Lawyers are scum

Well, I should ammend the title by stating that SOME lawyers are scum. There are some lawyers that devote their lives to helping others. The lawyers that I am talking about are the ambulance chasers that have been sending us mail daily regarding the accident that Jessica's mom was in last month. Now, I understand that they need to make their money somehow, but you'd think that they would have a little bit of tack when it comes to stuff like this. We've gotten at least twenty letters and packages from lawyers trying to get our business. Don't these people think that accident victems and their families are smart enough to use Google or the phone book to find their own lawyers? There have been letters, folders with sales materials, and even a video tape. Each claiming that the soliciting lawyer will get us the maximum amount of money. The biggest ass of them all was the one that sent to letter to Jessica's mom that started, "I understand that you may have been injured in an automobile accident." Well, I'm afraid that it was a little more serious than that. READ THE WHOLE NEWS ARTICLE DICK HEAD!!! We now just throw away anything that we get from law offices. We do have a lawyer that is going to help us get everything taken care of. My mom knows a lawyer who knew another lawyer that handles accidental death cases. We're meeting with him this week to get some issues ironed out. I really can't wait for this whole mess to be done and over with. This situation is rough enough without needing to worry about the legal aspect.

Thank You!

I just wanted to send a quick 'thank you' to To all of you for your thoughts, prayers, and cards that you have sent to my family during the past few weeks. As you all know, it has been a really rough time for us over the past month. Your support and well wishes are greatly appreciated. Also, thanks for all of the cards and gifts for Alydia's birthday. The party was exactly what we needed to get our minds off of things for a little while. I am thankful to have so many good friends that would come help us celebrate on such short notice. Alydia is having fun with her toys and Jessica is having fun with the cute outfits. I'll send more personal thank you cards when I get the time. If any of you need anything from us at any time, don't hesitate to ask.

Tourneys vs. Cash Games

Last night I played in a cash game (poker). Basically, what tham means is if you take $20, you play with $20. The chip amounts are based on the money you brought ($.25 $.50 $1.00 etc.). I usually play in tournaments ($20 gets you a specified amount of chips, like $2000) so the cash game experience was a bit different for me. The big difference is that, in tournaments, when you are out of chips, you are out of the game. In cash games, you can play until your wallet is empty. So, if you put in $20 and lose it all, you can buy another $20 of chips and keep going. Ideally, you want to win money without needing to buy in more than once. Another big difference in the cash games is the mentality of the players. People are more likely to overbet their hand or try to chase a hand when they know that they can get more chips if they lose. I can't tell you how many games I had won early, but I'd get called by someone chasing a hand. Then they's hit their had on the river. I started with $73, went down to under $10, and ended up with $130. I almost left, but am glad I didn't. Hand I played of note:

1. I hit a flush when I had less than $10 to get back into the game.
2. I had Ace six of clubs, hit the flush on the flop and slow played two players for about $50
3. The best play of the night: I had 6 3 of clubs and tried to buy the pot (I was on a flush draw). I was raised, and then I went over the top with an all in. I had nothing, but I could tell that the other guy had nothing too. I was able to scare him out of the hand (or else I would have been broke). To add insult to injury, I showed my cards. He was not happy about folding to a six high. I love poker.

X-Men 3..... I liked it.

This Memorial Day, I took the boys to see the latest (and last?) installment of the X-Men movie series. I was a little nervous about this movie. In general, as a movie, I really liked X3. It was full of action and the story was good. Plus, this film added two of my favs to the X-Men movie mix: The Juggernaut and Kitty Pryde. I always liked the Juggernaut as a bad guy. The unstoppable force. It was a great book when they put Juggernaut up against the Blog (the immovable object). Kitty Pryde was a bit of a highschool crush for me. I know she's a comic book character, but I didn't get much play back in my comic reading day. Also, Kelsey Grammer play the Beast very well. They did a good job with that character. Another thing that I liked about all of the X-Men movies, is that they all kept a certain distance from the comic books. Yes, there are some similarities in the plot lines, but the movie makers never completely stole whole stories from the pages of the Marvel Comics. Now, as a fan of the comic book, there are a few things about X3 that did NOT like (If you have not seen thios movie, you may not want to read the following ...SPOILERS!!!:

1. Magneto and Mystique were made human. If they killed them it would be one thing, but to strip these two bad ass mutants of their powers is criminal.
2. Cyclops was killed in the first half hour of the movie. He was an original member of the X-Men. How can you just kill him off like that?
3. Mr. Multiple (Multiple Man?) was a bad guy. If memory serves, he was one of the good guys on the X-Factor team.
4. Rogue took the cure. She is one of my favs from the comic book. Of course, the movie makers took alot of liberties with this character throughout the films, but she was such a powerful mutant and they never really scratched the surface of her potential.
5. Professor X was killed. Yeah, he died in the comic books, and he was brought back, but to see him get killed so easily kinda bothered me. I guess the movie makers were pulling out all of the stops trying to make this film shocking and dark.

As I said, all in all this was a good movie to watch. I'm sure that comic book purists may have several problems with it, but I will definately buy the DVD.

We're gonna have a party....or try at least

In light of all of the shitty things that have been going on this month: Jessica's grandma and mom passed away and my grandma is expected to pass at any time now, we have decided that it is more important than ever to celebrate something good this month. If you are not aware, my sweet little girl is turning one this Thursday. We've been planning a party for her on this Sunday for months. Rather than cancelling or postponing the event, we feel it is important that we celebrate something happy. Anyone that knows us and reads this post is welcome. The more the merrier is what I feel. We are kicking the party off at 12:00 this Sunday. We'll have food and drink. Come make merry with us.

Thank you to everyone that has kept us in their thoughts during this difficult time. We are doing OK and will make it through this. We have great friends and family. Thanks.

Call your mom. Tell her that you love her.

I'm sure that most of you are unaware, but Thursday morning on her way to work, Jessica's mom, Sue, was killed in a car accident. We are doing as well as is expected, but it is rough going. I don't tell you this because I want sympathy. I tell you all this because it is important that your loved ones know that they are loved. Thankfully, Jess had just talked to her mom Wednesday night and told her that she loved her. Sue was on her way to work when the other driver ran a red light. Your thoughts and prayers are welcome. Please, call you mom, dad, brother, spouse, kids, whatever, and tell them that you love them. You never know when something like this could happen. To all my friends reading this, I love you all.

Things To Look Forward To

there's lots of things for me to look forward to in the next few weeks. This Saturday, I am hosting a poker game (starts at 7:00 if you are interested). I enjoy poker quite a bit. I wish I could play it more often than I do. Maybe now that my bowling league is done, I can get into more games. I'm also taking the weekend off so that I can get my garden started. Sure, that's alot of work, but it's more fun than sitting at my computer all day. Next weekend, We will celebrate Alydia's first birthday. Her actual birthday is Thursday the 25th, but the party will be Sunday the 28th (at noon if you're interested). It should be pretty fun. We're going to have brats, burgers, and Tony Paco's dogs. If you've never had a Paco's dog, you're really missing out. It's a Toledo based resturant. YUM. Of course we'll have cake and other bad for you foods. (We're taking a break from our diet.)

In theaters, there are three movies coming up in the next few weeks. This weekend, The Davinci Code will be in theaters. I've read the book and it was pretty good. It should make a good movie. If you've never read the book, it's got all of the elements to make a good movie: action, intrigue, sexual undertones, and it's got Tom Hanks as the star and Ron Howard as the director. That alone should make the movie worth the time. I'm not sure if we will be able to make it out though. Memorial weekend, X-Men 3 will be coming out. It looks pretty good. All of the original cast is returning in the third installment of the X-Men movie series. I've seen a few commercials, but have not seen the trailer yet. Finally, Cars is going to be out in early June. It is a Disney/Pixar movie about cars that are alive. I've seen a few commercials and think that Gabriel will LOVE it. He likes cars and he lokes cartoons. It's really a sure thing that he will want to see this. I may wait for the DVD for this one too. Gabe's attention span is that of a four year old's. Oh year...he IS four. Makes sense.

I was also thinking of having a just friends cookout/poker/Xbox/whatever party sometime in the near future. I'd like to invite my highschool, college, and work friends. That's alot of people, but I think we have enough room with the new house. The patio will help, just so long as the weather is nice. Of course, all of my faithful readers would be invited. I'm thinking, probably Late June or sometime in July. Of course, it could be hotter than heck by then. We'll see. Maybe I should wait until September..... When could y'all make it?

NetFlix screw up

As you may know, I use NetFlix for my DVD rental needs. Lately, I have been getting Star Trek Voyager DVDs. They generally include four episodes per DVD. That means that I have four hours of background noise while I work. Well, instead of sending the next three Voyager DVDs, as listed on my queue, NetFLEX sent me three cinema movies. They were on my list, but we not at the top of the list. They sent The Devil's Rejects, Hostle, and The Incredibles is on the way. I need to check the web site to see if there is a way I can complain. The problem is, if I get a movie that Jessica wants to see, I need to wait until she watches it before I send it back. I need to send movies back in order to get new movies. Since we've been watching back episodes of the Sopranos together, I've been getting Star Trek DVDs for while I work. Now, I need to hold on to Hostle and The Incredibles until the weekend we that we can all watch them. Oh well. This is the first screw up I can report in regards to NetFlix. I've been thrilled with the service.

I figured that Jessica wouldn't want to watch The Devil's Rejects, so I watched it yesterday. It's Rob Zombie's second movie, a sequil to House of 1000 Corpses. We didn't like 1000 Corpses too much, but I had heard that The Devil's Rejects was better. It was, but not too much. Basically, House of 1000 Corpses is about a bass-ackwards, hill-jack family that lifes in BFE Texas, and the capture people and kill them. It was pretty gruesome, but also a bit silly and wierd. The highlight of the film was Zombie's wife, who is hot. She plays one of the crazy psych killers. Picture Jessica Simpson's Daisy Duke, only mean. She's in The Devil's Rejects too. The movie continues the story from the end of 1000 Corpses. There is more plot and action, and less sillyness. It's a pretty gross film and is definately NOT one to watch with the kiddies. I made sure that Alydia was napping and Gabriel was playing in the basement when I watched it. The first hour is good, then it gets a little stupid for about a half hour, but the end is OK, if not predictable. If you are into slasher films, with realistic effects, this is a pretty good film to watch. I was grossed out a few times.

Is 127 good?

I took an IQ test through TickleTest.com (I think that's what the site was called) and I scored a 127. I guess that's about average. Not too sure though. I think anything less than 80 is 'mentally challenged'. It was a free test, but it asked for money after you took the test so that you could get your 'full IQ results'. I didn't pay, but had fun taking the test. It said that I am good with problem solving.

Diet Update....The Incredible Shrinking Eric

It's been a while since I've posted about the diet that I'm on. If you don't remember, I am doing the South Beach Diet. For two weeks, you go carb-free so that your body can flush out the sugars in your system. It rough the first few days, I'm not going to lie, but after that, it gets easier. After the first two weeks, you get to start adding 'good' carbs to your meals. This means whole grains. What you cannot eat is sugar and anything made with white flour. That means pasta, bread, potatoes, and grain alcohol (beer). After a while, you really don't miss those foods too much. What you do eat is alot of protein and fiber. You can have eggs, bacon, any meat, almost any veggies (no corn).... So, I have alot of salads, steaks, chicken, and then throw in some grain rice and such. It's not too bad. There are South Beach foods sold in the stores, including crackers and cookies. Nuts are also fine. For your sweet tooth, you can have sugar free pudding and jello. It's similar to the Adkins diet, but not quite as strict. One thing that is good is that after the first week or so, you drop about five pounds from water retention. Junk food and sugars make your body hold more water, so you pee it all out once you start eating the right foods.

Well, after last week and all of the 'comfort foods' I at while up in Toledo, I went up a few pounds. Due to the added stress of Jessica's grandma's illness,we were also drinking a bit more (hard alcohol is OK. Like vodka and whiskey) which made me eat too many snacks. After hitting the diet again, I am back to losing more weight. I am also getting outside alot more doing yard work. SO, the number you are all waiting for: I am still not low enough to tell everyone how much I actually weigh, but I have lost somewhere between 40 and 50 pounds. It was like I was carrying Gabriel around all the time. It's amazing how much weight you can gain if you don't really pay attention to what you eat. I'm still heavier than my college weight and much higher than my high school weight. My goal is to get back to my high school weight. I know I'll always be big, but I can't be this big.

Sorry, it's been a while.......

Wow, it's been two weeks since my last post. Sorry to my loyal reader. It's been a busy couple of weeks. We were back and forth to my parent's house in Monvlova (near Toledo) because Jessica's grandma was sick and passed away last week. We went the first weekend because she was in the hospital and the outlook was not good. Last weekend we went up for the funeral. It was a sad time. I'm glad that we were able to get up there though. It was a wierd experience for me. We were all in the hospital room and Jessica's grandma took a serious decline (her blood pressure was low and she was having trouble breathing), so everyone sorta started to urge her into the light, if you catch my meaning. It was a little morbid. I won't get into it too much, because it is sort of a personal time for people and I don't think I should broadcast about it on the net any more than I already have. It was just a strange experience for me. Of course, Jessica's grandma lasted several more days. She was a tough lady. Nice too.

Well, enough of that. I was really busy after we got home Saturday evening. I mowed the grass and started some projects out in the yard. Sunday we bought some flowers to plan in the yard. I planted a few bushes and planned where my garden will be. The biggest project was putting down a stone landing at the foot of my patio steps. I put down about 130 square stones. There were about six inches wide, so it's not like I broke my back carrying the things. It looks good though. Oh, my fence is up around my back yard too. It looks really good. I had grand plans about flower beds all over the place, but time and money constraints will limit what all I do.

The worst part about this time of year is that I ALWAYS get poison something (either ivy, oak, or sumac). I just need to touch it once and I get a rash all over. It get into my system and I get rashes all over the place. It's not too bad this year, but it's irritating. I just don't know where I got it from. I guess I have some in my back yard somewhere. Grrrrr..... Remember, leaves of three, leave it be!

Star Trek Hotties

After my last, totally depressing post, I thought I'd try to lighten things up a bit. I recently added Star Trek Voyager, season 1, to my NetFlix queue and was reminded of two things: 1. the show is excellent 2. Kes is hot. Anyway, I began to think about the women of Star Trek history and thought I'd give you, in my opinion, the top three hotties from each series:

Star Trek (the original)
1. the blonde Yeoman that always brought Kirk things to sign (I forget her name)
2. the green alien seductress (again, I forget the name of the species, but always wondered why they were never in any of the newer series.)
3. Uhura
honorable mention: any female crew member in those short short skirts ("You could almost see the giblets." -Larry the Cable Guy)

TNG
1. Tasha Yar
2. Deanna Troi
3. Dr. Chrusher
honorable mention: the entire species of sex hungry, scantally clad women in that episode where Wesley Crusher was sentenced to death for falling in some flowers.

DS9
1. Jadzia Dax
2. Kira Nerys
3. Dabo Girls!!
honorable mention: Ezri Dax. Cute, but no one can truely replace the original Dax.

Voyager
1. Seven of Nine
2. Kes
3. B'elanna Torres
honorable mention: Captain Janeway

Enterprise
1. T'Pol
2. T'Pol
3. T'Pol (she's really attractive)
honorable mention: Hoshi Sato

Hall of Fame top three:
1. T'Pol
2. Seven of Nine
3. Dax (the original)

Any disagreements or anyone that I forgot to mention?

Sad News

Hey all you AWHS alumni, I got some sad new yesterday. My mom called to wish us a Happy Easter and then followed that right up by telling me that Don Voss (Tim's dad) died last Wednesday. I guess it was ruled that he had a heart attach while driving and then had an accident. I think he ran into a building or something. If you don't know Mr. Voss, he was a really nice guy and helped teach percussion at Anthony Wayne High School. He also came down for alot of the OSU football games and went to all of the OSU Marching Band shows that he could. So, keep his family in your thoughts.

Sorry for bringing everyone down. In the future, I will try to lighten things up a bit.

Good Times

So, I'm in a pretty good mood today. Sure, I have to work ten hours in my basement, but that's OK. The past few days have been very nice outside. 75 degrees and sunny. Spring is definately my favorite time of the year. The weather is nice, trees are turning green, plants are popping up, and there are no bugs yet. I hate bugs. The only negative is all the weeds I have coming up all over the place. Oh well. I bought some bushes: two roses, red and black raspberries, and a blueberry. I also have started some flower and herb seeds (I love fresh herbs. Rosemary, basil, dill, cilantro and chives). I think I need to throttle down though. My plans for my back yard may be exceeding the amount of time I have to actually work in my yard. Plus, my budget is not a big as I'd like. Well, when my fence is finally installed, I was going to put flower beds all around the place. I would need to take a full week off to acomplish what I would want to. So, I will just plant my bushes and put in my vegetable garden in. I'll put off the rest of my plans for next spring. Another part of the problem is that I have no idea what is coming up in my yard. We moved in September 1st last year, so we missed almost all of the plants that are coming up. It looks like we have tulips all over the place. I like tulips, but may have to remove some of them due to their placement. Anyway, I guess my point is I need to wait and see what is going one back there before I plant more stuff. The roses and raspberries were necessities though. They are both favorites of mine. I also bought some strawberries to put in planters on my deck. Mmmmmmm....Berries.

Another part of why I am happy is because I was able to get all of the Sopranos DVDs at a fair price. I got seasons 1 and 2 on Ebay for $30 each. I started bidding on 3 and 4, but noticed that I probably would have to schell out $40 or so for these DVD sets, so I thought I'd check WalMart and see their prices. I'd seen the DVDs at target and Best Buy for about $90 each, but found them at Wally World for $50 (seasons 3 and 4) and $60 (season 5). I snatched them up. Yes, it's more than I'd have paid on Ebay, but I am an instant gratification kind of guy. Impulse buying is the term. Regardless, I now have all of the DVDs and am happy.

Ebay Oops

Somehow I screwed up and bought two copies of the Sopranos season 2 DVD box set on Ebay. I thought I had lost the first box set I bid on, but I guess not. So, now I have two sets, one new one used, on the way. I'm glad that I won at least one of the auctions, but who really needs two sets of the same DVD set? I may re-sell one of the sets on Ebay but thought I'd throw out the offer to my faithful blog reader. If he hasn't stopped reading this pile of dog poo. I know, more than one person reads my blog, I'm just being funny(ish). Anyway, I paid $30 and will gladly sell it to someone for the same price. I'll even give the new set rather than the used one. Let me know if you are interested. Otherwise, I'll just throw it back on Ebay. If you don't watch the Sopranos, I suggest you start. It's pretty good.

Don't call is a come back....

So, I hosted a poker game last night. It wasn't a huge game, but 12 people showed up to play. It was a good amount. We started out with two tables and I was doing well. Things turned ugly when I bet big with two kings and was trounced by three aces. I started to play really tight so that I would be able to stay in the game for as long as possible. Nothing is worse than hosting a poker game and getting knocked out early. We went down to one table when we got down to nine players and I was low stack in the chip category. The blinds were coming around to me and $200 and $400, and I had $365 left. If you don't know poker, blinds are forced bets that are made by the two people to the left of the dealer. So, when the big blind rolled my way (at $400) I was forced to put all of my remaining chips in the pot. I was 'all in'. Everyone was waiting for the enevitable conclusion that I was out. Well, I was dealt two aces and won the hand. I now had over $800 in chips. Still not great, but I was going to be able to hang around for a while. The next hand (I was in the small blind of $200) I was dealt two nines. I played the hand and two other people stayed in with me. When a third nine came up on the flop, I went all in again and won another hand, bumping me up to over $2400 chips. Now I'm in business and I eliminated another player. I'll make a long story short by telling you that I was low stack with nine players left at the table and was able to fight back to take second place. I'd like to say it was skill, but the truth is that I got lucky and hit big hands when I needed to. Still, it was a great game or me and a good time was had by all.

Be sure to check out pictures of Amy and Johnny's baby boy. Congrats to mom and dad.

Don't call is a come back....

So, I hosted a poker game last night. It wasn't a huge game, but 12 people showed up to play. It was a good amount. We started out with two tables and I was doing well. Things turned ugly when I bet big with two kings and was trounced by three aces. I started to play really tight so that I would be able to stay in the game for as long as possible. Nothing is worse than hosting a poker game and getting knocked out early. We went down to one table when we got down to nine players and I was low stack in the chip category. The blinds were coming around to me and $200 and $400, and I had $365 left. If you don't know poker, blinds are forced bets that are made by the two people to the left of the dealer. So, when the big blind rolled my way (at $400) I was forced to put all of my remaining chips in the pot. I was 'all in'. Everyone was waiting for the enevitable conclusion that I was out. Well, I was dealt two aces and won the hand. I now had over $800 in chips. Still not great, but I was going to be able to hang around for a while. The next hand (I was in the small blind of $200) I was dealt two nines. I played the hand and two other people stayed in with me. When a third nine came up on the flop, I went all in again and won another hand, bumping me up to over $2400 chips. Now I'm in business and I eliminated another player. I'll make a long story short by telling you that I was low stack with nine players left at the table and was able to fight back to take second place. I'd like to say it was skill, but the truth is that I got lucky and hit big hands when I needed to. Still, it was a great game or me and a good time was had by all.

Be sure to check out pictures of Amy and Johnny's baby boy. Congrats to mom and dad.

Pussy, Pussy, Pussy......

No, I'm not morphing my blog into an adult site. We will try to stay PG-13 on 'I Gotta Name This?'. I may drop an occasional F-bomb or escriment explative, but I will leave the nudity and adult content to the 95% of the internet that already has that market cornered. The title of this post references to my newest NetFlix DVD obsession. No, not porn! I thought I already covered that! Besides, I don't think you can get porn on NetFlix. I'm talking about the greatest crime show ever created (except maybe for TJ Hooker...not): The Sopranos. Many people I work with and hang out with have talked about the Sopranos in the past, and rather than getting HBO for one show, I decided to give the mob show hit a try on NetFlix. Let me tell you, it is one of the best shows I have ever seen. BSG is still my favorite, but the Sopranos is a close number two. I've been through seasons one and two, and am half way though season three. It is very addictive, like TV crack. Season one kind of set things up for you and was kinda slow, but seasons two and three are action packed. If you don't know, the Sopranos is about a New Jersey mob family. It is interesting because, instead of just focusing on the crimes and other things generally associated with the mob, The Sopranos takes a look at the family and social aspects of the Soprano family. For example, one of the main stories is about Tony (the boss) having anxiety attacks, so he starts going to a psychiatrist, but not like Analize This funny ha ha stuff. Anyways, back to the title fo this post. Pussy is the nick name of one of the family's capitans and the god father of Tony's kids. In other words, he's close to Tony. Well, Pussy gets busted for selling heroin and makes a deal with the FBI so that he can stay out of jail. Tony finds out and Pussy gets wacked. Now, you kow a show is great when you can say, "I can't believe that Tony wacked Pussy," with no sexual meaning what-so-ever. It was sorta like in The God Father when Anthony had to wack Fredo. Very moving. Honestly, The Sopranos has everything that a guy would want in a show: comedy, action, hot women, drama, great actors, and they hang out in a topless bar half of the time. The only thing that puts BSG above the Sopranos is the kick ass effects in BSG. So, if you have never seen The Sopranos, I give it my full endorsement. Be warned, there is some very graphic sceenes of sex and violence, so if you are faint of heart, you may want to skip this show.

The Big Ten a Big Bust

Well, the NCAA tourney is over for me. All of the Big Ten teams are out after the second round of play. OSU was last to fall, only because their second round game was played late in the weekend. So, I'm done with the tourney. There's always next year. Now I need to wait six months until NCAA fotball starts up. I'll go through sports withdrawals for a while, but will be OK.

Princess Poo Poo

I'm sure some day Alydia will hate us for one of her current nicknames, butthat's what therapists are for. Here's a current picture for y'all to brighten your day. Ain't she cute?

We're Dancin'

I'm talking about the Big Dance. The NCAA tourney. March Madness. Ohio State will be in the mix when it comes down to the NCAA Tournament for the basketball national title. Both the men's team and the women's team are looked at as favorites to go far into the NCAA tourney this year. Both teams have won the regular season Big Ten Conference Titles and the women have won the Big Ten Tournament. Both teams have 20+ wins seasons and both teams are ranked in the top ten nationally for the first time that I can remember. The women have been doing well in the past years, but the men haven't done too much since the last time they made it to the Final Four way back in the day(2000) maybe? Both teams should be a number 2 or 3 seed and there is some talk that, if they can win the Big Ten Tournament, the men could be a number 1 seed. Everyone was talking about next year, when OSU would get their great freshmen recruits, for the men to make a run in the tournament but it looks like everyone underestimated second year coach Thad Matta. It is amazing that the men are in the top ten and are the team to beat from the Big Ten. Their wins include victories over Michigan State, Ilinois, Indiana, and Iowa (plus sweeping the boys from up north) and their four losses were by a combined 15 points. Their worst loss was by 10, so that means they were five points from a one loss season and being in the top five. Now, to be honest, I don't follow the women's team much, but I have been watching as many of the men's games as I could this season. They have a good mis of outside shooting and an inside game that can pick up the slack if the three ball doesn't fall. Add that to a stingy defense, and you get a team that could go to the Final Four. It's all very exciting. First, we need to look to the Big Ten Tourney, where the Bucks will play either Northwestern or Penn State this tomorrow at noon. Plerrt exciting stuff. Go Bucks!

Excited about gardening.

I know, I know. It's not what one would expect from me, but it's true. I like doing landscaping stuff. I used to have an uphill battle at our old house because the yard was pretty over grown with weeds and had too many trees. All I could plant were shade plants. I have less trees now and more sun, so my options are unlimited. I got a magazine with a bunch of plants I can order. It made me all excited about all of the different things I wanted to do in the back yard. I need to wait until we get our fence up though. We have a lot of rabbits around here, so a fence is needed for plant protection. I'll probably need to take a few days off in the spring so that I can get everything planted. Lots of work. It's fun though.

Jessica Alba is HOT.

My latest NetFlix movie was Into the Blue. It is about a couple that lives in The Bahamas and the guy is into looking for sunken treasure. He's poor, so he has shitty equipment, but he's dating Jessica Alba's character, so why would he care? All I have to say is, slow motion swimming in a thong..... There was more to the movie than that, of course, but if you like Jessica Alba, she is smokin' in this flim. There is some good action and the story is pretty good too. I wouldn't put in my top ten favorites, but I'm not regretting using up a NetFlix rental to watch this movie. The acting isn't great (the two male characters are from 90120, I think) but I was able to get past that.

I also watched The Children of Dune, a mini series that was on Sci Fi. I liked Dune, both the origonal film and the Sci Fi channel remake, but Children of Dune left me a bit disappointed. The main character of Dune, Paul, up and leaves his throne (he's the emporor of the universe) and wanders off into the dessert. It had a bunch of wierd things happen and odd subplots, and the ending was kinda dumb. I was actually a little angry after seeing this mini series because Dune was such a neat story. I think they tried to cram two long books into the mini series, so maybe they had to leave alot of important info on the cutting room floor. I guess it was interesting enough, but I was not pleased overall. I guess my stardards have gone up after watching season 1 of the Sopranos. Now, THAT is a good show.

Any home viewing suggestions?

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

For all you Joss fans....

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

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

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

Help Wanted

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

Slave One

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

Mellenium Falcon

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

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

the best $17.99 per month I've ever spent

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

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

First ER visit

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

Will I Ever Grow Up?

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

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

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

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

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

Bad beats and shitty luck

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

Want a Good Read?

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Sorry, it's been a while.

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

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

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

Mona's Butt

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

Shopping Spree and Diet Update

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

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

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

general news

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

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

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

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

Great BCS games

Four BCS games, four good games.

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

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

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

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

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

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

It's on!

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

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

Alias

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

Shows I'd watch

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

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

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

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

Battlestar Galactica 2. whoa

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

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

So, I fanally saw Serenity. Twice.

***spoiler alert***

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

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

Guess Who

By popular demand, here is a picture of Alydia.

Go Buck!....Basketball???

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

Places I want to go

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

I hate kickers

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

random thoughts

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

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

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

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

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

mmmmm....boobies

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

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

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

Some things that I've always wondered about:

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

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

Questions Answered Today

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

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

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

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

Highschool Pictures

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

Media Whores

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

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

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

Questions Answered

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

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

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

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