Harry Disappointment

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Rough Ten Days

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

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

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

We Are The Champions, My Friends....

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

Other good things happening in the college football world:

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

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

Revenge

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

GO BUCKS!!

I love Thursdays

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

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

Best Zombie Movie Ever.

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

I want the Irish

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Buying the pot and Buckeye news

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

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

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

Texas Hold'em Tutorial

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

My Pet Peeves

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

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

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

I got a rock.....

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

Another game won by the Buckeye...Offense???

That's right! This time the offense rose up to the occasion and won this weekend's game at Minnesota. Troy Smith passed well to all of his receivers and tight ends, the running game heated up with Antonio Pittman busting a ruge run for a touchdown, and special teams chimed in when Tedd Ginn brought a kick off back 100 yards and took it to the house! The scary part, Minnesota's offense actually out played the defense during the first half. The Silver Bullets allowed more running yards in the first half then they had in any previous total game. They made some adjustments in the second half and were able to shut down the Gophers, allowing the offense to take over and run up the points. The game wasn't as close as the 45-31 score indicates. Yes, it was a 17-17 tie at the half, but OSU took over the second half (the last Minnesota TD was scored against the second team defense. Now the Buckeyes are tied for the Big Ten lead with Wisconsin and Penn State. Penn State has the tie breaker since they topped OSU a few weeks ago. So, what we need to have happen is Wisconsin needs to beat Penn State this weekend, then Iowa needs to beat Wisconsin next weekend, and Ohio State needs to beat Illinois and Northwestern at home and M*ch*g*n in that pit they call a stadium. Then we will have an all out Big Ten title. If the offense can keep things going, Ohio State has a good chance to win their remaining three games.

Some pictures....

Here are some pictures for you. The first two are the 'before' pictures of our dining room. As you can see, they used it as a formal living room. We repainted over the Barney purple and added my grandparent's dining room furniture. The third picture is the final results. The fourth picture is of our jack-o-lanterns, and the last one is of Alydia. She's such a cutie pie! I'm going to be in trouble in 15 years.

31 ain't no thang

Well, another year, another year older. I am officially 31. I know, it's not as big of a deal as turning 30, but I can't say that I'm just 30. Now, I'm a 'thirty-something'. It's OK though. I never really feel any older. When I'm no longer interested in playing games and need Viagra, THEN, I will feel old. I did have a bit of an old moment when Nirvana's "Smell Like Teen Spirit" came on the radio and realized that I first heard it was in high school, 15 years ago.

We had a pretty good day. Jessica stayed home to make me a birthday cake (carrot cake with cream cheese icing. YUM) and we went to lunch at Ruby Tuedsay's, then to target to get some things that we needed for Alydia. Then, Jessica made me my favorite dinner, schnitzel, which is breaded pork, fried, and topped with dill sauce, along with mashed taters and asparagus. (Double yum!) After that we went back out to get some Halloween decorations. In between, I cleaned out my garage finally so that I can park the car in there. I know, you aren't supposed to do stuff like that on your birthday, but it needed to be done. I'm going to close the evening with some drinks and relaxation in front of the TV. Oh, for a present, Jessica got me a cool Brutus pen holder for on my desk. I'll add pictures tomorrow, if I get the time. I also need to post the kid's jack-o-lanters. Alydia's is cute, but Gabriel's and Noah's are sorta scary. We designed them ourselves.

Thinkgs to look forward to:

OSU has four games left this year. Seems like the season has gone by really quickly.

10/29 at Minnesota 12:00 PM
11/05 Illinois TBD
11/12 #21 N'western TBD
11/19 at #25 Michigan TBD

Illinois should be a W, but Minnesota, Northwestern, and Michigan are all big games for the Buckeyes. Northwestern worries me after they handled Michigan State. At least we have them at home. The Big Ten race is still up in the air. Penn State is definately on top of the Big Ten being 7-1, but they stil have Purdue, Wisconsin, and M. State. I'm amazed that Jo Pa was able to turn them around so quickly. Well, I don't mean this to be a fooball post, so I'll drop it for now.

Back to the subject at hand, the thinks I am looking forward to in the near future:

11/01/05 - Star Wars III is out on DVD. I liked most parts of this movie. The two things I can remember that irritated me were when Obi Wan rode that big lizard like a cow boy and when Darth Vader, the baddest of the bad, screams 'NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO' when told that Padme died. I never hear James Earl Jones' voice sound wussie before. I think it would have been better to have him stand in a silent rage and have the Force shake stuff instead.

11/05/05 - Poker Night. I am going to have a poker game at my place. It's a Saturday and I'm starting up around 7:00. Let me know if you want to come.

10/28/2005 - We are going up to Toledo for the weekend. I'm hoping to catch up with my buddy Ben. He and his new wife live about five minutes from my parents. Plus, my mom said that she'd watch the kids so that Jessica and I can go out Friday night. Byblos baby! The best food ever. Plus, we may try to see Serenity finally.

11/18/2005 - Harry Poter and the Goblet of Fire hits the theaters. The book was great. I'm hoping that the movie is just as good, but I fear that they will need to cut alot of details to make the movie short enough to show. I hope that they will do what they did with The Lord of the Rings DVDs and add extra scenes that had to be deleted. The trailers look good though.

11/19/2005 - OSU vs Michigan. No matter what the records are for these teams, it is always the game of the year. I would rather both teams be undefeated going into this game because it adds a bit more excitement, but no matter what, the game is huge.

11/24/2005 - Thanksgiving. Normally, this is not a huge deal, but this year we are going to have the big dinner at out place. It is the first time ever, only because it is the first time that we have had enough room. We'll have my parents, Jessica's parents, and probably my aunt, uncle, and grandma and Jessica's grandma. Our brothers may come too, but I don't count on it.

11/22/2005 - The new System of a down cd, Hypnotize, will be released. I love SOAD. They rock! I have read the first song off of the album, also called Hypnotize, in concert and on the radio. It's pretty good.

12/06/2005 - The new Korn cd, See You on the Other Side, will be released. I have heard the released song, Twisted Transistror, on the radio. It's different, but good.

Well, that's about all for the next month or so. Lots of things to look forward to.

My Weekend

It was sort of a busy weekend for us. First, I had to work, so that takes up most of my day. On top of working, several of Jessica's family members were in town to celebrate her grandpa's birthday. So, this means a family dinner on Friday night and then a big party Saturday night. Don't get me wrong, I like Jessica's family, but I tend to get over loaded with too much family contact. Friday was ok. We had a pot luck type dinner. It was pretty good. The idea of playing some poker came up, so I ran home and got my chips. We only had four players, but it was pretty fun. Mostly because I won. Poker can always change a dull evening to a good time. One thing that we weren't too happy about is that Jessica's aunt brought her kids, who were 25 and 17 (he brought a friend). That's not the problem. The problem was that the 17 year old was allowed to drink beer. I know under aged drinking goes on. I drink in college when I was 19, but I was out on my own and responsible for my own actions. Oh well, what can you do? Another problem is that the entire family if a bunch of chain smokers, so we smelled like ash trays when we left.

Saturday was ok too. More people, more smokers, and more cards. It was another four person game. I would have probably won, but we called it after getting down to two players and just split the money (I am still up $50, so I didn't mind). Saturday had a larger variety of wierd people. There were a lot of gay folk there. I don't have a problem with that, but sometimes gays and lesbians can be a bit off. I really like Jessica's dad's friend George and Joe. Especially George. He is quite funny. It seems like the lesbians are more off than gay men. They always seem very full of themselves. At least that is my observation from last night and from my aunt's 'friend' Ann. She was always really sarcastic and kind of negative. Anyway, it was definately a different scene from what I am used to. It is definately an interesting experience going to a party with Jessica's dad's friends, who are mostly all gay, and Jessica's dad's family, who are mostly rednecks.

About half way through the party, a older man (late 50' or 60's) and a younger woman (late 30's or 40's) arrived together. Let's just say that the woman had 'look at me' syndrome. She was attractive, but was wearing a open middle shirt and jeans that should have been on a girl shorter and smaller than she. I think I saw her ass crack twice (no panties apparently). I don't mind seeing ass crack, but she just seemed to be trying entirely too hard. I tried to walk through the room she was in (it was her dancing alone and two men talking) to get to the dining room and she tried to make me dance with her. Apparently, she didn't notice my wedding ring or my fiesty wife that would beat the crap out of both of us. I declined. If she would have asked me three years and one wedding ago, I may have accepted. As I mentioned, she was attractive. I was bothered again when, not only were the 17 year olds allowed to drink, but there was a pot somking room upstairs that they frequented as well. I guess I'm just not a cool parent because I would NOT allow my children to drink, smoke, or do drugs while living in my house. When they move out, they can do whatever they want. They had just better not expect me to bail them out if they act stupid.

A happy note about Saturday: Ohio State CRUSHED Indiana. The defense was incredible again. The offense was pretty good too. One negative was when Tedd Ginn was stripped of the ball and IU scored a touchdown. It seemed to me that he was down due to the fact that his forward progress had stopped, but the officials didn't agree. Tedd Ginn had a punt return for a touchdown ans a 97 yard kick off return that was called back for a illegal block. He is so fast. After he turned the corner on the punt return, you could tell when he slowed down a bit and he was still going as fast as his blockers. Wow.

Worst Game Ever.....With the Best Ending

I went with my dad to the OSU vs. Michigan State game this past Saturday. I usually go with Jessica, but she had to work. I was going to go with my buddy Jesse, but he had to work too. And since Bryan already has a press pass, I decided to take my Dad. It was pretty fun. It's funny how worked up he gets about bone head plays, and there were a LOT of bone head plays by the Buckeyes. I am now a firm believer that Troy Smith should be benched. There was a point when the OSU faithful were booing him. It started off with poor offensive possessions and the OSU defense getting picked apart by the MSU quarterback. The defense did well on first downs, but second down plays usually netted enough yardage for MSU to get a first down. Luckily, the defense tightened up enough to hold MSU to relatively few points. The write up I book marked above makes it out as Smith being the hero of the game. In reality, he missed wide open Ted ginn Jr about three or four times and taking a sack or throwing incomplete passes, and he missed Gonzales wide open and fumbled, again. The Buckeyes turned the ball over 4 times. How they won, I don't know. On top of all things, Santonio Holmes muffed two kick returns ( he was able to recover one of them) and Ted Ginn Jr. muffed one as well. When Holmes finally caught a punt, the crowd gave him a very sarcastic cheer. Why did Ohio State win? 1. Because of the MSU screw up on the last second field goal atempt. The special teams coach sent the field goal unit out when the head coach wanted them to spike the ball to stop the clock first. The confusion enabled OSU to block the kick and run the ball back for a score, making it a 3 point game instead of a 13 point MSU lead. 2. Smith finally started to hit wide open receivers for long scores. First, he hit Santonio Holmes and then Tedd Ginn Jr. Finally, another TD to Holmes finished it. I have been saying all year that I wanted the offense to throw some long balls to the to wide receivers. One of the plays, both Holmes and Ginn were easily ten years behind their defenders. 3. The crowd at the end of the game was probably the loudest and most intense I have ever heard it. In the fourth quarter, with MSU trying to get back into the game, the crowd was so loud that it hindered the MSU offense and lifted OSU defense to a new level. It was amazing. The defense played so well in the last two MSU possesions that it was like a different team. The QB was hit more times than a punching bag. I wish I could forget the first half of that game, but am glad I was there for the final six munites or so. Hopfully the offense can solve some issues this coming Saturday against Indiana.

Another thing about the game is where our seats were. We were directly above one of the student sections, and let me tell you, the coeds at OSU are still very easy on the eyes. Oh, and I forgot sun screen, so I have horrible burns on my legs, arms,and face. OUCH!

Bowling Woes

Some of you may know that I am in a bowling league that meets on Thursdays. It is an all male league with four bowlers per team. I'm a fair bowler and carry around a 180 average. Well, so far this year, my team has been getting used like a five cent whore on coupon day. Are we bowling bad? Not really. It just seems like when we are a little off our game, the teams we are bowling against are staying at their averages and when we are average, the teams we bowl against are hot. The way our league scores is that each game is worth two points and the final series counts as one point, so seven points per week. So far, the best that we have managed in a week is three points. To be a contender in the league, a team needs to take five to seven points per week. As a result we are at the bottom of the barrel. We still have a good time, but it would be better if we would win a few more games. Last week we won one game by a lot and lost the other two games by a total of about 30 pins. Last night we won one by a lot and lost the other two by a total of about 30 pins. For those of you without calculators, that's 6 out of 14 points. The silver lining about last night is that I was on fire. 209, 189, 235. It's the best I've done in a while. The funny part is that, if you read one of my prevuious posts, I hurt my foot/ankle on Saturday. Like a man, I played through the pain. I know that women do that too, but the statement loses a bit if I say 'like a woman, I played through the pain'. To say 'like a true athelete' would imply that bowling is anything more than a reason to get out of the house and drink. I suppose that ESPN carries it, thus making it a sport, but something that a 500 pound man can do as well as a 100 pound woman, raises the question as to whether or not bowling is truely a sport. No, I do not weigh 500 pounds. I was making an exaple. I guess I could pose the question as to whether or not ESPN is even a sports channel any more. They carry poker and I once saw the Scrabble championship on ESPN. Scrabble?? I am gatting off the topic. The woes in 'Bowling Woes' is that, dispite the fact that we bowl alright, we are still getting beaten too much for my taste.

Speaking of getting beaten too much, I have tickets to the OSU game tomorrow (nice seguay, eh?). I have to admit that I am not as excited about the game as I would be if the Buckeyes were 5-0 instead of 3-2. The bottom line is that they let go two games that they could have won. It's very irritating. Well, I will still go to the game, I will still cheer for the Buckeyes and the Band, and I will still have fun. I just won't pick any roses any time soon.

I'm never going to have another OSU cookout...

Every time I have a cookout for an OSU game, they lose. Wisconsin twice and now Penn State. Watching a losing effort by the Buckeyes causes the atomosphere of the party go from good, to tense, to plan bad. The defense was great. They did everything they needed to to keep Ohio State in the game. It wasn't until the last few minutes of the game that I became truly worried because I knew that the defense would get the ball back to the offense. Now, the offense blew chunks. More specifically, Troy Smith blew. He missed wide open receivers and took bad sacks for losses. Then, he throws the interception that leads to the winning touchdown. Everything else in the game was dead even. At one point the yards gained by each team were almost exactly even. To be honest, I've never been a Troy Smith fan. Yes, he made plays, but he'd rely on his legs rather than making passes to his open receivers. Saturday's game seemed the exact opposite. He'd stay in the pocket waiting to pass when he should have run. Or, he'd miss open receivers and make bad passes. Plus, they can't seem to get the bal to Ted Ginn Jr. I guess Penn State's defense did a good job of shutting him down, but it seems like he's just not getting the ball at all. I guess I need to give Penn State credit. They had a good game plan and shut down the Buck's offense. Plus the crowd was loud and full of energy, making it a truely hostile place to play. It is so frustrating that we can put up so many points against Iowa, and then suck so bad after a bye week. Well, I guess there's always an outside possibility of winning the Big Ten title. Penn State needs to lose a few and Ohio State needs to win out. It probably won't happen, but we can hope.

On top of the Buckeyes losing, the kids that were over DESTROYED my basement. There is crap all over the place. That's the thing I hate about having other people's kids over. You can't really yell at them and the parents don't really do much to keep them in check. The party ended after the little kids started throwing things at each other and one of them took a blow to the head. There was blood and screaming. It's really no one's fault because I'm sure they were just playing a dumb game, but the older kids should have put a stop to it or told an adult what was going on before someone was hurt. Well, we had fund until the Bucks lost and the kids got out of control. Oh! and then on top of it all, I took the trash out and stepped badly on the edge of my driveway, twisting my ankle and falling on my ass. It HURT. Nothing like laying in your driveway in the light rain unable to stand up. I was finally able to hobble inside and wallow in my agony.

Don't worry. Just because I'll never have another OSU game cookout doesn't mean that I'll never have another cookout. Maybe I'll make it a spring cookout or maybe an OSU bye week cook out. Then people can just gather to have fun and won't get angry when the Bucks lose. I have tckets for this weekend's game. I'll probably go, but I am not as excited about it as I was on Friday. It is against Michigan State, so it should still be a good game. Maybe they'll put Zwick in and see if the offense can get going with a better passer at the helm.

Another HUGE game....

Ohio State travels for the first time this year as they head out to Happy Valley and play Penn State. The Lions are undefeated so far this season and are ranked 16th. Being in Penn State and a night game makes this a bit of a challenge for the Buckeyes. I think I am as nervous and excited about this game as I was for the Texas game. It's supposed to be wet in Happy Valley, do this will likely beome a defensive battle. If that is the case, I need to give the nod to OSU to come out on top. Ohio State has only allowed 51 points in four games, 25 of them to Texas. That's a pretty good defense. Kick off is at 7:45 tonight. hopfully the OSU defense and special teams will make a big enough difference that the Bucks can come home with a win.

A bye week and up 2....

It was an interesting week in college football. As my title indicates, OSU had a bye week this past weekend and moved up 2 positions in the polls. LSU lost on Monday and Florida got stomped by Alabama on Saturday. I filled the void of an OSU football free weekend by watching the Michigan vs. Michigan State game. It was a good one. At first, it looked like Michigan was going to roll over MSU, but the Spartans came back. It ended up going to OT where Michigan took the game with a field goal. I had thought that MSU was going to be the team to beat in the big Ten, but now I'm not too sure. It's up in the air again. One thing that scares me a little is how badly Penn State beat Minnesota. Penn state is now undefeated so far this year and the Buckeyes head out to Happy Valley this weekend. I was feeling confident about the game, but the Penn State win gives me reason to worry a bit. I still feel confident that the Buckeyes can win, but the past two years, OSU has lost a night game immediately following a bye week. Two years ago they lost to Wisconsin, and last year they lost to Northwestern. Hopefully it is not a pattern. One thing that is obvious is that the rest of the Big Ten doesn't play very much defense. The average total scores of the 5 Games played by Big Ten teams is 61 points (both teams added together). Granted, one of the teams playing was Notre Dame, but they put up 49 points on Purdue. I am pretty confident that the OSU defense can carry the team to the Big Ten title. The problem is that Wisconsin is undefeated, and OSU does not play the Badgers. If both teams win out, Wisconsin would have the better overall record and win the title.

Speaking of the upcoming OSU vs. Penn State game, we are having a cookout this weekend for the game. It should be a pretty good turn out. My bowling team is coming and bringing their wives and some other people are going to stop by. I hope everyone will be able to come out. I know it's hard for out-of-towners to make arrangements for places to stay and all that. It's a late game, so it's not like you could drive all the way to Columbus, watch the game, and then head home. I do have some room for people to stay, but not a whole lot. It should be a good time though. Food, drink, cards, whatever. We always make too much food and usually have left overs for the week. Yummy junk food left overs...mmmmmmm.

I thought 'What the Heck'

While I was falling off the Best Buy wagon and buying some technological needs, I also passed by the DVD section where I saw the Battlestar Galactica DVD set. The new series, not the old one with Lorne Greene. I liked the old show as a child, but if I see them now, I realize how corney some of them were. If I remember correctly, the kid on the show had a pet 'dagget' (let me know if that is not what it was called) which looked like a Halloween costume gone bad. A person is dressed up as a cyber dog/teddy bear. Anyway, I picked up BG because I remembered Woody referencing it a few times and I got the impression that it was good. He doesn't blog about it as much as he does Firefly, but after watching and liking Firefly on his recommendation, I thought 'what the heck?' and bought the BG DVD set. I started watching it last week and am done with the entire series already. They were incredibly good. Everything that I wish the old series could have been. The effects are great (except for maybe when they show the robotic Cylons running), the acting is good, and the story is supurb. It basically follows the old story, but with a few changes. In case you've never seen the new series, I will not spoil anything. The biggest change, however, is that the Cylons are able to look, feel, and act like humans. That doesn't spoil anything since it is something that you learn in the opening sequence of the debut mini series. This is the best change because it adds a level of intrigue and suspense that the old show lacked. Back in the old series, humans were good, Cylons were bad and looked like robots. It was very black and white. Honestly, I am suprised that this new series hasn't been picked up by one of the big networks. It is an excellent show and is far better than some of the crap that's on these days. I really want to see season two. Does anyone know if it is airing already? If so when?

Something I find amusing about the human appearing Cylons is that the male Cylons look gruff and like they could be bad guys, but the female cylons are beautiful women. They put the blonde in all sorts if skimpy outfits and have teaser shots of her half nude and the Asian woman is equally attractive, though they do not play up her sexuality as much. Fellas, in case you are paranoid about being duped into having sex with a Cylon agent, be aware that when they get it on, their spines glow red through their skin. So, I suggest different sexual positions with your lady so that you have a view of her back occasionally and can easily identify if she/it is human or Cylon. Just don't let on that you suspect that she is a Cylon. They are quite strong and will most likely whup on you if discovered. Just a little advice from me to you.

System of a Down Concert Rocked

The playlist:

SOLDIER SIDE
BYOB
REVENGA
KNOW
NEEDLES
DEER DANCE
SUGGESTIONS
PSYCHO
CHOP SUEY
KILL ROCK N ROLL
SAD STATUE
VIOLENT PORN
MR. JACK
CIGARO
COCAINE
BOUNCE
ATWA
FOREST
LOST IN HOLLYWOOD
QUESTION!
WAR?
PRISON
AERIALS
TOXICITY
SCIENCE
SUITE PEE
SUGAR

They also threw in Hypnotize, the title song of their upcoming CD, claiming that it was the first time they ever played it live. It was a bit of a mello song, but was still good. In a nut shell, System of a Down kicked ass!! Soldier Side pumped everyone up because we all knew that BYOB was going to come right after it. I would have prefered that closed with newer music, but Suite Pee and Sugar are two great songs. I was a bit suprised that more of the music wasn't from Hypnotize, but what they played kicked ass. My ears are ringing and my voice hurts from screaming. They played almost every song I could have wanted them to play. The stage performances were a little different here and there, like when the guitar player used a voice synthesizer durning War?. A little strange, but a good effect. If I wanted them to play everything exactly like on the CD, Why bother going to a concert?

The Mars Volta was pretty good. I don't know that I'd pay to see them as a headliner, but they had moments when they kicked ass. The guitar player and singer bounced up and down a lot and were all over the place. The crowd went a little crazy when one of the band members took up a flute, circa Jethro Tull. It seemed like no one ever heard a flute played before. He played it well though. I think that I would have liked them more if I was more familiar with their music. It was like a jam session mixing aspects of Led Zepplin, Pink Floyd and Rush (Caress of Steel).

The worst part of the whole show was the opening band, Hella. THEY BLEW CHUNKS!! I have no idea where they were dug up from. It started out with the drummer coming out and playing a bit of a solo, then the guitar player came out and joined in. It sounded like the grand finale of an 80's rock show. Only, it wasn't a finale, it was the show. After about five minutes of guitar solo and drum solo grotesquely combined into a level of musical hell that I never experienced, (and I was in a garage band for a few years) more band members came out with more instruments and they all started playing solos. Only they were all on top of each other adding to the musical chaos, and my head ache. The singer, if you could call him that, started wailing and screaming about genocide or something like that and maybe poop, we couldn't tell. The show ended in an reverse order from the beginning. The band members left, the guitar player left, and finally, (after a few more minutes if drum solo) the drummer left. Honestly, I am giving Hella more of a write up than they deserve. It was aweful. There were boos, and then cheers when they finally left the stage. The drummer was really the only good part. He had some serious chops. He had to, he played a fast paced drum solo for the entire show. Whatever happened to keeping time for the music?

All in all, I am SO glad that I went to the show. It would have been the best show I've seen (aside from Rush, who will forever be number one in my book)if the opening band wasn't so aweful. I think the Korn show I saw ranks a little higher, only because Staind opened for them. I seriously wanted to leave during Hella.

Going to concerts always makes me feel a bit dirty. The girls that go to these shows are all too young and dress too sluty. Sure you can say, "well don't look, perv," but it's impossible unless I close my eyes, only because they are everywhere. What's wrong with parents letting teen girls wear pants that barely come up to above their ass cracks and tops that a little more than bras? One girl was wearing a top so small that her boobies were already popping out, and then half way through the show she took her top off and was only in her bra. (She was sitting in front of us, I wasn't stalking.) I just hope that the style changes before Alydia is a teen. I'll certainly do my best to make her think that frumpy sweat suits are in. I don't want guys like me looking at her in that way.

Good game, but not great

OSU rolled over Iowa yesterday, 31-6. A blow out yes. Should it have been a bigger blow out, absolutely. The defense was awesome. Iowa was forrtunate to get 6. The offense looked pretty good too. Troy Smith looked like the QB the OSU has always needed. He was mobile and accurate and the offense made short work of the Iowa defense. Why, you ask, do I say 'good game, but not great?' Well, there were three huge mistakes by OSU, or the game would have been 52-6. The Bucks fumbled twice inside Iowa's 10 yard line and Ted Ginn finally ran back a punt that was called back because of an illegal block. Essentialy, these mistakes took 13 to 21 points off the board for OSU. Still, Ohio State completely dominated Iowa. If they would have played this well against Texas, they would be undefeated right now.

I Ohio State is off next weekend, so I have to hold myself over by watching Michigan at Michigan State. Right now, Michigan is not looking good, so Michigan State could very well be the team that Ohio State needs to beat to claim the Big Ten title this year. Minnesota beat Purdue, Wisconsin beat Michigan, and Ohio State clobbered Iowa. Purdue, Iowa, and Michigan were supposed to be the elilte teams in the Big Ten this year. Michigan State rolled up 61 points on Illinois. Are you kidding me? That's a point per minute. Now, M. State, Penn State, Wisconsin, and Minnesota are all undefeated this season and Ohio State plays all but Wisconsin this year. Now, remember that Penn State has been warming up on smaller, less talented programs so far, so when the Buckeyes roll in to Happy Valley on the 8th of October, it could be a bit of a wake up call for the Nittony Lions. Well, from what I have seen, Ohio State is playing the best football of all of the Big Ten teams. Of the seven games lefft in the season, the teams to watch out for are Penn State, Michigan State, and scUM. The team up north are always a threat to the Buckeyes, no matter what the standings are at the end of the year. I have a pretty good feeling that the Bucks can win out and play in a BCS game. It may not be the title game, but I don't know that I would feel that good about playing USC in the title game. I suppose that I had the same feeling when they played Miami and that turned out pretty well. Maybe the Nation's top defense can handle the nation's best offense. It'd sure be a pretty good game to watch.

Que Es EL Mars Volta?

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!

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.

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.

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.

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 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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.