Puppies Doing Puppy Things

This is not a staged photograph...

Life Update

T'has been a pretty uneventful January really which is somewhat surprising to me given that it's a new year.  The one exciting event though was the planning of a vacation to Cabo San Lucas, Mexico.  There's about 15 of us that will be taking over the resort in June and I think it has potential to be pretty awesome.  Hopefully I can get some diving in inbetween trips to the bars....

Other than that work has been busy but manageable, Banking Schools projects are awful, but I'm halfway done only 2 more to go.  Travel will start to kick up in Feb. which is a pain, but it will bring some new projects which will be good.

Working out again finally... took way too much time off so while it's not like starting over, it may as well be.  Planning on running another 1/2 marathon in April, so better get in gear.

Beth is good she had a birthday this month which was a good time.  Finally got to attend the annual Jakle birthday meal at Kiku's after a long trend of missed meals.  And I caught my shrimp.

Puppies are a pain as is to be expected with 2 boxer puppies, yes they are over 1 year old, but pretty sure boxers are considered puppies until about 3.  Which oddly enough probably corresponds to the number of years that they will have taken off of my life (each).  

Been playing a lot of CoD Black Ops, which is probably a terrible thing to do with my spare time considering I am WAY behind in my reading of Song of Fire and Ice.

Some things I am looking forward to in 2011:

April...Game of Thrones on HBO... Josh you will groan here, but I can't wait, and if you change your mind you can come to our premier party that will be complete with mugs of ale and turkey legs...think about it...

11/11/11 & 09/10/11 No specific reason other than the numerical significance of them

Rank Em

Today we are going to go with ... ranking ... three things I would take to a deserted island, and they have to be: 1 CD, 1 Movie, and 1 food item that I will have to eat for the rest of my days.

• The CD.  This is a tricky one because I am an eclectic music listener and therefore my "favorites" change like the weather.  However, as far as an entire album that I would want to have with me to listen to on repeat for decades I would choose.... Eminem's Recovery, if you recall this really shouldn't be a surprise because I've written on here before about my affection for this album.  To me it has it all and as much as I listen to the tracks it just doesn't get old.

• If I though a CD was difficult, a movie is nearly impossible.  I love TV but I LOVE movies.  I will even watch a bad movie just so I can say I've seen it and thus intelligently and justifiably tear it down for how terrible it was.  At the end of the day though through all of my lists and pining I had to go with Shawshank Redemption it was very very close and titles such as 300, Watchmen, and Caddyshack were right there.  Shawshank is a classic and one that I seem to watch whenever it is on TV no matter what.

• Of all the items on this made up list, Food item was an absolute no brainer.  Hawaiian Pizza (from Minskey's if we want to get super specific).  This is not only delicious but it is absolutely perfect.  Bread? Check. Fruits/Veggies? Check. Protein? Check. Dairy? Check.  Warm it up you have lunch and dinner, cool it down it's a nice little breakfast.  I'm not even joking I think I could eat this type of pizza for every single meal for the the rest of eternity and not get tired of it at all.

What would you choose?  1 CD, 1 Movie, and 1 food item?

Video of the Week

Some video clips... most are dumb but the baby one is awesome, this kid is brilliant.  Forward to about 0:50 second mark.

Rank Em

Sunflower seeds are something that I've grown quite fond of recently.  I used to chew these things nonstop in baseball but then after High School they kind of went away, which was probably a good thing considering the amount I consume now I can only imagine how much I would have devoured during late night paper writing sessions.  I rediscovered them though after college when I needed something pass the time while driving, they're great at keeping you up because they require effort, as an added bonus aren't horrible for you, and won't require a bathroom break.  Now back in the day there was pretty much one option, the standard salted snack now however... wow the flavor combinations are pretty limitless... as you'll see below.  So as I struggled to come up with something to write about for today I decided I'll rank my top 3 sunflower seed flavors:

#1 - Interstate B8: Bloody Mary:  Hands down best sunflower seeds I've ever tasted, I really can't imagine what will dethrone this juggernaut because these are amazing.

#2 - Jim Beam: Jalapeño:  Just the right amount of spice to let you know it's there but it won't beat you over the head.

#3 - David: Chili Lime:  Love this new one, great flavor just the right amount of chili and lime

Gym

As I mentioned earlier I joined up with 24 Hour Fitness a few weeks ago since I hate running in the cold and given recent vacation plans, more on this later, I figured it high time to drop some lbs and get my act together.  Now for those who've never been to a commercial gym, it's... well lets just say it's an experience.  This isn't my first adventure with a gym, since I was a member of a gym while in Chicago.  However, this gym is A LOT different.  Now I won't go into comparing the quality, cause the one in Chicago cost WAY too much so it was super nice... but you paid the price for the super nice.  24 Hour is ehhh... okay but it's cheap and well it does the job.  The patrons however is where the differences start...  I swear I picked the meat head gym.  I've never seen a collection of so many people who are either a) trying to get on the Jersey Shore or 2) trying to impress ladies (and not in a good way).  Now, getting ripped is all fine and good we'd all like to have a 6-pack and some sweet biceps.  But I swear an nearly break out in laughter when I see some of these fools lifting.  For example... saw a guy yesterday pry 5'10" maybe 185 throw 6 plates (45 lbs) on EACH side of a squat bar.  Normally I don't like to gawk at people in a gym cause it's just kind of creepy, but understandably a man of this stature stepping under that kind of weight was either going to be awesome or a NSFW YouTube video.  He got it off the rack which was further than I thought this would go.  Then he proceeded to squat, 2 inches down.  And this type of thing happens all over the gym, guys throwing on stupid amounts of weight and not even doing the exercise correctly.  Could I throw 225 on the bench press and knock out some 4 in. down bench presses... probably but that's not how the lift is done, so I put on my 125 and do it... 125 is a bit embarrassing and not nearly as cool looking as 225 but I'm not going to get injured and I won't end up unable to scratch my ear from messed up flexibility.  I think gyms should hire the most annoying comedian they can find that will just go around and publicly embarrass these guys, calling them out each and every time they are performing an exercise incorrectly, you get a few free passes, but the repeat offenders are clearly marked and let the ridicule begin. 

Perhaps they have special T-Shirts for them... Pink ones that are baggy

Video of the Week

The Best Breakfast Ever...

This looks both disgusting and delicious ... at the same time...

Working Out

Started working out again after far too long of a "break."  Pretty much status quo, I do a race, then I take a week off that turns into 6 months...  For sure not the way to go about things, the extreme soreness in my legs and arms is evidence to this fact.  So new year, new gym, new race.  I joined up with 24 hour fitness and it's not too bad, pretty sub-par when compared to the gym in Chicago, but at 1/2 the price I suppose a bit of a drop off is to be expected.  Anyway... Got a new race coming up in April the Ward Parkway Half-Marathon.  For better or worse I'm trying a new training regime this time around.  I decided to go with Hal Higdon, which is a running guru that a lot of people use.  This one is going to be a different one for sure since my last workouts just said, "ehh... go run 3mi Monday, 4 mi Wednesday... and so on"  This one is far more structured and has different workouts, 400m speed things, tempo runs, strength training, and all sorts of "fun" stuff.  It's taking a bit of getting used to going away from what I've always done but hopefully the results will be there in the end.  Doing a lot of the work on a hamster wheel (tredmill) because I hate running in the extreme cold, if it drops below 40 I'm done with the outdoors.   So far things are looking good, I'll keep things posted in the next few weeks once I get deeper into it.

New Books!

Updated the Book-It page to my current and future readings.  Song of Fire and Ice is awesome, my only wish is I was a faster reader and that I wasn't so easily distracted by TV.

Friday Video of the Week

I've got a new favorite band.  I know I jump around a lot on bands, but I have a feeling this one will have some staying power.  I modeled a Pandora station around them and I can honestly say there has not been a song of there's yet that I have not liked.  I plan on purchasing their entire catalog in the very near future.  Below is their video for one of my favorites off their newish album  Appeal to Reason.  Now, I say newish, because it's been out since 2008 but I only discovered its awesomeness last year.  Now I'd heard them before with 2004's Swing Life Away, which was a good tune, I mean I put it on the custom mix for the DJ to play at my wedding reception, but it really didn't hook me.  It was 2010 in Minneapolis when I heard their song Savior and I got hooked.  Guess I should pry tell you the band's name huh, the band is Rise Against and if you like the song below I recommend you fire up your Zune and get your hands on some more of their stuff, it's great (People still use Zunes right?).  They're a bit political, which may turn some off, but even if you don't agree with the lyrics from a political perspective, you can't deny the music is fantastic.

Bow Ties & Eagles

"I'm a Christian, I've made mistakes myself, I believe fervently in second chances," Carlson said on the show. "But Michael Vick killed dogs, and he did [it] in a heartless and cruel way. And I think, personally, he should've been executed for that. He wasn't, but the idea that the president of the United States would be getting behind someone who murdered dogs?" - Tucker Carlson, Fox News

Now, I'm not even going to get into the hypocritical nature of the first sentence with respect to what follows.  First and foremost what Vick did was awful, disgusting, and well, just grab a Thesaurus and keep the list going, but.... in a time were celebrities get what is essentially a free pass (how many times has Lohan gone to "rehab" when you or I would be in jail", Vick went to prison.  Fort Leavenworth prison.  He did real time in a real jail.  He was not in jail for 4 hours and released because of "crowding" he was in prison for 2 years.  To put this in some additional context... Donte Stallworth a WR in the NFL drove drunk in Florida, and killed a pedestrian and his sentence was 30 days in jail of which is plea agreement said he need only serve 24 days.  I'm not going to get into the debate about which crime is worse or if a human life is worth more than an animals I mean God knows I love my dogs and often times treat them like my kids, the example is merely to provide some context of two recent and high profile NFL crimes.

I think Vick is a good story, and I truly hope that he remains on the right path and truly fixes his life.  Right or wrong Vick doesn't appear to have many skills outside of his God given football talents.  So the NFL, in my opinion, did the right thing.  I think keeping him out of the NFL would have exponentially increased the possibility of him turning back to a life of criminal or at a minimum morally questionable activity.  A lot of people say that prison is to keep those who are to dangerous for society away from society and to rehabilitate those who need a nudge back onto the right path.  If that is true people need to stop waiting for the other shoe to drop on Vick.  You don't have to support him.  But one really should realize that he served his time and is trying now to pick up the pieces.

The thing that probably bugs me the most about Tucker Carlson is I would bet Mr Carlson his bow ties against my video games that before Obama was involved in this equation he had absolutely no opinion whatsoever on Vick.  Or at a minimum his opinion was inline with most sports fans; his resurgence on the field this year has been amazing to watch, what he did 2-3 years ago was appalling, and hopefully he truly has turned the corner in his life for the better.  Or something along those lines.  But with Obama involved, well, that changed everything and the ante needed to be raised.  What he said was said for shock value and meant to further stir the pot of  discontent for the current administration.  Carlson later retracted, saying in the heat of the moment he over spoke, or whatever nonsense word he used to describe it.  I think he knew exactly what he was doing the shock value of the statement got him in the news for a few days and served as an arrow in the quiver to, I dunno draw the conclusion that the President hates puppies, who knows.   He should, if he hasn't already, apologize to Vick.  Because from where I sit Vick is at least making an effort to improve, unlike some celebrities.

Lunch Time Posts

Hopefully this'll start a trend of more posting, trying to do one or two over my lunch.  I suppose we shall see.

Twain Censored?

Recently Mark Twain's works have come under fire for his use of the work "nigger."  Now as a white male, even typing that word is a bit uncomfortable for me, so I can at least see a bit of the understanding for "why" the word would raise eyebrows.  However, editing it out of these works is irresponsible and greatly reduces the messages and themes of the books.

  

For starters for those unaware I was an English major for awhile in college and even after the change to Finance I stuck with it and got a minor; one class I took was African American Literature.  Now does taking an African American Lit class make me an expert?  Absolutely not, but I have read a lot of works written by and about African Americans, many of which were about slavery, post slavery, or the civil rights movement.  So while this does not in any way make me an expert by any stretch, I think I have a fair bit of context with which to draw and frame these works, and ultimately the use of the word.

Basically, the use of the word "nigger" and its appropriateness comes down to context.  And the central question of: Is the use of the word ever ok?  In this case Twain is wrote a work based in a historical time period where this word was widely used.  And it was used in the manner in which he wrote it.  While works of literature can be interpreted many ways and only the author truly knows how he/she meant for something to be read, I offer my interpretation and "justification" if you will for the use of the word.  Twain use the word was meant to set up the great divide between the African American slaves and the white men.  Not only were these men slaves to the white men, they were further degraded by being called not by name alone but by "Nigger ", such as Twain's character "Nigger Jim".  Now this right off establishes the great chasm between the  races and spotlights the extreme racism of the time.  Flash forward to the end where along the way it is apparent to me that the best friend and the most decent human is in fact Jim.  The irony being that the individual who was thought to be, frankly in the minds of the white people of the time a "lessor" person, ended up showing more compassion and humanity than any other character.  This realization to me drives home the idiocy of the racism that was common place at the time.  By changing the use of "nigger" to "slave" the initial racist tones and ultimate divide between the characters is watered down.  Jim was a slave, so by calling him "Slave Jim" they are only scratching the surface of the initial improbability of the impending relationship between the two characters.  This watering down effect ultimately, in my mind, lessens the impact of the friendship that grows between the characters.  And frankly cheapens the works as a whole.

On the other hand, some believe that Twain was a racist and his prolific use of the word and exaggerated characteristics of the Jim character were solely meant to be racist.  As you see above, I disagree, but that should be for reader to decide.  By editing this word out in my mind someone, somewhere is deciding for me that Twain meant for them to be racist and therefore the word must be removed, and if removed it will have little impact.  I feel the impact loss is huge.  In my mind there are many other places and mediums where this word is used in a far more damaging way, I hope they reconsider and leave these works alone and let readers interpret for themselves the message Twain was trying to deliver.

A panelist on CNN actually said something I agree with with respect to the teaching of these works in school.  The word shouldn't be removed just so it is more politically correct, if a teacher is not prepared to have a serious racial and cultural discussion with students then they should not be teaching the book.  Face it getting a student to re-read a book they've already read that only has approx. 219 words changed later in life is tough, hell it's a struggle to get them to actually read it the first time.

Ok need to stop before a I go any further, kind of got on a Lit paper type rant there, in fact I could probably write a 5-10 page lit paper on this topic very very easily.

A New Year

So it's a new year and with a new year comes resolutions.  And I resolve to be a better poster.  As with most resolutions there will likely be bouts of failure as shiny objects and new video games take my attentions elsewhere.  However, my resolve will be to post more regularly.