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Balloon Boy

Balloon Boy's Dad was just sentenced to 30 days in jail. Serves him right.....

Recipe

Here is the recipe for the Cincinnati Chili, per your request. I have to give credit to Jeanna though. She is the person that was generous enough to share this beautiful recipe with me, and these are her instructions and recipe. Here it is:

Simmer until beef is cooked:

2 T oil

2 lbs beef

1 quart water



Add:

1-6 oz can tomato paste

2 large yellow onions

1-1/2 T vinegar

1 t worcestershire sauce

1 clove garlic

5 bay leaves

2 t cinnamon

1 t allspice

2 t cayenne

1-1/2 T cocoa



Then let simmer for 1-1/2 to 2 hours.



I don't think I've ever used all that cayenne and I don't think I used 2 big onions either. I may or may not have used the allspice, depending on whether I had it on hand or not.



OH....and don't forget salt to taste....I always forget that.


ENJOY!!!!

Cincinnati chili

Well, I suppose everyone out there has guessed that I was finished with blogging. Oh, contrare! I simply thought that the public needed a good 8 months to refer back to that beautiful pair of shoes. What were people to do, if they got home after a long, tough day, and didn't have those awe inspiring shoes to look at? I understand. Now is something just as inspiring. Above is a picture of a culinary masterpiece. It's called Cincinnati Chili. If you haven't had the chance to try this, I would be happy to post the recipe. It is so dang good! Thanks Jeanna, for bringing this into my life!

I bought new shoes!

Ok, a new pair of shoes usually isn't that big of a deal. But, I have been looking FOREVER!!!! To be completely picky, plus have a size 14 shoe, is a horrible combination. I was online last week and found these beauties. If you think they look a little familiar, you're probably right...........you've probably seen these.........about 20 years ago. These shoes are a re-make of the Nike Flights from 1989. I completely love these shoes. They are totally nostalgic. I love plain looking clothes and shoes. Plus, I really like the old school looking stuff, like these. I am stoked!!!!

Funny Video

Sam goes to the dentist on Thursday. Hopefully this isn't a preview....

Sam-isms

The other day, Julie, Sam, and I were sitting around watching tv. A show came on about this dare-devil guy, that was constantly looking for something crazy and stupid to do. It showed him base jumping off a cliff. The jump went wrong, and he ended up breaking his back. So, the guy got better, and was now into a suit that he would wear, that enabled him to fly really fast along the ground, head first, after jumping off a huge cliff. When he would spread his arms and legs, he would look like one of those flying squirrels. It was actually pretty cool, but totally insane, because the guy has little control over where he is soaring. Any ways....Sam was watching, and he said, "Can I get one of those suits???!!!" To which, Julie and I answered, NO! He instantly replied, very dissapointedly, "BUT I'VE WANTED TO FLY MY WHOLE LIFE!!!!" I lost it. It was hilarious!!! Watch the video below to see what the flying squirrel suit looks like in action.

My Call on the BYU - Utah Game

These are some stats that I dug up on a couple of sites. See below for my breakdown of the game and my call on who wins the game.


2007

Utah Total Yards - 376 EDGE: BYU
BYU Total Yards - 465

Utah Passing Yards - 212 EDGE: BYU
BYU Passing Yards - 312

Utah Rushing Yards - 163 EDGE: UTAH
BYU Rushing Yards - 153

Utah Points Scored - 25 EDGE: BYU
BYU Points Scored - 31

FINAL SCORE: BYU 17 - UTAH 10

2008

Utah Total Yards - 416 EDGE: BYU
BYU Total Yards - 456

Utah Passing Yards - 243 EDGE: BYU
BYU Passing Yards - 328

Utah Rushing Yards - 173 EDGE: UTAH
BYU Rushing Yards - 128

Utah Points Scored - 36 EDGE: EVEN
BYU Points Scored - 36

Utah Scoring Defense - 16 EDGE: UTAH
BYU Scoring Defense - 18

Utah Defensive Yards/Game - 284 EDGE: UTAH
BYU Defensive Yards/Game - 345

Utah Rushing Defense - 94 EDGE: UTAH
BYU Rushing Defense - 147

Utah Pass Defense - 189 EDGE: UTAH
BYU Pass Defense - 197


It has taken late quarter heroics for BYU to edge Utah in their past two meetings. I would say that BYU was the better team the past two years. This year is different. Not only is Utah undefeated, but they have beaten 3 times as many division one teams with winning records as BYU has. Looking at the statistics above, Utah has the advantage in 3 more categories than BYU. BYU also proved to completely melt down against fast defenses. (TCU Route). On top of that, Utah always seems to come to these games hungrier than BYU. On the other hand though, it seems that Utah escaped with wins in 5 of their games. BYU escaped with a few wins also, but it seems that Utah has had some dang ugly wins on their road to being undefeated so far.

Sadly, I will have to give the edge to Utah in this game. I'm praying for an upset. You never know what will happen in rivalry games. However, my prediction is:

UTAH 30 - BYU 20

I hope I'm dead wrong.............

Julie and I scored small parts in High School Musical 3!!! Check us out!!!

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Sam

I was hanging out with Peter and Bruce yesterday. Pete told me something that happened yesterday that totally cracked me up......

Lately, our VCR has been hungry. It's started to eat tapes. The other day, Sam put a tape in of his Grandma Alger's. It was the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles movie. Unfortunately, the VCR ate the movie and completely tore the tape ribbon in half, so the movie is useless.

So, yesterday Julie and Sam were at her parents house, helping them clean up their yard. I had run out to do the weekly grocery shopping. Any ways, while Julie and Sam were there, Julie wanted Sam to tell his Grandma Alger about the tape. Naturally, Sam wasn't excited about telling his Grandma that her tape was ruined. Julie said, "Sam, tell grandma the bad news." So, Sam said, "Obama Won". HILARIOUS!

I honestly don't know where he gets this stuff. Julie and I haven't really discussed politics in front of him this year, so I'm not sure where he came up with that. This is just another example of the funny kid we have the blessing of having in our family. I love that boy.

The Philadelphian

A week or so ago, me and some co-workers were standing around talking about food. (It's one of my favorite pass times). One of the ladies that I work with mentioned that there was a great phili place down the road a ways, but she didn't know what it was called and wasn't sure what street it was on. I knew I needed to try it out. So, we had her guides us there today, so we could partake.

Holy Crap!!!! There was a line that went out the door. When you walk in, you have to keep your blinders on, because this place was NASTY!!!! There was grease on the carpet, grease all over all of the fryers behind the counter, grease going up the wall. On the back of the restaurant, along with some nasty tables and chairs, there was a table pushed up against the wall that had a bunch of garbage piled up on it. There were four workers holding down the fort, and it was obvious that there was definitely not a dress code at this place, and it looked like some of these guys had been working for about 12 years, without a break. It was something to behold.

But, as we stood there, it didn't matter, because we were hypnotized by the amount of amazing looking food that they were pumping out. The subs were over flowing with mountains of beautiful cheese stake meat, onions, cheese, mushrooms, etc. It's funny, because me and my friend had never even eaten there, but we just stood there with bubbling excitement as we watched these mountains of greasy delicious food being served. Along with the sandwiches, they also serve fries, onion rings, and fried mushrooms. All of it is FRESH!!! The fries were fresh cut (all be it, they were served out of buckets of water and tossed directly from the buckets into the deep fryer), and the onion rings and fried mushrooms were all hand battered and throw in individually. It was amazing.

I ordered the 12" phili and some onion rings. We all brought the subs back to work to eat them. It's a good thing too, because it took about an hour, because you stand waiting for your name to be read for a LONG time.

This sandwich was life changing. Simply put, it makes you emotional. My friend bit into his, and he made a "scream like" sound in his mouth after he took his first bite. They were that good. My 12" sub had to be like 2 pounds of food. I told my friend here at work, that we needed to start something like a book club, because I just wanted to sit around and talk about the experience. This place would be given zero stars on atmosphere and cleanliness, but a 10 on the food. LOVE IT!!!!!

Dunk Tank / BYU / Tetanus Shot

Dunk Tank

It's been weeks now since I last blogged. I guess I've felt uninspired lately. Any ways........I thought I'd update everyone on my life in the past few weeks. I got home Friday night, and Sam was bouncing off the walls about going in the dunk tank, at his school carnival. One sign I'm getting old is, I thought in my mind, "I guess I can see why that would be fun for him........." How old am I, where I have to take a step back, analyze, and determine through critical thinking, that, yeah, that could be a fun activity?!!! Oh well, such is life. So, Sam heard at school that day that it would cost each student $5 to be dunked. I think he would have paid $500 if given the chance. Well, the kid just had to dig around the house, and in his room for a few minutes, and voila!!! He had $5. So we went to the carnival, and Sam's hopes were temporarily shattered, because we asked one of the adults if kids were to be dunked, and the adult shot it down. I guess she was mis-informed. So, sure enough, after about an hour of waiting around, and watching Sam literally battle all of the kids in line, to keep his spot, he got to be dunked. (For just $1). He loved it, and I could tell he felt really cool, because after the dunk tank, he instantly took off from us, soaked and dripping from head to toe, to walk around and show off that he had been in the tank. He's a cool kid.

BYU

So, if you follow college football closely, you will know that there are a handful of HUGE bowl games, called the BCS bowls. Schools that make it to these elite bowls are paid handsomely for earning the right. BYU is seeking one of these bowls this year. Last Saturday was one of BYU's biggest tests. We played UCLA at home. It was amazing. We scored on our first drive to go up 7-0. Then we got the ball back, and had to punt it away. I was like, "Why the heck can't BYU ever just pull away from opponent?" I was frustrated. But, to my pleasant surprise, BYU scored again, and again, and again, and again, and again, and again, and again, and again. (That's not an exaggeration!) We whooped up on them, and won the game 59 to ZERO! It was truly a beautiful thing to watch. So, now of course, my hopes are way up......I'm hoping BYU can get into a coveted BCS bowl game.

Tetanus Shot

My Mom has been bugging me to go to the doctor for some time now. (You have to appreciate motherly love....) :) I hadn't been in to the doctor for at least 7 years to do a regular check up, so it was probably time. I've also been having these weird pains in my shins for several weeks now, and, being the hypochondriac that I am, it totally worries me. So, I went in, with a long list of things to discuss. It seemed like the doctor had better things to do, as he proceeded to shoot down concern after concern. Any ways, when the visit was over, he said totally randomly, "Hey, when's the last time you had a tetanus shot?" I couldn't remember, so I thought, what the heck. So, I don't know if there are side effects to a tetanus shot, or if I just have a random flu or something, but I have felt like complete garbage since yesterday afternoon, and my arm feels like it was hit by a Mac truck. I like to think I have a high threshold for pain, so I don't think I'm being a baby. Julie would probably disagree. As you can see from the time of my blog entry, I'm at home sick.

Any ways.......that's life for the past few weeks.

FOOTBALL!!!!!!

My heart is singing right now.........football has begun!!!

The Olympics

I love the olympics!!! Does it get any better than watching athletes at peak performance, battling for country bragging rights??? Michael Phelps and U.S. Swimming. Anyone who had the oppoortunity to see the Mens 4x100 freestyle relay, cannot deny that this is the best moment of the olympics so far. Simply amazing! As I watched the race, I was laying in bed. Then, I was sitting upright in bed, and then I was hopping up and down on my keester, on my bed, screaming at the tv. Also, Phelps' 100M butterfly win, by 1/100 of a second was another crazy race.













Also, the Men's 100 Meter final was this past weekend. The winner was Usain Bolt, from Jamaica. This race, is basically, "the fastest man on the planet", race. Those guys were cookin'! And, Usain was ahead by so much, that he basically trotted in for the last 10 meters of the race, and he turned to the crowd with his arms outstretched. It was way cool.

Then, there's the U.S. Womens Gymnastics team. Does it get any better to have our girls whoop up on those under aged Chinese Girls??? Yeah, the Chinese have won their fair share of medals this go around, in gymnastics, but our girls have kicked trash. And, Nastia is completely clutch.

Also, (knock on wood), it looks like the mens U.S. Basketball team is on track to finally take back what's rightfully ours. We just beat Germany by 49 points today.



If you're not watching the olympics, you are truly missing out!!!! I can't remember when the olympics were this good!

Julie

Tomorrow, on the 12th of August, Julie and I will be married 8 years.
She is so perfect for me. At times, I am very sporadic. I can be somewhat of a nervous personality, but she compliments my personality so well. She is so good at doing the little things and saying the little things that make my life so much better. She is truly my anchor! I love my wife! I LOVE YOU JULIE!

Shark Week

As many of you probably know, the Discovery channel is having "Shark Week" this week. For a solid week, the Discovery Channel will air nothing but shows having to do with sharks. I really like it. I think sharks are fascinating.

The thought occurred to me the other day though - how come we never see a baby Great White Shark? All of the footage is of these monster sharks tearing through meat in the water and reeking havoc. But, you never see a little cute shark, with little razor blade teeth hanging out of its bottom jaw. Why? I think I may have heard once that great white baby sightings were rare.

So, I did a little research, to figure why we never hear of a Great White baby, and I've found out that Great Whites are the devil! Seriously. I used to think that snakes were up there, as the most despicable, disgusting creatures, but now the snake has competition.

I went to wikipedia.org, and I read up on the great white. GET THIS......it says, "Almost nothing, however, is known about how and where the great white mates. There is some evidence that points to the near-soporific effect resulting from a large feast (such as a whale carcass) possibly induce mating." So, in other words, it takes feasting on a carcass the size of a school bus to get a shark in the mood. That's sick!!! These animals are screwed up! Plus, it says that they don't know for sure, but some believe that great whites live to be past 100 years old. Yeah............it's because they've sold their souls!!! Also, with a great white shark, the way the pregancy goes is, there can be up to 40 eggs that hatch inside of the mother. However, only one is actually birthed, because they all end up eating each other, until eventually the strongest is left! SPAWN OF SATAN!!!!

I remember, when I was a kid, I totally loved the movie Jaws. Even though it totally messed with my head whenever I got in the ocean, I still loved that movie. There's one part in Jaws, where the crazy fisherman talks about how he was on the U.S.S. Indianapolis. For those of you who don't know, the U.S.S. Indianapolis was sunk, and 900 sailors were stranded in the water, to wait for rescue. Well, while they waited, I guess sharks just had a hay day on all that live bait. Only 316 sailors were rescued. So, in the movie, the crazy fisherman says, "And, you know, the thing about a shark... he's got lifeless eyes. Black eyes. Like a doll's eyes. When he comes at ya, doesn't seem to be living... until he bites ya, and those black eyes roll over white and then..."

That description is so crazy. I'm convinced, even though they are totally fascinating, great white sharks are the devil.........

Depressed

I just came to a realization. My next stretch of vacation isn't going to come for 5 months. That's 150 days! How did I do this to myself. I have one vacation day, and the day after Thanksgiving planned, to take off. But other than that, I'm going to have to wait until the end of December to have a week off. For the first time in like 9 years, I have planned to take the week of Christmas off, for vacation. But, how am I to get through that huge stretch? How did I oversee this huge stretch? Well, when Christmas comes around, I will probably be grateful, but until then, things could get rough!!!!

What is the matter with people?!!!

Ok, this is a crazy, long rant............but it needs to happen..............

Honestly, who goes to a movie, opening night, to talk to their boyfriend???? Who goes to a movie early, and sits quietly waiting in their seat, only to start diving into food and candy, as soon as their movie starts? Who goes to a movie, with a huge box of Mike & Ike's, and decides that they only like the green kind, so they continue to poor mike and ikes into their hand, pick out the ones they like, and individually drop each candy back into their box, only to repeat this same process over, and over, and over????

I'll tell you who..........it was the moron girl, next to me, in the Dark Knight movie, this weekend. I'm so fed up with idiots. Where do these people come from? It's like their attracted to large groups of people, and they must be where everyone else is. I have a theory............I think movie theatres are like a bug lamp. Every living idiot within a 20 mile radius is attracted to the beautiful bright lights of a movie screen, and they somehow manage to operate a vehicle all the way to that big movie building..........where they can be lulled into an even deeper stupor..........

Also, a couple of weeks ago, me and Pete were in the movie Hancock. Well, the movie fades to black, and a few credits come up. But, about 10 seconds later, a final scene cuts in. Well, the people in front of us were standing and watching the screen. Obviously, since they were standing, we couldn't see. So, Peter says, "sit down". That's it. That's all he said. "Sit down". Because, we deserve to see the movie, right? I guess not. The guy in front of us was freakin' peeved, and he called Pete a couple R rated remarks, and walked off. Why is it Pete's fault that he wanted to see all of the movie he paid for?

I think the normal people in America need to stand up, and fight back!!! Every once in a while, an email will be sent out, about all of the funny warnings on consumer products. A lot of them seem so obvious, that they seem ridiculous or insulting. Like, "Don't use this blow-dryer in the bath tub", a toilet brush that says, "Do not use for personal hygiene", A scooter with the warning "This product moves when used.", A digital thermometer with the advice "Once used rectally, the thermometer should not be used orally.", An electric blender used for chopping and dicing that reminds users to "Never remove food or other items from the blades while the product is operating." But do you know why these warning labels came to be? IDIOTS!!!!! They are every where. In the days of ancient Greece, they actually had classes on "Common Sense". It's time these classes are reinstituted.



Here are some common sense rules that should be obeyed, and that should be posted at the entrance of every theater. And, maybe they should have them depicted with really easy to understand pictures as well:

1. If a movie is rated PG-13 or stronger, absolutely no babies should be brought in. PERIOD.

2. No cell phones. Don't even pull them out, even if they are on "silent". Cell phones emit something called "light", and this may be distracting for people that came to watch a movie, not to text.

3. After the previews are over, NO TALKING. Not even if you want to tell your boyfriend that you need to get more hair spray at Wal-Mart after the movie.

4. No wiping your buttery popcorn hands off on other peoples legs. (This seems ludicrous, but it's happened to Julie).

5. No chewing gum, with your mouth gaped open.

6. No yelling at the screen. We understand that for people of lower intelligence, that this can be almost impossible not to do, when you are riled up and your emotions are high, but please refrain.

7. No sleeping. If you are too tired to watch a movie, stay home. People shouldn't have to listen to you snore while they are at the movies.

8. No making out. For you wt out there, this is why the cd section at Wal-Mart was invented.

9. No hyena laughing. If you have a laugh that would scare away an angry moose, rent a movie at Blockbuster.

10. No fire crackers or fire works are to be lit during movie. (This will eventually happen to one of us............mark my words).


So, what do you say? Are these requests unreasonable?

Memory Tag

I got this idea from Julie's blog, and thought it sounded like fun.
1. Add a comment on my blog, leave one memory that you and I had together. It doesn't matter if you knew me a little or a lot, anything you remember!
2. Next, re-post these instructions on your blog and see how many people leave a memory about you. It's actually pretty funny to see the responses.
If you leave a memory about me, I'll assume you're playing the game and I'll come to your blog and leave one about you.

Movie Review

On the weekend of the 4th of July, Julie and Sam went to Reno to see her niece get baptized. I stayed behind to do stuff with my fam. So, all weekend I had complete freedom to do whatever, whenever I wanted.

So, what did I end up doing? Well, the first thing, obviously, was I went to Tucano's. Tucano's is by far the best restaurant in Utah, maybe even planet earth. After that, Peter (Julie's Brother) and I, went to see a bunch of movies. We saw Hancock, Wanted, Hulk, Kung Fu Panda, and Love Guru. It was great.

I was just thinking, since I've seen so much stuff in the theatre, which never happens, that I should review a couple of these flicks, and maybe grade them. Please know, that I am somewhat of a hard person to please, when it comes to movies. Action movies need to be stellar, for me to appreciate them, and I almost never like animated movies. So, here goes:



Hancock (A-) - This was a totally entertaining movie. For some reason, Will Smith bugs me, because he is always playing a guy who is either saving the world, or beating all odds. He never plays a realistic role. I wasn't expecting much from this one, so I think, since I went in with low expectations, that I was pleasantly surprised. I find that when I go into a movie with very high expectations, that I'm usually let down in a major way. Hancock was hilarious. It did drop a couple f-bombs though. Since almost every movie must contain a twist now, Hancock had a pretty big one in the middle. I did kind of see some of it coming, but it was a good twist. I've heard that with Hancock's twist, that you either like it or you hate it. I really liked it. The end wrapped up nicely, and you walk away feeling pretty good.



Wanted (D-) - This movie was a giant fart in the face. I couldn't believe what an insult this movie was, from beginning to end. Seriously, when this movie ended, I looked over to Pete, in awe, at how ridiculous it was, and hoping that he thought it was as horrendous as I did. Thankfully, he completely agreed. SPOILER ALERT.................DON'T READ ON, IF YOU PLAN ON WATCHING THIS MOVIE (though, I really hope you won't waste your time and money, after I've bashed this movie up and down). The movie is about a normal guy, that gets trained to be an assassin. He has a pathetic life. He works in a cubicle all day, and is shouted at by his nasty boss all day. The only reason why this movie didn't get an F- is because, it had a cool scene where the guy completely tells of his boss, in great fashion. At the end, the main character decides he's going to break into the combine that houses the fraternity of assassins, and kill them all, by himself. So, how does he do it? Rats. Yeah, that's right, freakin' rats! He goes to a grocery store and buys a ton of peanut butter, to attract the rats. Then he attaches an explosive to thousands and thousands of rats. So, he breaks in, releases the rats, and they help him with his job of taking out all of the assassins. At the end of the movie (which should have been called "Curving Bullet", because I swear, they took the idea of making your bullet curve to the extreme), Angelina Jolie curves a bullet around a circular room, and it hits like 15 guys right in the temple as the bullet continues to curve around the room, never slowing down. It was laughable. I can't believe movies like this even exist. I guess, there will always be 13 year old boys that will eat this stuff up, but as for me, I thought it was mind numbing.



The Love Guru (B+) - This movie had some amazing one liners. It really kept me, Pete, and Julie's cousin Dave laughing almost the whole time. This movie had already been out for a few weeks when we went to see it, so there was only about 10 people in the theatre when we saw it. We were laughing so loud and hard at one point, I thought we might get yelled at. Since this is a Mike Meyers movie, there is a lot of crude humor. Over all though, the plot and one liners make this movie pretty good.

This weekend, I will be going on a "birthday date" with Julie. We will be seeing Batman-The Dark Knight. I'm really looking forward to this one.