The Dark Knight

I can't wait to go see The Dark Knight! I feel like everyone and their brother has seen it but me. It really seems like it's been a long time since a movie has generated so much excitement not only before it came out, but even after. Everyone I've talked to so far said they loved it and it was even better than all the hype. I'm going Saturday so we'll see then! :)

It's cool when it's hot

That little Raging Rivers saying popped into my head as soon as I opened this up, so whether it makes sense or not, that's why it's the title of this post.

I haven't turned my A/C on yet.

On this, the hottest day of the year in Springfield, I expected to come home to a blistering hot apartment this afternoon, but not so much. It felt fine. So, I'm proud to say I'm still air conditioning free in my little home. As long as the ceiling fans are on it's perfect in here. I'm gonna see how much longer I can go. From memory, August is the worst month anyway, so I'm sure the air will get turned on within the next couple weeks.

Until then, hooray for $20 utility bills!

The thermostat says it's 85 in here, but I don't buy it.

Week 4: July 13- 19

One month down!

Saturday, July 19, 2008: I had some time to kill so I stopped in St. James. There's nothing wrong with wine tasting at 10:30 a.m.! This was my 1st visit there. I suggest the Country Red.

Saturday, July 19, 2008: I met up with my Mom and cousin in Rolla to pick up this awesome mosaic. Mom and I did it ourselves last weekend, but it wasn't completely ready until Friday. Isn't it cool? Once I get the legs fixed it will be my patio table.

Saturday, July 19, 2008: I bought a new fish! This is Bud.

The All-Star Game Sucks

Well, I'm watching the 2008 All-Star game right now. I'm a huge baseball fan, but I can't say I've ever been a fan of the All-Star game. I think the last time I watched a complete one was back in 1996, and that was because it was Ozzie Smith's last appearance. Instead, every year I tune in and out to see who's winning, and I only do that because the freaking game is actually important for something... otherwise I doubt I would watch at all. The team that wins (National or American League) gets home field advantage in the World Series. So considering the Cardinals have been pretty hot the past couple years, I like to know if the NL is winning. Unfortunately, the last time the NL won was the last time I watched a complete All-Star game... 1996.

I have so many issues with the star-studded event, mostly because it's just that... an event, not a game. None of the players or coaches take it seriously. Coaches make sure every single player makes an appearance at some point in the game. Even if a pitcher is on fire, they have to take a seat on the bench so All-Star Pitcher #2 can have his time to shine. It's retarded. There's no strategy, and the players don't even try because they don't want to get hurt. For a game that could mean so much to one team in the post-season, all the best don't give their best.

Considering this year's players, I wouldn't even call some of them "the best." When you think of the Pittsburgh Pirates, "all-star caliber" probably doesn't come to mind. However, I heard this from St. Louis broadcaster Mike Shannon, apparently the Pirates' outfield has a better batting average and more RBIs than the National League's starting All-Star outfielders. Those three were Matt Holliday (CO), Ryan Braun (MIL), Kosuke Fukudome (CHC). Fans should not be allowed to vote. Some very deserving people (like 11 game winner, Kyle Lohse) are left out, while household names (like Derek Jetter) are in. The Tampa Bay Rays are one of the best teams in baseball, yet zero Rays players represented the American League's starting lineup. The cubs, unfortunately, are tied for 1st in baseball with the Angels, they had 7 guys sent to the game, 3 of them had enough votes to be starters. Soriano was one of those 3 and couldn't even start because he's been hurt... what a waste of votes baseball fans.

Apparently back in the 50's the Commish banned fans from voting because Cincinnati Reds fans kinda rigged the system. Someone needs to do that again so fans can't pick the players anymore.

On a side note, I'm liking this Bank of America commercial I keep seeing. It shows the Cards/cubs rivalry along with some other popular ones. We got jipped on that a few years ago during a different rivalry commercial.

Week 3: July 6- 12

Here is my life in one picture for the week July 6 through 12. It was a pretty non-eventful week.

Sunday, July 6, 2008: Thanks to a friend, Jason and I got tickets to the Cards vs. cubs game! Unfortunately we sucked and lost. I hadn't been to a Cards vs. cubs game since 2004, and it was my first one with Jason.

Week 2: June 29- July 5

I'm a slacker. I've already fallen behind in my special little project of posting pictures every week. This just means it's double the fun this week!

Sunday, June 29, 2008: The St. Jude Dream Home Giveaway! I produced the 2 hour long telethon, and we ended up raising $502,700 for St. Jude!

Thursday, July 3, 2008: I got free tickets from work to go to the Cardinals vs. Mets game in STL with my Mom. This was my first St. Louis Cards game of the year.

Saturday, July 5, 2008: I spent the 4th of July weekend at a friend's property on Pomme de Terre Lake. It was my first time there and it was a lot of fun! This is a view of the lake from the dock.

Saturday, July 5, 2008: The family put on an amazing fireworks display!

A new experiment; Week 1

The Pomp and Circumstance post I did in May has really been on my mind the past month. Since I wrote that entry I came up with an idea of how to capture the exciting and not-so-exciting things I do everyday.

Take more pictures. It's pretty simple, I know.

Now if you know me, you know I take a ton of pictures as is, and I always have my camera on me. Initially I was going to take a picture every day for a year... however routine or exhilarating the day was I would capture it in one way or another. I decided that would be pretty hard to keep up. Instead, I'm just going to take more pictures than I normally do, and maybe aim for at least one a day. And (lucky you?) I'll share my little year-long experiment on here. Every Sunday I'll share a picture or two wrapping up the new or cool thing(s) I experienced in the past week. It should be interesting, mostly because there's really not a whole lot of big things coming up for me in the next year... I'm not graduating from anything, I won't be getting a new job or moving anywhere (hopefully not, at least), and I don't have any big vacations planned. So this will force me to get creative, and I'll have an excuse to do more of one of my biggest passions in life-- take pictures! I really want to get out and explore more and experience new things, so I think this will really motivate me. And in the end I'll prove to myself that I am doing some great things with my days.

Alright for the first week, June 22-28, 2008:

Thursday, June 26, 2008: I visited Ozark, Missouri for the first time. Exciting I know.

Thursday, June 26, 2008: The newsroom nearly disowned me when I asked "What's a Pineapple Whip?". I got one at the Luau later that night, and it was pretty tasty.

Look-a-Like: Leona/Daisy

It's been a while since I've posted and an especially long time since I've done a Look-a-Like. So here's a quick one I keep thinking of because of some commercial...




On the top: new singer, Leona Lewis
On the bottom: Rock of Love 2 Runner-up, Daisy

I could have sworn these two were the same person at first. Rock of Love 2 ended right around the time Leona Lewis started getting popular so I thought since Daisy wasn't Bret Michael's "rock of love" she changed her name and became a singer. I don't think these pictures do them justice as far as the Look-a-Like status goes... if you've seen Leona's video and Daisy on the VH-1 show then you might see where I'm coming from with this one. If you don't take into consideration hair and skin color, I think these two look a lot alike.

Pomp and Circumstance a Year Later

I can't help but feel like and think about my Meme when I say this, but man time sure does fly by fast.

This weekend I made the trip up to good ol' Columbia to attend Jason's graduation and honors ceremonies. The weekend was full with lots of family, pictures, and pomp and circumstance... and overall it was great. While I sat there waiting to hear his name called I couldn't help but think how it seemed like yesterday I was in his shoes, or cap and gown, sitting on the court of Mizzou Arena waiting to hear my name and cross that stage. I hate how time goes by so fast.

The combination of remembering my graduation and picking up an old hobby of scrapbooking really got me thinking the past week. What have I done with my time in the past year? Besides finding a job and moving to a new city, which are huge undoubtedly, I felt like I've wasted my time. A conversation I had with Jason's grandma and mom this weekend kinda changed that notion. They talked about how they remember being my age and now all of a sudden they're older, and they don't know where the time in between went. Jason's grandma made a good point in noting when we look over a period of time we think about the day-to-day stuff that's usually nothing more than mundane... making us feel like we've done nothing fun with our days. I can agree with that.

So to prove to myself the past year hasn't been a waste I've compiled a list to share with you. It includes meaningful and great things I've done, seen, or just plain lived-through in the last 12 months...

• Enjoyed time with my family on a Caribbean cruise
• Swam with stingrays
  
• Experienced Mizzou win the Cotton Bowl in Dallas
• Saw the Tigers beat kU to become #1 in the nation
• Lived on my own
• Realized time is precious and how much I need to cherish moments
  
• Realized how much my family and friends mean to me
  
• Celebrated a two-year anniversary with Jason
• Became a grown up
• Did some soul searching (and it continues)
• Went to Mardis Gras in St. Louis
• Lived through a tornado, a couple floods, an ice storm, hail and snow
  
• Attended a presidential candidate's rally
  
• Hugged Chase Daniel
• Met the Soup Nazi
• Got beaked by Fred Bird for the 1st time
• Grew as a producer (this also continues)
• Got sick after my birthday for the 2nd consecutive year (hey it means I had a good time)
• To go along with the previous one: got 2nd place in a beer pong tourney
  
• Drank my first beer at a Cards game

So, obviously some of these are more important and serious than others, but this is just what I could think of off the top of my head. I'm going to start making a list of things I would like to accomplish in the next year; once I have enough I'll share that list, too.

"Life goes by pretty fast. If you don't stop and look around once in a while, you could miss it." -Ferris Bueller

Wrapping up Sweeps

In case you can't tell by all the doomsday journalism in the world... it's SWEEPS TIME! Woo! Anyway, hard-hitting journalism doesn't have to stay in the newsroom. Today, I'm bringing it to my blog.

I decided to look into fast food restaurants. I wasn't looking to see who was breaking health codes or which place serves up lemon slices with the most fecal matter, no I chose to take the high road and put my body on the line to determine which fast food joint has the best chicken wrap.

I did a similar study a few months back when I noticed a lot of places were adding $1 double cheeseburgers. In that experiment I tried the $1 delectables from McDonald's, Burger King, and Wendy's. The juicy red-head came out on top, followed by flame-broiled Burger King, then McDonalds.

When I grab a quick bite to eat I usually don't get burgers, though. I go for the chicken wraps. So when I found out Wendy's came out with one I knew it was time to do another taste test.

This one included McDonald's, Wendy's, Sonic, and KFC. Over the past week I sampled the cuisines and hot off the fryer my ranking is now ready...


4th Place: Sonic
I'll admit I didn't get the Junior wrap, which is probably most comparable to the other ones. I was confused and got the regular wrap, which was okay at best. The only thing that impressed me was that it had a tomato slice.

3rd Place: McDonald's
It's pretty standard. I've gotten this many times and the quality and presentation isn't always consistent.

Now here's where it gets difficult...
2nd Place: KFC
I really liked their wrap. It was very meaty and had a good spice to it. They advertise them as toasted, but really it just came off as a stale tortilla with grill marks.

1st Place: Wendy's
There's one big reason why Wendy's earned the top spot... they have a spicy chicken wrap, and their spicy chicken sandwich is my favorite meal of all fast food places. If it came down to the original wrap verse the KFC wrap I would probably go with KFC. But I like the fact Wendy's has many choices. And they also use a chicken breast sliced in half so there's more meat.

Well there you have it folks. My attempt to get you to remember me for next year's Blogaronis. Juuuuust kidding. :)