Tuesday, May 26, 2009

My Next Blackberry

Meet the Blackberry Onyx.

The Uber-Blackberry.

It has everything.

I will own this (as soon as it comes out for T-Mobile that is).

If you love your Blackberry you will want to see your next one.

You just have to follow the link: http://crackberry.com/blackberry-onyx-review

All I got for you today. See you tomorrow!

Monday, May 25, 2009

Memorial Day

Today was a day off work so of course I worked all day. Not really. Diana and I got up and finished making jelly rolls and had McDonald's and then we went back to bed. We got up around 11AM(!!!!) and decided we should get stuff done. I had told Diana that I wanted to get the basement clean and especially the storage room. This was quite a project. The kids had completely destroyed the storage room. The basement was not that bad, except we let the kids sleep downstairs last night so there was some cleaning to do.

We went downstairs before noon and finished up around 7PM. That is quite a job. We did take a break around 3 to watch an hour of "So You Think You Can Dance" which has started up again. We filled up our garbage cans as well as filling up the Pathfinder with stuff to take to the DI.

It was quite a day. I am tired, my back hurts, but I can walk through my storage room without trying to squeeze past items. We also straightened out the food storage and took an inventory of all our food and freezer items.

After cleaning all day I started up the BBQ and cooked cheddar brats and cheeseburgers. Diana cooked up the waffle fries. I made my special fry sauce (no, I will not be listing the recipe) and we chowed down. We also had a fruit plate and a veggie tray. It was quite a meal. For dessert we had Island Sorbet from Costco. These were pretty good (if I liked sorbet I would probably love them). The sorbet is actually in a fruit cup. I had mango-orange and it was actually in an orange peel. If you like sorbet pick one up and try it out.

After dinner was over I fixed Jordan's bike. He had a brake problem, the front brakes would not release. I unhooked the brake wire and unwrapped it from the steering wheel and then re-hooked everything up. I then pumped up Jordan's back tire. Chloe's front tire needed some air so I filled it up to. Chloe has a YW bike ride this Saturday. I will have to see if the tire stays full or I will need to put a patch on the tube before then. I have a busy week so I will see if I have time. I will be patching up the tire at 10PM some night.

Thanks to all the veterans out there that fought for our freedom. That is what Memorial Day is all about.

And this is just the beginning to the week...much more to come.

Jelly Rolls

I do not know if you have ever had a jelly roll before. These were one of those things that Diana just comes to me with and says we are going to make these. I look at the recipe and say I don't know, I have never heard of these before. I am always very doubtful. I even told Diana, "If Heavenly Father wants us to go to IHOP tomorrow these won't turn out." You see, the kids had been begging to go to IHOP this morning for breakfast as a "tradition" (we went to IHOP on a Memorial Day like 3 or 4 years ago, I think I need to teach the kids what a tradition is).

Back to the main story: I should trust Diana when she does this as she rarely does not come through. Most of the time these recipes are some of the best food I ever eat. When I woke up this morning and walked into the kitchen the rolls looked perfect and smelled great! I slid the pan in the oven for 15 minutes and once the rolls came out it was eating time. Everyone loved them.

The jelly rolls took some time to put together but they sure were worth it! I can't wait until the next time we make them!

Saturday, May 23, 2009

Star Trek

Diana and I went to see Star Trek last night. It is a really good movie - not great. Diana loved it so maybe I had my expectations set a little too high and the movie really is a great one. Either way, I was entertained but I had some problems with the movie. If you haven't seen it (and are going to) or you just don't want to know what happens - you should stop reading.

**SPOILER ALERT**
Problems I had with Star Trek:

The car chase scene: Why did kid-Kirk jump the car down a ravine? Just does not make sense, and there is no way Kirk does not slide off that ledge, he jumped out of a car doing 50-80 MPH and stops (with nothing to grab onto) within 5 feet. Ridiculous!

Time travel: Whenever you bring time-travel into a movie you open up huge plot holes. How did Nero know where Spock would come out of his black hole? He was just there waiting for Spock and captured him easily.

Where did this Red Matter come from? Why did they make so much? If one drop could destroy a planet why would they keep so much - on a spaceship, where there could be problems? Also, the black hole at the end when Spock's ship is destroyed would have been much larger (I know, it started to suck in the Enterprise but they got out of it). Think about it, one drop destroys a planet, the whole ball blowing up would/should destroy the universe!

The transporter: At the beginning of the movie could barely grab someone that was moving (and could not get Spock's Mom), yet by the end they are beaming during warp speed and while flying/falling/all kind of other things. I know you will say that it was Scotty upgrading the software or something like that. I just think that the transporter is more of a hardware thing and there would have had to been some serious upgrades to do what they did (I am a computer guy - what do you expect?). This was more than a firmware update, if you know what I mean.

Kirk becoming first officer: Really? This is how he gets his ship? Pike leaving and just casually saying that Kirk is now the first officer. Things were really so bad that there was no one else? I mean, Spock was a Commander, Kirk was a Cadet that should not have even been on the ship and then five minutes later he is first officer? Makes no sense to me.

Kirk dropping his gun: How many times did Kirk drop his gun? I swear, they did it once and then just green-screened different backgrounds. It happened in both hand-to-hand combat scenes in the movie!

**END SPOILERS**

The one thing I will say about Star Trek is I left the theatre thinking about how this is how the Star Wars prequels should have been. Action upon action with little to no sense, but the film should always be moving towards what we (the audience) know will happen. In Star Trek I was never that worried about Kirk and the rest of them because I knew they would be OK (I have seen the TV shows you know). Star Wars got too caught up in their own words and trying to make a story that we did not know that would eventually lead to what we did know. Hence, Star Wars got bogged down and had some good scenes, but altogether the movies were not that good. I swear, I could edit all three of them into a 3-hour epic and you wouldn't miss a thing.

Friday, May 22, 2009

LeBron

This guy is pretty good.

Questions/thoughts:
Why is LeBron not being doubled?
How did Hedo hit his lob over the head shot with a second left? Ugly.
The Cavs celebrated like they won the championship, why?
The Cavs are in trouble if they could barely win at home and still have to play two (or more) in Orlando.

Anyways, here is the video of last nights ending:

Thursday, May 21, 2009

NBA Playoffs Conference Finals

**This may seem late, but I have been wrting this and saying these things for days**

First, we need to see how well I picked the conference finalists. Let's get right too it:

Cleveland vs. Atlanta: Cavs sweep (I picked Cavs in 6, no one thought the Cavs would cruise like they did).
Boston vs. Orlando: Magic in 7 (I picked Magic in 6, I did it again, I underestimated the heart of a champion. Either that or the Magic just aren't that good, I choose the latter)
LA Lakers vs. Houston: Lakers in 7 (I picked Lakers in 5 because the Rockets are a pretty good team and very physical, they have someone that can make Kobe work for his points and shut down the role players of the Lakers - but Houston still lost)
Denver vs. Dallas: Nuggets in 5 (I picked Nuggets in 6, pretty close. The Nuggets are better than anyone knows, but they are way too physical and it will kill them in the LA series)

I picked all the winners, but I got none of the series right on for how many games. I will try to do better this time.

Eastern Conference Finals
1. Cleveland vs. 3. Orlando

Cleveland has the best player in the league but not much else. LeBron will have his way in this series. The series comes down to the roles players, can they hit enough shots so when LeBron is forced to pass the Cavs still get points. If the Cavs 2nd-tier players score enough the Magic will lose. Orlando relies way too heavily on the three. The Cavs have no one to stop Dwight Howard and the Magic should pound it down low over and over again. Too bad Dwight has two offensive moves - the dunk and a short jump hook. While this will be a harder series then the first two for the Cavs, they should not have that much of a problem getting to the Finals.

Cavs in 6

1. LA Lakers vs. 2. Denver

The Nuggets are thugs living a thug life, but I love seeing them beat up on the Lakers. I don't want anyone to get hurt, but it is fun watching a scrappy team like the Nuggets play a good team like the Lakers. You see how soft Pau and Odom are when they are forced to play a physical team over and over again. How soft the Lakers are may really hurt them in this series. I love Carmelo (as a basketball player, he is not a good person) and he works hard for his points. This year Melo even decided to rebound and play a little defense. The Lakers have Kobe and he can still take over games in the 4th quarter (winning time). Denver is just so scrappy they never give up until the horn sounds. This will be a good hard-fought series. Too bad the Lakers have a lot more talent on their side - and in the NBA talent usually wins out!

Lakers in 7

CBS Fall Schedule

CBS has released their fall schedule (http://www.cbs.com/primetime/fall_preview_2009/schedule.php). A couple highlights for the shows I watch on the network.

Are they messing with me? How could they break up the comedy power hour on Monday nights? I like being able to watch How I Met Your Mother earlier, but I do not want to have to wait around all night to see The Big Bang Theory! This has got to be changed. I do not like Jenna Elfman (Accidently on Purpose) but I am sure Diana will have us at least give the show a try.

I do not watch CBS on Tuesday nights, but The Good Wife will be on Diana's list of new shows. We will give it a couple weeks and then give up on it I am sure. They moved The Mentalist! I can't believe it! The Mentalist has become out Tuesday night show and now it is gone.

Criminal Minds is still on Wednesdays. Seems to be a pretty good night for the show. We usually let a couple of these build up on the DVR and watch a bunch at once. This show is very hit or miss.

On Thursdays, we have stopped watching Survivor and I do not miss it at all. CSI is getting close to getting dropped. The story lines have gotten too weird since Grissom left. Time to stop this show. The Mentalist on Thursdays! Now I won't have to watch Southland!

I do not watch TV on Friday and Saturday nights and there is nothing on the schedule that would make me start.

Sunday nights are all about The Amazing Race - one of the best shows on TV! I highly recommend it to all. Nothing else here that I plan on watching.

Wednesday, May 20, 2009

What I'm Listening To

Today I sat mesmerized while listening to a song on my iPod. I have had the song for a while but I never realizied how good it was until today. The song is Wasteland by Augustana. Here are the lyrics and a YouTube video.

Now I'm sitting on a plane
Lonely flight back to L.A.
Don't come back with me
So I'll drink myself to sleep
Cut my skin until I bleed
Hold my breath all the night

Cause it's 5 o'clock
The hour stops the sunlight
And the buildings shade the masquerade and kill time
Hear the sound
She was naked on the ground
Till I whispered in her ear
Come away, watch the dawn break through the day
Till the sun is underneath

Cause it's 5 o'clock
The hour stops the sunlight
And the buildings shade the masquerade and kill time
Here we're nothing more than fools and w***** and sad highs
Through the summer sand, we're living in
We're living in a wasteland

It's a wasteland
It's a wasteland
It's a wasteland for me

And we're nothing more than fools and w***** and sad highs
Through the summer sand, we're living in
We're living in a wasteland
Here we're nothing more than fools and w***** and sad highs
Through the summer sand, we're living in
We're living in a wasteland

It's a wasteland
It's a wasteland
It's a wasteland for me
For me

Tuesday, May 19, 2009

Sonicare

As you all know, I got a Sonicare toothbrush system for Diana for Mother's Day. Well, I got the Sonicare at Costco and it was actually a two-pack, so I get a Sonicare to. Yesterday, Diana got the system all setup and ready to be used and this morning I was able to use the Sonicare for the first time. Here is how it went:

I step up to the Sonicare and have no idea how to use. Diana told me that she left the instructions in there for me to read through, but who reads instructions? I pick up the toothbrush and started pushing buttons. I figured out how to turn it on and all that pretty quickly. Seemed easy enough. I put some toothpaste on the end of it and turn it on. Toothpaste went flying everywhere. Hmmmm, that can't be right. I tried to scoop up the toothpaste with my vibrating toothbrush. I could not do a very good job. Finally, I get some scooped up and get it in my mouth. As soon as I put the toothbrush in my mouth it hits my drool nerve and I start drooling like a psycho. I have no idea what is going on and I can't get it to stop. Weird. I haven't drooled for years but this was crazy today. After about 20 seconds and a gallon of drool I decided to give up and go back to my regular toothbrush. Things went fine with the "normal" toothbrush by the way.

Tonight, I decided to give the Sonicare another shot. I still drooled like crazy while brushing, but Diana told me to put the toothbrush (with toothpaste) in my mouth BEFORE turning it on. She said it says that in the instructions. I said, "Who reads instructions?" I got the brush going and actually made it through the two-minute cycle of the brush. My teeth felt weird when I was done and I had to empty a bucket of drool, but all in all it was pretty good.

Diana says the weird teeth feeling goes away after a while (at least the instructions says so). I will just have to go get my drool gland removed and things should be fine.

Sunday, May 17, 2009

Piano Recital

Chloe and Jordan had a piano recital last week. Some friends of ours recorded their children and Chloe and Jordan and gave us the video. Here is the upload of the video they gave us. You can stop watching after Chloe and Jordan or you can watch Candace and Elysse as they play.

Good job Chloe and Jordan, you sound great!

Saturday, May 16, 2009

Happy Birthday Dad!

Today is my Dad's birthday. He is 61. That is a lot of years.

I took my Dad golfing for his birthday - plus we stopped at McDonald's for breakfast. We played a quick nine-holes and had a good time. We even let Ry-ry come along.

It was a great day for golf. The sun was shining bright. Just a light breeze that kept things cool. I was pretty good with the sticks today. Not a great day by me on any account, but a good day. I shot a 50, my Dad shot at 61 (his age - how appropriate), and Ry-ry shot a 64 (he probably let Dad win for his birthday).

We were a three-some on the course and we were paired up with a single. This guy was pretty good. He had a huge (as my head - now that is big! How did he swing it?) Nike driver that must have had a sweet spot the size of Texas. This guy could just crush off the tee. Every drive was a thing of beauty. He was not as good on other parts of the course, but still, he was better than any of us.

Halfway through the round the guy must have gotten bored watching Ry-ry and Dad hit balls into the lake or the rough or 5 feet away from where they were, or balls that went 100 yards directly right, but not forward at all because he started giving out lessons. He was trying to straighten Dad and Ry-ry out. He did an OK job. Their scores did not improve, but they were at least keeping the ball in play.

I can't let theses guys get too good - who would I have to beat if they got better?

My Dad wants to go out again next week. We'll see.

Wednesday, May 13, 2009

Cluster Map

I have added a map on the right-hand side of the page. This map will show dots for all the visitors to this page. You can have your very own dot! Visit a lot, visit while on vacation. Call your great-aunt Stacy from Timbuktu and have her log on. Let's work together to fill up the map with dots from all over.

I am so logging on next time I am in Antarctica.

Get LOST Tonight!

Don't forget the season finale of LOST is on tonight. It is a 2-hour episode. All of the LOST season finales are great and I expect great things tonight.
  • Will Jack's plan work?
  • Will Kate be able to stop Jack's plan?
  • Will Locke kill Jacob?
  • Will Ben and Richard stop Locke?
  • How will the two timelines merge?
  • Will Jin and Sun ever be back together?
  • Is there enough food on the island for Hugo?
  • Will Desmond save the day?
  • Is Sawyer really going to pick Juliet over Kate?
  • What will be the big twist this year?
After tonight only 16 episodes of LOST remain.

Monday, May 11, 2009

He Must Really Like KFC

How much do you like KFC? Do you like it enough to get a bust of the colonel for your back bumper? This guy must either deliver KFC in a colonel costume or he is their biggest fan. By the way, anyone tried the new grilled chicken? I have only heard that it is not very good, but have not tried it myself. Tried to get online and get the coupon from Oprah for the free chicken, but it was such a chore and so slow I gave up and said if I really want the chicken that bad I will just buy it.

Sunday, May 10, 2009

Happy Mother's Day

Just a quick shout out to all you Mother's out there. Currently at Diana's Moms, will go to mine next. Then back to home to make the special dinner for Diana. Hint: it is not tacos.
Sent via BlackBerry from T-Mobile

Saturday, May 9, 2009

Wolverine: The Movie

I saw the new Wolverine movie last night. It was pretty OK. Not a great movie, but much better than the last X-Men movie (X3). I have two main problems with the movie. My first is that the language of this movie is just not family friendly. The other X-Men movies I have no problems with the kids watching. The kids will not be watching this movie for quite a while. Sometimes every sentence in a conversation would have some foul language in it. I don't know why. I guess they just wanted the movie to be "edgy" with the language.

My second problem is that they wanted to have an emotional side of the movie and it just got in the way. All very predictable and not very well done. The movie-makers need to stick with what they know how to do, which is have Wolverine kick butt. He does that a lot in the movie. It was very fun to see how Wolverine was "made" and the history of him.

I really did like this movie. I just wish they would have fixed the two items above. I would say go see it and have a fun time at the movie.

Next week, I hope to see Star Trek, we'll see.

At The Costco

The Costco was crazy today. Right as you entered there was pathways of Mary Kay, Scentsy, local sunflower seeds and much, much more. It was wild! Things only got crazier once we were inside - it is sample Saturday you know. It is like some of these people go to Costco for lunch. Overall we got some good food at good prices to be ready for Mother's Day. We got chocolate milk and muffins to go with the bacon and pancakes for breakfast. I have no idea (still) what to do for lunch. I will probably just punt that one. For dinner...well, Diana wants to be surprised (and since someone told her about the toothbrush-if I find out who you are you are in big trouble) I am not going to say what we have for dinner, other than it will be good.

Happy Mother's Day!
Sent via BlackBerry from T-Mobile

Yes, I Have Ads

Hello all,

This is a friendly message to say that it is OK to click on the ads on the right-hand side of the blog. No children, ducks, grandparents, fish, babies, llamas, or elephants will be hurt. Occasionally you might even find some good information. Go ahead and do it - or the terrorists win!

Friday, May 8, 2009

Wolverine

Watching it right now. More info to come.
Sent via BlackBerry from T-Mobile

Dance Cat

I think I posted on this a couple months ago, but Chloe's dance class has a cat that hangs around. This cat loves people and attention. It tries all night to get into the dance studio and whenever it is successful it gets kicked back out to the street.

Last night at dance, I got kicked out while the girls tries on their costumes for their dance performace (next Thurs and Fri). While I was outside the dance cat came up to me and rubbed against my legs and meowed at me. Here are the pictures of the dance cat:



On the way out of dance the cat followed Chloe, Diana and I out to the car. Chloe named it "Poof" because it has a poofy tail. Then Chloe had to personally escort Poof across the street. It has never taken so long to get to the car and head home after dance.

Thursday, May 7, 2009

I Have A Duck In My Backyard

No, that is not code for anything. I really do have a duck in my backyard:

Me and Flater were clearing out the ivy in the backyard and after we cut a big section down we saw the duck. She sat in her spot and would not move, she must be sitting on eggs. Flater refused to move her so we had to cut the ivy down around her.

The kids really liked looking at the duck and even went out again this morning to see her. She was still there.

Tuesday, May 5, 2009

Cat In The Hat...I Mean Bag

Diana is always loading up our camera with pictures of out cat, Princess Fuzzyboots. I, of course, then post these pictures on my blog. Here is the latest picture of the cat in an Albertson's bag on our bed.

NBA Playoffs Round 2

Because I am a great guy I thought I would let you know how my first round NBA predictions went to let you know how I did, plus you get a free set of predictions for round 2! Here is how I did in round 1:

Cavs in 6 - Right winner, but the Cavs SWEPT the Pistsons
Hawks in 6 - Right winner, but in took the Hawks 7 games
Celtics in 7 - Called it right on!
Magic in 5 - Right winner, but the Magic took 6 games
Lakers in 5 - Called it right on, again!
Blazers in 7 - Missed the team and the games. Houston dominated.
Hornets in 6 - Missed the team and the games. Denver crushed these guys. I didn't think Billups could make this team so good, but he did.
Spurs in 6 - Missed the team and the games. The Mavs took these guys out. The Spurs just did not have what it takes. They are going to have to reload and come back next year.

Got 5 of 8 series right, 2 of those right on. Missed in the West where 2 lower seeds won their matchups and Denver, the team everyone wanted to play, was dominant.

On to round 2:

1 Cavs vs. 4 Hawks

The Hawks played some pretty good defense against the Heat in round one. They were able to put the clamps on Wade pretty good (he didn't go for 40 each game). LeBron is better than Wade. The 11 other players on the Cavs are better than the other 11 players on the Heat. I think this series will be harder on the Cavs than round 1, but they will still win.

Cleveland in 6

2 Celtics vs. 3 Magic

Boston could barely get past the Bulls and the Magic are much better than the Bulls. I don't think that the Celtics have a chance in this one, but they could surprise me. I still do not have faith in the Celtics to win. Round one was the Finals for Boston.

Magic in 6

1 Lakers vs. 5 Rockets

The Rockets have some good weapons, but nobody has the team the Lakers do. The Lakers have 4 starters that could start for any other team in the league. The Rockets do play good defense and can slow down the Lakers, but the Lakers play good defense and the Rockets do not have a great offense. Plus, the Lakers can put both Pau or Bynum on Yao. The Lakers will be fine.

Lakers in 5

2 Nuggets vs. 7 Mavs

I do not see how the Nuggets are winning like this. I just do not think the Nuggets are that good, but they are cruising in the playoffs. Chauncey is awesome. Melo is the man. JR Smith just knows how to make big shots. Chris Anderson and Nene know their place and just help the team win. Kenyon Martin plays tough defense and well, that is about it. The Mavs just will not be able to keep up with Denver.

Nuggets in 6

Monday, May 4, 2009

Chloe Plays Violin

Chloe has been playing the violin for two years now. She is almost a pro! For her spring concert she played with the older grades (7-8-9) - because she is just that good! She even plays first chair for her group!

Below are pictures of Chloe playing at her recent concert - love that microphone stand. Sorry about the crappy pictures, one day I will get like a 10x zoom camera and have the best pictures in the world. Until then, deal with it, I am doing the best I can!



Jordan Plays Percussion

Jordan has been learning percussion this year at school. He has done a really good job. He likes to hit things, so percussion is right up his alley. Jordan had a concert last week. Diana and I could not make it (and we feel really bad about it - true story). I took a picture of him playing his air drums. Looking good Jori-bear!

Plus, air drums don't make near as much noise as real drums!

Happy Birthday Addison!

Today is Addison's birthday! She is 3 years old and one of the cutest little girls I have ever seen. I wish you all could meet her and hear her laugh! It is the best laugh ever.

Addison and I have quite a past, I have blogged about her before. She is my BF4RN (best friend for right now). She changes her moods so quickly and is a super girly-girl. Sometimes she will be my very best friend and jump right into my arms or sit on my lap and then not even two minutes later she will be yelling at me to stay away. She has been a lot better lately and even came right over to sit on my lap yesterday (plus, she even left Chloe to do it! I am awesome!).

Addison, I hope you had a good day, you only get one third birthday! Happy birthday!

Here are a couple pictures of Addison playing peek-a-boo with me and then running over to her Mom because she hates me.



Friday, May 1, 2009

The Tooth Fairy

Jordan recently lost a tooth. The Tooth Fairy did visit him that night. Left a little something under the pillow. Did you know that on the average Tooth Fairy visit $2.09 is left? That is outrageous! For a tooth! Get more information on this here: http://blogs.moneycentral.msn.com/smartspending/archive/2009/04/28/the-tooth-fairy-s-rates-have-gone-up.aspx.

If I was the tooth fairy I wouldn't leave more than a dollar, unless it is extenuating circumstances. Maybe something like this: