Potter!

Well it took me a lot longer that it should have due to some distractions and honestly a little bit of fear of it being over.  I have to say the books, in my mind, lived up to every ounce of hype; they were awesome.  Since that's two popular series down I thought a bit of comparison was in order: as you recall I ranted about my dis-taste for the ending of the Twilight saga, Stephanie Meyer just "ended" the book.  All events key to the ending Twilight (a sereis that spanned 4 books) came to a head in the final chapters of book 4, there was very little in the way of meaningful ties back to past events.  It was all too convenient.  Fast forward to Rowling and the Harry Potter series.  Events were set into motion throughout the entire series leading the characters to the end.  The final chapters were a flurry of closing circles and storylines that had been in place for several books.  Even the final battle scene drew off of things put into play well in advance of the final pages.  To put in bluntly it was just a more intelligent book.

I'm not trying to bash Twilight (okay maybe I little, I really loathed the ending of that series and still resent it because a) I invested time reading 4 books and 2) I took man-point hits because it's predominately a girls book), so I was very happy to see an  ending that drew off of the foundation that was built over the course of the series so didn't feel like it just fell into the main characters' laps on the final days.  It felt like the previous six books counted for something and the events that transpired over my time with the characters meant something, contributing to the story and experience in totality, whereas in Twilight I just didn't feel that.

Overall, I highly recommend this series it was far better than I'd imagined and will make you appreciate the movies even more.  I really wanted to write a lot more but don't have the time to sit down and think it out to really do my feelings  justice.  Simply put it this way, I borrowed the books and even now being done with the story I will likely purchase the lot of the, I liked it that much.

Summer Sun

Normally not a huge fan of my westward facing deck the sun is pretty brutal in the evening hours.  However, every once in awhile we catch a view like this and it's pretty awesome.

Posts

This is number 212... wow

Stay Classy

To Whom it May Concern:

First and foremost it is rude to laugh at someones choice of favorite restaurant.  It hurt my feelings.  Secondly, it is unfair to assume that all Mexican restaurants are Taco Bell and that amazingly executed, refined food cannot possibly be served at a Mexican establishment, referring to food as "road kill" etc..  Not cool, especially when you've never eaten there.  If you've eaten there and think "road kill" then, hey I have my opinion and you're welcome to yours.

Lastly, it should be known that your credibility on the topic of food and dining takes a bit of a blow when you perform the aforementioned items #1 and #2, then immediately proceed to tell tales of the truckstop you frequented as young man for its amazing food.  The food very well may have been amazing, but sterotypes work both ways my friend, glass houses, just sayin.

Sincerely,

Me

Hope I'm Wrong...

The wheels of commerce are greased with greed.  The latest fat cats to belly up to the bar are the athletic directors of the Big XII, Pac 10 and Big 10.  In their respective quests to chase the almighty dollar they're willing to spit on the traditions which make college football what it is.  Best as I can explain here is:

Domino #1 (has fallen):  Colorado packed up their VW van with their bongo drums, hash pipes, and peace signs and are moving west to the Pac 10.

Domino #2:  The death blow to the Big XII may come today if Nebraska pulls up their plow and heads to the Big 10.

Domino #3:  If Nebraska leaves, signs point to a big hole in the Big XII, particularly in the North both from a competition standpoint and from pure $$, so it's speculated that Texas, Texas Tech, Texas A&M, Oklahoma, Oklahoma State will all say bye bye and pack up heading West in search of gold, reuniting with Colorado in the Pac 10.  You don't need to be a math wiz to figure out that if all this happens the Big XII is dead and KU, MU, KSU, ISU and Baylor are all left homeless on the side of the road with their thumbs outstreatched.  KU stands the best chance of survival with their pure basketball tradition and a fresh TV market for the Big 10 to sink their vampire teeth into.

Domino #4:  Things get a bit less certain from this point on.  Essentially, the Pac 10 has now formed what they are calling a 16 team "Power/Super Conference" so the Big 10 will naturally follow suit and need to find 4 more teams that love money more than tradition which, shouldn't be hard in today's environment.  Most likely candidates: Notre Dame, Missouri, Rutgers, KU, Iowa State... couple more I don't recall.  The remains from the carcass that was the Big XII will likely go to the Mountian West...

Domino #5:  There are other scenarios involving the SEC, ACC, and Big East, but I am tired of typing and am getting sadder by the second.

K-State could end up getting the proverbial shaft in this whole deal and it is highly likely that if all this comes to fruition they could end up in the Mountain West, which would be a devastating blow to their rebuilding efforts on the Football field.  Since Martin has had success with "off the radar" hardwood recruits I remain hopeful that it won't hurt him as much - but leaving a major conference will still be a blow.  And I haven't even begun to get into the impact on say Kansas City, with the departure of the Big XII basketball tournament which was a major annual event.

Perhaps the saddest and most frustrating part is the hypocrisy of the situation.  These greedy bastards are the same greedy individuals that said they did not want a play off because the college football bowl games were part of the college football tradition, its legacy.  It is clear now with the movements that are being made that they care little for either legacy or tradition, cash is king and if there is money to be made then legacy and tradition do not stand a chance.

H20

Water is essential in the summer, especially in the Midwest where the heat is generally at an unreasonable level and leaves you feeling awful for a vast majority of the time.  I mean I'm generally ok with a little sweating, it let you know you've done something but I'd just prefer it if that "something" was not going to the mailbox, that's not the type of activity that requires a perspiration style indicator.  That being said, water is key, hydrate, hydrate, hydrate, but water is pretty boring and gets old.  Enter Cucumber Water.  I didn't create it, I'd had it at a sushi place in Chicago and it was pretty tasty but I didn't dwell on it all that much.  However, the hotel I'm at this week in Wichita had some in the lobby and wow was it super refreshing.  Anyway, next time you get the urge to try something a bit new at a BBQ throw some cucumbers in the water.
 

P.S. I don't even like cucumbers... I pick them off of salads, makes a lot of sense doesn't it?

Dream Catcher

So I'm not sure what the deal has been lately but I've been having some really odd dreams lately, I think it's lack of ice cream before bed:

1. Jay Leno appearing as my High School basketball coach.  Odd because A) I can't stand big jaw and 2) I never watch Leno so how he crept into my subconscious I have absolutely no idea and frankly it disturbs me that I have no idea.
2. I was a member of the Order of the Phoenix, flew on a broomstick and cast spells with a wand.  While nerdy, this one isn't odd to me in the slightest, I've been reading Harry Potter books rapid fire over the last month or so, a lot of which is done pre-bed time, so with that much Hogwarts in my brain there was bound to be some carryover into sleepy time land.
3. Creepy girl in the window.  This one was an odd one and actually, startled me awake/made me talk in my sleep.  Essentially, Beth and I were discussing something secret, dunno what but for sake of argument let's say... a secret ninja mission to save the world from annihilation at the hands of vampire robots... anyway, there was a window and this Grudge-like little girl appeared in the window all creepy-like, screamed, scared us and ran away.  T'was  c r e e p y
4. I still lived in Chicago and quit my job to become an assistant chef to Rick Bayless.  After dreaming of Big Jaw, Creepy Girls, and being a wizard this one seems pretty ho hum and "normal" but still kind of an odd dream to have. 

Of all of the above 3 and 1 get tossed immediately because, while it would be cool to make ninja plans, the fact that I have a creepy child stalking me, lurking in windows and scaring the hell out of me is not appealing.  As far as Leno... I'm still mad... Viva La Conan!  Choosing the best outcome between 2 and 4 is very tough.  On one hand I'm a wizard, which is awesome but on the other I'm assistant to my favorite chef and get to mess around with Mexican food all day.  I think at the end of the day I'd have to go with wizard.  I mean taught to be an awesome cook would be fantastic, but as a wizard, well it's pretty close to being a Jedi, and let's be honest, being a Jedi would pretty much trump all.

No Rain

Amazingly there was no rain out of this but the views were pretty awesome round about Emporia-ish this morning:

Life Update

I can't even remember where I left off on the actual "update" portion of things, so here it goes:

• Travel for work in 2010 has been insane, I've not added up my miles yet but I've earned 2 free night from Hilton and solidified Hilton Gold Status for another year, so far I'm looking to be 8 short of Diamond, which makes me sad.
• Summer is shaping up to be super busy, 10 year reunion, float trip, the Reyes/Uden wedding extravaganza ... all should be good times, but aren't going to leave a lot of time for grass to grow under our feet.
• House is coming along nicely, we got a lot of "pretty" stuff to spruce the place up and add some colors so it feels a bit more like home now.
• Aside from travel, work is going as well as can be expected.  Got a move of sorts, I'm now in a credit specialist career track, not a lot will change job-wise, but I'll get to collaborate more regularly with a great group of really smart people so that's always nice..
• Heading back to school in August, Graduate School of Banking at the University of Wisconsin... should be interesting to say the least.
• Eyeball deep in Harry Potter, as I've mentioned.  I'm reading every spare chance I get, about 2/3 through book 6 and then on to the grand finale.  It will be bittersweet though, cause I'm really not sure what I'm going to read next, I've determined series are the way to go, so any suggestions I'm open to them.
• Puppies are good, kinda stubborn still but good - I think they're progressing along pretty well considering they're only 5 mo. old.  Both are getting big, I'm kind of nervous/excited because based on the size of his head and paws I think Mr. Dublin is going to be a giant.  Good thing he's the calm cuddler of the group and not the spaz.

Well... sure I missed loads of stuff, but this'll do for now. 

Video of the Week

Random Favorite

Modern Warfare 2 Setup:

Primary:  M4A1

Secondary: SPAS-12 Shotgun

Equipment: Semtex and Flash Bangs

Perk 1: Scavenger

Perk 2: Stopping Power

Perk 3: Commando

We Are All Doomed

It's stories like this that lead me to believe that we are all doomed.  Apparently, Mrs. Magoo blindly followed the walking directions that Google supplied on her handheld device and ended up getting hit by a car on a busy road/street that had no sidewalks.  She's now suing them for $100k.  The doomed part comes into play because she'll likely win, because there was no disclaimer on the mobile version of directions stating "Attention sheep: these are estimated routes, we've not surveyed every street in the known universe, that being said if said route does not look safe (i.e. conflicts with basic street walking skills learned in preschool, i.e. walk on the sidewalk, look both ways, etc): Sorry fella, our bad, walk around."  Ok, well it sucks she got hit by a car.  But seriously how thick do you have to be to blindly follow Google?  I mean take a peek around and use a little thing called common sense, I know there isn't an app for that so you may be a bit confused, so let me explain: common sense is that little voice in your head that, upon seeing "turn right ahead onto Hwy 9" likely said "hmmm.... Hwy 9, curious there does not appear to be a footpath here, cars are moving rather quickly and nope sure doesn't look like a place that people who are not murderous hitch hikers should be strolling, perhaps I should retrace my steps and find an alternative route to my destination."  Crisis and injury averted, congrats.  But no, this woman strolled onto the highway and ended up getting hit by a car... I think they should add another verdict, guilty, innocent and darwin.  If you are convicted of darwin you have to be taught a school lesson on your offense by the Super Nanny or equivalently stern looking female with a British accent.  In this case she would likely be convicted of darwin, and sentenced to lessons in how to cross the street, followed by community service as a crossing guard, preferably in an area where crossing guards wear costumes.

I mean I can not count the number of times Google has led me personally astray.  For example in 2009 when Google let me to a residential house instead of the FCS Bank I was suppose to be auditing, what did I do?  I tell you what I did not do, I did not walk through their front door set up my laptop on their dining room table and proceed to show me where the files, coffee and bathroom were.  Because common sense told me that the business people of Northwest ACA likely did not operate in a locale the featured yard art, a chain link fence, and a broken down big wheel.