Day 62

This is gonna be a quick post, because I'm at work, at need to get back to work. Today's awesomosity is the amazing invention of the washing machine. Think about it. We no longer have to go to the river with a washboard and soap. Gone are the days of disposable clothing.

You may take this simple invention for granted, like I am sure all you people with dishwashers take those for granted. Go ahead, move to India and wash your clothes in the Ganges. I dare ya.

Ok, so this is ridiculous, but the washer and dryer really are amazing things. You shouldn't take everyday conveniences for granted. Try living without them.

Here is my washer and dryer, and a pic of me in my lovely basement.

See ya tomorrow!

Day 61*

So today's awesomosity has been working for a few days. Actually, it started on Monday and has just kind of sat there until just now. Monday night I went with my god buddy Jim Barnard to the downtown Kirkwood plaza. I know they have a better name for it, but I don't know it, so I'm going with plaza.

We were there to shoot some awesomeness, which is a man on the street interview of some random people that are willing to talk in front of a camera. This week, we were talking about health, being in shape, and the health of the church (as a whole). You can see the finished product this Sunday at 10:45am at Quest, which is a service inside of First Free, which is located at 1375 Carman Rd. Manchester, MO 63021. Come join us, it'll be fun!!

We have done this man on the street thing before. Usually we do it in the Loop, right next to Fitz's Root Beer. And usually it is our Pastor, Kevin Hughes who asks the questions. Well, Kevin was busy this week, and we wanted to try a new place that was closer to our church.

So Jim has never done this before, and interviewing people you don't know on camera can be a little awkward (thats why I do the camera stuff). When we started, there were a bunch of people sitting at these tables outside. I figured for sure they would be interested enough in what we were doing to come ask, in which case, we would interview them. This did not happen as intended. What really made the difference for us was when a train came rolling through. That meant there was a big line of cars right next to us, all of which were totally captive. AHA!

We went to the frst car we saw and struck gold. After that, it was much easier to get folks to talk to us. In fact, we did have one guy end up asking us what was up. We got him. Enough about that. I do have a small sample of what we were doing. As I said, this was Jim's first time, so there was a bit of a learning curve going on there. This is a sample of Jim being Jim. Enjoy.




Here is my picture of the day, taken at my church where I have been editing video all day.


I will have a new poll up soon, any ideas? Thanks for reading, talk to you tomorrow (unless you come to Llywelyn's tonight for Mike Renick, totally worth the trip!)

Day 60

DITKA!

Ok, that was a private joke, so hopefully at least one guy gets it. And that one guy is coincidentally today's awesomosity, since you all voted I could make the awesomeness a person.

And that person is Patrick Tobin.

I know this looks like a picture you would have on a casket at a funeral,
or on a Bob Dylanesque album cover, but I took this several years ago and I love it.

Where to start in talking about Patrick. We originally met in Jr High at E-Free, but it wasn't until sometime around 2000 we started hanging out more after working together and having mutual friends from Famous-Barr.

We hung out a lot and went to a number of different bars together (what was it, 76 Pat?). I'll recount a few of my favorite stories.

Obviously, when we met Bill Macy. You may know him as William H. Macy, but he said to call him Bill, so I do. We were in Memphis (he was helping me with a Mr. Video job) and had gone to Beale Street for a while. After getting back to the hotel, we decided a night cap at the hotel bar was in order. As we approached the bar, I say to Pat, "Hey Pat, isn't that William H. Macy at the end of the bar?" Pat says, "Get me a Budweiser, I'll be back" and takes off directly for Bill. After a few minutes, he brings me down to say hi, and that was when I met Bill Macy. Great guy. Great weekend.

The other anecdote I'll put in here was when Patrick and I went to Denny's (that used to be at Manchester and 141) late one night to grab a bite. A very nice oriental woman took care of us. As we were leaving, we planned to each pay for our own meal. I handed her the bill and said, "I would just like to pay for me, thanks." She says, "OK, sounds good!" then proceeded to put the whole bill on my card. Awesome. Since, the phrase, "OK, sounds good" has become a bit of a catchphrase for us.

Patrick and I really love reminiscing and enjoying the past, until recently when he moved to Chicago. Pat always said he was going to move to Chicago or Ireland (and become a postman in Ireland) and I always said that I would believe it when I saw it. Well, last fall he moved to take a job at Children's Memorial Hospital (I think thats the right hospital). He had been an anesthesiologist assistant at St. Luke's for several years, but knew that if this really was to be his career, he needed to keep advancing. In order to keep advancing, he took this job. Part of the requirement for the job was to pass the ASATT (The American Society of Anesthesia Technologists and Technicians) certification exam. Here is the list of recommended reading to pass that exam. This list includes this book: Quaal, Comprehensive Intraaortic Balloon Counterpulsation, 2nd Edition (1993) Mosby. Are you kidding me? I don't know half the words in that title, but my friend Patrick, he does. He knows all about Intraaortic balloons (I don't think thats about making balloon animals for kids).

So, the reason Patrick made today's awesomosity is becuase he passed this ridiculous exam. He passed it!! This is his BAR exam, or Series 7, or whatever really tough test you may have to pass for work, this is it and he did it! I am crazy proud of him!

Now Patrick says he is going to move to New York, I just ask, when and where?

Way to go Patrick! You're nails!

Here's the picture, done in sepia tone for Patrick.

HOYA!

Thanks for reading, see you in the AM!

Day 59

WARNING! TODAYS AWESOMOSITY MAY BE DISTRACTING AND TAKE VALUABLE TIME YOU MAY NOT HAVE!

Just so you know that I warned you. Every once in a while, I get bored. I know, I know, you're shocked. I am sure none of you go through this phenomenon. Well, sometimes when I get bored and am at a computer, I go to this website and play some random short flash games. It really is quite a site, and unlike a lot of other game sites, no annoying pop-ups, just some great games.

Yesterday, I found this game call Boombot. It's awesome. You have a limited number of bombs, and you have to use them to move this thing to an exit portal thing. Just play the game, you'll see what I mean.

This game comes from a developer called Ninja Kiwi (what would you call a game development company?) who is probably most famous for the Bloons family of games. They are incredibly addicting and they ave like 8 or so of them out in different varieties. Play the original here. It is well worth your time. Well, maybe not well worth your time, but it is a great way to kill a few minutes...or hours.

Since I have already spent a decent amount of time playing this game, I don't have much time to write a lot in the ol' blog. Maybe tomorrow.

Another comparison, and I think these are getting weaker as we go. Someone said I look like Captain Picard. What do you think?

Jean-Luc Picard

Beam me up and all that

Thanks for reading, go play a game! See you tomorrow!

Day 58

Man, this blog just keeps on rollin!

"I'd be surprised if it didn't put an end to all violence and suffering."

Who said this?

a) Michelle Obama - talking about her husband being president
b) The creators of South Park, speaking of an upcoming sequel to Team America: World Police
c) Chris Martin of Coldplay, talking of their new album, Viva La Vida
d) The Pope, talking about what would happen if the whole world converted to Catholicism

Give up? It was Chris Martin of Coldplay! He said this in a Spin interview. Who knows if he was serious, I wouldn't doubt it. You can read the whole interview here. That quote is on the second page.

I was at therapy this morning, just checking out the magazine selection when I saw Spin with Coldplay on the cover. I really like the new title song for the new album and was considering purchasing the album last night, until my good friend Jim Barnard told me he would burn it for me. I'm a sucker for a good deal, so I said OK.

I am reasonably happy with my willingness to accept a free album, it is pretty good, though I haven't listened to it all that thoroughly yet. Here is the video for the song that made me want to purchase it in the first place. You can read the lyrics here.



Dangit. I know there was a whole bunch more I wanted to write about in the ol' blog today, but now I can't think of it all. I should totally finish what I started when I start it from now on.

I do remember this though, I got a new comparison mention last night. Kevin Spacey from Se7en. What do you think?

John Doe (Kevin Spacey) from Se7en

I think this is the weakest of comparisons so far, but keep em coming!

Oh, and I found this pretty fun site thanks to Katie Morgan. Its called Yearbook Yourself and here is what I may have looked like had I graduated high school in the 70s.

I think I may have found my new look!

Thanks for reading, hope you enjoyed it. Last day to vote in this poll.

See you tomorrow!

Day 57

I think Jimmy Buffett first sang about Cheeseburgers in Paradise (he even named a restaraunt chain after it) and he may not have even been aware of cheeseburger casserole.

This is a very easy awesomeness. I know a few of you have had my cheeseburger casserole, and I know Jim Barnard (chocolate milk speeds him up) won't eat anything else if I'm cooking. For all of you bachelors out there (and even you married folk, after all, my sister-in-law Adrianne gave me the recipe) here is the secret to a delicious, nutricious, easy to prepare, hard to screw up dinner.

Start with a pound or so of ground meat (I prefer beef, but I bet some spicy sausage would be delicious) thawed. Oh, and set the oven to 350 or so. Get a Pyrex casserole dish (probably like 9" x 13" or so I guess) and spray with Pam. Put meat in dish. Add 1 can of Capbells cheddar cheese soup, 1 can of cream of mushroom (or I suppose any other cream soup) and 1 can of Rotel tomatoes to the meat in the dish. Mix it up real good.

At this point I like to cover the delicious mixture with shredded cheddar cheese. Then you need to add some potatoes. French fries and tater tots seem to work best, but feel free to experiment here. Last night I made it with stringy hash browns, which was just ok, not great, but its what I had, and it was of course very delicious. Add some seasoning to the potatoes and add more shredded cheese. Then stick it in the oven.

It usually takes about a half hour to cook, but you need to check the casserole. You should see some of the cheesy goodness mixture bubbling up through the scrumptious potatoes. At this point, take out the casserole and turn off the oven.

I recommend waiting about 5 or 10 minutes before enjoying. Slop some on a plate and devour with a fork. Its the perfect meal, meat, cheese, veggies (tomatoes and mushrooms) and starch (potatoes). I recommend finishing with an ice cream sandwich.

That is a picture of my casserole in the refrigerator, where I plan on enjoying it more later.

I'm thinking of writing a cookbook for bachelors, and it would include several casseroles, because they are delicious and easy and dirty just one dish. Awesome.

Enjoy the picture taken in front of my home. Thanks for reading.

See you tomorrow!

Day 56

I have officially tied Joe DiMaggio. go me!

Today I am gellin with warning track power. Allow myself to explain ... myself.

Before I get to that, I have a few questions as I watch the mens volleyball gold medal game between the U.S. and Brazil. Do the Brazilians get made fun of in Brazil for not being soccer players? What's up with the one guy wearing a different color shirt? Do they have to group hug to celebrate every point, even when the other team serves it out?

Back to the point. First, warning track power. At least today, that's all I bring to the table. We played (and shockingly lost, though it was close, 7-5) baseball today, and while I struck out looking once (it was at least 3" inside), I did hit two, count 'em 2, ground rule doubles. They both landed on the warning track before bouncing over. That's two more ground rule doubles than I have hit ever.

Wanna see my raw display of power live? We play in Brentwood this Wednesday at 8 pm. Come on out!

But, as awesome as that was, its not the awesomosity.

That honor belongs to my new pair of shoes (not blue suede, if you're wondering). Yesterday I needed to buy some new work shoes because the old ones were literally falling apart. The store I went to had a buy one get one half-off sale. So I was able to replace my old tennis shoes as well as get some new work shoes.

What's so awesome about the new shoes? They're Dr. Scholls, with built in gel stuff, hence I am now gellin' at work. Awesome. All for under $60.

Quick anecdote about my trip to the store. As I was leaving, a couple walked up to check out. With just one pair of shoes. The salesman told of their special, which sent the woman looking at shoes. The guy says, "honey, they have a special, wanna get a pair?" I immediately replied, "did you just ask if a woman wanted to buy a pair of shoes?" He says after a short pause, "whoa, did I just make a big mistake?" I thought it was funny.

Thanks for reading, I'm off to make cheeseburger casserole.

See you tomorrow!