¡El otoño está aquí!

Yea! I get to have the man turn off my sprinklers today! This is a truly special day every year, in that it marks the last weekend in which I have to do yard work. It may also indicate the approaching winter, which I am also happy for, as the sooner we get to December 31st, the sooner I am one more semester away from being let go of the prison which is grad school.

¡Feliz otoño!

Big Sis gets High!

I guess I just couldn't help the sensational headline. This past Labor Day my sister came out to visit me and my wife in Denver! Thanks to the good people at United Airlines for overbooking my flight, I was able to bring her out for virtually nothing to spend the weekend with us. Gotta love the "compensation" airlines give you. If you are flexible, you can make out like a bandit. Anyway, had a great time with her, though the time was limited. We spent that Saturday just "seeing Denver" - fortunately the Dems had left town the day before and the roads were reopened for us. First we headed out to that mecca of a concert arena that is Red Rocks to finally "tour" the place properly. Then we headed down town, making the obligatory stop in the Democratic Party's souvenir shop, making donations in return for buttons. Go Obama! He's not an old white guy.

Luckily, we happened upon the "Taste of Colorado" fair that was taking place in down town. The gated off streets made for easy traversing of the square and really gave us something to do! We didn't "taste" anything, because that requires tickets, which are easily procured but frustratingly spent. A "taste" is something like one or two tickets (note that the exchange rate is something along the lines of the Belgian Frank - $5 USD = 13 tickets) but the lines are so long that by the time you get to the front, you are hungry as all get out, and you don't just want a taste...you want to EAT! Sooo...instead we traipsed around town until we were tired and headed home.

After a day that couldn't be beat, we headed home and delighted in sharing a little piece of what we do whenever the wind isn't blowing and it is nice outside. This most venerated pastime involves three chairs, a deck, a fire pit, several beverages and a beautiful sunset over the Rockies.

We had a great time and I can't wait to do the same thing in her neck of the woods.

The Best Radio You've Never Heard

Ok - big shout out to my friend Shannon for this link to an amazing poscast/music blog called "The Best Radio You've Never Heard". Check it out.

80 minute long free music compilations which feature intriguingly mixed rock and rock-based music from a variety of artists that in other contexts might be considered incompatible. Genres, rhythms, moods and artists are seamlessly blended together to produce listening experiences you can only dream about finding in traditional radio. BRYHNH includes favorites and new discoveries from both familiar artists and those you wish you'd heard before, downloaded twice monthly to your computer or iPod. Ranked #7 in The Digital Podcast Top 100 Podcasts for 2005 and # 3 Classic Rock Podcast for 2007 by about.com
Compiled and Mixed/Edited by Perry Bax/Chicago/USA. The Best Radio You Have Never Heard Podcast might just be your ticket to radio paradise!

Only here can you find a host who gets out of the way of the music, posting high quality (no high end hiss on this podcast) music in hour long show format that really is stuff you've never heard before. And before I hear from you that this music is all weird stuff that noone wants to hear anyway, I urge you to check it out. Only here can you find Tesla doing a cover of the Stones' "Mother's Little Helper", or Tori Amos playing "Smells Like Teen Spirit". But its not all interesting covers - as I type this, "How Soon is Now" by The Smiths just came on. Gotta love it.

The good news is that this guy is up to 89 volumes, so by the time that the RIAA stops him for some unknown reason, we'll all have about 100 hrs of interesting mixes on our ipods - just remember to change that setting to "keep all episodes" as this may not be around forever.

Honeymoon Book

Check it out here. (Beware, it may take a long time to download)

Weird

So I am sitting here on a Sunday afternoon, weeding through my pictures (somehow during the Mac adoption process, we ended up with many duplicates in our iPhoto book with no good way to remove them, save for looking at every photo one by one...but I digress), and I came upon the most surreal picture of my dog.

This was taken by my wife at the Conifair - a nice little community fair in Conifer, CO *get it?.

She seemed cool with these rabbit dog things petting her - still kinda weird though.

Honeymoon Pictures...at Last!

Hello family and loyal readers! Elizabeth and I are back from our Island getaway and are finally getting around to getting these photos out on the web.

Given the number of photos we took, and the storage on blogger, I've opted to post all of them to albums on Facebook. Below are links to each of the increasingly misnamed albums from our Honeymoon:

Album 1 of 2, Album 2 of 2, Album 3 of 2

Check them out and feel free to make comments!

Beer of the Month

One of Elizabeth's coworkers is massively perceptive. She figured that two kids of German ancestry would enjoy a subscription to the Beer of the Month club as a wedding gift! So, as a service, I have decided that the least I can do is advertise these under-appreciated microbrews in a short post when I enjoy one of the craft brews that arrives at my doorstep.

First up is a mixed six-pack from Hook & Ladder Brewing Company. The first bottle I pull out is "Backdraft Brown". Now before I go on, I understand that this is ripe for areas of abuse "backwash brown" if I don't like it, et cetera. I will keep this to a minimum.



Backdraft Brown is described as "smooth, refreshing and loaded with flavor." "Specialty malts balanced with just the right amount of cascade hops give it a roasted taste and beautiful brown color."

At initial pour, I am surprised at the body it has - so many of these microbrews are thin when bottled, letting the drinker pound one into the back-end of a glass with no ill effects. As you can see, I inadvertently ended up with quite a head!

As for taste, the label does not misdirect. The taste is full but smooth, with a mellow roasted taste that doesn't leave a bitter aftertaste behind to nag you into eating something to clear your palette.

This reviewer gives it two beer bottles up!

I am wed.

Howdy loyal readers. Many of you may know that I have been engaged for over a year now. Well I am happy to say that the process is now complete! Elizabeth and I were wed on the 26th of April in an awesome outdoor wedding at the Muckenthaler Mansion in Fullerton, CA. The day was just perfect. A little hot and bright during the ceremony, but that made the evening that much more enjoyable as it didn't ever get cold.




And then the after party began...25 or so of my closest friends and family got onto a shuttle bus we chartered and headed to the Rocking Taco and then the super swank Continental Room in downtown Fullerton. To keep the queasiness at a minimum, I have only posted pictures were we look bright and shining.

Ok. Blogger is being a bitch, but you can check out more here.

My lack of activity on this blog should not leave my readers with the false sense that I no longer see or hear the humor that is the real world around me. In fact, every day there are a number of ideas that are internalized, chuckled at and placed on the shelf entitled "I should blog that". Alas, getting ready for a wedding and going to school leads me to not have a lot of time for anything but those two tasks.

With one of those items nearly behind me, it is timely that I post something funny...or at least funny to me.

Doing my homework the other day, I came across a string of titles that, at least in my own perverted mind, made me chuckle.

The following strategies appeared, in print..

Synthetic Short Put
Bull Put Spread
Top Butterfly Spread
Top Straddle
Strangle

hmmm... should I be repeating these?

and finally...
A Short Zero Premium Collar Using Oil

I'm a long way from Jr. High, but I couldn't help laugh at these.

Oh, and by the way, these are all legitimately spoke of strategies used on Wall Street using option securities.

I really have nothing to say that is funny...

I promise. When something interesting or funny happens to me, you all will be the first ones to know. Right now I have high hopes for my bachelor party (which I am off to in a little bit). Once I come back, I am sure that I will have pictures of surf, sand and 30 year olds drinking like they are in their 20's.

Peace.

Yahoo! and Microsoft - All But Inevitable?

While I tend to not put a bunch of stuff on my blog related to what I do, I thought that this one was particularly interesting, while serving the dual purpose of being a placeholder for the video while I write my midterm on the subject....

Enjoy!

Sorry to be so silent!

So I know that I have been so silent that I have probably lost all of my 2 readers, and for that I apologize. I have been very busy in school, as well as the holidays, etc....and I guess I just lost the desire to write. But for those that care, I am now officially done with half of my MBA program - yea!

I have been meaning to post this picture - I love technology! I live 1000 miles away from my niece, but I can watch her via webcam and interact with her. It is especially funny to see her peer behind the screen to see if I am back there.

Anyway, will try to post more stuff as it happens.

Promise.

Funny Headline of the Day

I know that most bloggers have a rule about not reblogging things they read, but this one was too funny to pass up. The headline "Mr. Potato Head in Australia ecstasy bust" says it all.

Craig - do you still have connections in Ireland that we don't know about?

Big shout out to my dad

Hey Dad - thank you for raising me right. Thank you for putting a wrench in my hand and having me learn how to fix a sprinkler system. Today I spent a few hours replacing a busted zone valve. While I probably could have just replaced the innards, it was too old to find replacement parts. So I dug in and replaced the whole thing. And it works. Pretty darn well. And for $20.00 it is a lot cheaper than a plumber.

Star Sighting!

So anyone who knows me knows that I generally don't go ga-ga over movie stars, but I have to share with you the following story. It's a beautiful sunny summer day in Denver, and I am early for a golf game at a municipal golf course in the northwest part of the city. It isn't a bad course, but let's just say that it wasn't designed by the Golden Bear...think $40 with a cart and that's the level we're at.

I go into the "clubhouse" (loose terms here) and find the restroom to change into a pair of shorts and who do I find tending to the loo? Bill "its in the hoolee" Murray! And then immediately I realize that this is a terrible place to meet a movie star. It's nearly impossible to reach out and shake a hand, or say anything, without being super-duper weird.

Fortunately as we came off of the turn at 9 holes, he was finishing 18, and one of my partners had the balls to bother him. So with the groundwork laid, I calmly approached him and thanked him for "Lost In Translation" - which if you haven't seen it, check it out. He has come a long way since Caddyshack.

Ironic* Garbage

It has been about a year since Liz and I decided to experience the great outdoors that is Colorado. We marvel at its beauty as we drive down the highway. We regularly just state, outloud, without provocation that this is simply the best place in the world to live. So with this in mind, we packed up our things in the family truckster and set off for the wilderness. Those long time readers may remember the stories of last year's venture into the woods, and those that don't, find the soaking wet tale here.

As for the camping trip, this year the weather was much more enjoyable, and proved to be just as picturesque as we remembered it, save for the wetness. We did enjoy a fantastic six mile hike through the park, and it was returning from this hike that we both spied the worst piece of litter either of us had ever seen.I think that the label is self explanatory. What kind of idiot procures a bottle of water from the Rocky Mountain Conservancy, and then litters with it???

* I hesitated to use the word ironic because of its elusive meaning, and the fact that almost noone, even those with multiple college degrees can seem to use it correctly. To those grammar nazis (most of which are my near and dear friends and family - I don't care if I use it wrong...)

Today's Creepy Ad

Recommended Reading

If you are a nerd, like me, you will love the this site

I only really get about 75% of the jokes, but the ones that I do get are hilarious.

If you are not a nerd, forshame. Come over to the dark side. The side of hilarity.

New Stuff to Read

If you are under 30, or use the Internet even half as much as Liz, this is hillarious!

For one day only!!

So today is the day! As a few of you may know, by brother has recently taken a job as a flash animator, and his current assignment is to create a short 15 minute interactive game for the internet. So, a new reoccuring post here at the blog will be a notification of when there is a new game on the site authored by Ken.

So point your browesers to http://www.dailyrage.com and build your own Frankenstein. And do it fast, as it is only up for one day!

Ok, so business travel can be cool

Check this out. I just returned from Las Vegas, where I spent a day and a half marketing for my job. Now before I hear the collective groans of "oh, Las Vegas.." and put up with the "whatever happens in Vegas, stays in Vegas...", rest assured that 1) Vegas is a soleless berg in the middle of the desert, and 2) the day began at 4am when I woke up to catch my flight from Denver, so it can be reasonably determined that I was exhausted by the time this story happened.

So Andy and I are standing in line at the Palms hotel, well maybe it wasn't quite a line, but a gaggle of people waiting to see the next check-in helper, and Andy is called forward to receive the key for his room. I am hailed down by the next attendant, when some other guest (who obviously had his head too far up his own ass to notice), walks in front of me and is helped. With a look of "oh well" because, really, the day was over, and I was happy just to be close to changing out of a suit, I join my business partner at the counter. I look up to find that the hotel manager is the person checking us in - he comments on the rudeness of the other guest, and says that they [the Palms] as the "nicest rooms in Vegas" and that he would get us "a nice one for our troubles". Now tuck this away for later use - my inconvienance time was about 15 seconds.

We are provided with keys and are told that we are on the 50th and 51st floor respectively. Having traveled a lot, and stayed in a number of hotel rooms, this isn't a big deal to me. As we get off the elevator, it still hasn't hit us yet. So we part ways and state to each other that we will call to rendezvous later for Memphis Championship BBQ (a whole different story).

As I put my key in the lock and open the door, I am greeted with a sense of shock and awe that was probably along the lines of what Georgie Bush was looking for in his recent crusade. There is no bed in sight. In front of me lies was we conservatively estimated at 1,500 - 2,000 sqaure feet of Vegas hotel real estate! Walking into the penthouse suite that I am to call my "room" for the night, a feeling of "is this right?" swells inside me, at which point I beat it into submission and remind myself that it is, in fact a Monday night in Vegas - not exactly a high day for room demand.

Andy rings me, and of course his corner penthouse is just as cool as mine, with a jaccuzi that is filled from the ceiling, three plasma tv's and a sitting room! As I don my terricloth robe and flip through the television, I recall the lesson of the day, which is that event for a couple of non-gambling businessmen in town for one night, Vegas can still impress you. Oh, and don't cut in line!

Some stats from the Palms website:


View the Vegas skyline at eye level from our Penthouse Suites. High atop the Palms & Fantasy Towers, these suites are custom designed to party with LCD and plasma screen TVs, Jacuzzi® tubs and, of course, wet bars.

* Up to 3,000 square feet
* Jacuzzi Tub
* LCDs and Plasma Screens
* iPod® Hi-Fi Equipped
* Full Wet Bar
* Living Room
* Walk-in Closet
* Capacity: 65

Published Rack Rate: $3,000
Chris' Rate: $79.00

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

Being partially Irish (Grandma's name was Conners after all), I feel obliged to post a short note about our day and evening. Having spent the day on Friday learning to ski (don't worry, a descriptive post about this will be forthcoming), I rolled out of bed, sore to the bone, to spend the day with my fiancee and our dog Maggie. Liz set us up to be part of one of the largest St. Patrick's day parades in the country! Maggie and 19 other greyhounds, all rescues from the track, walked down revelers who were already more drunk than I even plan on being at all this evening. Walking down the street, we realised that this was the place for us - but after a well deserved nap.

We are up from the nap and are on our way out. We are sporting our green, and are ready to go to what I am sure is the least authentic Irish pub in all of Denver - there won't be nearly enough 80's music to make it like the real thing.

Jannelle Fuller is CUTE

I may be 2 weeks behind here, but I thought that this picture deserved to live forever on the internet. Hopefully, in 20 years when Jannelle types...pardon me, thinks, her name into Google (we'll all be employees by that time), this picture of her at Valentines Day 2007 will emerge.

Funny Picture of the Day

So I know that I am a terrible blogger. I never seem to have time to upload the funny things that I find in my daily life. And when I do, I usually find that my fiancee has the ability to make it funnier. Period. So with that, I am resorting to launching a new service - Funny photo of the day. My one rule is that it can't be lifted from fark.com (which if you haven't been to, its a fantasitic news aggregator with snarky commentary.

Today's offering comes to us from some Belizian travel site that I have since forgotton.



I think it is funny. What do you think?

Status Update

So I am not sure if my three readers are up to speed on this yet, but on Sunday we had a bit of an accident with Maggie. Liz took her to the dog park by our house to run and play, and unfortunately was bitten pretty badly by a Siberian Husky. It is a long, painful story that I really don't care to relate more than I have to, but on the bright side, she seems to be acting just like her old self...sleeping heavily, all day long as I watch her from my home office.

Would you buy this?

It's about ten to 9am, and I have a meeting to go into, so I will keep this short. Among my various insurance industry news, I found the following story, about a Bloomington photographer who is searching for State Farm employees to create a racy, Women of State Farm calendar. The project is in the vein of a number of different calendars that have been created for various catastrophes--but speaking from first hand experience, the list of female insurance workers that I would want to see in racy poses is about as long as my little finger. The Carol's and Sandy's of the insurance world are just not cut out for it.

Key quote from the article: "He didn’t know how many applications he’d received, but said he would need a lot more."

Yea! Grades are in

Despite a major blizzard, it appears that the University has opted to indeed hand out grades for this, my first semester of business school. All four of my readers (thank you family), will be happy to know that I passed with flying colors - they will allow me to come back for more punishment in just a few days.

Anyway, lots going on in my life, but most of it is either chronicaled on Funundrum, or Cuscotopia. Both are being regularly updated in between cleanings of the house that Christmas exploded all over, so I recommend checking them out.

Cuzcotopia, a.k.a Perusin´

¡Hola de Cusco!

We are finally here. After a long journey that included a stop in Central America and two plane rides, we have arrived in the ancient city of the Incan people. Liz is doing a fantastic job chronicalling the journey, so I won´t repeat everything. Check out Cuscotopia for most of the breaking news of our vacation. I just wanted to make everyone aware that the blog is being updated, and we are checking email intermittently, so drop us a line and we will respond.Having a fantastic time and looking forward to the Macchu Picchu experience, which begins on the 2nd of January.

Hasta!

Winter Blizzard of 2006 - SNOW DAY!

So, for all of you family and friends that are worried that we are buried in 20 inches of snow, you are correct! Let's all hail the magic of the blizzard, who's magical powers removed a MBA-level Economics final exam from my already full plate, and gave me an excuse to use my new car! Pictures below for all to see. Now, realize that it only started snowing at around 6am, and these pictures were taken at 5pm.

Snow day tomorrow, and then we will be on our way home for Christmas! Can't wait to see family and friends. In the meantime, enjoy these glipses into Colorado life.

Turkey Day 2006

This Thanksgiving, I have a lot to be thankful for. While my blog may not talk about half of the great things that are happening in my life, I assure you that they are indeed there. This year has seen me and Liz move from sunny San Diego to temperate Denver, a great job that I actually enjoy going to everyday, the start of my MBA studies and now, a real live niece! I am truely thankful for all of these things.

This Thanksgiving was a smashing success. Given that the Christmas holidays are just weeks away and we will be going home at that time, we decided to have Thanksgiving at home here in Colorado. Our friends Andy and Jennie were also not going home to California, so we were determined to have the best low stress holiday ever!

As you can see by the photographic evidence, the evening was great! Mom helped out tremendously via telephone and video conference (ask me how!) and the stuffing was something that my Grandma would have been proud to eat.

This last photo really encapsulates Thanksgiving for me. This is a picture of the video chat that I had with my sister and her new daughter Janelle. Ain't technology grand?

Hope you all had a great Thanksgiving!

requiem for an iPod

Chris Arehart's iPod, 3 1/4 years old, was lost into the great beyond on Sunday the 19th of November, in New York City, New York.

Chris's iPod traveled extensively throughout its brief life, having been at his master's side on a near daily basis. Chris's business travel required his iPod to be ready at a moment's attention, armed with a steady supply of Coltrane, Dave Matthews and The Beatles--played loud enough to drown out the most determined baby travelers and talkative fellow passengers alike. It seems fitting that Chris's iPod was lost on assignment, having been brought into this world solely to provide for distraction during a week-long business road trip with Chris's boss.

Chris's iPod was loyal, hardworking and a credit to Steve Job's name. Never ill, or infected with a terminally weak battery which seemed to afflict so many like him, his extended warranty was claims free at time of his passing.

As we mourne the loss of Chris's iPod, we can take comfort in the fact that the purser of United flight 700 to Laguardia is able to offset her recently reduced pension plan with a lucrative career as an eBay reseller.

Services were carried out on Friday, the 24th at the Best Buy in Lone Tree, CO, where a new, 80 gig black Video iPod was brought into this world to carry the torch left behind by our departed friend. Overseeing the ceremony was Mitch, who in his infitite wisdom upon hearing the tale of Chris's iPod's last days, was quoted as saying "Wow. That sucks."

Yes, Mitch. It does indeed suck.

In lieu of flowers or symapthy cards, please redirect charity in the form of cash, check, international money order or paypal to Chris.

The Man..named? U.N.C.L.E

On Thursday, November 16th, 2006, at 11:29am a new person was brought into this world. With her husband by her side and her family waiting with bated breath down the hall, my sister Michelle gave birth to her first child, Janelle Fuller.




More later on this, but I thought that I would get some pictures up there for you all! mom is doing well and is now at home.

Attention Friends and Loyal Readers

I am not dead. At least, I don't think so. However, absolutely NOTHING has happened to me that anyone of you may be interested in hearing about, that hasn't been covered by Funundrum. To read about the front row seats at the Killers, go to her bog. To see the breast cancer Cambell's cans that I pointed out, see Funundrum. So there. Besides, she is significantly funnier.

After midterms, I will attempt to have something happen to me...other than overwhelming relief.

No, its COLD...DAMN COLD

As you may already know, I recently took on the task of converting my parent's old family videos onto DVD. I swear, by the time I will have done them all, the DVD format will be dead, and I will have to start all over again.

One of the side benefits of this project is that I can pretty easily make still snapshots where there was no camera other than the video. I present you with my dorky mug in the summer of 1991. Maybe this explains my facination with Back to the Future.

Myers-Briggs me!

So it's about 4:00pm on Monday, and work is winding down. I figure I will go onto my MBA program's message board and see what's shakin'. Maybe they will have come to their senses and changed the menu from lemon crusted salmon to something that I will enjoy scarfing down in 20 minutes. An lo, what do I find? An assignment! For tonight. I swear to freaking God, I don't understand what this professor thinks! How am I really to do this assignment (which wasn't there last night, or even at noon when I found out about the salmon??) when I am at freaking work.

So anyway, it happened to be a Myers-Briggs questionnaire, and here are the results.

Question to my 5 loyal readers is whether this rating sounds like me or not. I leave it up to you.

ESTJ
Extroverted (E) 70% Introverted (I) 30%
Sensing (S) 58.54% Intuitive (N) 41.46%
Thinking (T) 57.14% Feeling (F) 42.86%
Judging (J) 55.17% Perceiving (P) 44.83%

"Administrator". Much in touch with the external environment. Very responsible. Pillar of strength. 8.7% of total population.

Raise your hand if you are being marketed to.

The other night, I was flipping through the channels on my Tivo and noticed that a new channel had appeared that I had never noticed. It called to me with the simple name The Tube. Clicked on the listing and was instantly catapulted into the world of, wait for it, music videos! Staring back in my face was a Talking Heads video, followed by Franz Ferninand, and then the Doors! Unfortunately the next video was the Bee Gees, so it isn't exactly perfect.

I am stoked! The co-creator of MTV has struck out on his own, having seen his fantastic creation pummelled to death by the likes of Pimp My Ride and Kevin Federline's ugly mug, and created a new station that bridges the gap of VH1 and MTV, all while actually showing just music videos. That's right. No reality shows, game shows or news. Music. All the time. Coupled with moving pictures.

Thank you Tube. I will be your champion and spread the word to all the the late 20 somethings and early 30 somethings in the land.

Wow - Newman's Own is WEIRD

So I grew up eating lots of iceberg lettuce salads...I mean, hey, those bag salads weren't even around when I was growing up. And on top of those salads, the elixer that made them taste like..well, anything, was Mr. Paul Newman. For years I read the back of the bottle, not quite sure of who this Newman guy was--I had never seen The Sting or anything else he had been in. In fact, for a number of years, I think I actually thought that he simply made Italian Dressing from the basement of his home, occasionally brewing up a batch for a friend at Christmas...(if you have ever read the back of the bottle, this is HILARIOUS).

Anyway, Liz was kind enough to point out the excellent, if not weird copy on the back of the new "Low Fat Sesame Ginger" dressing.

The Great Salad Dressing Balloon Race. An armada of balloons loaded with Low Fat Sesame Ginger. The starters gun - Bazoombah! They all rise majestically into the air. Newman's Own Balloon, with fewer calories, more taste and secretly propelled by charity, flies faster than Kraft and further than Wishbone. First across. First on the ground. El Piloto quaffs mucho quaffs of Newman's Own Low Fat Sesame Ginger in victory. A medium light Italian starlet, daughter of Butch Cassidini, named Bitch Cassidini, leaps into the balloon basket, kisses Piloto, her lips smeared with Newman's Own Low Fat, she murmurs, "You taste of Sicily, of Vesuvius, of Naples, baby", and patting his fanny she whispers, "and no fat."

What?? I can't even articulate how weird and surreal this copy is. Well, let me try:

1. I don't know if I am more creeped out by the phrase "El Piloto quaffs mucho quaffs of Newman's Own Low Fat Sesame Ginger in victory", or the fact that they refer to El Piloto's lover as Bitch Cassidini!

2. I haven't been to Italy, but I am pretty sure that Sesame Ginger isn't a staple in the palate. So what's with the Italian Stallion storyline?

3. I desperately want to use the phrase "secretly propelled by charity" once in my life, hopefully referring to myself. But I won't have the cape or Clark Kent-esque spectacles. Or maybe I will.

I do highly recommend the dressing though - only 1.5g of fat per serving! And tasty. Any Nathan, all the money goes to charity. It automatically makes you a better person.

Fat Bastard.

In my career, I tend to run across some interesting statistics. More importantly, I tend to keep a pretty good feel on the pulse of corporate America, and the issues that they tend to be up in arms over. The following stats are taken from a corporate research paper - not an email forward complaining about the cost of gas.

In 2005, Lee Raymond, the former CEO of Exxon Mobil, was paid $34,457 per hour*.

In 1993, Lawrence Rawl, the CEO prior to Lee Raymond, and who retired on May 31, 1993, was paid $1,508 per hour*.

That’s a 2,184.95 percent increase.

Is Lee Raymond 22.85 times better a CEO than Lawrence Rawl? Is the company 22.85 times harder to run?

Total compensation for Lee Raymond in 2005 was $70,134,830.

Total compensation for Lawrence Rawl in 1993 was $2,929,056, based on annualized annual compensation of $2,279,707, plus long term compensation of $649,349.

I am not calling on all five of my readers to boycott gas, or write their Congressman, but simply to ponder these statistics and wonder what happened? When you are thinking about one-uping the neighbor with a bigger house, or truck, or vacation, think about ExxonMobile. Their standard response over the last 13 years has been that they pay to obtain and retain the best talent with a commensurate market rate.

Maybe it is time that society chills out and stems the tide of one-upmanship that has led to this type of ridiculous excess. Fat Bastard - I want my money back!

The Human Abstract Returns!

They say that pictures say a THOUSAND words. Well, let me throw this one on you...

My brother and his band "The Human Abstract" (see the links to their site on the right) played the same venue that countless huge acts have played before (The Doors, Velvet Underground, Rolling Stones...) It is late. Let the picture speak for me.

BBQ Madness! In action

So we have just discovered this fantastic new miniseries of a show on the Food Network, which is hosted by Alton Brown, called "Feasting on Asphalt". Basically Alton and a crew of guys are traveling around the country for one month, leaving from South Carolina, and ending up in Los Angeles. Their mission is to interview real people and experience true "road food". The only rule is that they can't step into a national chain, and aren't allowed a major interstate...back roads only. So far it has been an interesting show - one that I recommend highly, if only for its inspiring quality.




Watching the show the other night, the guys ended up in North Carolina, interviewing a father and son with long established roots in Barbeque. That's right, North Carolina vinegar based BBQ. I looked over at Liz, and with a twinkle in my eye, stated that "I would make me up some BBQ pork tomorrow!" So that's what I did. With my love's help making the sauce, and excellent book on BBQ with excellent techniques and recipes, we accomplished, in eight short hours, the pulled pork shoulder you see here. And man, it was GOOD!

Thanks Alton.

Comparison dog!

I have been reminded by Liz that I must post a comparison picture to Santa's Little Helper so that everyone can see how pretty my Maggie is.

Even though her nuclear piss is now on my downstairs carpet, we still allow her in the house...

Endorsements that don't quite work

I funny understand the idea of being the "offical sponsor" of a nationally recognized event or organization...like AIG being the official sponsor or Manchester United. But sometimes it just doesn't work. This truck is in my office parking lot at least twice a week, most likely filling up the soda machine. It has been pointed out that the picture is a bit small to see the joke. It is the official vending machine company of NASCAR.

You be the judge...If I am going to spend the kind of money it takes to emblazen the image of my sponsorship on the side of my trucks, I want the sponsorship to matter...I don't know, maybe I am just not midwest enough.

Really?

I don't know what this guy is running for, but I wish I could vote for him!

Summer of Kenny!

So I know I have been a bit silent recently. Mainly because my girlfriend keeps stealing all of the interesting things that happen to me...and I let her...because she is funnier than I am. Right now, all I have are a few pictures. I have some video, but it was soooo loud at the show that my camera couldn't handle it! I will try again when he comes back through town at the beginning of August.

The show was great to see - while not my "scene", I can appreciate well performed music of any style. These guys will go far.

To hear samples of The Human Abstract, click here.