Cowboys won - next up FAU

Wyoming won a fun game Saturday against UNLV. Next we get to travel to FL to play FAU. I'm excited to be able to fly down for the game and meet up with Brandon and Dave. It should be lots of fun. Go Pokes!

Goodbye Summer - Hello Snow

Well Summer is officially over, and we were greeted this morning with a cold blanket of wet snow. Tonight is supposed to dip down to 20 degrees - killing off any plants that survived last night. I need to remember to turn off and clear my sprinkler system before tonight's hard freeze comes. I may get to turn on my furnace for the first time too.

To celebrate I am having hot Chocolate here at work.

Time for a post

It has been a while since my last post, so I best be posting.

Wyoming kicked off its football season with a win over weber state, then lost to Texas the next week. tomorrow we play @ Colorado - I plan on going.

I was REALLY sick the weekend of the weber game I barely made it to the game, and probably should have stayed home. Afterwords I was extremely dehydrated and tired. I've been feeling sick this week too.

Work has been very busy this week - we went live with a new system and all my time has been spent on fixing small issues on the system. Hopefully things will calm down soon.

I saw a nice bumper sticker the other day. It said "You need a lot of balls to play golf like I do."

New Weezer

I got to listen to the new Weezer song "I Want you to" Today off of their upcoming album Raditude. It is a very catchy song. I like it and am looking forward to the new album. It is set to hit shelves on October 27th.

btw you can listen to the song on weezer's website, or buy it from Amazon or iTunes.

Groundhog day in August ...

I came across an interesting write up today - trying to figure out how long Bill Murray was stuck in the movie groundhogs day

How long does Bill Murray spend trapped?

8.7 years is the article estimate. In the DVD commentary they say 10 years.

I recall a conversation with Brandon about trying to count how many days, and losing track. It is a good piece of information to know - just in case...

Denver Vacation

Here are a few pictures from my recent time in Denver. Saturday was an especially busy day. We got up and ate a good breakfast, then went and golfed 9 holes.

My ball actually made it on the green, so I had to take a picture.A scenic view while waiting for the people ahead of us.

After golf we had a drink at jamba juice next to the university of Denver campus, then we went back to our hotel and went swimming. The pool is on the 5th floor, but outside amongst the tall buildings. After a good swim we went to Mario's two fisted pizza and grabbed a few slices before heading to the Cubs Rockies game. We had great seats - Club level.
And the Cubs won - there were a ton of cubs fans there - Lots of W flags out after the win.
After the game we ate at Rodizio Grill before finally calling it a day.

Table

So I ordered a new coffee table about a month ago - July 9th. I may finally get it on Monday. Turns out the delivery company was waiting for a non existent 2nd box, and I could have had my table on the 16th or so...

My battle with a mole, or whatever has been living in my grass, I think is over. I haven't seen any new mounds in over a day. I'll keep checking and hope for the best.

Time for a new post

So I'm not sure what to post. I don't have any great ideas to share, or new pictures or happenings, but it has been a while and I feel I need a post.

Well I did rearrange my living room to better set it up for surround sound. I'm busy at work, and excited for football in another few months.

Oh - I do have a ground squirrel or ground hog, or prarie dog living in my yard. I wouldn't mind but he is ruining my grass, so he's got to go.

Orlando and a cow picnic

A few recent pictures from my trip to Orlando, and then in the mountains outside of Laramie.

Universal in Orlando


Me at the Loews Royal Pacific resort
A Cow Picnic

Washer and Dryer come today + Steak

The last of the items for my new house (for now at least) is coming today. I will soon have my washer and dryer. It will be a new experience not bagging up all the laundry and taking it somewhere to wash.

I grilled a steak last night on my new grill. It turned out well. Here are a couple of pictures. it is making me hungry again now.

My new Grill

So I bought a grill over the weekend. I fired it up for the first time last night and cooked some brats, corn on the cob, and some pineapple.

This is the grill I got:

Rancid

I got to see Rancid again last night at Red Rocks. It was a good show - I wish they could have played longer, and done a few more tracks from the new album. They only played East Bay Night (acoustic) and Last One to Die from the new record. In my opinion they were by far the best musicians on the stage last night. I appreciate being able to hear all sorts of different notes, singing, etc. on not just loud noise that doesn't seem to change pitch much.

The riverboat gamblers were OK, and Rise against was OK. All of their (Rise Against) stuff sounds about the same, and kinda high pitched and whiny. The only good stuff they did was when they played a few acoustic tracks.

My House

So here are some pictures of my house. I'm still unpacking, and things are messy.

Rancid's new album

They posted the album on myspace, so I got to listen to it all today. It is pretty awesome. There are already several songs I really like - some good catchy tunes.

I can't help but compare it to the new green day album I've been listening to recently, and I must say I like this record WAY more than green day's new record. It just has more power and emotion to me - much easier to connect to.

2 weeks or so and I'll see rancid in concert again!!!

My trip to Chicago

I just remembered that I never posted about my recent trip to Chicago. Here are some highlights. The main purpose of my trip was to go back to Wrigley field and watch the cubs. Wednesday night I sat out in the bleachers. During the Padres batting practice I caught my first ever baseball at a ball game. it was a home run that bounced off the seats then came right to me. I don't know who hit it. The Cubs won the game. It only lasted 8 innings because of rain. Here is a pic of the ball I caught.

While in Chicago I stayed at the Intercontinental on Michigan Ave. It is in a pretty good location - not too far from the red line, and always easy to catch a cab to go to a restaurant. The hotel is expensive - I got a good deal on the room, but if you opened the bottle of water in the room it was $6.50 a snickers was $4.00. I ordered room service my first night as I needed a snack and was to lazy to go out. I had some hot wings with blue cheese, a ginger ale, and some black raspberry sorbet. You don't want to know how much it cost - too much, but I was living it up in Chicago. The wings were very good, as was their blue cheese. One thing I must say about the place besides being expensive they do have good service.

Day two I took a cab over to the original pancake house for a late breakfast. I had buttermilk pancakes with fresh strawberries and strawberry syrup, with a side of bacon and freshly squeezed orange juice. It was an excellent breakfast. I sat outside in the heavy breeze and enjoyed a sunny morning. I then walked over to the L and went up to Wrigley for the afternoon game. I had amazing seats. Right behind home plate row 2. Here are some shots of my view, and a shot of the highlights where you can see me. The cubs won again. baseball is great to watch when you are so close.




Later that night I had a reservation at Gibson's to enjoy a nice steak. I showed up a bit early and had to wait a while. The place was very packed. They jammed tables just about everywhere you could. I went with a bone in strip steak. The first bite was great, but when I cut again I saw the steak was undercooked. I ordered medium it was medium rare at best, so I had to send it back. My replacement was cooked properly, and was very tasty. It isn't the best steak I've had, but it was good. I was disapointed in the side I ordered - twice baked potato.


Well that is my chicago trip. I hope to do it again soon. Next time I will eat at David Burke's primehouse for my steak fix.

As for my steak rankings unfortunately for Gibson's they don't rank real high.
My Current Rankings (Based on where I've eaten, and my personal experience)
1. Boa (Las Vegas)
2. Chicago Chop House (Chicago)
3. Delmonico (Las Vegas)
4. Kinzie Chophouse (Chicago)
5. Ruth's Chris (Denver)
6. Gibson's (Chicago)

21st century breakdown

Green Day's new album is another "punk rock opera", maybe even more so than "American Idiot" although less punk feel. The first single Know your enemy has been getting a lot of playtime, and after listening to other tracks it is not a favorite of mine -it isn't bad but other songs are better.

The Album is broken into Three Acts Act I: Heroes and Cons (tracks 2-7) Act II: Charlatans and Saints (tracks 8-13) Act III: Horseshoes and Handgrenades (tracks 14-18)

My first impression is that I need to listen to it again a few more times. There is a lot more to this album than any other they have done. There are a wide range of styles on this record. They seem to flow together fairly well, and because of that I think it is better to devote some time to listen to at least the acts as one, if not the entire album (69 minutes).

I do miss some of the old green day style and humor of their older work on Kerplunk and Dookie. I just felt like something was missing from this record. There was no real stand out moment or song, and I wanted one. I found myself wanting more energy from the album at times - the way green day used to get me pumped up.

I enjoyed it enough to listen again and recommend buying it. My favorite song from this album is "The Static Age" (track 15) Maybe I like it the most because it sounds the most like classic Green Day, but that is not a bad thing. "21 guns" is also pretty good. The third act is by far the best imo, which I guess is good for this style of album.

For additional info I think Steve Kindell of Spin gives a good review. Spin Review

Thoughts on books ...

So I've finished my first two books in my 'reading the classics' idea I had.

I read catcher in the rye and of mice and men. I liked of mice an men ok, but I didn't like catcher in the rye very much. Some of the writing style annoyed me, and there was no real point to the novel - at least that spoke to me in some fashion.

I hope to finish 1984 while flying to Chicago and back, then I'll probably move on to thicker books...

Steak in Chicago

After much contemplation I have decided that next week when I go to Chicago I will eat at Gibsons Bar and Steakhouse. I have made reservations for dinner.

I also considered David Burke's Primehouse, but I will have to eat there another time.

In other news the closing date for my house is getting closer. It is still set for June 12th. I have been looking at buying a washer and dryer for my new house, and also a new grill. I'm contemplating an infrared grill.

Reading the classics

So I decided today that I should read some of the 'classic' novels that I always hear mentioned. In the past I've read manly horror and science fiction (I love to your scattered bodies go by Phillip Farmer, part of his 'riverworld' series) I figure it is time to expand my - whatever I am expanding by reading.

I decided to start small with "Of mice and Men" I never read it in High School, but I figure since it is short it is a good place to start. I am open to other suggestions of 'classic novels' I should read.

let the dominoes fall

Rancid's new album finally has a name and release date. I can't believe it has been 6 years. I just listened to the first new track, and I like it.