about that.
So, the house is coming together a little bit more. It's so hard to get things unpacked when Jessica an I have both work. It's near impossible to do anything while watching two kids all day. I'm starting with my office in the basement now. My parents got me a desk for when I start working from home. I would be working from home by now, but they want me to train some people on how to do my job. So, I need to put the desk together and then start decorating. We also need to go through everything and figure out where to put stuff. The kitchen and out bedrooms are mostly finished now, but the garageis still full of boxes. That will be my next project. We are getting some stuff unpacked at least. My drive way looks like a grave yard for boxes. I need to figure out what to do with them all. Probably try to find somewhere to recycle them.
So, the house is coming together a little bit more. It's so hard to get things unpacked when Jessica an I have both work. It's near impossible to do anything while watching two kids all day. I'm starting with my office in the basement now. My parents got me a desk for when I start working from home. I would be working from home by now, but they want me to train some people on how to do my job. So, I need to put the desk together and then start decorating. We also need to go through everything and figure out where to put stuff. The kitchen and out bedrooms are mostly finished now, but the garageis still full of boxes. That will be my next project. We are getting some stuff unpacked at least. My drive way looks like a grave yard for boxes. I need to figure out what to do with them all. Probably try to find somewhere to recycle them.
Sunday, September 11, 2005
Texas did not beat Ohio State........
Ohio State lost the game. That is the only way I can put it. Did Vince Young dominate the Buckeye defense? No. They all but shut down the Texas QB. The first two series of the game, I was worried since he seemed to drive the Texas offense down the field at will. But then, the linebackers of OSU shut his ass down. So why did OSU lose the game? In my opinion, one bad call by the officials and bad offensive play calling. The bad call: the game winning TD. The receiver was clearly bobbling the ball as he was going down and you can see the ball bouncing away from him at the end of the play. Reply just couldn't determine that he dropped it for sure because of the bad camera angles. In my opinion, it was NOT a TD. Now, I am a huge Tressel fan. However, I am tired of his conservative play calling in big games. He's starting to look like Cooper back in tha day. Run, Run, Run, Punt. Ohio State has one great receiver in Santonio Holmes and the fasted guy on the field with Ted Ginn. Line them up, run them both deep, and throw to whichever one has single coverage. They did it once to Holmes for a TD. Also, it drove me nuts how he kept switching QB all game. If you want Zwick to play, let him play. If you want Smith to play, let him play. when Zwick was pulled after two sets of downs, I was angry. He had one, maybe two passes dropped causing that fourth down situations. NOT HIS FAULT! Then bring Smith in. Run, run, run....eventually, Texas is going to figure that out. When you add a missed field goal (caused by a 5 yard loss on the previous play) and a dropped TD pass, you give the game away. You can say that Texas was giving the game away with it's turnovers, but those were caused by spectacular defensive plays (mostly by Hawk). In my opinion, Hawk was the OSU player of the game. He had more game changing plays that the entire offense put together. Come on, when Texas gives the ball away three times on their end of the field and you can only get field goals?!?!? Pittman ran well, and both QBs did OK, but neither one of them were all too great. That game was SO aggrevating to watch. I'm done with it now. Now we just need to look at winning the Big Ten title. The only hopes that Ohio state has now of winning the National Title is by winning out and hoping that Texas stumbles somewhere. Of course, since Michigan and Iowa both lost, that means that the OSU strenght of schedule factor is going to decrease. I'm through with it now.
Friday, September 09, 2005
It's Friday!!
I am amazed. I am actually mildly interested in baseball. I rarely watch a game, I barely pay attention to the highlights on Sports Center, but right now, I am just a little bit interested in MLB. Not enough to go into a whole post about it, but I have some interest. The Indians (the only team I like at all aside from the Cubs) are in the lead for the wild card to get into the playoffs. They are 1/2 game ahead of the Yankees (a team I don't like). I don't like baseball because the season is so damn long (over a hundred games a season). A team can lose 60 games and still be in the playoff race. Plus, there are so many player trades every season, it's impossible to know a team roster from one game to the next. But anyway, I am slightly interested because the Indians are still in the playoff hunt over the Yankees. That's all.
Cook out plans are for the Penn State game this year. The past few have been Wisconsin game cook outs, but the Bucks don't play the Badgers this year. Too bad too. They didn't look too good in their season opener against Bowling Green allowing 42 points in thier 56-42 victory. Anyway, this year we chose October 8th and the game being played in Happy Valley. Hopfully, the Buckeyes will be able to make it the not-so-Happy Valley this year. Penn State has been down the past few seasons, but there is talk that the Nittony Lions may be better this year. We shall see. Personally, I think that Joe-Pa needs to step down. He is a legacy at Penn State and in college football, true. However, he is getting up in the years. No one in their right mind will fire him, but someone needs to have a private talk with him and tell him that it's time to hang up the whistle. Woody Hayes is an Ohio State legend, but his time came too. It's just the way of things. Anyway, the cookout. The game starts at 7:00 or 7:45 pm so I'm figuring that I'll spark up the grill around 6:00. We'll have tons of food and drink, as usual. I'll send an email out to everyone later with directions and more specific information. Yes, Bryan, I wil get Long Island Iced Tea fixin's. You'd just better not have to crash on by couch again. We'll have the usual cook out foods, brats, burgers, and chicken of sort. This year, we will actually have enough room for people to sit comfortably. The new basement isn't as big as the old one, but the living room is bigger and out dex kicks ass. It should be a good time. Amy, if you and Johnny make it, sorry that you will not be able to partake in the alcoholic libations, but we'll have plenty of grub to satisfy your preggers cravings. Out of town people may want to try and find someone to stay with since it is a late game. We can probably handle a few people, but that's all.
I added a picture of a Lego Stadium that someone built. It's pretty cool. Not too sure where the picture came from, but hopfully I won't get in trouble for posting it.
Cook out plans are for the Penn State game this year. The past few have been Wisconsin game cook outs, but the Bucks don't play the Badgers this year. Too bad too. They didn't look too good in their season opener against Bowling Green allowing 42 points in thier 56-42 victory. Anyway, this year we chose October 8th and the game being played in Happy Valley. Hopfully, the Buckeyes will be able to make it the not-so-Happy Valley this year. Penn State has been down the past few seasons, but there is talk that the Nittony Lions may be better this year. We shall see. Personally, I think that Joe-Pa needs to step down. He is a legacy at Penn State and in college football, true. However, he is getting up in the years. No one in their right mind will fire him, but someone needs to have a private talk with him and tell him that it's time to hang up the whistle. Woody Hayes is an Ohio State legend, but his time came too. It's just the way of things. Anyway, the cookout. The game starts at 7:00 or 7:45 pm so I'm figuring that I'll spark up the grill around 6:00. We'll have tons of food and drink, as usual. I'll send an email out to everyone later with directions and more specific information. Yes, Bryan, I wil get Long Island Iced Tea fixin's. You'd just better not have to crash on by couch again. We'll have the usual cook out foods, brats, burgers, and chicken of sort. This year, we will actually have enough room for people to sit comfortably. The new basement isn't as big as the old one, but the living room is bigger and out dex kicks ass. It should be a good time. Amy, if you and Johnny make it, sorry that you will not be able to partake in the alcoholic libations, but we'll have plenty of grub to satisfy your preggers cravings. Out of town people may want to try and find someone to stay with since it is a late game. We can probably handle a few people, but that's all.
I added a picture of a Lego Stadium that someone built. It's pretty cool. Not too sure where the picture came from, but hopfully I won't get in trouble for posting it.
Thursday, September 08, 2005
Biggest Game Ever?
An article in The Other Paper, a free Columbus news paper, is claiming that OSU vs Texas this Saturday in the 'Shoe is the most anticipated home game in Ohio state (recent) History. I added recent because they only looked at games since 1970. They used a formula (Novelty + National Importance + Players + Coaches + 'Bonus Buzz' = Total Score) to determine the top seven most anticipated games at Ohio Stadium played since 1970. Here are their findings:
1. #4 OSU vs #2 Texas 2005 First match up ever. Loads of National Title implications.
2. #4 OSU vs #3 Oklahoma 1977 OSU 28 Oklahoma 29 First meeting with the Sooners and a top 5 match up
3. #5 OSU vs #4 Michigan 1970 OSU 20 Michigan 9 First time both teams were undefeated
4. #5 OSU vs #6 Penn State 1978 OSU 0 Penn State 19 rare Penn State visit
5. #7 OSU vs #15 Notre Dame 1995 OSU 45 Notre Dame 26 First Irish visit in 60 years
6. #8 OSU vs #1 Iowa 1985 OSU 22 Iowa 13 Iowa was on route to win the National Title
7. #2 OSU vs #12 Michigan 2002 OSU 14 Michigan 9 OSU needed a win to go to Tempe and play for the Title
Personally, I have only witnessed two of these game that I can remember. I may have saw the 1985 game against Iowa, but do not specifically remember. I was only 11. As such, I would change the top games to include the 2002 game vs Michigan (needed a win to play for the title baby!) and the 1995 Notre Dame game. Since I was in school for the Irish game, and a member of the band, I would get way pumped for games like that. OSU vs Texas is getting huge hype. ESPN Game Day is going to be in town and there will be over 1000 reporters in town covering the game. In the past, the most has been 900. ESPN.com has stories all over about the game and ticket prices. I remember once, when Woody visited Bryan and I for the Michigan game, he brought $20 expecting to buy a ticket. Bryan and I laughed a bit and then pointed him to the Union and told him he could watch there. Five minutes into kickoff, there's Woody with a grin on his face. He paid $20 to get into a Michigan vs OSU game! Anyways, these tickets for the Texas game are selling for $2000 a pair. Back to the point. In my memory, this IS the most anticipated game in OSU stadium history. Notre Dame was big. Michigan is always big. But this is the first meeting between two huge football teams. It's not like Texas going to play against the Akron Zips who are just happy that more fans will come to the game to see Texas play. The attitude in Columbus isn't that the Buckeyes will play Texas this weekend, the attitude it that the Buckeyes are going to beat Texas this weekend. The difference between now and when Notre Dame came to town is that both teams have title hopes, both teams have great talent, and both teams have great histories.
Another article in the Other Paper is quoting a Texas sports writer that graduated from OSU. The article states that the sports writer said that Texas needs to win more than Ohio State does. There is a quote stating that "Going into the season, the thinking in Austin was, as long as they don't lose too badly up in Columbus, they'd have a chance in the National Title picture." This has changed now that the other two big opponents that Texas will face, Oklahoma and Texas A&M, have already lost, weakening the strength of schedule aspect of Texas' season. OSU on the other hand still has to face Michigan and Iowa, two highly ranked teams. Ohio State could lose this game early, and still be in the National Title hunt if they win the rest of the games with solid wins over Michigan and Iowa. Personally, I'd rather win them all. I have faith in my boys this year. I also like that quote because it gives you the sense that Texas fans are expecting a loss. Of course that's one guy's opinion and he is an OSU grad, but I like thinking that there is fear in Texas. A night game in the Horseshoe, under the lights with over 100000 crazed fans cheering on the Buckeyes is going to be amazing. I only wish I could be there. I don't have two grand to spare though. Maybe I should get Woody to come with me and see if his magic could work again. Maybe he could get a pair of tickets for $40.
1. #4 OSU vs #2 Texas 2005 First match up ever. Loads of National Title implications.
2. #4 OSU vs #3 Oklahoma 1977 OSU 28 Oklahoma 29 First meeting with the Sooners and a top 5 match up
3. #5 OSU vs #4 Michigan 1970 OSU 20 Michigan 9 First time both teams were undefeated
4. #5 OSU vs #6 Penn State 1978 OSU 0 Penn State 19 rare Penn State visit
5. #7 OSU vs #15 Notre Dame 1995 OSU 45 Notre Dame 26 First Irish visit in 60 years
6. #8 OSU vs #1 Iowa 1985 OSU 22 Iowa 13 Iowa was on route to win the National Title
7. #2 OSU vs #12 Michigan 2002 OSU 14 Michigan 9 OSU needed a win to go to Tempe and play for the Title
Personally, I have only witnessed two of these game that I can remember. I may have saw the 1985 game against Iowa, but do not specifically remember. I was only 11. As such, I would change the top games to include the 2002 game vs Michigan (needed a win to play for the title baby!) and the 1995 Notre Dame game. Since I was in school for the Irish game, and a member of the band, I would get way pumped for games like that. OSU vs Texas is getting huge hype. ESPN Game Day is going to be in town and there will be over 1000 reporters in town covering the game. In the past, the most has been 900. ESPN.com has stories all over about the game and ticket prices. I remember once, when Woody visited Bryan and I for the Michigan game, he brought $20 expecting to buy a ticket. Bryan and I laughed a bit and then pointed him to the Union and told him he could watch there. Five minutes into kickoff, there's Woody with a grin on his face. He paid $20 to get into a Michigan vs OSU game! Anyways, these tickets for the Texas game are selling for $2000 a pair. Back to the point. In my memory, this IS the most anticipated game in OSU stadium history. Notre Dame was big. Michigan is always big. But this is the first meeting between two huge football teams. It's not like Texas going to play against the Akron Zips who are just happy that more fans will come to the game to see Texas play. The attitude in Columbus isn't that the Buckeyes will play Texas this weekend, the attitude it that the Buckeyes are going to beat Texas this weekend. The difference between now and when Notre Dame came to town is that both teams have title hopes, both teams have great talent, and both teams have great histories.
Another article in the Other Paper is quoting a Texas sports writer that graduated from OSU. The article states that the sports writer said that Texas needs to win more than Ohio State does. There is a quote stating that "Going into the season, the thinking in Austin was, as long as they don't lose too badly up in Columbus, they'd have a chance in the National Title picture." This has changed now that the other two big opponents that Texas will face, Oklahoma and Texas A&M, have already lost, weakening the strength of schedule aspect of Texas' season. OSU on the other hand still has to face Michigan and Iowa, two highly ranked teams. Ohio State could lose this game early, and still be in the National Title hunt if they win the rest of the games with solid wins over Michigan and Iowa. Personally, I'd rather win them all. I have faith in my boys this year. I also like that quote because it gives you the sense that Texas fans are expecting a loss. Of course that's one guy's opinion and he is an OSU grad, but I like thinking that there is fear in Texas. A night game in the Horseshoe, under the lights with over 100000 crazed fans cheering on the Buckeyes is going to be amazing. I only wish I could be there. I don't have two grand to spare though. Maybe I should get Woody to come with me and see if his magic could work again. Maybe he could get a pair of tickets for $40.
What a week
Well, the move is done. I am tired, sore, and broke. We were actually out of our old house a day early. Since the guy buying our house never told me where to leave the key (he couldn't make it to our scheduled closing time) I just left eh keys and the garage door opener in the house and locked the door. Screw him. He can get a locksmith if needs to. I figured that they would give him the key that was in the lock box, but apparently, there is some confusion as to where that key is. Oh well. Not my problem. We have all of our stuff at out new house, mostly in the garage or basement. It's a huge mess right now. There is no way I would have been able to move move without hiring mover. It was a bit more expensive than I would have liked, but it was worth it. Two Men and a Truck did a good job. The guys were nice and didn't damage a thing. The people moving out of our house on the other hand put a huge dent in the kitchen wall and tore out the water hook up for the washer and dryer. We are trying to get them to pay for the fixing of the damage. Oh, and there is a huge spot on our living room that is unpainted because they didn't bother to move the entertainment center before painting. We covered it up fairly well with a big piece of furniture, but it is still a pain. The Barney purple room is now a nice green dining room. It too primer and two coats of paint. Also, We got Noah's room painted. We still have alot to do though. Thanks to Bryan and Rick or the help clearing out my storage shed.
I have alot to catch up on sice it's been almost a week since my last posting. Ohio State won their home opener against Miami (OH) 34-14. The 14 points scored by Miami were in the closing minutes of the game and came against the Ohio State second team defense. The starting defense completely shut down Miami's (pretty good) offense. It put a warm fuzzy feeling in my stomach. The offense looked pretty good too. Zwick made more good plays than bad, and there was some positive things from the running game. Bryan has some more on the game and a picture that he took posted on his blog. I won't go too much in to detail since I only saw bits and pieces of the game, what with the moving and all. The game this weekend is huge. OSU vs. Texas. I feel pretty good about this game after watching the defense last Saturday. The Miami QB was flattened a few times by the diferent blitzes that the Bucks threw at him. Texas is a diferent story (I think they scored 60 points last week), true, but I think that the Scarlet and Grey will pull it out.
A realization last week: While watching an episode of Buffy the Vampire Slayer, I had a bit of a suprise. Mal, from Firefly, was a semi-regular in the last season of Buffy. I knew that he looked familiar. The guy that plays Mal also played a bad guy named Caleb on Buffy. Sorry to the more divote Firefly fans, but I do not know his actual name. Caleb was a pretty good bad guy and the actor played him well. It's no suprise that Joss kept him on for Firefly.
I have several things coming up that I am excited about. I am going to see System of a Down September 25th. I bought two tickets and will be taking the wifey along. She is not a huge System of a Down fan, but she likes them well enough to enjoy the show. The Mars Volta is opening for SOAD and I'm trying to get Bryan to make me a CD of some of their music. The show is also part of the 'Blitz Bash'. The local radio station is having a concert in the arena district and a ticket to SOAD will get you into the Blitz Bash. I doubt that we will go since it's an all day thing. Serenity is coming to cinima at the end of the month. The trailers look good. I hope to see it the theatres, but with three kids and a wierd work schedule, I may have to wait until it is out on DVD. Also, Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire movie is going to be out in November. Still a few months away, true, but I am looking forward to it none the less. I am reading the book (again) and am getting close to the end. I forgot how good it is. It's a shame that they will need to cut alot of it out for the movie. Otherwise it would be four hours long probably.
I have alot to catch up on sice it's been almost a week since my last posting. Ohio State won their home opener against Miami (OH) 34-14. The 14 points scored by Miami were in the closing minutes of the game and came against the Ohio State second team defense. The starting defense completely shut down Miami's (pretty good) offense. It put a warm fuzzy feeling in my stomach. The offense looked pretty good too. Zwick made more good plays than bad, and there was some positive things from the running game. Bryan has some more on the game and a picture that he took posted on his blog. I won't go too much in to detail since I only saw bits and pieces of the game, what with the moving and all. The game this weekend is huge. OSU vs. Texas. I feel pretty good about this game after watching the defense last Saturday. The Miami QB was flattened a few times by the diferent blitzes that the Bucks threw at him. Texas is a diferent story (I think they scored 60 points last week), true, but I think that the Scarlet and Grey will pull it out.
A realization last week: While watching an episode of Buffy the Vampire Slayer, I had a bit of a suprise. Mal, from Firefly, was a semi-regular in the last season of Buffy. I knew that he looked familiar. The guy that plays Mal also played a bad guy named Caleb on Buffy. Sorry to the more divote Firefly fans, but I do not know his actual name. Caleb was a pretty good bad guy and the actor played him well. It's no suprise that Joss kept him on for Firefly.
I have several things coming up that I am excited about. I am going to see System of a Down September 25th. I bought two tickets and will be taking the wifey along. She is not a huge System of a Down fan, but she likes them well enough to enjoy the show. The Mars Volta is opening for SOAD and I'm trying to get Bryan to make me a CD of some of their music. The show is also part of the 'Blitz Bash'. The local radio station is having a concert in the arena district and a ticket to SOAD will get you into the Blitz Bash. I doubt that we will go since it's an all day thing. Serenity is coming to cinima at the end of the month. The trailers look good. I hope to see it the theatres, but with three kids and a wierd work schedule, I may have to wait until it is out on DVD. Also, Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire movie is going to be out in November. Still a few months away, true, but I am looking forward to it none the less. I am reading the book (again) and am getting close to the end. I forgot how good it is. It's a shame that they will need to cut alot of it out for the movie. Otherwise it would be four hours long probably.
Friday, September 02, 2005
Two Days until the Move
That's right. All of our waiting is coming to an end. We get to move into our new house in two days. It will actually take three days to do everything. We are spreading things out so that we are not overwhelmed. I bet you are all tired of reading about our move, so I will spare you the details. I stayed home today to do some stuff, but actually don't feel too good. I slept most of the day. Strange for me to do so.
Well, there isn't too much for me to type about. The closings for both of our houses were Tuesday and both went down without incident. We now own our new house officially. The people that sold it to us seemed really nice. The guy that bought our house couldn't bother to make it to our closing on time, so we signed everything and he showed up later to sign everything he needed to sign. Since I've never heard from him, I have no idea how to get him the keys. I'll probably just leave the door unlocked and leave the keys in the kitched. The guy has been nothing but a pain in my ass, so I don't see that I need to go out of my way to make things convenient for him.
So, if anyone feels like coming over to help out, or just to see the new house, let me know. Thanks to Herb for the offer of help, but I feel bad asking you to drive all this way to help us move. I'd rather you come to our cookout and have a good time. The plan is still to have the cookout on October 8th (the Penn State game). I have to work that day, but we should be ready to go by 6:00 or so. Lots of food, lots of drink, lots of good times. I hope everyone will try to make it.
Well, there isn't too much for me to type about. The closings for both of our houses were Tuesday and both went down without incident. We now own our new house officially. The people that sold it to us seemed really nice. The guy that bought our house couldn't bother to make it to our closing on time, so we signed everything and he showed up later to sign everything he needed to sign. Since I've never heard from him, I have no idea how to get him the keys. I'll probably just leave the door unlocked and leave the keys in the kitched. The guy has been nothing but a pain in my ass, so I don't see that I need to go out of my way to make things convenient for him.
So, if anyone feels like coming over to help out, or just to see the new house, let me know. Thanks to Herb for the offer of help, but I feel bad asking you to drive all this way to help us move. I'd rather you come to our cookout and have a good time. The plan is still to have the cookout on October 8th (the Penn State game). I have to work that day, but we should be ready to go by 6:00 or so. Lots of food, lots of drink, lots of good times. I hope everyone will try to make it.
Monday, August 29, 2005
The Famine in Nigier......
No, I'm really not going to write about the famine in Nigier. I spoke with my college buddy Greg and his wife Ann, who suggested that my next blog topic be 'The Famine in Nigier.' I know absolutely nothing about the famine in Nigier. I can imagine that it is pretty bad though. Famine is terrible. This weekend we did watch parts of "Tears of the Sun" staring Bruce Willis and Monica Bellucci which is about the civil war in Sierra Leone. Terrible stuff. Some of the things that happen over there are truly terrible. I won't go into it because the movie is pretty good, but I know that Jessica works with several nurses and nurse aids that came over from Africa to escape the wars over there. One of them said that there is no way she'd ever go back. It really makes you thankful for what we have as American citizens. Sure things are bad here sometimes, but at least we don't have soldiers killing all of the men and children and raping the women before killing them. Sorry. I don't mean to get so heavy this early in the morning. I'm not one to get all political with my blog....
A good little article on ESPN.com about games to watch this year. Ohio State is in three of them: vs Texas, vs. Iowa, and at M*ch*g*n. I'm sure that all three games will be great and I feel that the Big Ten title (and a trip to the Rose Bowl to face USC, probably) will come down to the Game in Ann Arbor. We need to first set the OSU sights on Miami (OH). The Red Raiders won the Eastern MAC conference last year and that is no small feat any more. Plus they have gone to bowl games for the past few years. Looking at their schedule, Ohio State is definately their huge game of the year. They will have big MAC games and will probably go to another bowl game, but Ohio State is the biggest school on the list. I'm just hoping that the Buckeyes don't overlook the Red Raiders. With Texas around the corner, it could be easy to forget that Miami is a good team too.
A good little article on ESPN.com about games to watch this year. Ohio State is in three of them: vs Texas, vs. Iowa, and at M*ch*g*n. I'm sure that all three games will be great and I feel that the Big Ten title (and a trip to the Rose Bowl to face USC, probably) will come down to the Game in Ann Arbor. We need to first set the OSU sights on Miami (OH). The Red Raiders won the Eastern MAC conference last year and that is no small feat any more. Plus they have gone to bowl games for the past few years. Looking at their schedule, Ohio State is definately their huge game of the year. They will have big MAC games and will probably go to another bowl game, but Ohio State is the biggest school on the list. I'm just hoping that the Buckeyes don't overlook the Red Raiders. With Texas around the corner, it could be easy to forget that Miami is a good team too.
T minus 6 days and counting
That's right. Six days until we move to our new house. Lots to do, lots to do. Jessica's dad was kind enough to take the kids for a few hours so that we could get busy on packing without the drama that is children. We have noah's room 100% packed, Gabriel's room 90% packed, and the rest of the house probably 70% packed. The basement has been my current project. All I need to do now is pack up my computer stuff, which thanks to my new blog addiction, will be one of the last things packed. Of course, I need to take it to the new place and set it up first thing since Time Warner Cable is coming to hook up cable, Road Runner, and our new phone services. I'll need to ask the tech if I need to call a number to get 911 activaged, because I heard that some cable phone systems do not include emergency numbers unless you activate them. I also emptied one of our storage places and moved everything out of it and into our garage. That way the movers can get some of the furniture that we had stored moved instead of me doing it. I also emptied out my garden shed and put everything in the garage. Fun stuff. This coming Saturday, the first wave will be taking paint, the afore mentioned computer, and as much other stuff over and then starting painting. We have a Barney purple dining room that just has to go. Jessica's mom, dad,and her friend from work, will be helping out with the painting. I am hoping to get all of the little stuff moved first, before the movers come for the furniture on Sunday. We have our actual closing on both houses this Tuesday. I am a bit paranoid because I am not 100% sure we will have enough money for both closings. I think we do, but it all depends on what we will have to pay for selling out house. That's right. We have to pay for this fucker to buy our house. If you ever sell you house, I hope that you will be in a neighborhood that is growing and has increasing property value. We are not in one of those neighborhoods. Our street is nice, but the area we are in is on a decline thanks to the getto apartments that are down the street. We were lucky to get as much as we did for our house. Other houses in the area are selling for $30,000 less. Well, I sure that you all are sick and tired of hearing about my house selling and moving ordeals. I know that I can't wait for this all to be over with. I really hope that I never have to move again. If you ever do buy a house, use my realtors. Thay are great. They went above and beyond to find us the perfect house and to sell the house we are in. There is a link on my blog site, so check them out.
Friday, August 26, 2005
System of a Down kicks ass
Now, there are two different types of music groups that I would call 'favorites'. The first group is the All Time Favorites. These bands are the ones that you don't necessarily listed to every day, but will always buy a new CD when it comes out or turn up the radio when any of their songs come one. For me, these groups are:
1. Rush - Probably the most talented three musicians that have ever formed a group. I have every single album ever released by Rush (at least the US releases)
2. Pink Floyd - The Wall, enough said
3. Led Zepplin - It's too bad their drummer died young. Who know how many other great albums this band could have put out...
4. Korn - you may raise an eyebrow at this, but they have a very origional sound and great intensity
5. System of a Down - The new addition. More later.
The other caregory is One time Favorites. These are the groups that are a current day fad that you eventually grow out of. One Time Favorites of mine:
1. Pearl Jam - I'm so sick of Pearl Jam now that I immediately change the channel if they come one the radio.
2. Creed - Can they make a song that doesn't sound like every other song they've released?
3. Live - Their first and second albums were great. After that, it's like they forgot how to rock.
4. Sound Garden/Chris Cornell - Have you ever counted how many times the lyrics 'black hole sun' are whined in that song? Too many. Chris's new group is pretty weak too.
5. The artist formerly known as Prince. KIDDING!! I just wanted to make sure you were paying attention. I did own the Batman sound track though. 100% Prince music. Then I grew up.
Those are just a few examples. I could go on, but who has the time? Back to the band of topic: System of a Down. I first discovered them when Chop Suey was played on the radio. I wasn't sure how to take them at first, but eventually bought Toxicity. There are a few songs on the CD that I tend to skip over when I listen to it, but in general, Toxicity is a great album full of intensity and powerful music and lyrics. Chop Suey, Toxicity, and Ariels are all great songs off of Toxicity. SOAD is a fairly political group and aren't afraid to express their views in their lyrics. Prison Song and Deer Dance are good examples of this. Hungry for more System of a Down, I went and bought their first, self titles album. It is much heavier that Toxicity and it isobvious that there was much growth of the band musially between the two albums. I'm not saying System of a Down is a bad CD, but Toxicity is just that much better as far as the musicality goes. It's only natural that a group grows and evolves from album to album. Songs to listen to on the debut album are Spiders, Sugar, and Suite Pee. The group then took their time with thier third album, Steal this Album! There were a couple different CD packages and the one I got looks like a CD that someone would have burned for you and doesn't have a insert on the front of the case. This CD continues to show how much System of a Down is growing as a band. Their songs are filled with intesnsity and intricate musical composition. You may think, "whatever, they're just a heavy metal band," but I say this, anyone can pick up musical instruments and make loud noises that can make your ears hurt. System of a Down is a well above bands that are just loud and play the same three cords in every song. There are too many good songs on Steal This Album to list. Finally, after way too long, Mezmerize came out this year. The first listen through scared me a little bit because it was different than everything else that SOAD has released. It was obvious that it was System of a Down because of their unique voices and musicality, but some of the lyrics can take you off guard a bit. Of course, BYOB is their big release from Mezmerize, but almost every other song on the album kicks just as much ass. I highly recommend this album. Revenga, Cigaro, Question!, Sad Statue,....all great. They actually have another album coming out this November called Hypnotize. It is part two of Mezmerize. Not too sure why they are releasing them separately, but they are. I really want to go see them in concert, but am having trouble finding anyone to go with. Anyone interested? The Mars Volta is opening for them. Plus, tickets to the show get you into the 'BLITZ Bash', the Local radio station's annual party. Sept 25th.
Thursday, August 25, 2005
Ready for some football?
If not, my friend Ben sent me a link to a cool video promoting the Ohio State vs. Texas Game coming up on 09/10/2005. It looks like a Texas fan's site, but the video is pretty unbiased. I got pretty pumped up after watching it. Go to recent additions and check out the “OSU/Texas preview lets do this thing”. Do a right click File: save as. It won't open unless you save it first. It's really cool. It goes to show you that Texas fans take their football as seriously as Ohio State fans. These team have some similarities:
1. Both teams beat Michigan last season :-)
2. Both Teams beat Oklahoma State last season
3. Both teams have huge rivals. OSU has Michigan and Texas has Texas A&M (I spoke with an A&M band member when I was at the Sugar Bowl and he said that if he saw a Texas fan lying on the ground, injured, he's just keep on walking. I can only assume that Texas fans feel the same as A&M fans. I could be wrong though)
4. Both teams have game breaking talent on offense and defense.
I could research some more, but I really don't have the time or patience. I really just wanted to get everyone excited about the upcoming season. GO BUCKS!!
1. Both teams beat Michigan last season :-)
2. Both Teams beat Oklahoma State last season
3. Both teams have huge rivals. OSU has Michigan and Texas has Texas A&M (I spoke with an A&M band member when I was at the Sugar Bowl and he said that if he saw a Texas fan lying on the ground, injured, he's just keep on walking. I can only assume that Texas fans feel the same as A&M fans. I could be wrong though)
4. Both teams have game breaking talent on offense and defense.
I could research some more, but I really don't have the time or patience. I really just wanted to get everyone excited about the upcoming season. GO BUCKS!!
My day off.
Lately, he kids have been so high maintenence that Jessica and I have been calling our days at work our 'days off'. It's not Alydia, it's the boys. Mostly, Noah. He is bored (mostly because he'd rather sit on his ass than go outside and do something) so he's finding entertainment by picking on Gabriel. Yes, it is normal for brothers to pick on each other, but it is different when one is 11 and the other is 3. Thankfully, summer is almost over and Noah will be back to school. Anyway, I was off of work yesterday and staying home with the kids. Gabriel was at day care (we let him go once a week still. he likes it) and Noah went over to play with a kid across the street. Let me just say, that being almost alone (Alydia was still there) was great. I enjoy being with the kids, but a day of relative quiet was very nice. I didn't do anything different, but by not having to yell at the big kids at all, the enjoyment of my daily activities was increased immensely. I just want to say good luck to Amy, who is expecting her first child. It's alot of fun when they are small and cute, but as they get older, it gets harder.
I received a call from my realtor yesterday. Immediately I think 'now what's wrong?'. It turns out that the guy that is buying our house can't make it to our scheduled closing time of 12:00 noon on Tuesday the 30th. He claims that he can't get off of work. Now, he works for Nationwide. I too work for Nationwide. It is SO easy for me to take a long lunch if I need to. I can stay late to make up the time or use some time off. Piece of cake. I just think that this guy doesn't want to meet us because of how he is screwing us over. The closingplace wanted us to pre-sign on Friday or Monday and then the guy buying our house would sign asfer he gets off work. Sorry. No. We are not going to change our plans so that this guy doesn't have to be inconvenienced. So, we are still going in on Tuesday at noon to sign everything and the buyer will sign everything later. We are totally not cleaning anything for him. He has been such a pain iin our ass that I'm not doing anything more for him that what I absolutely have to do. I'll sweep up atleast, but that's about it. I'm sure that since my mom will be down watching the kids, she will probable have the house spotless by the time we're out. She has a bit of OCD when it comes to cleaning. Oh, by the way, we're moving in ten days.
I received a call from my realtor yesterday. Immediately I think 'now what's wrong?'. It turns out that the guy that is buying our house can't make it to our scheduled closing time of 12:00 noon on Tuesday the 30th. He claims that he can't get off of work. Now, he works for Nationwide. I too work for Nationwide. It is SO easy for me to take a long lunch if I need to. I can stay late to make up the time or use some time off. Piece of cake. I just think that this guy doesn't want to meet us because of how he is screwing us over. The closingplace wanted us to pre-sign on Friday or Monday and then the guy buying our house would sign asfer he gets off work. Sorry. No. We are not going to change our plans so that this guy doesn't have to be inconvenienced. So, we are still going in on Tuesday at noon to sign everything and the buyer will sign everything later. We are totally not cleaning anything for him. He has been such a pain iin our ass that I'm not doing anything more for him that what I absolutely have to do. I'll sweep up atleast, but that's about it. I'm sure that since my mom will be down watching the kids, she will probable have the house spotless by the time we're out. She has a bit of OCD when it comes to cleaning. Oh, by the way, we're moving in ten days.
Wednesday, August 24, 2005
Trying this link thing again
I am going to try this link thing again. Here is my realtor's web page. They rock!
Monday, August 22, 2005
NCAA Football Baby!!
Yes, I know the whole 'Baby!' thing is from Dickie V. and that he is a basketball announcer, but how he feels about basketball is how I feel about the upcoming NCAA football season. Ohio State kicks off in 12 days against Miami (OH) University. Now, I'm no where near as informed about sports as Woody is, but here's my take on the upcoming season:
Ohio state is ranked 6th in the AP top 25 poll, 9th in the USA Today poll, and 9th in the Coaches poll. This makes me happy. They are ranked high enough to be competative in the National picture and low enough that they won't be too cocky. They have a pretty good schedule, having 7 out of 11 games at home, including huge games against Texas (#2) and Iowa (#10). Their big away games this year are at Penn State (unranked, but always dangerous) and Michigan (#4). Two team that I am glad that OSU is not playing this year are Purdue (#15) and Wisconsin (unranked, but always a tough game for the bucks). I have a feeling that if Ohio State can get past the first tough game against Texas, we should be well off until we meet up with the Team Up North. The Buckeyes are returning a huge supply of talent this year and I think that the momentum that we had at the end of last season (wins against Michigan and a Bowl Game victory always take the sting out of a rough season) will carry over this year. Now, I don't know stats and I don't have the roster memorized, but I do know that we have one of the toughest linebacking corps in the country and one of the most dangerous recievers/kick returners in the country. If the O-line can give the quarterback (either Zwick or Smith) time and open a few holes for a running game, the offense could be just as dangerous at the defense. The one thing that worries me is the loss of Nugent. He was a garunteed 3 points anywhere within 50 yards. With the way Ohio State gets into tight games, we need a good kicker.
I was watching Sports Center the other day and they arepredicting USC in the title game (big suprise). It is more than probable that the Trojans with vie for a chance to three-pete this year since they are returning a Heisman winning QB and a great tail back. The interesting part of the spot was when the analysts picked the top three teams they expected to meet the Trojans in the Rose Bowl. First was Texas, not a huge suprise, but it irritated me that the guy said they needed to get past Oklahoma if they want to compete for the title. Hello!!! McFly!!! What about the night game in the 'Shoe on September 10th???!!! They say that the Texas A & M field is tough to play in, but I think that the Horse Shoe with 100000+ screaming their heads off could be a bit of a shocker for the Long Horns. Anyway, the second team they perdicted is Miami (FL) who are top ten in all of the polls. A good pick, but with Tennesee and Oklahoma in there, it could go to any of them. The last pick was a Big Ten team, Purdue. Purdue??? They are top 25 in the polls, but the highest ranking that they have right now is 13 in the ESPN poll. True, they do not play OSU or Michigan this year, but they have a 10:00 pm game at Arizona, a home game vs. Notre Dame, and home vs Iowa. Five gets you ten that one of those games won't turn out well for the Boilermakers. Plus, throw Penn State and Wisconsin into the mix, and you have a rough schedule. Yes, OSU has a tough scedule too, but if you want to read an impartial commentary, you've come to the wrong place.
I think that the Buckeyes going to the title game comes down to one thing: The game in Ann Arbor. I think that the defense will keep the Texas game close and a special teams TD from Ted Ginn Jr will seal the deal for the Bucks. I also think that they will be able to get past the Nittany Lions in Happy Valley and the Hawkeyes at home. The Game is going to be the decider. Michigan is returning a lot of talent this year, and when you go up to that shit hole they call a stadium (biased, remember) it's tough to win. The bright side is that Tressel is not intimidated by the Maize and Blue and has won three of his four games against the Team up North. That, and they lost Brailen Edwards, who was really their only effective weapon against the Buckeyes last year. (I feel strange cheering for him as a Browns fan, but he did catch the wining touchdown Saturday vs. Detroit) My (extremely biased) opinion is that OSU will have some tight games, but will run the tables and smell the roses this year. After they get there, if they have to play USC I would be scared, but I was scared at the idea of playing Miami a few years ago and that turned out OK. The two things that scare me about the season are the running game, which has been poor lately, and the kicking game. If those aspects are taken care of, I think that we will have a great season and possibly another Nation Title.
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