Dancing Bears and First Dances

First off, a big congrats to M&J for the birth of their 11 pound baby boy. I'm still confirming reports that he immediately signed a contract with the Denver Broncos. And to J & B on their nuptials.

Last week I went to a major hippie wedding (see above!). The better half and I have a friend who is probably around 30 or so. We have known her for many years and is one of the most energetic and positive people I've ever met. So we were very happy to learn that she was to wed to an equally energetic fella. They moved to Michigan about a year ago so we really hadn't seen them or had any idea what to expect with the wedding.

It was scheduled to take place at Starved Rock, which is a state park in north central Illinois. For those of you unfamiliar with Ill (or even those that are), the park is on the bank of the Illinois River and actually has some significant cliffs (at least a couple hundred feet deep). Given the image of flat cornfields that can be found throughout much of Illinois, it can be a bit of a surprise to learn there actually are some hills! The wedding ceremony took place outdoors and was set up overlooking a beautiful bluff - great scenery. The view in the pic above is very similar to the overlook where the ceremony occurred.

So, just an overview of the hippie elements in the wedding. 1 - all the guys were wearing shorts, sandals and a normal button down short sleeve shirt. 2 - Jack Johnson played (on the PA system, not live, although that would have really been cool!) as the bridesmaids and groomsmen came down the aisle. 3 - All the flowers were sunflowers 4 - Bride and her mom made all the dresses, including her own 5 - Grateful Dead music played as the couple exited the ceremony and all throughout the reception dinner 6 - Cake topper was 2 dancing bears with stuff that each person associated with (chef's hat for one, cubs hat for the other!) 7 - The officiant was a minister but he was wearing this sash that he was sure to point out had religious symbols from various faiths meant to demonstrate respect for all people 8 - The honeymoon will be in Sedona, AZ

OK, I'm sure there was other stuff too but I'm old and I forget a lot of things. A great time was had by all. A personal highlight for me was the inclusion of Dr. Seuss in the bride's vows. Never seen that at a wedding before. Unfortunately we didn't last long at the reception as the better half was struggling with a cold so we called it an early night. But all in all, it was fun and a big congrats to the happy couple again.

I'm already halfway done with summer semester. I'm still running as fast as I can to catch up from the missed two weeks but I did manage to get the first paper done with the second one due Monday. Once I finish that, I just have a little more reading to do and some quick summaries of the reading assignments. Not bad! So, four more weeks of nonsense and all finished.

A little bummed that the family's trip to NY has to be rescheduled until August due to class schedule. Sucks but we'll get it done. And looking forward to one, and perhaps two dates to see my favs Seven Mary Three this weekend. Enough for now!

Song lyric of the day: "It's always better when we're together" Jack Johnson

Until next time.

Ace

First you cook, then you chill

A couple of things I did during my recently completed semester break was manage to waste a lot of time. And part of how I did so was by watching movies and reading a book I've been meaning to read.

First, the movie. Another Will Ferrell joint, this time Blades of Glory, also featuring Napoleon Dynamite, aka Jon Heder. This movie looked ridiculous in the previews but the better half and I were in a comedy sort of mood and decided to check it out. Turns out, it was actually pretty good (and ridiculous!). Ferrell plays the sex addict / skating superstar who rumbles with arch enemy and nancy boy Heder, leading to their ban from singles figure skating. But, thanks to a loophole discovered by a stalker 3 years later (I'm not making this up), they find they are eligible to return to doubles skating. Lo and behold, there is no rule forbidding a same sex skating team. As you might guess, hilarity ensues, full of pseudo-homo-risquee scenes and other general nonsense. Of course the team wins the gold and everyone has a happy ending. Glad I didn't drop 10 bucks to see this in the theater but it was a good, fun, throwaway movie.

Secondly, I finally got to a book loaned to me by my boy Q called Bringing Down the House by Ben Mezrich. No, this is not the basis of the kinda funny Steve Martin / Queen Latifah movie. Rather, it is the basis of the recently released 21, which is based on a true story of a blackjack team that originated at MIT and went on to win millions of dollars from various casinos in Vegas and other places around the world. The story is told from the perspective of one of the team members and details how he was recruited, trained and the exploits of the team as they won all the money and started living the high life, courtesy of the casinos. And the cat and mouse game between the team and the casinos is riveting and suspenseful. Mezrich is definitely an able writer and spins the tale in a way that feels much more like fiction than a real-life account. I'm sure he takes some creative license but overall, this is a really good and quick read. I recommend it to anyone interested in gaming or likes espionage and that sort of thing. I finished the book in about 3 hours so it's not a major time commitment either.

The next several days will be spent immersing myself in the ever-inspiring theories of Piaget, Plato and others as I get caught up on my class reading. I hope to be completely caught up by the end of the weekend. Perhaps that is ambitious, we shall see.

Song lyric of the day "Money/it's a crime/share it fairly/but don't take a slice of my pie" Pink Floyd

Until next time.

Ace

Brain dead and squeezed!

I never cease to amaze myself with the heights of stupidity that I can reach.

Case in point: Class started last night. Or so I thought.

I was running a little late so I walked into class about 10 minutes after start time. The class was very quiet, working in small groups, which seemed unusual since things are usually pretty hectic on the first day of class.

So I walk up to the teacher's desk and she asks who I am. Turns out,..... wait for it, ........wait for it, class actually started 2 weeks ago! For some reason, this particular class was working off a different, departmental schedule that is not the same as the rest of the university. I was looking at the regular schedule, which is what threw me off. Unreal!

There is an upside to all of this. Amazingly, the teacher is still letting me take the class. This, despite it only being an 8 week class. So, instead of slogging through 8 weeks of class I only have to slog through 6 weeks! The downside, of course, is that I have to squeeze 8 weeks worth of work into 6 weeks. Not really the ideal scenario but I think I actually prefer it this way.

I think I'm going to go bask in my idiocy.

Song lyric of the day "You stupid dumb-sh*t God da** mother f*er" Offspring

Until next time.

Ace

Trip report: Milwaukee Brewers at Houston Astros Wed June 11 - PUMA SIGHTING!

With a free night in Houston after a spectacular performance at a meeting today, I decided to check out a ball game at Minute Maid Park (seriously?). It was a beautiful and record breaking 95 degrees in temperate Texas today so the roof was closed on this beauty of a ballpark.

Built in 2000, this stadium was another in the well conceived line of throwback stadiums that have all the modern amenities but still keep a lot of the charm of older baseball homes. The aesthetics are really striking with dark green and maroon throughout, with a lot of brick throughout. Above the left field wall and running out past center field is a railroad track with a train that moves and blows a whistle when the 'Stros make a big play. Pretty fun.

The sitelines are great also and the field level seats feel very close to the action. I was 6 rows back down the third base line and the view was fantastic. A couple of strange items I noticed. First, out in left field beyond the seats there are huge windows which allow sunlight to still come in when the roof is closed. The only problem is, for an evening game, this puts the sun directly in the eyes of most of the fans down the first base line. That would be very annoying! Also, I've heard a lot of hullabaloo around the Crawford boxes, which are essentially seat backed bleacher seats down the left field line. I arrived early and hung out in the boxes for batting practice and didn't think they were anything special. Also, the seat prices throughout the stadium seemed very exorbitant in comparison to the prices I'm used to seeing in Chicago, where I've seen the majority of my games. And the food sucked.

Batting practice was fun, although I only got to see the Brewers hit. My impressions of the players were interesting:

Player who just shows off in BP without working on his game - Prince Fielder
Player with the most prodigious power - Corey Hart
Player who looks like he should be a lot better than he really is - Mike Cameron
Player who is specifically working on his game and hitting line drives to all fields - Ryan Braun (and this guy can absolutely mash)
Player who is a jackass to the fans - Guillermo Mota (so glad the Mets dealt him!)
Player who seems like a nice guy - Salomon Torres

Once the game started, I made a lot of interesting observations. First, because this ballpark is so small, it seemed like many of the players were swinging for the fences. Apparently this was justified as there were a total of 8 home runs, including 2 by Hart, cashing in on the power showcased during BP. But it also lead to a lot of lazy flyball outs. Very interesting to observe. And just to give some perspective, Jason Kendall hit a home run and almost hit another. This is the same guy who has 4 homers in the last 488 games over 5 seasons! Strangely, the two catchers in this game, who are among the worst hitters in all of baseball (Kendall and Brad Ausmus), combined to go for 4 for 8 with 4 RBI. Sick.

Other player observations:

Ty Wigginton is quite slow afoot, especially in the field.
Carlos Lee is fat, slow and lazy but the man can hit some bombs.
Miguel Tejada still has some lightning left in his bat.
Russell Branyan = lightning in a bottle for the Brew Crew, with 6 HR in 40 at bats, a Ruth-ian pace.
Ausmus is a major fan favorite, getting the largest applause of the evening, especially when he got ejected for arguing a call that went his team's way in the sixth inning. It was quite bizarre. Manager Cecil Cooper got run out of the game shortly thereafter.

And then there were the fans. Ah, the fans. Well, we all enjoyed the two toothed 90 year old woman barking out to us all to buy cracker jacks. I almost bought some just to shut her up - but that's not how I roll. These Texans, they REALLY seem to enjoy doing the wave. It was attempted several times, finally gaining success right around the time that Coop got tossed. Stay classy, Houston! It was pretty quiet for a lot of the game. I'm not sure if it's because the home team was getting spanked or because the roof closure made it an indoor game. I've always found the indoor sporting events to have a little less ambience and this was no exception.

And I would be remiss if I failed to point out the overwhelming enthusiasm during the 7th inning stretch. In New York, they go pure patriotism and start with God Bless America before hitting Take Me Out to The Ballgame. But not here in the People's Republic of Texas. Oh no! Instead, it's a very heartily joined rendition of Deep in the Heart of Texas. I haven't heard so many people clapping their hands and singing along since the last cheesy Baptist church scene in an Eddie Murphy movie.
Crikey!

And last but not least, I must address the topic of Lance Berkman. Berkman, you see, is the fat man pictured up at the beginning of the post. Apparently his nickname has been Fat Elvis. Now, I'm no Elvis historian, but if you're being called a fat version of Elvis, that's sort of like being called a deep version of the Grand Canyon. Anyhow, the lithe Berkman apparently has taken umbrage with the Fat Elvis moniker and dubbed himself the Big Puma. Insert wide-eyed smiley icon here.

Look people, no one loves a good nickname more than this trusty blogger. Believe me, I've given an unhealthy number of them out in my day. But the number one rule of nicknames is that they cannot be self-appointed. Okay, maybe this is the number two rule, number one is that you really are not supposed to tell people how you got your nickname, you had to be there. Anyhow, let's stop quibbling over the order of the rules and focus on Berkman's self-appellation. I hereby refuse to refer to him as the big puma. However, I might be able to be convinced and call him something like the Cougar. I'll have to think about that. Check back later for the final ruling.

OK, not sure how that just happened, but this seems like an appropriate point to end this post.

Song lyric of the day "I've been dazed and confused for so long it's not true" Led Zeppelin

Until next time.

Ace

Musical notes

Get it, musical notes? I slay me.

So, as you can see from my nifty little reptilious picture to the left, the fellas from 7m3 are going to be back in the northern Illinois region. I am officially pimping this show, last time I saw the boys in lil Nashville, a good time was had by all, including the many female bartenders dancing on the bar during the show. Good times people! This will be a nice opportunity to check out material from the new album, Day&nightdriving, which you have undoubtedly already checked out. The boys will also be playing an outdoor show the next night in Crystal Lake.

While on the topic of music, a nod to JP, who provided this ridiculous link of the most bizarre album covers you can imagine. And somehow, with a nod to Duch, it leads to an even more bizarre link. WTF????

Well, I hope that leaves you with some fun heading into the weekend. Have a good one folks.

Song lyric of the day: "I'm your private dancer / A dancer for money / And any old music will do" Tina Turner

Until next time.

Ace

On the Road Again

A big congrats to a former colleague JR. He and his wife gave birth to a beautiful baby girl a few days ago. Welcome to the madness, sir, I'm sure you'll thrive! Also wishing a speedy recovery to my older sister on some minor surgery last week, just don't drop the painkillers into the shot glass!

I'm heading to Houston for work next week. I'm kind of excited as I've never been there. In fact, I've only been to Texas once, for a weekend vacation to San Antonio. That is a beautiful and fun city, I definitely recommend a visit. And I also recommend checking out the IMAX movie of the Alamo before going to visit the place, it definitely helps to put the significance of the place in perspective.

Anyhow, I'm going for a couple days of meetings with a client. The way it is set up, I believe there is a very strong chance that I'll be able to check out a game at Minute Maid Park, where the Astros will be playing Milwaukee. I've been wanting to get to this stadium since it opened and I've heard that it's beautiful. I hope to be able to report back next week with more.

Yesterday we attended a kindergarten graduation ceremony for #1. Crazy how quickly time has gone and how quickly the kids are growing. There was borderline teary-eyed activity on the part of many of the parents. I guess I'll get to go through this one a couple more times so I'm not quite there yet.

Now the kids are out of school for the summer and our little nuclear unit faces some additional challenges. As a result of a lot of things, including a terrible homebuilding economy and insolent siblings, we are looking at changing babysitters in the next week or two. It doesn't really sound like a big deal but the better half and I are concerned about shuffling the kids around to a bunch of different places. The new sitter is only available until the fall, so we'll have to figure something else out then. I hope the transition isn't too much for the monkeys, I'm sure they'll adjust. In addition, the cost for us is going to go up fairly significantly (although still way below what daycare would cost us). Sheesh, how in the world do people do this?

Off to listen to some corporate babble about a bonus I'll likely never see!

Song lyric of the day: "Shuffle it all / Keep movin along / Pack up your life again" Izzy Stradlin and the Juju Hounds

Until next time.

Ace

Enjoying it while it lasts

2 weeks from today I'm back in the saddle with class, taking a single class that meets twice a week for 3 hours a pop. 8 weeks. It's very busy but it's nice knocking out a class so quickly.

Tomorrow is #1's last day of kindergarten. Wow. That has gone so fast and it has been amazing to see how much progress has occurred. It is exciting.

The better half went to check out a concert last night, The Kooks. Sounds like it was good although there hasn't been much time to debrief on it. I also saw Seven Mary Three Friday night. I would write a detailed review but it was a pretty standard setlist. Highlights of the evening include a phony ski hill, hanging out with some fans that I've only met briefly before and the scantily clad waitress who decided she needed to take her shirt half off and dance on top of one of the stacks of speakers. I'm not sure why she took it only half off. To quote my friend JTB, "If you're going to be a skank, BE A SKANK!"

I'll leave with a joke that is pretty much exactly the opposite of the skank incident above.

The golf course was haunted by a malicious, evil leprechaun who exploited the ambitions of the poorer players.

He popped up beside one unfortunate man who was participating in a club competition. "Look," he said, "if you agree never to court a woman, flirt with a girl or marry, I'll help you win." "Done," shouted the young golfer.

The leprechaun was very pleased with conniving ways, and chuckled merrily. When the golfer was in the clubhouse being praised by the other members, the leprechaun popped up on the shelf of the locker.

"Hey," said the little elf, "I have to have your name for my records. What is it?"

"Father Murphy," grinned the golfer as he adjusted his Roman collar.

Song lyric of the day "Time keeps on slipping, slipping, slipping, into the future" Steve Miller Band

Until next time.

Ace