W T F China...

There is all sorts of stuff flying through the news agencies about China and the olympics. I am sure you have heard some of the stories. Today I read another that just boggles my mind. You can check out the full article here ... but the short version is that despite promises to the contrary, China is blocking interenational journalists from certain sites and topics. For example, anything with the word Tibet in it or sites with articles talking about human rights issues, are unavailable in the press area.

Now if you are unaware, China regularily blocks its citizens from accessing those kind of sites and a slew of others it has decided that they don't want people viewing. This has been known for a long time. When the IOC was looking at China as a possible site for the Olympics, one of the stipulations was uncensored internet access for the press. China is now twisting and spinning the fact that they promised unrestricted access during the Olympic games and are now 'clarifying' their original statement and saying they were only referring to unrestricted access to information about the Olympics. Not China as a country or government, their policies or actions.

I just find it hard that in this day and age, the IOC would even consider hosting the Olypics in China. No city or country is perfect by any means, but China.. all I can say is wow. The IOC is granting an event that brings tons of revenue and publicity to a city / country and can't even stick to its guns and make China follow through with the promises it made in order to secure the bid for the games in the first place.

Officials from the IOC have stated that they Olympic games are separate from politics and that the IOC doesn't get involved with a countries politics. Well thats all well and good, but you have required certain things from a host city in order to even consider them as a candidate. Now, a few days before the event is to occur, China is backtracking and not meeting those requirements as they said they would.

In my opinion, either the IOC has compliance in the next 48 hours to all the original requirements or they shut the whole thing down. They won't do it of course, but its what should be done. Actually Beijing should never have been considered in the first place in my opinion. Not with the multitude of other cities worldwide that would have been much better candidates for it.

Of course.. maybe you don't want to use the internet at all while you are there. There are other reports surfacing now stating that the Chinese government is also requiring all hotels to install software that collects information on its guests. Supposedly this system will monitor internet access and collect information on where its guests go, what they are doing on the internet and what topics they are looking up. Its unclear if the monitoring system goes any further than that, but if you are planning to attend the Olympics, I would leave the laptop at home and stay off free wifi connections while you are there.

I don't know.. there is just so much that strikes me as wrong with Beijing hosting the games. On top of that.. everytime you turn around now there seems to be another article on something else China promised and is now changing or 'clarifying' and saying they never meant it that way in the first place. I don't care of the summer olypics only happen every 4 years. Cancel them if they don't comply. Send out a message. And next time.. be smarter with your location choice.

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The Magnificent Seven

Yesterday I was 'tagged' to do a post with 7 random and maybe semi-interesting facts about myself. I decided that since they were about me.. the post must be titled "The Magnificent Seven". It just fit :P



So anyway.. here we go:

1. I have the build of a football player and everyone assumes thats what I did in high school, but I was actually a swimmer. Never played football in an organized league of any kind. I swam varsity in high school and swam in a summer league as well.

2. I have texture issues with foods. I love the flavors, but I cannot stand eating some foods because of their consistency and texture. Take onions for example. I like the flavor of them in food and if you use onion powder I am fine. But cook up a big tapeworm looking chunk of onion and put it right on top of something and you can have it all to yourself.

3. As a kid, I was terrified of the Wizard of Oz. My Mom will still tell you stories to this day about it if you ask. I still think the flying monkeys are creepy.

4. I work with computers all day every day.. and it also happens to be one of my favorite hobbies as well. I am one of the lucky people that really enjoy what they do for a living.

5. I am an acoustic guitar junkie. I love to listen to just about anything played on one. I spend a lot of time searching for and downloading acoustic versions of songs .. especially from bands that rarely do anything 'unplugged'. I have tried to pick up the guitar several times and can pick at it a bit, but alas my fingers are too short to do it realistically. Which brings me to number 6.

6. I have very big hands, but shorter fingers. No, it doesn't look freakish or anything, but if I compare my hand to my son's, his fingers are already longer than mine even though my hand overall is bigger than his.

7. I did photography in high school.. for the school yearbook as well as just for fun and personal satisfaction. I hope to get back into in the future. I love black and white, and sepaitone pictures. Photos are my favorite kind of artwork.


Well there you go.. maybe some things you didn't know about me. Or didn't want to know. I think I get to tag people now.. so to my siblings, consider yourself tagged.

For a little comic relief to brighten your day, here is another clip from Bill Engvall. This guy just slays me. Enjoy:




Seven days til my Lisa gets here! All sorts of good things associated with 7 today. :D

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No Country for old ZZzzz....

I am sure most of you have heard of the movie 'No Country for Old Men'. It won 4 Oscars along with a slew of other minor awards. It was critically acclaimed. I had heard a lot of people say how amazing this movie was. Maybe it was the hype again that made the movie dissapointing to me.

The movie had its strong points. Some of the characters and the acting were top notch. The assasin.. with his mannerisms and his creepy deep voice was fantastic. On a whole though, the story was very slow.. I mean VERY slow. Stuff happened real quick for the first little bit and then slowed waaaaaay down.

The story was so/so. It was certainly nothing even remotely original. Guy stumbles on a drug deal gone wrong. Takes 2 million that doesn't belong to him and thinks its all going to be ok because people that do drug deals in the desert for 2 million in cash won't care that its missing. Angry people start chasing him. He is sure he can outsmart them though.

The movie was long .. about 2 hours and 25 minutes. This seemed much longer due to the slow pace of the movie. For all that time, I expected much more closure at the end than we get from the movie. Seriously, its like they just ran out of film and decided to call it there. You don't really know where the money ended up. You don't know where the assasin ends up. Tommy Lee Jone's char just waxes poetic for minutes on end.. about what I am not quite sure. It's possible that I dozed off there for a minute or two.

Like I said, maybe it was the hype. All the rave reviews I heard about it. I just was expecting so much more. Not every film I watch has to be a non-stop action flick or sidesplitting comedy, but with dramas I feel like you need to keep the story moving at a reasonable pace. Also the story needs to have a bit more depth to it if you are going to drag it out for 2 and half hours.

I think I will keep the movie handy though. If I am having a hard time sleeping some night, I will pull it out and start watching it. Now that I know the few minor excitements in the film, it should have me out cold in under 10 min.

Now that my rant on the movie is over, I leave you with a little comedy. This clip is from Craig Shoemaker. He's funny as hell.. but getting the crowd involved in this bit is just hilarious. Check it out.



8 Days! <3 Lisa

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Discovery Love

Since the boys are back.. and we needed our living room, the elliptical is in the garage for now. That means I have to do my cardio at the gym again. The upside to this is that they have individual TV's for each piece of cardio equipment and they all are hooked up to cable TV. For me.. this means one thing. Discovery channel.

Oh I know, this makes me a huge nerd or something, but I am quite addicted to the channel. The shows.. I just like them all. Mythbusters, Smash Lab, Build it Bigger, How's it Made, Dirty Jobs, Deadliest Catch ... all fabulous shows. I know whenever I turn on Discovery, there is going to be something I like to watch.

I have 12 days as of this morning to hit a personal goal before Lisa gets here and we head to Canada for our guild camping trip and that means some extra time at the gym. As any of you working out and trying to get in shape know, motivation is always the struggle. Somehow getting your butt out of the house and down to the gym after a 10 hour work day and 2 hours drive time. Then when you get there.. finding a way to stay there and getting in the time you know you need to make your goals.

Discovery has come through for me once again. Do you all know what this Sunday is? No? Dissapointed. Sunday starts SHARK WEEK! They have all their normal shows, but those shows all get a shark theme and relate themselves to sharks somehow. Then there is all the other shows on sharks. I love shark week. So now I have a reason to spend an extra hour or two at the gym.. to watch shark week as I don't have cable tv at home right now.

My girlfriend happens to love sharks, which of course is another reason I love her. Its not easy to find a woman who is as willing as you are to get all geeky over a weeks worth of shark programs on Discovery!

So for Lisa and all the other shark and Discovery channel fanatics out there.. here is some killer slow motion footage of a great white shark:

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And the honeymoon is over

Don't get me wrong.. I am still glad to have the boys back.. but wow its crazy how quick they can get me from exstatic to have them back to moderadely driving me crazy in the span of 48 hours. :P It's really quite a feat.

The boys are home all day during the summer, but as long as I know where they are, they are allowed to go do stuff with friends, they bowl, they swim, they shoot hoops etc. Yesterday was no exception. They wanted to go bowling and then play with friends after. They get one game of free bowling every day during the summer with the pass they get from the school for good grades so its an easy thing for them to ride down and do without any cost. They texted me to ask me if they could go. I said they could.

Now let's remember that there is a standing rule at my house. You don't even ask to go anywhere until your chores are done. Their chores are few.. and very simple to manage. They keep their room clean and they each have one other chore they are responsible for daily. That's it. They have been told and reminded many many times that they are to get those done BEFORE they go play. Since this rule is longstanding and a no-brainer, I don't feel the need to ask them everytime .. I assume that its been followed.

So when they asked to go out around 1pm for the rest of the afternoon, I figued all that stuff was done. I mean, they wouldn't ask if things weren't done right? They had been up for over 5 hours, so plenty of time for them to get that stuff done. There is no possible way they sat around all morning and got nothing done and then would even think about asking to go out without those things done... RIGHT?

I got home from work to what I can only assume was an F5 tornado disaster site. The kitchen was a disaster (Gabe's job this week) the living room had plates and cups all over the place as did their computer desks. Both computers were on and logged into a game. The TV was on .. along with the xbox, the RB instruments, and the tuner. Most of the lights in the house were on. Their room was a disaster.. clothes everywhere, wet towels from showers, beds that looked a battle had been fought in them.. shoes all over. Radio was on in there too. No boys anywhere.

They had really outdone themselves yesterday. I mean not only did they violate the standing rule, they managed to do it and hit pretty much all of my pet peeves at the same time. Wet towel on the floor? Check. Every light, computer monitor, and electronic device in the house on with no one around? Check. Dirty laundry in piles around the room... and all piles less than 6 feet from the empty laundry basket? Check. /sigh

Maybe this was their way of checking to see if I was still paying attention? Well in case you are wondering.. I AM. If its that way again when I get home today.. there will be beatings.. oh yes there will. And no.. they will not hurt me more than they hurt you .. in fact.. I will enjoy it!

Here is a clip from Bill Cosby 'Himself' ... not the one I wanted about the fact that kids can't sleep without their beatings.. but extremely funny parenting clip just the same:




NOTE: Before you freak out and call child protective services .. no, I don't actually beat my children. Its far more effective to cut them off from anything that plugs in than it is to beat them anyway. My take on if you should spank a child when they are young is a whole different blog post and not really relevant here.

Today is officially less than two weeks til Lisa gets here! I know.. you don't care but I do and am super excited and since this is my blog, you get to deal! :P

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The Boys are Back in Town

Yes, my boys are back. They enjoyed almost two weeks in sunny (Aka - super hot) Arizona with my parents, sister and bro-in-law, and my nephew Caden. Lot's of time in the pool, hanging out with their cousin, and in general being spoiled with meals out and special activities. They always enjoy their time in Arizona. It's some time away from their parents and special time with family they don't get to see very often due to the distance. This year was no different. They had lots of stories to tell when they got back about all the things they did.

This year it was a bit different for me when they went. In previous years, it was a really nice relaxing break. Some adult time..a bit of a reprieve. But that was when they boys were there with my ex and I all the time.. every day. It just felt a bit different this year as I only have them half the time and thus I have every other week without them already so I don't feel the need for that break. I guess I am just trying to say that although I always miss them when they are gone, I really missed them this year.

On the way back from the airport, they were singing along with the songs I was playing as we often do while driving in the car. They were telling me stories of their AZ adventures. Then they progressed to "playing tennis" which was some kind of game they invented which involved hitting each other in the hands repeatedly. I am not sure on the rules.. only they know. It was good to hear the sounds of their laughter again. Their silliness and antics. Of course we had to end "tennis" when I started hearing "Ow.. that hurt! Stop!" .. but it was amuzing while it lasted.

Big thanks to my AZ family for playing host to the boys again this year. They love the time they get to spend there each year. They were glad to be home, but miss you already.

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WTB: Finished Basement

When my sister and brother-in-law came out to visit and drive my brother's stuff here to WI for him, they were nice enough to bring me a coffee table they had replaced with a newer one and and elliptical trainer they were no longer using. The coffee table looks great and the elliptical is something the offered to me a while ago as I love them, but we just didn't have any feasible way of getting it here from AZ.

Now my apartment is 2 bedrooms and is big by apartment standards. Its about 1300 sq. ft. Not huge, but the bedrooms are large and so is the living room area and the kitchen/dining areas. At least it felt that way when I first moved in. After my family left, I decided I was going to move the elliptical in and find a place where I could put it. I knew it would be somewhat inconvenient, but I was not expecting quite what I encountered. Between the two kids computers, TV setup, chair, couch, coffee table, end tables etc and now the elliptical, I had basically filled the room to capacity. You can't walk through the room now without walking around things.

This is working ok this week while the boys are in AZ visiting with my family, but unfortunately I am going to have to make space in the garage to store the elliptical until I get a bigger place. This is dissapointing for me as last night I tossed in a movie I hadn't watched yet.. hopped on the elliptical .. and went at a medium pace for the entire 1:40 of the movie. It was surprising how easy it was to get in a good long workout when you are not focused on the timers and counters. I just put a towel over them so I didn't even get tempted to look at them and just watched my movie. Felt so good afterwards.

My gym fortunately has individual TVs for each piece of cardio and has cable hooked up to them which is second best to watching a movie, so I'm not completely SOL when I move the elliptical back out, but its not quite the same. Commercials are annoying to begin with, but when you are exercising to them.. they become even more so to me for some reason. Since I don't have cable TV at home right now though, this is when I get in my time with Discovery channel .. they have so many shows I love to watch. I have to go to the gym every other day to lift anyway, so I do cardio at the gym when I'm there on those days, and I will just have to go back to the gym on cardio days as well now til I get enough room to setup an office / gym room. :)

I am not usually one to talk about myself and personal goals and challenges much, but as of this morning I have lost over 85 pounds. I have doubled or more the weight I was lifting when I started. I am not on a diet plan, no pills, no strict workout plan. Just hard work at the gym and watching what I eat .. for the most part. I still have a ways to go to reach my final goal, but I am feeling great these days. I have lost about 8 inches off my waist and am starting to show some definition from the lifting. I don't want to be a musclebound freak, just in shape and healthy.

Thanks to all those who have been supporting and encouraging. It means more than you know. When I am done and have reached my final goal, I will post some before and after pictures.

It's Friday.. and less than 20 days until Lisa gets here! I am so very excited!

A friend of mine didn't care for the video I put up yesterday.. and suggested a different one for entertainment purposes. But I will not subject you to his suggestion.. which was Hasselhoff singing 'Can't fight this feeling'. If you really want to see that.. search for it on youtube, you'll find it. The song Safety Dance came up in conversation at work yesterday.. which reminded me of this scrubs clip that cracked me up. So here it is for your Friday enjoyment:

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