FOOTBALL!

Cocks Win!

2001 South Carolina Outback Bowl Victory

w00t!

It's about a month until we start our fantasy football season draft and then of course the beginning of football season - both college and NFL. The SETTL (South East Trash Talking League) is already starting its plans for how to perform the draft, etc. and I am sure that this upcoming year will be another fantastic failure for the StumpGrinderzz, except for dominating the loser Coach THUGG. But hey, hopefully my #1 pick will stay healthy all season.

In a shameless effort get web traffic going more on this blog, I am going to pose a question to yall...do you care about this American passion known as football? and if so, relate some of your fave teams, players or times spent involved in this great American pastime.

Of course - as you shall soon learn - my football passion, or masochism, revolves around the South Carolina Gamecocks. If the Cocks are playing, I'm either at the game, watching it on TV, or listening to it on the internet - usually cussing up a storm because we traditionally stink so much. But one thing I'll never forget was in 1992 when we beat Tennessee in Columbia. What an exciting moment that was when we stopped Travis Henry from scoring a two pointer against us to take the lead. Another one was in 1993 when Brandon Bennett went over the top on a fourth and goal to beat Georgia in Athens. I was in Athens for that with some of my UGA friends, man what a blast.

What's your story?

Date night

Wednesday is here and for the past two weeks that has meant that Grandma Buna will be babysitting baby-girl tonight so that Angie and I can go out to dinner. Tonight's menu will include that forbidden fruit known as sushi, something the new Momma could not eat for the past nine months. Hopefully all her raw fish needs will be satiated with this dinner.

yum.

Last night we discovered the joys of gas medicine for the baby, a couple drops of that stuff and she quieted down from screaming bloody murder to her usual happy coo-ing baby self within minutes. Of course I was on my way out the door to softball when she was at her worst (sorry APC!) and I am overjoyed to hear that the drops worked like a charm.

Oh by the way we destroyed an obviously outclassed CH2MHill softball team last night 23-1. They were BAD. Error-mania. No hitting whatsoever, you should have heard the cheer that erupted from their bench when they scored their lone run in the 5th inning. It's kind of funny though because they are my company's #1 competitor and it makes it all that more fun to beat the snot out of em.

On a political note, I missed the president's speech last night but I'm sure it was more of the same 'we must stay the course in Iraq' stuff, which for some reason has to be said over and over again ad nauseam. But I saw this headline in the news this morning:

Bush critics call for more troops in Iraq.

HUH???? I am thoroughly confused. Must have been a heck of a speech to all of a sudden get these 'critics' to want to send more troops to Iraq. And here all along (as of yesterday anyways) I thought they were all clamoring for a withdrawal date to be established? You mean they actually want us to win the war? who'd a thunk it? Give it one day and their tune will change.

*head spinning*

Last time (maybe - no promises) about the MSM and President Bush

Found this article by Larry Elder (thanks Boortz!) which expands more upon this whole 'Bush is an idiot' thing that the MSM has been portraying him as ever since before 2000. Read it and get a couple of chuckles out of it and then think - really THINK about what the MSM has been feeding us for years, and is obvious to most of us normal Joes.

P.S. Fox News is part of the MSM now, but is routinely decried as 'right wing' because it dares to buck the trend of Democrat ass-kissing.

Here's your story: Bush and Kerry's Grades at Yale

Life in the Fast Lane

Been a while since my last post - of course I've been busy with new Daddy duties. Just wanted to drop a short note to let everyone know we're doing great. I'm on vacation from work this week, and have been enjoying every minute of it too - except the late night staying up consoling baby time...

For those who are interested, APC has pics of our baby on her blog. Click here.

I'll update you all with some more witty reparte this weekend or so. For now, gotta get back to playing World of Warcraft!

The Greatest Father's Day Ever

Hello there blog-world denizens,

Just in case you were sitting on the edge of your virtual seats waiting for the answers to last Friday's trivia questions, I'll answer in a second. It seems a little 'trivial' now.

Saturday, June 11, at 12:49 PM, our beautiful little baby girl was born right here in Atlanta, GA. I can't begin to describe to you how it feels other than WOW. We are doing very well, our baby girl Mairin Abigail, is happy and healthy, and we thank God for that every day. We are tired and happy at the same time. The past three days have been a blur of diaper changing, baby feeding, sleeping in half hour increments, and all around love and family togetherness.

It was the best Father's Day I have ever had, and probably will ever have until another little one comes along.

Oh and Happy Brithday, Little Baby Mairin.

Pictures will follow.

1) the River Thames
2) Seven two-digit Eisenhower Interstate system highways - I-16, I-24, I-59, I-75, I-85, I-20, I-95

Geography Trivia Question O' the day

In a seemingly futile attempt to make the U.S.A. a much more geographically aware country, I am introducing daily geography trivia questions. Now try to do this without using the web to find the answers, I know, I know, that's no fun. But hey, give it a shot, right? I'll start easy and the second question will be for the experts.

1) What's the name of the river that flows through the city of London, UK?

2) How many two digit interstates are in the State of Georgia?

Answers to be posted tomorrow....may the force be with you.

Zymurgy Take IV - Curley Hefe

Hefeweizen in its natural habitat

One of my newest hobbies just bore some more fruit last night as I pulled two bottles of my newly conditioned hefeweizen (Curley Hefe) batch for tasting. I brewed this beer about four weeks ago, using mostly liquid malt extract with a bit of Hellertau hops in there for a bit of bitterness. Let it ferment a little longer than the first three batches and then racked and bottled two weeks ago. Drum roll please...

The first bottle I pulled, and poured - first thing I noticed was the head. Whoa! I had to stop half pour to let the head settle down, I have never made a batch of beer that was this carbonated. Needless to say, I was very pleased with the result. With visions of Paulaner floating in my head, I swirled the sediment out of the bottom of the bottle and topped off my pint. Oops, don't do that with home brew, unless you like your beer extra chunky. The sediment consisted of flaky chunks of yeast and other unidentifiable particulates, not exactly the nice cloudy yeast sediment I was looking for.

*sip* hmmmm.....kind of crisp, a little sweet, definitely taste the hops, and a significant lack of that trademark 'soapy' yeasty flavor associated with your typical mass produced Hefeweizen. Not bad. Second bottle I poured after chilling maybe an hour in the fridge, same heavy head, but this one poured cloudier than the first. I added a wedge of lemon for kicks and *sip*. Whoomp there it is.

Not bad for batch #4, this will make a nice refreshing summer beer for those hot afternoons sitting on the deck. Batch #5, the High Sierra Pale Ale is in the secondary fermentation process in the basement right now, this one should be ready for APC to drink to her heart's content after our little girl is born. Will give you all an update after we taste that one in three weeks. All I gotta say is....

Hop Hop Hop!

Calling all nerds!

Yes,

As cool as you might think I am, I do have a nerdy side. *gasp!*

Check out The Order of the Stick comic strip. And if you don't get it, you're not nerdy enough.

John Kerry Smarter than George W. Bush?

Not that it really matters any more, but lo!

In a headline I had to read twice to believe, the MSM (the AP specifically) actually examined their own claims that Kerry was the more 'intellectual' of the two presidential candidates running in 2004 and lookee what they discovered!

Kerry's Grades Similar to Bush's

In the very first paragraph the AP ironically calls out their own biased portrayal of Kerry as the 'smarter' presidential candidate!

Quelle Ironie...

Note: Neither 2004 presidential candidate is exactly a rocket scientist. Just for comparison's sake, my total tally of Ds in college = zero.

Quote of the week: "I always told my dad that D stood for distinction" - John F. Kerry

Ohhh Lil' Brudder!

Never heard of a SBemail?

Never experienced the true hilarity that is Strong Bad?

Check it out, and enjoy.

Lil' Brudder Makes me Cry

Viking Metal!

Saw some fantastic 80's metal videos late Friday night (Early Saturday morning). Saw some classics by Quiet Riot, Judas Priest, Cheetah, Iron Maiden, Saxon, Van Halen, Ozzy, etc.

Man, that was some baaaaad stuff. Watched and laughed at the hilarity that was 80's metal. Brought back lots of memories, however, and suddenly realized that my age is advancing faster than I realized... Anyways, here's a toast to those big haired, bad guitar soloin' 80's metal bands!

How to Be an 80s Hair Metal Star? From your 80s Music Guide
The sexy and dangerous look of the Hair Metal Star of the 80s is not a difficult one to obtain, but you may want to follow these few steps before venturing out on your own. A simple look for a day or a complete lifestyle makeover.
Difficulty Level: Easy
Time Required: varies
Here's How:

1) Hair is the most essential element. The best style is long in back and shorter in the front, spiked with lots of hair spray. Remember, bigger does mean better.
2) Hair should be bleached blonde or dyed jet black for the best results.
If you need to dress up your hairstyle, a bandana or leather strap tied around your head would look great.
3) Makeup should be as heavy as possible, with a feminine flair. Lipstick, heavy black "raccoon" eyeliner, eye shadow, blush and powder!
4) If you want to macho up your femme look use black grease paint to get a "football player" smudge under your eye or over your nose.
5) Spandex pants in wild colors and patterns are your best bet. Preferred choices: leopard print and hot pink.
Leather pants may also be worn instead of spandex, but they *MUST* be tight and red or black!
6) Bare chests are the usual, however open front vests and cut up t-shirts exposing your hairless chest are also an excellent choice.
7) Heeled leather boots with "bootchains" are the best footwear accessories, along with Nike and Converse tennis shoes.
8) You must maintain a cocky, macho attitude, even though you are dressed like a girl.
9) Bad guitar solos are a staple of your music.
10) Keep those girls swooning with some sensitive power ballads.
11) Your singing (and talking) should be more like a caterwaul than a harmony.
12) Constant and habitual use of the word "dude" is recommended.
13) When preening for the cameras be sure to grab a bottle of Jack Daniel's or cheap Vodka. Make sure at least one photo is of you drinking it straight from the bottle, or better yet, having it poured over your head by another band mate.

Tips:
Your image is more important than the music you make.
Aqua Net is your best friend.
Your credo: Sex, Drugs & Rock & Roll.

Baby News

It's now two days past due for the arrival of Curley Ver. 2.0. At any moment I expect the phone to ring with APC on the other end going 'Honey, something happened...' and WHOOSH off we go to the hospital. /Cue in TV series siren sound effect/

It's an exciting time to say the least, and I know it will just get more exciting once the baby arrives. Personally we can't wait... If it doesn't happen this week, well, the doc told us that we won't have to wait longer than a week after the due date (that's this upcoming Saturday).

Yes, the phone has been ringing alot at home lately, everyone is wanting to know if we're proud parents yet...trust me, we will let everyone know with great procalamation when the baby is born! - 'and there was much rejoicing' 'yaaaaaaaay.' - Monty Python

Here's to Baby Curley on the way by the end of the week! *clink*

From the 'where were you before 2003?' files:

Death Toll at 825 Since New Iraq Gov't

Looks like the AP has found a new tally to keep. Good for them! I just wonder why they didn't keep a body count before the U.S. Invasion in 2003 deposed one of the bloodiest dictators in history.

Wait, I know why! Because they couldn't possibly pin all of those mass graves and mysterious deaths on President Bush!

Do I get a cookie?

Oh and in case you didn't catch it, there is ONE mention of the word terrorist in this article, and it's in scare quotes. According to the brilliant minds at the AP, the people that are actually responsible for taking all these innocent lives by blowing themselves up in mosques and in public markets aren't 'terrorists'. Nah, they're rebels. Or insurgents. Or some other glorious moniker for a bunch of murdering thugs.

AP = Anti-American, Anti-Iraqi Ghouls.

Rain rain rain...theres been no shortage of it since it started here last Friday evening. Put a damper on any Memorial Day weekend events, not that we had anything major outdoors stuff planned anyways..but I sure did feel sorry for all those folks vacationing on the lake in their pontoon boats. Not.

Saw a couple movies over the weekend: American Rhapsody, Sideways, and Phantom of the Opera.

American Rhapsody was alright - it had promise but it just didn't quite end the way it should have with a more convincing note. And what was with Suzanne's obsession with Hungary anyways? Most American teenagers have other things on their mind. Whatever.

Sideways was deserving of the awards its been nominated for, an all around good movie. Yeah the main characters are annoying, but it sure did say a lot about hope and friendship - at least amongst men. I don't think I could have put up with Jack's shenanigans, but then I'm not a depressed, needy, self destructive, wine snobby loser. I recommend it.

Phantom of the Opera is one that APC has been wanting to see for a while - a movie adaptation of the Broadway musical. I hate to say it but it was, as they say in internet lingo, teh suck. Too much singing, and not enough plot. I will still go to see the stage production, and I know it will be better, solely because the music will not have cheesy drum machine riffs in it. What, Herbie Hancock meets the Opera Populaire? Awful.

Oh yeah - saw Team America World Police, by the brilliant Stone & Parker of South Park fame. Pretty funny, but not as funny as I thought it was going to be. The thing that got me though, is how Stone & Parker have a knack of commenting on current world politics in an almost infantile way, but the message gets through loud and clear and really says something more adult. In this case the medium is a bunch of marionettes used instead of actors because Stone & Parker 'hate actors'. Bravo. South Park is like that all the time, unless you're secretly rooting for the City Wok guy to get those 'Stupid Mongorians!' (Can't find a political message there...). Check it out if you can handle some filthy language, and look for the deeper statements on politics and society in general. Every political group gets abused. Brilliant. (I'm so ronery.....)

Oh yeah...almost forgot - the EU is slowly going down in flames. Guess the European uppercrust is underestimating the opinions of the nationalistic masses. Heh.