M.r.Majewski

Bar Built-in: Day 13 (poly shelves and cabinet frames)

2009-02-04T22:51:00.004-06:00

This week, I'm back to work at my job and I work on the cabinets at night. I have quickly found out that after a whole day of work, I have very little time or energy to work on the built in. Thank god I'm in the final stretch. I through on another coat of poly on the cabinet frame moldings and shelves and went back to helping clean the house.

Bar Built-in: Day 12 (cabinet frame and more staining)

2009-02-03T22:48:00.004-06:00

With the towers in place and the shelves stained and drying, I began working on the cabinet frame moldings.

I'm using solid red oak, I bought four 2" x 1/2" - 8' pieces. I originally was going to go with 1" thick pieces, but I found the 1/2" pieces looked better. Unfortunately the 1" pieces are all on sale, bu the 1/2" pieces aren't, so its a wash between the 2.

Using a miter saw and cut the pieces to length and dry fitted them in place. I'm not using any mitered cuts but going for the more craftsman style of framing. All the pieces are cut and I drill pocket holes into each one.

And yes, the boards don't come pre-stained, so I lay them next to the shelves and put the stain coat on. I'm glad that I am only doing one coat of stain. I wish I got the poly stain in one, but I really like the way this stain is looking.

Bar Built-in: Day 11 (installing towers and running lights)

2009-02-02T22:47:00.005-06:00

With the backs of the towers dried I put 2 coats of polyurethane on throughout the night. This let me tack it in place this morning. Now you should let poly dry for ~24 hours before normal wear and tear, but seeing that its the backs I I won't be touching it for another 24 hours, I thought it would be okay.

To apply the backs we check the squareness again of the towers. With the back in place we tack one corner, adjust the squareness of the tower and tack the other corners of the back in place. By now, not only should the tower be square, but it should be pretty damn sturdy too boot.

I place the towers on the toe kick and plumb it up with a level. Once I have it in place I use drywall screws to hold the towers in place. With a screw going through the back into the stud, and a screw going through the side and into a stud, it should not move.

With it in place, I measure the shelf length and depth that spans across the towers and cut the bored from left over stock (you could get away by buying a 2' x 4' 3/4" MDF oak veneer). With the shelf, I put the right support on the right tower for the shelf that spans the two towers. I check its level and tack it down with 6 nails (I switch out the 1 1/4" nails for 1" nails seeing that the support is 1/2" and the tower is 3/4" and that is too close for comfort.). With that in place I put the shelf on the right support and set a level on top of the shelf. Now I can adjust the shelf to make it level. With it in place I mark on the left side to see where the support goes. I then tack that as well. The shelf is level. I do the same with the 2nd shelf.

If you noticed, the shelves in the above picture are not stained. So back to the gloves, stain and brushes.

I've learned when you build two towers that have a shelf connecting the two and put them independently in a basement poured in the 50s, on a rec room constructed in the 60s, nothing will be level without double checking it. I get to quadruple check it because I need to take the towers down to run the lighting cable behind the shelf.

With all the wires ran now to the center, I attach them and zip tie it together and plug it into the outlet that the wine cooler will use.

Bar Built-in: Day 10 (cunstruction)

2009-02-01T22:46:00.033-06:00

Well the day I've been looking for is here, the day I get to assemble the pieces and see it come together (that and the day I get to try out the finished product). The big pieces are cut, sanded, stained and coated with polyurethane.

I attach the top and bottom of the main towers to one side. With them secure with the pocket screws, I flip the side onto the other long side and attach it forming the main tower. I do the same for the second tower.

I then take the middle shelf measure out where the wine rack dividers go. Putting the shelf face down, I then take the dividers in place and screw them in with the pocket hole screw. This gives it both a secure connection, and you will not see the fastner. If I were to nail it to the shelf you would see the heads. Even if I sunk them puttied them, I think they would still show. When both are in place, I take a 2x4 cut to the width of of the middle wine space and clamp it to the wine rack as a support.

I then take the main tower and lay it face down on a table and slide in the wine rack with the shelf. Using shims I get the wine rack at the right height (I want it set in at 1/4" to give it a better look). I square up the tower by shifting it properly. To see if its square I measure the tower from corner to kiddie corner. If the two measurements are the same, it is square.

I then use my nail gun and nail 1 1/4" nails into the wine rack and shelves.

I took several pictures showing the details of pocket screws and assembling. The pictures looked cluttered on the blog so I tried the video slide show feature on Picasa.

As careful as you are and no mater how well I lined it up, I still missed quite a few nails and they shot through to the other side, missing its target. This happened because 1, I wasn't use to where the nail came out of the gun, I used the free nails that came with the gun which were softer (so the first flaw they hit, they bend into another direction).

Once it is secured, the towers are done.

With the towers finished I can measure the 1/4 oak veneer plywood for the backs. I had enough left over from my last project to do one of the towers, I then had to go to the store to get another piece of 1/4 to finish the other back. With both measured and cut to fit in the back grooves, its time for my second favorite thing to do...... stain. 15 minutes later, I wiped the excess and waited for them to dry.

While they are drying I begin to build the toe kicks. I then used 2x4's to make toe kick. With the 2x4's cut to 9 1/2" I then used shims where it was necessary to make the toe kicks level. Once they were level I used deck screws to drill them into the walls sole plate or stud.

One of the supports could only be drilled into the sole plate and did not hold onto well due to it being kind of rotted. It did hold though, but what I should have done is connect both to back 2x4 and then screwed that into the sole plate. The face of the toe kick will have a piece of 3/4" oak veneer nailed to the front when it is completed.

Bar Built-in: Day 9 (more poly)

2009-01-31T13:03:00.008-06:00

Woke up and the poly is not completely cured, but is much more durable. I tested this in an area that won't be seen by people (inside the wine slots). I slowly rub the tip of my finger nail in an area and see if my nails left a mark. One area that had a little thicker area of poly, caused a mark, but another area didn't. I flipped the sides of all the parts and began to apply the first coat of polyurethane.

When I stain or apply polyurethane I like to have a bright work light on. This helps me to see where the coat is applied and where it hasn't. In a normally lit room it is almost impossible to see where the poly is applied, except at an extreme angle. This become labor intensive to constantly change your POV to see where the poly is. With the work light shining on the pieces I can easily see if the coat is too thick or too thin. Especially when you apply the first coat, the poly does not like to evenly coat on the tacky finish of the stain.

I'm pretty much going to wait another 5 hours and then apply the second coat. this means I will probably be able to begin assembly tomorrow morning.

Bar Built-In: Day 8 (stain and poly)

2009-01-30T12:35:00.002-06:00

Today was staining and polyurethane day. Finished staining the remaining parts that I didn't get around to (top where I was going to cut the hole the recessed lights, and the toe kit front) and began putting poly on the remainder parts.

If I were to do this again, or recommend anything to people, I would I would have put on 1 coat of poly before nailing the wine supports to it. Applying polyurethane to each of the supports and in between them is quite tedious, plus the foam brushes kicked up some foam/bubbles with all the quick brush strokes.

I do see that applying poly to all the individual supports would have been tedious as well, but I probably would have used a spray poly for the first coat, nailed them down, then painted on the second coat of poly when it was tacked down.

I did all the main surfaces, waited 5 hours (the can said 3-4 but it didn't appear to be dry enough at the 4 hour mark) and applied the second coat. I was hoping that after another ~5 hours I could flip the pieces and do the reverse side, but I found that even though it was dry it had not cured. I wait over night to flip and apply another two coats. One of the main reasons I wanted to do the all in one polyshade. I do think this will give me better results though.

Bar Built-In Day 7: (Nailing)

2009-01-30T00:42:00.009-06:00

Feeling even better today. Went to Lowes today to buy the cabinet lights. I purchased the same set of lights I bought for my kitchen cabinets. I've read some threads on them that people don't like them or that the controller goes bad. I've had mine on my cabinets on for almost a year and had no problems. The only thing I don't like is that the heat causes the covers to pop off. I say the cover pops off about once every 2 weeks. Of course we also leave ours on from sundown to bedtime, so an average of 5 hours in the winter. My friend Chun, who also installed them, has not experienced the problem as often as me.

The lights cost about 35 bucks and you get 6 puck lights with xenon lamps, enought wire, power block and a touch controler. Its hard to find all of that for under 35.

For my cabinets I did a surface mount on the bottom of the cabinet and was looking forward to doing a recessed mount with my bar built in. I couldn't really do this with the cabinets because that would put the lights into the cabinet where I would store my dishes. The way I planned my built-in, I can easily do it because there is nothing above the light. Awesome. Until I opened the packet and read the instructions. "Cut a 2 1/8" how for recessed lighting". Who has a 2 and 1/8" hole saw? I have a 2", I have a 2 1/2" but nothing in between. That would cost 12 bucks for a hole saw that I will only use twice. Looks like surface mount again. I will worry about that when I start assembling.

Wine Rack Assembly
Ok, yesterday I said how much I like using the pocket hole jig. My 2nd favorite is the air driven finishing nail gun. If you don't have one and plan to do any trim work, or doing small projects (i.e. spice rack, small boxes, apolstry work, picture frames or anything involving finishing nails or brads) buy a nail gun and compressor kit. I got a nice little kit for christmas last year and I absolutely love it. From the first time I pulled the trigger I was amazed how well it worked. From the feel of it, to the sound it makes, to the great job it does driving the nail in, it is great. I built a spice rack without a nail gun and it honestly took me 3 times as long. You have to line up the work, sometimes clamp it, sometimes predrill. Tap, tap, tap, tap, shit. (that's if you bend the nail) Then you have to go out of your way to carefull pull out the nail. Chances are it bent because you didn't drive it in straight, which means that the next nail will follow the same path.

Now granted, the more you do wood work, the less chance you will have this. You will become more skilled and controled, but I work in IT and Projection Services (fix film projectors). I do not see myself leaving my job make a living doing carpentry anytime soon (unfortunately). I use this as a hobby or escape from the rut of work, might as well enjoy it.

I'm now going to space out the wine rack supports and nail them to the dividers.

The supports are 3 1/4" apart and 4 inches off the bottom of the divider. On the main cabinet sides I need to start 4 3/4" from the bottom to compensate for the thickness of the bottom. To space them out evenly I toock a 2x4 and cut a piece 3 1/4" long. With this spacer I can put it up against the tacked down support and then put the next one down in place for nailing.

3 1/4" spacer in place.

Laying them out and tacking them down.

Bar Built-in: Day 6 (more staining and pocket holes)

2009-01-28T14:28:00.004-06:00

Feel better today, but still a little stuffy and tired.

Stained the other side of the bar towers and stained the first side to the wine rack dividers and am letting those dry. I'm hoping it will be dry enough to flip tonight before bed to stain the other side of the wine rack dividers. Once it has dried I can start nailing the wine rack holders to the boards. One step closer to final assembly.

Once I stained the sides I went to work on the toe kick. I was going to build it entirely out of 2x4s but I decided I will use some of my left over 3/4" MDF for the front and make the sides of 2x4s.

I went out to the garage to cut the 2x4 into 9" pieces and I quickly learned that the miter saw, if left in the cold, will cause the trigger to stick. This will leave it in the on position until the strength of the switch can force itself in the on position. The saw is thawing in the kitchen.

Pocket Holes
While the saw is thawing I decided to drill the pocket holes into the top and bottom parts of the towers.

I love pocket holes. I will go out of my way to use pocket holes and even make building decisions to accomodate pocket holes. They are strong, versatile, durable and I paid 40 bucks for a jig.

Their are 2 large makers of the pocket hole jig, Kreg and Wolfcraft. Kreg is one of th leaders in pocket hole jig and carpentry tools. With that leadership comes a price. Wolfcraft also makes the pocket hole jig. I purchased the Wolfcraft jig after doing some lengthy research. My results were that Wolfcraft makes a quality product and also sells their jig in a kit that included: jig, special drill bit, stopper, driver bit and a handful of screws and plugs. The whole kit cost 40 bucks. The cheapest Kreg kit was 60. That included everything except the screws but included a clamp. I could also buy everything ala carte for Kreg for the same price, but Wolfcraft comes with a case to hold everything. Mendards carries both and Lowes carries Kreg in their stores. You can buy all of Kreg stuff from the Lowes website. I'm starting to see them show up at Home Depot now too. On another side note. I was at Menards the other day getting the veneer banding and stopped by the pocket jig ailse, Kreg now has a kit including everything the Wolfcraft kit. Infact, it is in an identical case, just with the Kreg blue instead of the Wolfcraft green.

The jig and bit lets you drill an hole on an angle allowing the screw to have a tight grip on the opposing board, but remain hidden. I applied 1 in each corner of the top and bottom board. These pocket holes will be facing the very top and the very bottom of the cabinet so that you won't be able to see it.

Bar Built-in: Day 5 (final cuts, edging and oh yes....staining)

2009-01-27T20:55:00.000-06:00

So, I'm still sick, but I will get this done. I had to finish up some cuts in the garage before I could work inside today. I've found that having a cold and working in 10 degree weather tends to cloud the head. I had to measure and remeasure more then usual, but everything seemed to go okay.

Now earlier I complained about how the cordless saw was borderline useless. I found the battery drained way too quickly and the saw couldn't keep up. Now I took one of the batteries and charged it all day yesterday and used it this morning. It worked great, I was able to complete all my cuts with absolutely no problem. I'm using the cheap charger that came with the saw that has no indicator on it, so its hard to tell if the battery is full charged. I think the batterys need to be trained.

After finishing all the cross cuts I took all the boards into the warm confines of the basement. Laying them out on the saw horses, I relabeled the boards on the very ends so that after I stained them I would still be able to identify the pieces. I lightly sanded the sides of the boards and got them read for applying wood veneer edging.

Veneer Edging
When I first did my book case I was very skeptical about wood veneer edging. I didn't think it would look too good, and more importantly, I didn't think the glue would hold it. I figured I would have to apply wood glue, clamp it awkwardly, have to clean up glue residue and all in all just really hate the process that would end in poor results.

When applying the veneer you will need the veneer a sharp utility knife, a J roller and an old iron you never attend to use on cloths again (we would also except "a new iron that you never attended to use on cloths in the future"). For the most part the whole process won't ruin the iron but it will tend to get scratches, glue reside and a few burn marks on the base. None of which will look good transferred to the your clothes.

I'm applying veneer to the wine rack area of the built in. This area has the sides of the boards exposed. The other areas of the built in will have moldings, but I want to make it easier to take out and insert bottles.

The sides are 3/4" MDF and the insides are 1/2" MDF. I had 3/4" veneer left over from the bookcase project. I applied that to the sides of the 3/4" MDF and then hauled my sick ass all the way to the hardware store. When I got there, I found that they did not have any 1/2" red oak veneer. Infact, it looked like they didn't even make the stuff. So I bought a roll of 3/4".

Applying the veneer is pretty easy. You first want to heat up the iron to a fairly low setting (cotton is best). While it is warming up, roll out your veneer and measure 1" longer the the length you need. You then work from one diretion to the other. I use my left hand to to center the veneer while my right had follows with the iron. I apply light preasure as I work across the edge. You don't want to keep the iron in one place so as to not burn the veneer or cause the adhesive to bleed through.

Once you make it all the way across, use a utility knife to cut off the excess on each side. You then want to use your J-roller to apply preasure to the edging to seal the glue with the edging. Once its applied, use a fine grit sand paper (180) to clean up the edging. You then have the lovely faux appearance of a solid oak board, at MDF/Plywood prices.

Now for my case with the 1/2" board and a 3/4" venner you want to do the same steps, but then take a fresh razor blade and carefully shave off the sides. Now they do make a special cutter that will do it, but that little uni-tasker costs 18 bucks, so I kick it old skool. Now you have to be carefull with shaving the veneer by hand because the grain will split easily. If you do by chance split it, you can easily iron it back in place. However if you take a chunk out, say a few spirtual curse words and start over.

To remove the botched venner you basically do the application in reverse. Right hand applying iron moving backwards while left hand lefts scolding, gooey veneer. I find muttering to myself eases the pain.

Staining
With the edging applied, I started staining. Like I said earlier, I'm only doing one coat of stain and two coats of polyurethane. I put a coat on the pieces and will let them dry over night before I flip them and apply the single coat to the second side.

Day 5: finished cutting the boards, applied veneer edging and began staining.
cost: 2.41 for more veneer edging

Bar Built-in Day 4: (sick)

2009-01-26T23:46:00.000-06:00

So the sickness won today, on my birthday. I had my furnace, that was installed last month, inspected today. Took less then five minutes with no problems. I then had to go into work for a meeting and then after lunch the illness took over. Felt very fatiqued and took a nap. For my birthday I went to see The Wrestler at the Ridge (I'll blog about my opinion on it later) and then went to Elsa's for wings (another blog entry about my future wing marathon is for another day).

So day 4 was a bust.

Bar Built-in: Day 3 (ripping, routing and cross cutting)

2009-01-25T21:39:00.000-06:00

My dad and I went to buy the wood for the built-in. I bought a 8' x 4' - 3/4" MDF with red oak veneer (main part and shelves) and two 4' x 2' - 1/2" MDF with red oak veneer (wine rack partitions). I learned a few things today in getting the board with my dad's van. It is easier to strap the board to the roof of a mini van then trying to wedge it inside. When it's 10 degrees outside, driving at 35 mph make it equivalent to -40 when you use your hand to hold the board in place.

I took the 8'x4' and cut off the main height of 68 1/2". I then took that piece and rip it down to four 11" pieces.

I used my new Ryobi cordless saw that I got for christmas and learned 1 1/2 cuts into the project that cordless saws are borderline useless. Maybe the battery is not to its full potential, but it doesn't seem to cut it. I still have my dad's 20 year old Craftsman saw and finished ripping the side. I am charging the battery over night to see if I can get another kick out of the saw. I bought a special blade for that saw that was made for plywood and MDF. The only blade I have for my dad's saw is a ripping blade, so if I crosscut with it, it will chip the edge of the veneer. I did this all in the garage because MDF kicks up a lot of dust.

I went through the 4 boards and picked how I wanted the four pieces to go. I inspected the sides to see what were the good sides and what bad sides I did not want seen. Once the orientation was chosen, I put a 1/2" x 1/2" rabbeting bit and set it to a 1/2" depth on my router. I then ran it across the sides to put a grove into the back of the sides to set the plywood backer in.

I took the other half of the 8' x 4' board and ripped out two 10 1/2" x 11 1/2" (middle shelves) and four 11" x 11 1/2" for the top and bottom of the cabinet.

It was a short day, but the weather and my oncoming cold are slowing me down. My goal for tomorrow is to finish cutting the boards, drill my pocket screw holes, and put down a coat of stain on all the large pieces. While its drying I will begins construction of my toe kicks.

Day 3: ripped down sides, top and bottom and routed backing
Cost Today: $67.21

Bar Built-in: Day 2 (staining wine rack)

2009-01-23T01:06:00.000-06:00

I started staining the wine rack pieces. I'm using Minwax Red Mahogany oil stain. I used this stain on our kitchen cabinets. I'm thinking of only using one coat though after seeing the first results.

I first applied Minwax Prestain, on each piece with a foam brush. The prestain opens up the wood and allows the stain to evenly coat softer woods. Even though I am building a majority of the cabinet out of oak veneer, the wine rack is constucted from premolded pine moulding.

The prestain takes 15 minutes, then you have to wipe off any excess. You then have to apply the stain within 2 hours. I started applying the prestain and only got through just over half of the 84 pieces before the 15 minutes were up. I decided to start wiping off the excess and begin staining.

Prestain (15 min, wipe) + First coat stain (15 min, wipe) + 6 hours + Second coat stain (15 min, wipe) + 24 hours + First coat of Polyurethane + 4 hours + Second coat of Poyurethane.

Staining is not an exact science, I say this because an exact science has expected results. If you are starting to do staining there are a few things you should know.

The color of the stain represented on the can, has no representation of the stain you will put on your wood the first coat.
The longer you let it stay on the wood, the darker it will be.
The more coats you put on, the darker it will be.

For my kitchen cabinets I did 3 coats. First coat sat for 45 minutes, then I wiped off the excess. The Second coat was put on for 45 minutes, then I wiped off the excess. And the Third coat was put on for 60 hours. After 60 hours the stain cures and 2 coats of polyurethane was applied.

I think I'm going to do 1 coat for 15 minutes with 2 coats of polyurethane. Maybe 2 coats. I don't want it as dark as my cabinets so it will blend more with the faded wood paneling in the basement. My kitchen cabinets were made from yellow pine so the grain is less prominant. This built in is oak, so I want to really accent the knotty grain.

Bar Built-in: Day 1 (prep work)

2009-01-18T21:49:00.000-06:00

So today I started building. Next week I start the real work of the built in, but I want to get some prep work out of the way.

Day 1 of the project (14 days until I want to complete the project)

I bought the wood for the wine rack. In the moulding section they had pine stopper molding that measures 1/2 x 3/4 - 8'. These sticks will hold the wine bottles (7" pieces) and the glass shelves (10 1/2" pieces) in place. I will need 84 7" pieces and I want to stain them ahead of time. I bought 8 sticks and took them to my parents house to use their electric miter saw. I cut them to size in no time.

Dawn and I then went through the 84 pieces and sanded them. Seeing that I didn't have any latex gloves (thought I had some leftover from the kitchen project, but I don't) we decided to prestain and stain tomorrow. We probably won't get to it until Tuesday because I'm helping my dad prep the bathroom floor for our tile project. We laid them all out so that we could get to prestaining right away.

With the added time, I wanted to start to remove the baseboard inside the bar. I'm going to build the toe kick out of 2x4s. Seeing that it is a basement the floor is pitched to the center. I'm going to have to angle my toe kick so it fits the contour of the basement. The baseboards are made out of 1x4s and I quickly learned that they are in there really good.

Using my small crow bar and hammer I was only able to pull off one section, that was starting to rot anyway (again, basement floor), and pull off the quarter round corner trim. I'm going to borrow a larger crow bar. These 1x4s are nailed with some large penny nails right into the sole plate of the wall.

Day 1: cut the wine rack parts and sanded them
Cost Today: $25.01

Bar Built In: Design

2009-01-18T20:57:00.000-06:00

The Begining:
Our house has a classic Wisconsin 50s wood paneled basement. A small bar is in the corner and fits our needs. My wife and I have a healthy love of alcohol and the art of mixology. Since I was 21 (give or take a couple years) I have collected, tasted, and enjoyed the art of mixology. Years ago, when I was in a small studio apartment, a friend saw my alcohol collection and said he hadn't seen such a collection in a private residence since he years in his fraternity. I paused to think I might have a problem, but then accepted it as a complement. Its not like all the bottles were empty (I hid all of those under the couch). I wanted to build a built in, behind the bar, that would not only display many of our fine liquers and distills but to show off many of our unique drinking vessels and tools (all comes with the admiring of mixology).

Like most projects, it spun out of control. I went behind the bar and measured the area behind the bar to put in some shelves. Then I thought, what if we lit it, and what if we put some glass shelves, and what if we made room for my German beer boot, or my martinin glasses, and who can forget shaker, or some of Dawn's painted wine glasses. Sure there was plenty of room under the bar, but what is the point of having cool drinking accessories if you can't show them off. So I set out, restricting myself to under 100 dollars (very early in the planning I up'd it up to 150).

The Designing:
Couple years ago I found out about a program called SketchUp from one of my "do-it-yourself" websites. Its a simple 3D program that lets you generate 3D structures in a simplistic way. Over the years, I used it more and more and now use it for all of my projects to plan out and design my ideas. It gives me time to work out new ideas and think about my projects when I'm not ready to build or don't have money to build.

I've made several different versions of the bar built in, changing things here and there. My goals in the design were simple:

Make 2 shelves to hold a majority of my bottles. Making sure Belvedere (favorite vodka, that is also the tallest) sat comfortably on the main shelf.
Hold those 2 shelves up with 2 lit towers, with glass shelves to display accessories. Making sure that my German beer boot is properly displayed.
Build it so my wife's and my wine fridge can fit under it (awsome wedding gift from a group of dawns friends).
Build it out of no more then a single 4'x8' 3/4" mdf with oak veneer.
Keep it under 150 dollars.
Have it fit the decor. Not too modern, not too classic bar look (I love the look of intricate wood bars. The dark carved wood setting the backdrop a rich oak bar below a tin ceiling. That will not be possible in this cave of paneling).

This is my final design:

It fits almost all my requirements. I wanted to better utilize the space below near the fridge, but to make it easier and fit 1 board, then this is what I had to do. I'm not huge into wine, but Dawn is, so I figured if she needs more then 48 spaces and a fridge then I can build her a seperate wine rack like what Boye did (co worker who built a really nice wine rack for his healthy addiction). I actually used his style of wine rack then an clumsier one I designed in an earlier version.

The Finishing:
I want to stain it as I go along because I think it will be easier to stain the larger pieces and the smaller intricate pieces a head of time instead of finishing all at the end. The basement is a maple/pine paneling. I want a bit of a cherry look and Dawn wants a darker look. So we will be doing a darker stain. I did several tests with different Minwax products and I was extermely suprised and how nice the Polystains looked. However, the color wasn't what I wanted. I decided to go with the Mahogany stain that is left over from my kitchen project. I however won't do as thick of a staining as I did with the kitchen project.

The Final Planning:
So we have the plans, I have the stain selected, and I took the week off to work on it (January 26th, my birthday, to the 30th). I think I can complete it in under a week. I will also be helping my dad tile my parents bathroom floor. We've never tiled before, so this should an exciting week.

Bar Built in: The Begining

2009-01-18T20:28:00.000-06:00

So I decided to build bar a built in to my classic 50's wood paneled bar. My carpentry skills are little, if none. Everything I've learned has been from watching my dad, tech-ed classes, and Tom Silva from This Old House. My last project was actually book case that Tom Silva built in an episode of Ask this Old House. That project went surprisingly well, and I learned a lot from it (by the way, I'll be finishing that project during this project because it has never been stained. My love of staining will probably come up later in this project. I probably should write a blog entitled Staining: Fuck it, just paint it. The story of a man, painted kitchen cabinets, and his hatred of them).

I really enjoy building stuff from scratch. I get a feeling of self accomplishment and I get to design something to fit my exact needs. Whenever I tell people of my ideas, they almost always say, "can't you just buy that" or "seems like a waste of time". Anything that keeps me busy and constructive and involves me stepping away from my job, its worth it. Even when I started my bookcase my brother pointed out that I could by an relatively equal sized book case from Ikea or Target for a considerable less price. He missed the point. The point was to make something to fit my needs instead of buying a piece of mass produced laminated furniture.

The book case didn't end up perfect (I can point out almost a half dozen f-ups on it), but the one major thing I regret is that I didn't document the building of it. Sure it wasn't some stupendous project, but it would have been fun to document and see the project evolve. That is why I want to document this project in this series of blog articles.

GMaps Pedometer

2007-07-29T22:32:00.000-05:00

This is a website that Kevin, "the Commish", showed me. I've been trying to work out to get more in shape for a weight loss contest at work.

Gmap Pedometer references any Google map and allows you to plot out jogging paths. This lets you get more accurate paths that you travel then putting in addresses into Google Maps. You simply double click and then double click on a second point to get the mileage. This site is great for my neighborhood where I often cut through the middle schools parking lot when I'm roller blading. You could never do that with Google Maps because it was not a navigable way, but with Gmap Pedometer, you just have to chart it out.

The site also offers a calorie counter depending on your weight and distance you traveled (I never find those accurate), plus an elevation readout between two points (don't find it too accurate or helpful, I can tell more from my huffing and puffing that I have an incline).

You can also save your paths for later reference (I paste mine in a spreadsheet with the date and time of the run). It is a great little tool to get an accurate measurement of adventures off the beaten path.

Sopranos Finale

2007-06-10T21:32:00.000-05:00

When Sopranos hit HBO, the station had only waded in the idea of "original series" and did not coin their phrase, "Its not TV, its HBO". In 1999, most people going to see Robert DeNiro and Billy Crystal in a comedy of a mafia hit man seeing a psychiatrist, didn't know the premise was already being done on HBO.

The story of Tony Soprano trying to live a normal life in an far from normal business has been told over the last 7+ years in classic HBO fashion (on 6 months, off 18 months). In a life style built on Hollywood cliches and media headlines, Tony lived to be the capo of a prominent New Jersey family, while trying to raise his family out of the f'd up mold he was casted in.

The 7 years have been a three ring circus of mafiosos, Hollywood elites and intertwining story lines that were picked up and dropped off as if they never existed. Sopranos didn't always deliver compelling stories or dialog, but like all HBO shows, gave us intriguing characters that we grew to love. Unfortunately most of them were killed, which gave us even more reason to watch. Who thought Jackie Jr would have gotten it. Thank god! But still, I thought he would walk.

Earlier, last year, they announced that Sopranos would write its final chapter and from the moment of that announcement the speculation began. Who will live, who will die, how will they live, how will they die and when is the movie!

The final chapter was broad casted this evening and like many other evenings I sat in front of the TV to watch. I missed a lot of season 3 in its initial airing but I've seen about every episode to date. The episode starts off at the apex of a family war pitting our "Home Team" the Sopranos against New Yorks Leatardo's. The episode follows through in standard Soprano fashion showing us how business is handled in the underworld during a war. The families are put into hiding and the guys mount up at a safe house. Slowly as the episode progresses the members are picked off one by one and movements are done to bring an end to the war. All the while Tony's family does everything in their power to make his life even more impossible.

To be the highest point of debate is and will be the ending. Again, the hype has gotten larger with every passing moment it comes to the end. Will he live. Will he die. Will the movie happen.

The last 3 minutes were by far the most enjoyable of the whole season. From the first time I watched the show in 99 to now I only knew a few people that watched the show. The fan base quadrupled when the DVDs were finally released but up until the finale I had never known that others were watching. The past week everyone was talking about who was killed, how they were killed, what they were doing, who were they banging. Now I knew a large chunk of America was watching and I could hear them salivating for blood.

But thats not the premise of the story.

Tony brought down the head of New York and brought order back to his rag tag army. All while managing a spastic wife, selfish dependent sister, care free know it all daughter, and suicidal son. Oh by the way, he's clinically depressed too. Tony brought peace and unity to his family as he did at almost every ending of every season. We all know it is hardly real. He didn't solve their problems, he just shut them up. He gave to his family and in return he gets a few moments real time with his family. And you want to see violence.

The roller coaster that Sopranos gave us for 7 plus seasons was great and the ending was more intense then the prior 88 episodes combined. We didn't know what would happen because Sopranos never stopped surprising. They didn't draw lines in the sand, just kept going beyon them. In the end, the idea of what could've happened to Tony's family was nerve racking. Will they all be killed? That was just a touch of what Tony goes through every day. Every time that door opens, every time an unexpected laugh arises from a crowded restaurant, every time a stranger passes by. We were on pins and needles the whole time and we were never going to be at the end of the barrel. But Tony only gave us a blank stare. Because thats just another day in the life of a mob boss trying to run a family, while running a family.

Though I loved the ending I do have........

Final thoughts:

1. I miss the ducks.
2. I think a special montage should be done of all the girls of the Badda-Bing. Over the years we saw them grow as the story did. They were the story behind the story. Whatever happen to Courtney (season 1) or Lulu (season 3)?
3. The cat was Adriana
4. Oh Pauli, you are a luck M'rF'r.
5. I don't care what ever happened to the Russian in the woods
6. The cat was Christopher
7. I really wish Christopher got busted on the blood stained note he gave his mom.
8. Adriana deserved it
9. Cats do lots of stupid things. Thats why they are cats. Let it be.
10. Best ending of a HBO series ever.

Work Web Cam

2007-05-24T16:22:00.001-05:00

We are setting up webcams up at work so we can reduce movement when we have to talk to people. Here's a shot of the UltraCubes view. I'll get the other window when its not as foggy out to show you Miller Park.

Milwaukee River

Batman Logtistics

2007-04-12T22:44:00.000-05:00

Many people know that I'm a big fan of Batman. I've always liked the look and style throughout the years, from the Golden Age to the Dark Age of comics. The many facets of Batman and the variety of stories have always kept me interested. The range of stories go from the campy battles with such characters as Joker, Tally Man or King Tut to the stories of internal conflict of Batmans true arch nemesis, himself. The Batman franchise has always inspired me and captured my interest.

Yes, the franchise has been bastardized in many many many ways. I will be the first to admit that and the first to march up to Shoemacher Castle with pitch forks and torches. Many people see the franchise as the campy Adam West adventure with his "boy wonder" and others believe that Joker killed Mr. Mom's parents. Over the years the American icon of Batman has been interperted by everyone into different entities.

To me it is about a man whose pain drived him to make things better and nothing, absoluting no one will stop him from a promise he made. When a story is fine tuned and it hits the right notes you see a solid premise emerge from the story.

What I enjoy more about Batman and the story is contemplating, debate and bicker about the world of Gotham City with people who enjoy it too. People who see the stories as more then just comic book adventures and enjoy talking about the storylines and possibilities of the franchise is always a good time. Not just talking about the material aspects of Batman (kick ass fighting or awesome explosions) but about the deeper things. The coolest part is that it is infact a "silly" character in a "fake" world. But when they weave in real issues and emotions, it disquises itself in its "comic book" way of telling a story.

While searching the internet for Batman pictures I came across a Science Fiction writers blog. Lou Anders' blog "Bowing to the Future" wrote the blog article "Batman Begins - Dressed to Chill". In the article he writes about his opinion of the Batman franchises various depictions of Batmans suit and the logistics and plausibility of a man to fulfill the duities and uphold the mantle of the Bat. He references almost all the movies from Golden Age Adam West Batman, Burton's Bat, Shumocker's Bat, Nolan's Bat, some of the cartoon renditions of Batman, and even Sandy Collora's Batman (read one of my earlier entries to learn more of his work)

Even though I didin't agree with everything he wrote on the different franchise adventures, I did enjoy his opinion and plausibility of the Dark Knight fighting crime.

Viking God Oden Down to Last 4 Worshipers

2007-04-09T17:35:00.000-05:00

I always check the Onion Radio News for latest breaking news.

To add to this story the last 4 worshipers are Jim, Kevin, Kitzke and myself.

TTAC Lunch Directory

2007-04-08T12:12:00.000-05:00

At work we try to go to new places every week. I created a spreadsheet of all the places we have gone and places we wanted to go. From there I found a feature in Google Maps that lets you make your own maps and mark only the places you want on your map. I created the TTAC Lunch Directory to help us choose where to go to lunch.

Some of the nice features Google "My Maps" gives is that you can select your own locations, give their own descriptions and use any of the well known Google Map icons. It is also a nice feautre to make it Public or Unpublished. By keeping it unpublished you can still send the link to friends. By making it Public it can be seen in search engines and such. Nice options.

Some things I don't like, but still learning to work out the tweaks, is that I can't reorder my locations on the left side. I would prefer alphabetical, or order of priorty but it only sorts in the order they were entered. It would also be cool to hide certain icons and only view other icons, making selecting locations easier.

Denver's Song is Colorado's 2nd Song

2007-03-12T22:34:00.000-05:00

Well Stan, they got your letters.

Colorado makes "Rocky Mountain High" their official 2nd state song.

I don't know why they would make it the 2nd song. It almost sounds like a catch 22 of naming rights.

The Governor probably didn't want to piss off any of the Columbines lobbyist so instead of making "Rocky Mountain High" the true state song (as he wants to and knows it to be true) he makes it the 2nd State Song even though nobody knows any of the words of Where The Columbines Grow or why we even chose that for their state song. I mean, are their even Columbines in Colorado?

Eh, that theory is stupid. Who would do something like that?

Post

2007-03-12T21:07:00.000-05:00

So I have been chastised for posting, now being chastised for not posting. Can't win. I will try to post more.

For my first post of 07 I wanted to show Kevin the new Scarecrow figure from DC Direct. Based on Alex Rosses Scarecrow, this figure will be part of Series 6 of his Justice League series (due out in mid Septeber 07)

I also added a twitter to my template.

Sickapedia (clever, huh)

2006-09-07T19:43:00.000-05:00

So I came to a conclusion the other week. I don't like Wikipedia. Infact, I would say it grinds my gears.

The idea of Wikipedia is great, infact I wish it was more of a living breathing website. Eating and digesting tons of data; organizing and categorizing all of its components. Making almost every subject built like a subject of text that you could expand upon. Search for Digital Sound Encoding and you could click on a cyber school that would take you to the basics of sound waves and keep clicking on subjects all the way to you completely understand Digital Encoding. Thats what it was going to be, but it has become something else.

At first it was the whole changing of biographies of politicians that proved how juvenile the internet is. I found this only mildly annoying, and even more funny. You could see the direction that Wikipedia was going. However, I was ok with this. Thats the greatness of having an open forum of opinion.

I use Wikipedia alot for research, its a great place to look if you just don't have a source of obscure knowledge. If I can't find something, I'm sure Wikipedia can point me in the right direction. It is a great source of direction.

What I hate is people who think its reference. People have told me about cool technology that is being worked on or a break through study, I ask, "where did you hear about that" They say, "I read it on Wikipedia". You might as well have told me that "Billy the dishwasher at my favorite greek restaurant who has a friend who works for NASA told me", because it honestly could be the same thing.

A lot of the stuff on Wikipedia is very intelligent and has reliable sources, but at the same time with a few clicks, it could become unreliable.

I nearly snapped the other day in a meeting when a coworker was to bring information about a possible alternate medium. He brought a stack of papers that I had to intergrate into our report. I was thouroughly impressed with the amount of research, when asked what site I could get this info he simply replied, "wikipedia". Are you fucking kidding me. You simply printed the wikipedia site for this subject? That's not research!

Wikipedia does state that "it is not a dictionary" "it is not an encyclopedia" and I truly agree with Wikipedia's stance. I just don't like the fact that people believe that this is a source of information. Its a wonderful forum to find obscure information and point you in the direction of information. It's not a reference of information, but a good start.

I maybe wrong, or maybe I just don't know how to word it.

End of an Era

2006-08-20T12:19:00.000-05:00

After 10 years of working at North Shore Cinema, I have officially left the front line of movie exhibition. I recieved a promotion to the corporate level doing IT work and Booth Projection services (I fix the broken projectors). I will now have weekends off and what I here that on Holidays people don't have to work, but can "enjoy" the holiday.

North Shore was my first official job and I've wanted to move on for quite some time. I did a lot of great things there, and I did a lot of bad things. All of which I did while growing up and becoming who I am today. It was a good run, but now I get to join the exciting world of cubicle life.

I would like to thank all the great people I worked with in the past and present (many of you came out last night to celebrate my departure and I appreciate that) and I'd like to thank the people I hated to work with over the last ten years. You taught me patience and helped stress the one thing my mom always said, "You are not always going to work with people you like. Get use to it."

Who Shat on Optimus Prime!

2006-07-25T22:47:00.000-05:00

As of lately my gripe has been the Transformers movie. For those who don't know, Michael Bay is directing the remake of the cult 80s phenomenon of Transformers.

It has been known by many that I cannot stand Michael Bay. Its something about his movies that not only bore me to new levels, but his attitude of "and your going to fucken like it" is more then obsurd.

As a childhood fan of Transformers (That is a class 2 on the nerd-o-meter, a Class 1 would quote it constantly, class 2 can identify most characters and have a wonderful childhood story of the franchise, a class 3 buys all the dvds because it faintly looks familiar but never really watches them) I enjoyed the transformers series and one christmas deeply wanted an Optimus Prime, luckly I received it. I remember where I was when I opened it, I remember what end of the box I saw first when I realized what it was and I remember the joints slowly getting weaker and the rubber taste of the tires (don't ask, but they were chewy). I am only mildly offended by the Transformer bastardization.

First I detest that Michael Bay is making this movie. Many people think that I'm taking this too personally but I have two reasons why I'm not. 1. Don't really care about Transformers much more. They were cool and I still think they kind of are. 2. I'm not on the "Oh my god he's ruining a pop icon", its more of a "He's making another movie?" soap box.

Second, the rumors, photos and interviews have all pointed at the fact that Michael Bay has changed the style of truck, color and look of Optimus Prime. This has been an especially hot topic with me and anyone who mentions the movie. I don't believe that this is outragous, but if you are making a remake of a pop culture show, you'd think you'd try to capture the original look.

My good friend Jim, who enjoys pushing my buttons by not only taking a strong stand on this, but get this, he doesn't agree with me either!

The upside of Transformers is in the distance though. Ok, its not really an upside, its more of a morbid curiosity that I see.

1. They just announced that Peter Cullen will do the voice of Optimus Prime. He was the original voice.

2. They announced that Dane Cook might be in the film. I have the feeling that when Dane Cook found out that Michael Bay was shooing Transformers he proceeded to stalk him and yell from a tree overlooking Bays bedroom "Let me be in the movie, I want to be in the movie, I can act, I can act, so help me god I will kill you Michael Bay if you don't let me be in the movie! Don't think I won't do it, I already pee'd in your Chai tea yesterday, tasted good didn't it, well it could end up tasting real bad for you Mr. Bay, I can't be stopped".

We'll see where this travesty ends up.

Ten Things I Hate About Commandments

2006-07-11T11:24:00.000-05:00

Got this off of Chris Diclerico's site. Not as funny as the Shinning Trailer, but hilarious none the less.

South Park Emmy

2006-07-10T10:17:00.000-05:00

South Park was nominated for an emmy this past week. The funny part, is that it was the episode about Scientology that Issac Hayes said enough is enough on and walked out on.

"Trapped in the Closet" Nominated for a Primetime Emmy!
We're very pleased to announce that the South Park episode "Trapped in the Closet" has been nominated for an emmy in the category of "Outstanding Animated Program (for Programming Less Than One Hour)"

The winners will be announced in August. Best of luck, John & Jane Smith!

What's the Point

2006-06-22T22:33:00.000-05:00

Several years back when cable began expanding, they came up with the idea of dedicating certain channels around a specific genre. With the discuss of the Discovery Channel, MTV and QVC, the idea of a channel showing a specific genre for 18 hours was ground breaking. Channels like Comedy Central, ESPN, Cartoon Network, Lifetime, The Learning Channel all began popping up.

When the ability to expand the cable channels even more with the advent of digital cable, the library of genre specific channels grew even more. Showtime 2, HBO Comedy, Tech TV, The Gameshow Network, DIY Network, ESPN 2 and MTV 2 (because they wanted a channel exclusively dedicated to music videos and not be tainted by reality television and spring break specials. *insert punch line by turning on MTV2 now*).

Which brings me to this. Why are they programming shows on channels that have very little to do with the show they are programming. My examples thus far.

G4 TV (channel dedicated to Video Games and Technology) programs The Man Show
Cartoon Network will be programming Pee Wee Playhouse show on the Adult Swim block
The Outdoor Network programs the 2004 MGM Hotel Billiards Champions (its indoors)

I understand that you have to think outside of the box, but at least stay within concept. Even though G4 was quickly circling the drain with its "too cool for the room" reviews, and MTV style news which was usually whatever came up when they typed "news" into Google; it still was interesting to watch. Now all there is are old episodes of The Man Show, oh and don't forget Rides (a show dedicated to pimped out rides, that covers the Technology aspect of the channel, shared only with reruns of Star Trek TNG). If a station is not popular showing its line up, then change the station, don't say its the same loveable station but with something totally different. Revamp and re-sell (*cough* cough TNN *cough *cough).

I understand that television is being redefined by many aspects. In many ways we have devolved as a viewing audience. The barrage of "reality" shows that now plague the air ways (by the way, I can never type the word "plague" without double checking the spelling, thanks to Fred and Big Jim. That's another blog entry), has even been replaced to the thrill of HD. People infact decide what they will watch, not on the quality of the content, but the quality of the image. We have devolved to just watching the pretty images. So why not put girls on trampolines on G4, a former public masturbator on Cartoon Network, and an indoor sport on the Outdoor Network. Basically because thats stupid.

Jaws 3D (without Louis Gosset Jr.)

2006-06-15T23:20:00.000-05:00

For those who follow the toy industry, many know that Todd McFarlane is the leader in action figures. The artist who created Spawn went on to create some of the most intricate action figures that have set the standard in collectible plastics.

Earlier this year he announced a line of figures that were 3D recreations of pop culture movie posters and album covers.

Normally I assumed he would do all the Metallic covers and slasher movie posters, but I was happily surprised to see that Jaws was going to be one of the first to debut.

It isn't the most amazing thing in the world, but being a big fan of the classic, its hard to find decent collectibles for Jaws. Its not like Army of Darkness that has 17 different DVDs and thousands of different action figures.

Check out Spawn.com to see many of the other plastic pieces of art out there.

It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia

2006-06-08T20:13:00.000-05:00

"Man, Matt has a great since of humor and knows all the funny shows. I wish I could watch some of the funny shows he knows, but most of them are on cable."

For those who read my five part article about my personal top five shows, many know that I'm a huge fan of "Its Always Sunny in Philadelphia". They are gearing up for the second season on FX and to promote the unadulterated genius of the show they are airing episodes from Season 1 on Fox this Sunday.

The episode they are airing is a good one, not the best, but still a hilarious episode. Please watch and help weigh in on what you think.

Here's a taste of next season:

Im the Happiest/Intoxicated Boy on the Block

2006-06-05T17:07:00.000-05:00

So I had a 2 o'clock meeting downtown and I had to waist a hour before the meeting (its a long story). After bumbing around Borders for 20 minutes, I thought, man, I am hungry.

Now where could I go to get a quick bite at 1 o'clock. No matter where I would go it would take 30 minutes to get my food, and then I would have to wolf it down. Then I realized, it only takes a minute to poor a Mug Club of Beer.

Liquid Lunch is by far the best way to do any lunch in a go. Plus, I knew I was only one visit away from receiving my next Mug Club gift.

Needless to say I'm the proud owner of a Rock Bottom Growler Cooler (actually I have an IOU, but none the less, my growlers will no longer go warm).

By the way, the meeting went really well and I'll have a growler cooler. THANK YOU LIQUID LUNCH! YOUR THE BEST!

I Want to Be a Stormtrooper When I Grow Up

2006-06-04T23:32:00.000-05:00

For those who have recently starting reading my blog, it might not be clear, but I'm a nerd.

One thing I want to do before I die is build a custom made Storm Trooper costume. I know I will never buy one, because I truly believe it would be ridiculous to buy a Storm Trooper costume for over 1,500 dollars. I hope that some day I have a job that allows me to say, "I think I shall purchase an Imperial Stormtrooper costume this weekend." So I'll have to end up building one.

I'm sure many of you would say, sure you won't spend 1500 dollars for a costume but you will waste 100s of hours and hundreds of dollars building one. I simply respond with, yes. Its a project. A project that includes both skill and creativity, with a touch of artistic craftsmanship. Plus I can brag about it to my other nerd friends.

Some cool sites to look at are:

How to Build a Stormtrooper Costume - they also have a few other Star Wars costumes that I might use as a starter

TK409 - This guy is cool

Star Wars Helmets - A very cool comparison and good pics on Star Wars helmets and professional helmet makers

I've been doing some research and come to the conclusion that I need a team of people, a well vented work area and some money. I have a few friends that are interested in helping and a few that are interested in investing some experimental money, but I still need a vented work area.

Its almost a crazy subculture that creates and wears these things. The venues for this decor are limited. There are your scifi conventions, movie premeires , Holloween and I even saw a Storm Trooper at Miller Park (I was a little drunk but a friend assured me that there was a Storm Trooper wearing a Cheesehead at Miller Parks TGIFridays).

Great Moments in Mediocre Pool

2006-05-31T10:24:00.000-05:00

Mr. Kilsdonk did it again this week in our weekly pool game.

This week on one of his breaks he said "I feel good about this one, I think I'll sink the 8 ball on the break."

There were nay sayers in the crowd but sure enough, the eight ball went straight for the side pocket.

For those who don't know, if you sink the 8 ball on the break you win instantly.

I've seen it done about a half dozen times, I've done it a hand full of times. I've never seen anyone call it and then actually made good on their statement. My advice is to Jeff, NEVER CALL IT AGAIN. Go with the fact that you have a 100% accuracy on the art of calling the 8 ball break. Next time you do sink the 8 ball on the break just go, "huh, didn't expect that, usually I have a feeling about the 8 ball break. Oh well. I WON!"

Huge Miscommunication or Feeble Attempt at Sweeps

2006-05-31T10:10:00.000-05:00

"Freezing weather and severe icing claim a life on the Cornelia Marie."

That was the descripition on this weeks episode of The Deadliest Catch. The documentary series about the life on an Alaskan crab fishing boat. Its not really a reality show because there are no physical challenges obstacle courses and people don't have to get along to win the million dollars. They've talked with people who saw people die while fishing and they've talked wtih people that fell over, they even showed someone fall over once. But no matter how many ways you read the description, I was convinced that someone was goign to get it.

All week I was thinking, whose going to die, will they show it. How will it effect the show.

In the end, one of the fishermen rolled his ankle. Really hard.

How does that constitute a claiming of a life?

Anyway, I believe that either the guy at the computer who types in all the info never saw the show and either was lied to about the description for sweeps, or he took it upon him self and assumed they ment someone died.

I'm glad no one died, but if I'm told someone is going to die, someone best die.

Memorial Day

2006-05-29T23:10:00.000-05:00

"Although no sculptured marble should rise to their memory, nor engraved stone bear record of their deeds, yet will their remembrance be as lasting as the land they honored. "

~Daniel Webster

thank you

2006-05-29T22:17:00.000-05:00

I've always said that if you love your technology, it will love you back. So this little piece is my dedication to my technology components that, yes, I could live without, but it wouldn't be the same.

My DVR. Though I don't own you, I love you. Its a Scientific Atlanta Explorer 8000. If you read any reviews of the DVR and its brethren, you will come to the conclusion that it sucks. In many ways it does. Many are prone to overheating, harddrives breaking, and having a boot cycle that could give a commodore 128 a run for its money. But its mine and the only one I can choose through Time Warner Cable, Milwaukees monopoly for cable companies. (by the way, if you are reading this and you heard a distant yell from the north west of Milwaukee, that was thousands of people yelling at once, "at least its not Charter Cable")

Besides the fact that I can watch all my shows that I love at a drop of a remote, I can also fast forward through commercials. There are pros and cons to this and that is what the bulk of this article is about.

I do not miss a handful of commercials. I tend to smile when I see the mere glimpses of an Old Navy commercial fly by, or a commercial about foot fungus, or a poorly made commercial about explaining how an evil corporation missed a big loss by settling with some putz who was going to go with Hupey Hupey and Sons. These commercial don't appeal to me, get under my skin and gets me kicked out of most malls when I throw my Orange Julius at a manikin wearing fleece.

But I'm not anti commercial, they serve there purpose and I understand why they are there. I do however stop the old DVR for a couple of good ones. Mike's Hard Beverage, Nextel and Fruit of the Loom are quality commercials that make me chuckle. I've even been known to stop at the new Heiniken commercials just to jam out to the Pussy Cat Dolls (don't tell anyone, that's our little secret).

DVR technology is such a guilty pleasure that it can screw up your life. When I first got it I thought "Ha, Now I control my tv and not the other way around" Now its more like "Must.....watch......more........AHHH DVR TRIAGE. Who will live who will die, how can one decide, but I must make room for the A-team marathon."

The DVR is a wicked mistress and the power should be respected. One shouldn't have theirs full of episodes of Murphy Brown or American Chopper, but I believe that people shouldn't just flip through the channels and end up watching whatever is on.

So to sum things up, my DVR is wonderful. Sure it makes me feel a little less human, but at the same time, I feel a little more American.

Number 1

2006-04-22T01:01:00.000-05:00

continued from my earlier article My Top 5 Funniest Shows

1. Scrubs
Tuesday 730pm NBC

I started watching Scrubs this season after a recommedation from a friend. I avoided the show from seeing the commercials thinking it was too off the wall. After watching this season alone, I find that I have some making up to do.

In its fifth season, Scrubs follows a group of young doctor interns trying to find their nitch in the medical field only to be stopped by personal differences, difficult patients, even more difficult doctors, and a janitor out to get them.

There is something about this show that I really enjoy. Many people might not find the humor as unique and hilarious as I do, I start to smile when the first joke hits and don't stop until the end of the show. It does have its off the wall comedy, and machine gun type dialouge, but its unique approach at moving the story and combining the plotlines of each character through J.D.s monologue is one of its greatest appeals.

In its 5 year run so far it has only won one emmy for Best Multi-Camera Picture Editing in a Series, I still find the show enjoyable. Though not for everyone, I think this show is one of the more unique comedies currently on the air.

BUT WHAT ABOUT.... AWARD!

This list was of My Top 5 Comedy Shows Currently on the Air. There are several other shows not currently on the air that I would consider to be brilliant-all-time-hilarious-shows-of-enjoyment. However, they are not on air. However there is one show that I must let everyone know about because season 2 starts up this July.

KEEP AN EYE OUT AWARD

Its Always Sunny in Philadelphia

Sundays 9pm FX
new season starts in July

I started watching Its Always Sunny in Philadelphia last year towards the tail end of the show. Somehow I got sucked into the Emmy Award winning show on FX, Rescue Me. During a commercial break they had a commercial for IASIP and I thought it was the funniest thing I saw in a long time. I had to watch, and luckily it was next up.

IASIP is about three long time friends of complete different personalities who come together and buy a small run down Irish bar in Philadelphia. There three egos fill the room as they conflict about every aspect of how the bar should be run, how each other is inferior to the next, and what is wrong with each other. A dismal premise, but skewed with charm and comedy, IASIP keeps you laughing even when the end joke is obvious.

The shows dark comedy won't appeal to everyone and at times might even deter you. To say that the eisodes are a morality tale would only be true from the point of view of the characters who twistidly spiral ethics, morals and beliefs down the drain. The characters of IASIP does have the knack of making any bad moral storyline and end up doing the right thing, and then patting themselves on the back for such an accomplishment. Wheather it be to allow underage drinking in their bar so that kids have a safe environment to drink in, to fullfilling a war heros dying request to be buried in his uniform (the uniform of a Nazi), or even wondering why their former gym teacher who is accused of child molestation, never touched them growing up ("Look at this face, your not saying I was cute enough!").

I will post when they officially announce the new season date, you are even welcome to come over and enjoy some Pizza Shuttle while I watch it on FX. Until then, try to download it somewehere, or if you ask nice enough, Kevin Neville and I will gladly act out most of the season.

Number 2

2006-04-20T21:44:00.000-05:00

continuing from my article My Top 5 Funniest Programs

2. South Park
Wednesdays 9pm Comedy Central

Oh man, what can I say about South Park. Depending on the season and the mood I'm in, this show could easily be my number one favorite show. South Park has been scrutenized since day one by everyone for everything. I will admit that I've found many episodes to be offensive or "over the top" or "oh no you didn't" or "ah man, Tom Cruise is going to kill them!"

South Park is the show that kept Comedy Central on the air. For those who don't remember, Comedy Central use to be a premium cable channel that basically showed Saturday Night Live episodes and standup comedians from the late 70s and early 80s. Then in 96, a pair of jerks made comedic genious come from the mouths of paper children. Since then, political correctness is just a catch phrase.

I've found the last two seasons to be somewhat subpar. Only every other episode causes me to bust a gut, where as the other episodes just make me do that akward laugh. You know that laugh that you give when someone really drunk is yelling about funny their pathetic life is, but deep down they are really serious.

Every week I look forward to seeing what topic they will hit up, or what subject they will over step. When they are down for the season, I gleafully watch earlier episodes I have on my computer.

South Park isn't for everyone, but I think everyone should watch it. Someday they will make fun of you, and you will truly understand the meaning, "its only a television show" And if you are like me, you might just laugh at yourself.

Number 3

2006-04-19T20:49:00.000-05:00

continued from my earlier article My Top 5 Funniest Shows

3. My Gym Partner is a Monkey
Friday 8pm Cartoon Network

One day at work, I took the time to watch the preshow commercials on one of our films. I saw an ad for 'My Gym Partner is a Monkey' and immediately I was intrigued. I was also angered that these useless annoying ads actually informed me of something.

'My Gym Partner is a Monkey' is about Adam Lyon gets transfered from his middle school due to a computer typo, he is sent to a middle school for zoo animals and is assigned Jake Spidermonkey as a gym partner.

As an fan of Ren and Stimpy, I find much of the humor from MGPIAM to be remenisant of this earlier classic. Its unique story lines and immature situations, give this animated show a throwback compared to what most modern animated shows are. Its a show that I easily laugh at but doesn't generate the standard situation comedy one liners that many shows do now a days. The fact that it is a cartoon it takes me back to way back (the early 90s) when I was a complete nerd, oppose to now where I seek that completeness.

Number 4

2006-04-18T22:28:00.000-05:00

continuing from my article My Top 5 Funniest Programs

4. The Office
Thursday 830 pm NBC

Following My Name is Earl on the Thursday night line up is the US version of The Office. Many people have tried to argue with me that the BBC version of The Office is much funnier the the American version, and many believe that the American version is just a cheap rip off.

I've watched both and even though I don't work in an office type setting, I tend to relate more to the humor of the American version then the BBC. Both are very funny, and infact both are overseen by the same creators.

*beware, side note. After reading Goggins' Blog, I had to make a side note*
Many people have also complained that the humor rips off the film, Office Space. These are also the same people who quote "Looks like somebody has a case of the mondays" on Monday, thinking they are funny, but the sick true irony is that they are just as annoying as the character in the film, who thinks they are funny.
*we return to the review in progress*

Though the comedy seems forced at times, and some of the "office drama" is repetively overdone; the situations are unique as the characters. And thats a key part to good comedy, it is the people in those unique sitations and how the react. The Office, gives us a bit more with its candid interviews letting us see what the characters are thinking in the cut throat world of paper sales.

My Top 5 Funniest Programs

2006-04-17T21:36:00.000-05:00

As of lately I've been watching more and more situation comedies since my installation of my DVR. About 10 years ago I fell out of the comedies in a time where every show was either Friends or Seinfeld, I ended up pretty much only watching cartoons and dramas that were X-Files or X-Files related.

Now in the age of DVR technology where tv doesn't control my life, I tend to spend more and more time watching television that I normally wouldn't watch or remember to find time to watch. Now I give you my list of my 5 favorite comedies currently in production.

Runner Up:
Cheap Seats
Fridays 930pm ESPN
rr Everynite, 930pm ESPN Classics

This show is not a situation comedy in the regular since, but is a practical perfect mixture of bad ESPN and MST3K.

There are two different kinds of people, those who can tell you what ESPN stands for, and those who can tell you what MST3K stands for. Cheap Seats stars Randy and Jason Sklar (most noted for being in every list show that VH1 every produced. No not the gay comedians, the two brothers). Good stuff, not great, but good stuff. If you enoy poorly produced sporting events from the 70s or 80s, or enjoy to watch the mochary of you childhood stars like John Elway Gorman Thomas; then this is the show for you.

Honorable Mention:
House, M.D.
Tuesdays 8pm FOX
syn. Friday 10pm USA

It's not a comedy but the dry sense of humor and the characterization that has formed among its ensemble has drawn me in and wanting more and more of the medical analytical babble that makes my brain shut off. Hugh Laurie plays a sinicle and even more mysterious doctor super genius, Gregory House. The dry humor is subtle enough to smother the "to cool for the room" attitude that House radiates. If you have never seen this show, you must watch 3 episodes. They really only have 3 different show formulas so if you watch 3 episodes you'll get a good feeling of the show.

And now my top 5 Comedies that are Currently Airing:

5. My Name is Earl
Thursdays 8pm NBC

Earl Hickey is a common criminal with the worst case of luck. After winning the lottery and almost being killed immediately after, he learns from the wise Carson Daily that Kharma is the reason for his bad luck. Earl and his brother set out to do good about all the bad things Earl has done in his life, so he makes a list of all the malfeasons. Though I am not a major fan of Jason Lee and on many levels, despise Jamie Pressely, the interesting situations and the perspective Earl takes to many of lifes challenges is hilarious.

I will continue my list throughout the week....... post your lists as well, I have more DVR space.

Happy Easter Everyone

2006-04-16T11:24:00.000-05:00

My Easter Resolution is to post everyday this week.

Idiot

2006-04-09T10:10:00.000-05:00

And I'm the fool who gave away my Ford Escort.

This guy built an authentic Luke Skywalker landspeeder from the body of a Ford Escort. Sold it on E-bay in the U.K. for 6,500 pounds (11,360.05 U.S. dollars).

I would have been the Belle of the ball.

Crazy Busy

2006-04-06T22:49:00.000-05:00

I have been crazy busy lately. Between getting sick, the kick ass Brewer season starting, my DVR piling up, and endless fruitless work. I feel I've been neglecting my blog. It's almost to the point where I have so much to say, I don't know what to say and end up just posting a video clip as an excuse of something interesting or funny. I almost feel as if my life has become a small kitty that some one keeps sticking a hammer in its face. Just think how annoyed I would be, but yet tend to keep my cuteness to an almost vicious level. I can almost see it now.

To recap. The difficulty of life is the hammer, I am the kitty. I am vicious, but you can't help but laugh at my relentless struggle to fight it off with the pitter patter of my paws. Feel my pain, and laugh at my expense.

It Will Knock You Back On Your Coal Minning Asses

2006-03-28T13:37:00.000-06:00

Many people are unaware that I'm a chosen prophet for Heatvision and Jack. It is my mission to make sure everyone sees Heatvision and Jack.

Heatvision and Jack was a pilot written by Milwaukees own Rob Schrab and Dan Harmon. These two comedic geniuses met up with a fairly unknown comic Ben Stiller and shot the pilot for what would have been a great series called Heatvision and Jack.

The story is about Nasa Astronaut Jack Austin (Jack Black) who got too close to the sun, making his brain (which works much like cookie dough) expand to become the smartest man in the world. Knowing that Nasa would not allow the world to know what happened to him he escapes. After being hit with an experimental Nasa ray, Jacks unemployed roommate (Owen Wilson)becomes melded with his motorcylce becoming Heatvision. Together Heatvision and Jack try to escape Ron Silver (himself), a talented actor and a Nasa trained killer, running for their lives, blocked at every turn, by adventure.

Spread the good word of HVAJ and let the world know about it. The series was not picked up by NBC or Fox 8 years ago, but HVAJ live on winning awards at film festivals and even rumors of a full length movie happening. Enjoy

I give you what you want.

New Car (well to me at least)

2006-03-27T15:54:00.000-06:00

I purchased a new car this week, and I went with a used 2001 Ford Taurus. I like it, its in pristine condition and is very comfortable for me.

I hope I get many miles out of it. I'm making a promise to keep it extremely clean and not let it go to shit like my last car.

Chuck Norris

2006-03-22T09:01:00.000-06:00

After Kitzke saw this video, he died. Only to have Chuck Norris come in and revive him with a kiss.

Chuck Norris Facts

There Will Be No Chef Aid

2006-03-21T21:53:00.000-06:00

I recently heard that Issac Hayes will be leaving South Park. When I first heard this I yelled back, "What!". The person explained, "He's leaving because he's too offened by South Park"
I yelled back "Its South Park! He was always offended by them! Why now!"
The person shook his head "I don't know." I sipped my beer, "Well, they gave him back his career, I guess that's grounds for seperation." My friend lifted his glass, "true, I like Issac Hayes now too since South Park"

After further internet investigating I found that Issac Hayes is a scientologist and after the debut of the "Trapped in the Closet" episode, Issac Hayes called Matt Stone and Trey Paker religous bigots. I simply respond, "It's South Park!"

Trey Parker explained in a recent interview that South Park had poked fun on Muslims, Christians, Mormons and I believe in one episode the Jewish religion was brought up, but they always stayed clear of Scientology because they new Issac was a Scientologist and they thought he was cool. Well this last season they went up to Isaac and said, its got to happen, they have to do something to Scientology. I respond with, of course, because "Its South Park!"

Matt Stone says:
This has nothing to do with intolerance and bigotry and everything to do with the fact that Isaac Hayes is a Scientologist and that we recently featured Scientology in an episode of 'South Park.' In ten years and over 150 episodes of 'South Park,' Isaac never had a problem with the show making fun of Christians, Muslims, Mormons and Jews. He got a sudden case of religious sensitivity when it was his religion featured on the show. To bring the civil rights struggle into this is just a non-sequiter. Of course we will release Isaac from his contract and we wish him well.

But the boys of South Park aren't dead and won't kill off one of their more popular characters. Chef will return in yet another season. All of his dialouge will be taken from previous episodes and rehashed for our enjoyment. Seeing that they were recorded within his contract there doesn't seem to be any further action from the Hayes Camp, but I'm sure South Park will cross the line somewhere to get us to say, "damn". And do you know why I know this, because its South Park! and thats what they do.

My Car

2006-03-16T21:30:00.000-06:00

Well for those of you who don't know, my car is practically dead. Infact, I should know the doctors verdict tomorrow. Doesn't look good. Terminal.

To say I loved my ford escort would be an understatement. My ford escort helped me do great things, drove me all over this state going to theatres and fixing things. Got into some close calls with my Escort and had many more memorible victories. The best way to say I loved my car would be compare the love that Ike had for Tina. It made me do it to it because I loved it.

Now I call upon my readers (both of you), to help me make a decision. My options are to get a Ford Focus (new) or a used car. I really need other peoples input on this one. If I new cars like I know movies, I wouldn't have "Iked" up my last car. I want my next car to be right. Love is more then a second hand emotion and I don't mean the back of the hand. My options are.

1. Brand New Ford Focus
2. Used car
3. Any other kind of new car for under 13,000

What will be my next car. Your input is needed.

Nachooooooo

2006-03-15T11:09:00.000-06:00

I like toast.

This is one of the few movies I'm looking forward to. I have high hopes for this one and believe it will not be a one joke wonder.

Survivorman

2006-03-14T10:12:00.000-06:00

I found this new series on the Science Channel (a subchannel of Discovery), Survivorman. The premise is man overcomes nature in everyday situations against all odds. Les Stroud (teacher, musician and filmmaker) takes us into many different climates and shows us how to survive in "everyday" situations. While dirt biking in the desert, you dirt bike breaks. While flying a commuter plane in the Canadian north, you crash. While sailing in the great deep blue, your boat sinks. Uncommon situations at any given time that calls for ones survival.

My interest in the subject matter was instantaneous. Man against nature has always appealed to me, and the feeling of what accomplishment it would be to survive in unfamiliar climates and environments is very appealing. The term "roughing it"is far beyond tents and sleeping bags.

The show starts off by explaining to us what the situation is, dirt biking gone bad in the desert. Then we get a brief history of the environment and what supplies Les is left with. Usually he is given clothes, bottle of water and a multitool. In the dirt biking episode, he is also left the broken dirt bike to salvage.

After this the camera crew leaves and he is left to survive for 7 days to accomplish a goal (get to a check point or find civilization), survive and document everything. At this point the production crew leaves him with not only what he has been given but two cameras and a weeks worth of batteries and tapes.

The show goes on, day by day as Les talks to us in a mixture of diary and instructional video on how to survive and how he is surviving. The show is more then interesting and appealing, but amazing how Les has to shoot the whole thing by himself. He continues to explain how he has to set up the camera, walk down the path, then come back for the camera. Many of the small tricks and skills to survive are scattered between Les critiques of how he is doing.

I have watched 3 of the 9 episodes that have been aired and my interest is dwindling. Though if find the settings beautiful and motivates me to get off the beaten path, the show is more of a "how awesome I am" feel to it.

Les spends as much time explaining how hard it is to setup the cameras for survival that we begin not to think, how is he going to survive, but how is he going to document him surviving. It becomes more about him then the actual situations. It is understandable that he is the only character and in fact the only subject matter, but the way he over dramatizes many subtle situations and talks in a candid matter about obscure survival skills, you almost root against him.

However, in a world of bad reality television and far and few decent sitcoms, Survivorman is interesting and gets me motivated to get off the beaten path this summer.

Transparent Monitors

2006-03-12T22:24:00.000-06:00

I have always thought this trick is cool. The simplicity of it all is what I like, its a simple trick done with some time and lighting that can either look really good, or really bad.

Lots of people have been posting the Transparent Monitor for a while and I found a list of some good ones. Enjoy and get a good laugh.

If History has Taught us Anything

2006-03-09T22:27:00.000-06:00

Recently, Digital Playground, has announced that they will be releasing their product in Blu Ray oppose to HD-DVD.

For those who don't know (Including myself), I have been told that Digital Playground is a large producer of adult entertainment (well I never), infact one of the larger distributors of Adult Entertainment DVDs (and yet I've never heard of them, hmm).

Many people aren't aware that we are in yet another media war. Like the wars in the past, this one is two opposing formats on the verge of colliding to decide who will be the victor. Many are aware that Beta was beaten out by the inferior VHS due to the adult entertainments decision to go VHS. Many would say the viability of the internet would not be as strong without adult entertainment, and I tend to agree that anytime the adult industry dips their fingers in something (absolutely no pun intended, but yet I giggle) it sticks (ok, now I'm laughing).

With the Blu Ray vs HD-DVD battle raging on, the fact that one of the kings in Adult Entertainment Video is going Blu Ray is a triumph. Mind you a triumph that probably won't be used by the Best Buy sales staff when you ask, "Which is better Blu Ray or HD-DVD"

The Intimidator!

2006-03-08T21:36:00.000-06:00

Monday night, in the midst of our drunken pool playing, we talked about stepping up our skillz (with a Z) to twice a week. In the morning I went to the McDermott website to check on prices to modify my cue.

I truly believe McDermott cues are some of the finest pool cues made. I also believe this because they are made right here in Wisconsin since 1975. I was given a McDermott cue for Christmas a couple years back and hold it high as not only one of the finest gifts I’ve received, but one of my prized properties. Though it was a gift and I treasure it, I wanted to add some weight to it seeing that I prefer a heavier cue. While perusing the site I found one of McDermott’s Press Releases from earlier this year, it announced the Intimidator. One of the most expensive pool cues ever made.

Going a mere 150,000 dollars, the Intimidator is a hand crafted pool cue formed from an 82 pound stainless steel, dawned with Obsidian gemstones and 25K gold. Did I mention it has blades like a Celtic war axe? Yeah.

The thing that amazes me even more besides the outrageous look and price, it’s the weight. Remember how I said I preferred a heavier cue, and was looking to modify mine to have more weight? 20 oz is considered pretty heavy for a cue, and I like about 25 oz. The Intimidator weighs 9.25 pounds.

Many people would agree that this cue is more for decoration as a status symbol then a workable cue. But quite honestly, can you even play with a cue that has a battle axe in the butt and almost 10 pounds of steal. You should be able to play at least one decent game with the worlds most expensive cue. Next time I go to the McDermott store I'll ask to take the Intimidator for a spin.

Monday Night Pool

2006-03-07T10:47:00.000-06:00

Every Monday night I go to Landmark Lanes on the east side and play pool with a couple of friends. Couple weeks ago I was fortunate enough to almost run the table, and missed it by burying the cue ball behind a solid, blocking my shot from the 8 ball. Disappointing, but still very satisfying.

Last night when we were partnered off, my partner, Jeff Kilsdonk, fulfilled what I couldn't do. After his break he proceeded to run the whole table, shot by shot, ball by ball and we won. It was amazing and we won that series.

Congrats to Jeff and it was awesome to witness. I know I have to bring my 'A' game when he's not my partner, and I can half ass it when he is.

Go Crew Go

2006-03-02T21:56:00.000-06:00

This will truly be a great year for the Milwaukee Brewers. Yes many say, baseball died in the fast pace world of todays modern adolecent, but I say Neh. Neh I say!

In honor of the Crew's pre-banner-season, a couple of us have formed a Milwaukee Brewers Blog. We will voice many of our opinions and rants, but most of the time we will praise and chart our favorite teams road to victory. Please visit.

http://www.gocrew.blogspot.com/

It will also be featured on the side bar.

How Many Hog heads to the gallon?

2006-03-01T23:16:00.000-06:00

I'm the kind of person who knows useless knowledge but sometimes lack "common knowledge". For instance, I don't know how many hog heads are in a gallon, or the prefix codes for Quam, or the proper flag signals for an industrial crane. I tell you, it can be almost embarrasing in certain circles.

One night while watching Mythbusters, Jamie, one of the hosts, mentioned the little black book that should be in everyones tool box. It was called 'The Pocket Ref'. It contains endless amounts of useful information and rounded out with "useless" info. Perfect for anyone from engineers/technicians in various fields to Alcaholics sitting on a bar stool arguing about the weight of Carbon (sounds like my average workday).

I bought one at Borders (despite going on the web and their website saying they were out of stock, the person at the desk saying they had one copy in General Fitness, and the person who showed me where it was saying "that has nothing to do with refereering") for only 12 bucks. I've had it only a few weeks now and have used it on quite a few occasions.

I like to say its a book that contains everything you should know, but don't have the time to remember, and a book you must have near you when you don't have access to the internet (i.e. a barstool). Go to your local book store and buy yourself a copy. Its priced right and is a fun page turner.

Mario Bros. LIVE on stage

2006-02-18T14:58:00.000-06:00

This is a video I found while browsing around Google Video. Its a bit long and gets repetitive, but I couldn't help but watch the whole thing.

I like to think that these 4 kids were social outcasts in High School until the day of the talent show when they put this bit on and became the coolest kids for a day. The next day they were casted out once again.

Peter Benchley Dies

2006-02-12T22:11:00.000-06:00

On Saturday morning Peter Benchley (author of the book 'Jaws') died at the age of 65. Many people would say he wasn't that good of an author, and many say that Spielberg changed the book so much that you almost can't compare the two. I say he was a great pulp author and a great man who did good things with his popularity.

I don't know about you but I'm going to pop in one of my 5 copies of Jaws in the DVD player or VCR (yes I still own one) in memory of him, or I'll actually finish his book "The Island" (no connection with Michael Bays waste of emulsion)

Pirates of the Caribbean 2 Meeting Notes

2006-02-05T20:32:00.000-06:00

Producer: "Remember that scene in the first Pirates where Jonny Depp had that really kick ass intricate sword fight with Orlando Bloom?"

Director: "Yeah"

Producer: "Remember how we said it was too long and silly?"

Director: "Yeah"

Producer: "Well people ended up really liking it, so we want you to have another sword fight in the sequel."

Director: "hmm"

Producer: "Yeah, except having them in some spinning apparatus rolling down a hill and have shit hitting them and going all over the place, you know stuff like that. I want our Peter Jackson Bronto scene but in a Pirates sword fight way"

Director: "hmmm, so make it even longer and sillier"

Producer: "Fuck yes."

Hecklers Not Close Enough

2006-02-04T10:55:00.000-06:00

This year, right field at Miller Park will look different. A new picnic area has been installed next to the away teams bull pen. In a motif that resembles a make-shift concentration camp, fans can get up close and personal with the opposing team with only a chain link fence seperating them. If that wasn't enough, they also furnished a large plexi glass window over looking the visitors bull pen, perfect for making "squishy faces" or even mooning your favorite opponent. Retaliation will not be a problem, seeing that Miller Park will be giving every visitor a Brewers replica batting helmet.

Many say with a price tag between 39 and 69, it will only attract the sophisticated rich, so none of the before mentioned will happen. As a frequent visitor to the suites and box seats, those people are the worst. They tend to lack not only knowledge of the team and sport, but the class to be in public. Don't even get me started on their offspring.

If I was asked if this was a good idea, I would consider it. If they said, "We are going to get rid of our manual scoreboard which is a classic throw back to the sports beginings, that we have preserved in our stadium of the future to remind us of our roots." I would laugh hard, take a sip of water, wipe away the forming tear from laughing and look up to see a group of serious faces staring at me. And thats exactly what they did.

Now to not sound like a hypocrite, I will consider going to the pen before I stand thouroughly behind my statement. I have seen it in the outfield under construction during my visits to TGIFridays this winter. The fact that the price is all inclusive for food and drink is very appealing, I just don't believe the cost of a manual scoreboard in right field is wise. Even though many say it will be a delightful experience to take the family or coworkers out to.

I don't want to hear marketing people's take on this, or how its in other stadiums, or how the chances of getting an Home Run ball are estounding when you sit in the "Dog Pen" (thats my name for it), I want to hear what Jeremy Burnitz thinks on April 3rd.

Oprah Feels Duped, again

2006-01-29T23:13:00.000-06:00

Last year during Oprah Winfrey’s “Teachers are Great” episode, Oprah showered her teacher guests with extravagant gifts. Oprah chooses only the best of select items she discovered during that year. One of the things she found was Christianity, and instantly felt it to be the greatest religion ever. Everyone in the audience got a complimentary baptismal. “At first I wasn’t sure, being a devoted Jew, but its Oprah” Tammy Shaumstein (28, Chicago Illinois) “In fact it was the only gift she gave where I could afford the tax on it.”

Oprah believed the book The Bible, was an awe-inspiring book that both touched her and made her see and understand things she not only already knew, but knew were great.

After watching a recent History channel special, Oprah Winfrey (famous talk show host) learned that there are flaws in the accuracy of the popular book the Bible. At first she contested it, believing that the writings of the apostles were transcribed from the voice of god. But eventually outside organizations and other blogs convinced her, she was duped.

This Week on Oprah, Oprah Winfrey invited Jesus on the show to call him out. In front of her studio full of followers, she apologized for leading them astray and duping them. Jesus explained that yes a few of the stories were embellished but the meaning and underlining story is true. The idea is true. When Oprah read a part of the book about turning water into wine and asked Jesus to perform this “miracle”, Jesus paused, and explained “the idea was that we could…..” “Idea Jesus, you mean lie.”

The interview went on and during the commercial breaks, one could see that Oprah was not only sad, but frustrated that she believed the Bible was fact. During most commercial breaks you can see the joy in her as she continues talk with her guest, none of this warm banter was shared with her algid/former savior.

Jesus had no defense to the accusations or proof that contested what many blogs have scientifically investigated; he only apologized to Oprah and her followers, apologized for their soul. The crowd booed.

Quote of the Moment

2006-01-05T19:59:00.000-06:00

"The first song that I heard is 'Rock You Like a Hurricane' by The Scorpions and I thought to myself, 'Is it me, or is this just totally out of place and inappropriate?"

-Bob Corry
Bucs fan who witnessed Tampa Bay Cheerleaders dancing to that song during halftime at the Bucs/Saints game.

For Your Convenience, We are Putting You on Hold

2005-11-29T13:12:00.000-06:00

Ever want to get help with your ipod and have to wait 15 plus minutes. Not anymore. Just dial 000 at the prompts and say "Operator". For T-Mobil, just say the word "Representative" at any time and it immediatly directs you to a person.

On NPR this week, Paul English was featured in one of their episodes of Morning Edition. Paul English is a blogger that has a page listing many major corporations and how to bypass their customer service pergatory.

In many ways this might be unfair to skip the deligently patient people waiting before you, but it is even more unfair to be putting your customer around in circles for 20 plus minutes. I know with my last tussle with Cingular I waited 20 minutes just to find out that I had to call a different Cingular number. They offered to forward me, but in the end they accidentally hung up on me.

I also want to mention that Paul English also has many other great articles on "great" customer service. Defineatly worth checking out and having it bookmarked for your next Customer Service Two-Step.

Do you like Madison and Funny things?

2005-11-13T00:49:00.000-06:00

So I was looking on the internet for more information on the soon to be erected Barry Alveraz bronze statue, (By the way, that is practically the most dirty, erotic thing I ever typed.) when I came across this Blog site.

It is presitge brillance to the level of the Onion, the down home flavor of Madison, and the incepid hatred for posers, tools and jags alike that made me bookmark this quality blog. Not since the meandering rants of Goggins, have I read a home grown musing that amused me as much. Granted it is very Onion-esque, but there is nothing wrong with that. As long as they keep it real.

This blog writes about news and events of our fair Mad City in the style of the Onion. Luckily for this person the town is full of posers, tools and jags of all colors and styles so the well wont run dry on these new ideas.

I'm going to keep tabs on it. I think you should too.

Fine, you win!

2005-11-12T16:13:00.000-06:00

Alright, I'm a big man, I can admit when I'm wrong. I like Itunes. It is a quality product.

I have gone several years denying the quality media program that is Itunes. I've installed it 5 times and uninstalled it 4 times. The most recent Itune installation was due to the ipod shuffle I was given. Now that I have the Ipod working (another post in itself) and have begun to utilize Itunes I'm very happy thus far with it.

Many of you at this point are saying, "duh". But all I'm saying, is you are right. I am wrong, I have seen the light and it comes from Cupertinon, CA.

Although Itunes is awesome, I don't belive it whips the llamas ass. But it gives a bruising.

Too Bad for T. O.

2005-11-08T08:00:00.000-06:00

In a world that cares more about results then effort and appearance more then discipline, it amazes me what happened to Terrell Owens. And when it comes to the Imperial realm of the National Football Leauge, I honestly believed that Terrell would have to kill someone in the endzone, dance on his body and then drag the body to a press conference before someone would say more then "Thats T.O. for you. What a showboat."

To have the Eagles say, "your done" to All - Star Reciever Terrell Owens, for exteneded confrontations on and off the field is one step in getting things right with sports. We have always learned to dismiss ones actions off their field for their actions on the field. This could possibly send a message to players to not go shoot off their mouth in a microphone, or disrespect their coach on the practice field. I'm talking to you Mr. Sheffield.

Im sure when push comes to shove T.O. will get his way, and his money. But for now I know, somewhere, there is a battle worn veterans of the playing field who remember the glory days of football, when men were men and the game was not just a check, but everything. Sitting in his tattered recliner watching the local news because his pension needs to cover his medication and not cable tv and saying to the T.O. news, "Its about &%$@# time! Martha! Get me a beer." God bless america and God bless the NFL.

Aardman Studios

2005-10-10T20:12:00.000-05:00

On October 10th the Aardman Studios storage warehouse burned to the ground. All of the original Wallace and Gromit puppets and Chicken Run figures and sets were destroyed.

"Even though it is a precious and nostalgic collection and valuable to the company, in light of other tragedies, today isn't a big deal."

-Nick Parks
creator of Wallace and Gromit

wait'll they get a load of this

2005-10-04T23:53:00.000-05:00

For Batman fans out there (who like the first Burton Batman film), they are finally releasing a version on DVD that isn't first generation WB style disc. Pretty cool.

That movie looks delightful

2005-09-30T23:12:00.000-05:00

This trailer is by far one of the funnier things I've seen in a long time.

A movie for all ages.

Submitted for your approval: "The Mighty Orc"

2005-09-20T23:06:00.000-05:00

I believe that a good nic name should have four qualifications. 1. Social Ramifications, it can't be insulting to the person. 2. Physical Correct, this can also be ironic. A 300 pound man can be called "tiny". 3. Chant, you have to chant the name. 4. recognize by his peers. You can't name yourself something and others outside of your circle can't go giving out nic names.

DERRICK TURNBOW (P) MILWAUKEE BREWERS

All season, fans and experts have tried to name Derrick Turnbow, the Milwaukee Brewers closing pitcher. Darron Sutton leans to compare him to Napoleon Dynamite, due to his love of the cult movie. Where as Bob Uecker refers to him as the "Bowhunter". These are very good and stir a sense of accomplishment.

I submit for your approval.

Derrick Turnbow "The Mighty Orc!!!!!"

I put this on record that "The Mighty Orc" is not only a proper name, but the best nic name for Turnbow. Not only does it roll off the tongue well (Just saying "Napoleon" sounds nasally) it conjures up imagery of a vicious creature that strikes fear in the enemy.

Social Ramification:

Many consider this nic name an insult. People see an Orc as a common creature whose manners and actions are subhuman. This is why I put the word "Mighty" before the word, "Orc". This making him not only an orc (an already feared creature) but he is mightier then the average Orc. Make him superior to the creature whose manners and actions that are subhuman.

Physical:

Physically, he is not exactly the same as an Orc. Exhibit A.

Note, the eyes, ears and upper front teeth.

Compare to exhibit B:

Now granted the eye to nose ring is more of a Red Sox thing, but still acceptable for this example.

Now just too make sure people are aware, Example A is Turnbows team photo, and Example B is an run-of-the-mill Orc.

Crowd Chant:

Final test of a good nic name. Silently chant the name either in a long cheer or in an repetitious beat. Example:

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOverrrrrrrrBAYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY

(I came up with that one too, however people cut off the "verbay" part, I approve.

Now try the beat test with Ueckers name:

BOW HUNTER BOW HUNTER BOW HUNTER

I'm out of breath already.

Now we test mine:

mighty ORRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRC!!!!

though it has striking similarities to Lyles, it is still good.

Second test:

ORC ORC ORC ORC ORC ORC

Christ, I could do that all day, no sweat.

Peers:

Well, this last one is up to you. Tell me what you think. Or just start chanting it next time he saves another one for the crew.

Quote of the Moment

2005-09-08T15:39:00.000-05:00

"I don’t advocate downloading songs illegally, but do it.
Then cut your hair, you hippy."

-Jason, writer for chrisdiclerico.com

Six Feet Under Finale

2005-08-22T12:33:00.000-05:00

If there is anything that 6 Feet Under taught us is that life is short and the people around us give us the meaning of our life. Many, if not all, of the clients that came through Fischer and Sons were flat 2 dimensional characters whose deaths were often funny if not ironic. It wasn’t until the Fischer family interacted with the living did we begin to be emotionally tied into their actions.

Since the beginning I found the series to be interesting and well written. These characters were often morbid, socially unacceptable and most of all pretencious. I stuck around to watch the pieces of humanity to come out, often in emotion or moral lessons. On occasion I would be disappointed with cliché antics or worn visual aids for the slow minded viewer, but most of the time the cast and crew was aware of these clichés and redefined them to their own ways. That is what kept me watching and kept me plugging along until the end (a symbol of life in many ways).

The series finale was on HBO last night and as I watched I thought about all the episodes I saw in the past and the night I watched the first episode (kind of ironic). In the end the tear I shed was the tear of disappointment.

The first hour plus was very good and played out in the same quality that was held up through the entire series run. However the last montage was a ridiculous portrayal of everything that the series didn’t stand for. The series ends with a Claire starting her new life on her way to New York and we see a future montage of how each main character of SFU dies.

I felt almost no attachment to these people’s deaths, mostly because you were too preoccupied with their bad makeup and giggled at the drawn out deaths. You wondered, what twist will kill this family member. During the whole montage I kept thinking of the episode only two weeks prior, on the death of Nate, had more emotion and intrigue then any episode too date. On the other hadn the finales ending scene felt more like some cheap rip off written by the same group of writers that did the Very Brady Christmas. It seemed more of the actions of closure then the actual closure itself. Its sad that a show that had such a strong story line to end with something so flat and lifeless.

How about that HBO’s Rome!

Say What!?

2005-08-19T10:36:00.000-05:00

I do not usually repost what others have posted, but on chrisdiclerico.com, a site a frequent often, posted a link to Gizoogle. A website that translates any website into Snoop Dogg ebonics. And again, I usually don't find it very funny, but out of boredom, I tried it out on my blog. It was mildly amusing until I got down to my Rock Bottom entry (which by the way, please go to the site and get the wings back)

This is what I wrote:

Dear Rock Bottom,

Why hasn't the Thursday night all you can eat Wings and Beer returned to the Milwaukee Location. I found this to be an wonderful experience and enjoyed going at least _______ a month. Is there a reason why you haven't continued this?

This is what Gizoogle wrote:

Dear Rock Bottom,

Why hasn't tha Thursday night all you can eat Wings n Beer returned ta tha Milwaukee Location . I thought i told ya, nigga I'm a soldier. I found this ta be an wonderful experience n enjoyed going at least _______ a miznonth . Ill slap tha taste out yo mouf. Is there a reason why you haven't continued this . Throw yo guns in the motherfuckin air.

Juvenile, but funny

The time wasn't right

2005-08-18T21:56:00.000-05:00

The Marathon was more of a brisk walk in the history of cinema. I will try again, but right now between work and all, I just can't get a film a day in. But I will be triumphant again.

World's Finest Trailer

2005-08-14T19:01:00.000-05:00

I watched the trailer for World's Finest (The Batman Superman movie I talked about earlier). All in all, not too impressed (because of Superman). But I recommend seeing it, and I still look forward to it. The Ifilm website is nice, but sometimes cumbersome to watch trailers on. However the Force.net site has many other very cool fan films and a little more user friendly.

Batman/Superman movie

2005-08-11T14:21:00.000-05:00

The Batman franchise has been around for over 65 years now and has a long ever changing history. Monumental moments from the Golden Age of comics, to what many refer to as the Frank Miller Vision of Batman, the caped crusader has taken on many faces and many personas. Lewis Wilson, Adam West, Michael Keaton, Kevin Conroy, Val Kilmer, George Clooney, Christian Bale (Italics represent unapproved Batmen).

These mainstream version of Batman are all fairly well known, but few people know of "Batman: Dead End", by Sandy Corrola

Sandy Corrola is a special effect artist who got his tutilage from Stan Winston. Being a huge batman fan he created a short film entitled "Batman: Dead End". I've pretty much forced everyone I know to sit down and watch it, those who don't know what it is are usually surprised by the professionalism and the twist ending. At this point, I recommend you to go to the site. Another forwarning, do not look at the photo site, just watch the film, don't ruin the ending.

Note to Mr. Faber, the Sandy Corrola's website now has a high resolution version of his film, go there to view it.

Though I am not a fan of Superman as much as Batman, I'm very excited to know that Sandy Corrola is doing a Batman/Superman fan film. Yet again, I think Sandy Corrola did an excellent job at casting Superman, as he did with casting Clark Bartram for Batman. Compared to some of the early pictures I've seen of the "official" Superman movie, this Superman is far better.

As you know, I will be following this closely and keep everyone posted.

Now Seriously!

2005-08-11T11:21:00.000-05:00

Ok, I posted this a couple of months ago and yet STILL, the infamous wings and beer has not returned to Rock Bottom. Come on people, united we stand!

Please go to the Rock Bottom site and send a comment.

Dear Rock Bottom,

Why hasn't the Thursday night all you can eat Wings and Beer returned to the Milwaukee Location. I found this to be an wonderful experience and enjoyed going at least _______ a month. Is there a reason why you haven't continued this.

If you don't do it for yourself, at least do it for me!

What Grinds My Gears

2005-08-11T11:11:00.000-05:00

Overrated Actors and Directors (Michael Bay, Joel Shumacher, Nicole Kidman, Drew Barrymore, etc.)
Poor Film handling and presentation
Cell phone abuse
People who make U-turns at lit intersections
Drew Rosenhaus and any of his clients
People who drive in the emergency lane during traffic jams
Video game controllers chords wrapped around a controller
The sound of balloons and the sound of Styrofoam
Cubs fans
People who like really bad movies for the wrong reasons

A Long Time Ago....

2005-07-30T00:30:00.000-05:00

No this isn't a photo from yet another Star Wars Episode.

These photos were shown to me a couple of years ago. They are actually photographs taken by Sergei Mikhailovich Prokudin-Gorskii in the early 1900s. And yes, they were shooting color images then.

He basically invented the three pass system of color photography before we were doing it a dozen years later. The plates were found, scanned digitally and restored. I think some of these photos are some of the most amazing photos out there. Check out the site to learn more and see the whole collection.

Quote of the Moment

2005-07-26T23:37:00.000-05:00

"I think a lot of people would like to have Overbay.
But they're not going to get him."

- Mark Attanasio
Chairman and Principal Owner of the Milwaukee Brewers

The Eye in the Sky

2005-07-17T21:10:00.000-05:00

Found this website in one of my many latenight web excursions.

Many people know that google maps now features satelite images. However, they are really really blury and don't get that close. In my search for quality satelite images, I found this site.

I was amazed at the quality and the accuracy of its search engine. Granted, there are those stupid company logos all over it, but still very amusing and cool (in a nerd way).

I recently found that they also have old satelite photos as well. Very cool to see how the neighborhood evolved and see historic locations come and go.

Miller Park Now

During Construction

All Star Game, an All Time Low. (but is there new life on a larger level?)

2005-07-13T15:57:00.000-05:00

The ratings are in and the 2005 All Star Game has the lowest in Major League history to date for an All Star game. 8.1/14 is the lowest it has ever been, infact its down 8 percent from last year.

In other Major League News. Commissioner Bud Selig will not hault baseball for Olympics. He stated this at yesterdays All-Star festivities when asked if he would consider it to add favor to the Olympic committee. Earlier that day the Olympic Committee announced they would be dropping baseball from the Olympic Games in 2012 because of its scrutiny in steroid use the past few years.

Will the World Baseball Classic bring new life to the void the Olympics made?

I believe that it will catch Americas eyes and help fill out the year by giving its fans more of what they love, Baseball. Scheduled for the begining of March, this timing puts it on the heels of the biggest sporting event of the year and the finality of the most popular professional sport around, the NFL Super Bowl (yeah, Nascar is technically more popular but I don't consider it professional when a large percent of the sports requirement is money).

Say it ain't so Kurtz, say it ain't so

2005-07-12T18:24:00.000-05:00

Scott Kurtz is officially out of the Daily Grind Iron Man Challenge! Whats this you ask? Is this like a Lance Armstrong kind of thing? The Daily Grind Iron Man Challenge is an Online comic artist competition. 20 dollars to sign up gets you in, you have to post every day a new comic everyday (except on Sunday you rest) Last man standing takes the pot. "100 men enter, 1 man leave" It truly is the Thunderdome of online comics.

I've followed this since its conception. Scott Kurts (writer of PVP Online) was a shoe in. He has posted daily since PVPs conception with only missing like two days. Thats almost 7 years of posting. He was practically the sure bet for winning and I followed it closely.

Now he has practically given up by having a guest artist on PVP while he goes to the San Diego Con and gets some time away (granted he might get to meet Jon Herder, that would be mad awesome!). At first I felt a sense of denial that he would just kind of give up like that, then the cold hard facts set in.

This, to me, is a few levels of importance below when the Packers loose the playoffs, but a few levels higher then when I find out I don't have anything in the fridge to eat. It hurts, but I will go on.

His guest artist is quite talented and well known, and I have already found a new online comic to follow through the competition. I won't give up on Mr. Kurtz and find him extremely talented and hilarious. And the more I think about it, I realise that this competition doesn't value the things I value most about competitions. This competition is not based on artistic ability, creativity or merit. But is based on who can upload a set of drawings every day. Granted its cool that anyone with a website and a computer can enter no matter the size or power of the entity behind you, but at the same time, a monkey could compete if you shocked him at the right times throughout the day.

Just a rant with a thought. Monkeys + Daily Grind Iron Man Challenge = Matt's loaded.

The fight goes on.

Review of War of the Worlds

2005-07-04T15:06:00.000-05:00

Summer and Spielberg. These two things are synonymous.

War of the Worlds is based on the H.G. Wells classic science fiction tale about alien occupation and extermination of the human race. Steven Spielberg tells the story from the point of view of a broken family.

Tom Cruise plays the father of two kids who are visiting for the weekend. Within the first reel we quickly see how Tom Cruise is a divorced father of two who knows very little of his kids, “smarter-then-her-age” Dakota Fanning and “rebel-son” Justin Chatwin. With no real attachment between the main characters, except for their distant past. I don’t see any true character development on the horizon except for these distant characters to come closer as individuals and as a family. In less then 18 minutes I am not interested in these characters and have no expectations for them, maybe the aliens will occupy my time. Maybe.

The alien crafts, or Tripods, were planted on earth hundreds of thousands of years ago. With the human race at its apex, the aliens decide to put an end to our smugness. They slowly begin to emerge in random cities all over the world and begin taking out all civilization in that area. Tom Cruise is luckily enough to be living in one of those cities. The aliens emerge in front of Cruise while he looks for his car that his rebellious son stole.

The choreography that Steven Spielberg and Dennis Murren puts Tom Cruise through in the first Tripod attack is not only mesmerizing to see, but to fathom how they mixed physical and special effects is amazing. With the combination of cgi effects of aliens tearing through the city and the physical effects of people running and windows exploding, you see why Spielberg is the action movie master.

As the movie progresses we see the Tripods attacking in all types of situations. Land, air and sea. During all these blood lusted attacks the human race is slapped around and destroyed, except for this family of three. During the whole movie, Tom Cruises party comes within 10 feet or less with these creatures at every encounter, only to survive. They become the luckiest trio on earth.

With these alien attacks comes a hodge podge of mass human emotion. With scenes and sets remanescent of ground zero 9/11, are however splattered with a human reaction and selfishness that was absent from those tragic events. There is too much of a zombie feel to the human race whenever they are in masses. Which hinders the character development of the main characters.

As a craft this film is hands down one of the better ones I’ve seen this summer. The sound design and mix fills the theatre and it sets the mood of the film from beginning until the end. Janusz Kaminski pilots the camera for Spielberg once again in this film. Even though I found his cinematography to be lackluster from his previous films, the authorship of Spielbergs camera style was definitely more prominent in this film and was a warm welcome.

All in all, I found this movie to be disappointing. Despite the positive things (Action, well crafted and funny hijinx) this film falls short. Though I never got bored with the film in general, I did feel disappointed and upset with the cliché actions of the characters. Though this is a Spielberg film, it is not the movie to save summer as many thought it would be. Do I recommend it, yes. Did I like it, somewhat. Will it save the summer season, no.

Add a caption!

2005-07-03T00:16:00.000-05:00

What was Victor Santos thinking in this picture?

More then Meets the Eyes

2005-06-30T18:32:00.000-05:00

I was surfing imdb.com to find out that Spielberg is Executive Producing a live action version of the Transformers movie.

Its going to be directed by Michael Bay.

Those who know me, realized I just puked on my keyboard.

Opinion Poll #1

2005-06-29T16:47:00.000-05:00

Post your response on the comments section!

Who is Batman's greatest villian and why?

Sausage Stats

2005-06-28T01:03:00.000-05:00

I have added the Miller Park Sausage racing stats to the blog.

There is not up-to-the-minute updates on the web. I will do my best to keep it up to date, but any help I can get will help.

Now in the Fold

2005-06-27T23:53:00.000-05:00

My friend B. Goggins started a blog after I directed him to mine and Nevilles. I think once he saw the pointant rants that we posted, he probably thought we were morons and wanted to show us up.

I guarantee you a good bitter point of view of a nieve world you never saw before, until you see them through the eyes of V-Gogo.

A Little Bit Country

2005-06-17T20:53:00.000-05:00

I told a few friends about this commerical I saw on tv this morning. I finally found it on the web, I think its hilarious.

Review of Batman Begins

2005-06-14T15:47:00.000-05:00

Batman Begins is the latest chapter in the chain of unattached Batman films. Batman Begins starts the franchise all over and takes you through the journey Bruce Wayne travels to wear the mantle of the guardian of Gotham, Batman.

Bruce Wayne (Bale) struggles with the loss of his parents and sets out to train himself to avenge his past. With mentoring from Herni Ducard (Neeson), we watch Bruce Wayne both harnesses his anger and his guilt and find that they are both laced to his fear. Once he has learned to overcome his fear, he can begin to spread fear to people who seeded his anger and guilt, the crime of Gotham. It’s a vicious circle, but that’s good drama.

Once he returns to Gotham, he quickly begins to look closely at the corruption that has plagued his fare city. After looking over the entire city, he finds that only a few people are good: Gordon (Oldman), Rachel (Holmes), and anyone his father worked with directly. Everyone else is evil except for a few small children and impoverished citizens. Gotham is very black and white, this makes Batman’s job very easy.

Once Batman has made his mark on Gotham and begins to bring down the thugs, the city questions the work of the vigilante. Bruce Wayne must keep up appearances to save both his identity and the good citizens of Gotham. However his struggle between finding his true self and avenging his past quickly shifts to avenging his past and rekindling his lost love with the reentry of Katie Holmes into his life (Rachel).

During this transition, the film changes gears into the familiar gear of summer blockbuster. With the corruption plaguing the city, Scarecrow (Murphy) uses mind altering drugs to drive the city to its knees. And the only way to stop this is with the cooperation of Batman, the above mentioned people who are good in the city, and a futuristic arsenal of stupendous proportions.

Though I find this movie to be good and enjoyable, I also find it to be cut from the same cloth as many other summer blockbuster action films. Though it has small intricacies that break away from the clichés of the summer blockbuster, the film in itself becomes almost predictable and obtuse. With the strength of the beginning and a proposed premise, it is slowly beaten down with flashy chase scenes, chaotic fight scenes and a two dimensional love story.

This film is one of the better action movies to come out this year so far, but to convince someone that this is anything more then a summer blockbuster would be hard to do. Good intentions, but poor execution.

Stay tuned for my rant on this film from the perspective of a Batman Fan!

Lets Start at the Begining

2005-06-12T19:48:00.000-05:00

Very good article about the director of the upcoming batman film. Even though I heard he is a jag on the set, it's still a good article and I think he's a good director.

WARNING: I regret reading this article before seeing the latest film. Gives away a small part. Its the small parts that kill.

In Case You Forgot

2005-06-08T15:35:00.000-05:00

Many people didn't understand the rage I voiced when New York Yankee's number 11 came up to the plate, heck just the idea that he was in Milwaukee drove me up the wall last night. For those who don't remember, or those who forgot entirely, or for even those who just didn't know.

"The Brewers brought out the hate in me. I was a crazy man. . . . I hated everything about the place. If the official scorer gave me an error, I didn't think was an error, I'd say, 'Ok, here's a real error,' and I'd throw the next ball into the stands on purpose."

Many would say that this quote was taken out of context, that there is no record of Mr. Sheffield ever throwing a major league ball into a major league stand, that he would "never do anything to hurt the team". None the less, Gary Sheffield has a history of speaking his opinion to the media on the negative feelings he has for a team and city just to get what he wants. Though I believe that ballplayers are neither role models or shouldn't be held to a higher standard, I just don't agree with anyone that would either do these things or threaten to do these things just to get what they want. There is not a 'happy average' or 'content with my surroundings percentage' next to his batting average on the back of his card. Him being happy with the team or where he will play next should bare nothing on his actions on the field at that moment.

He was a good ballplayer, and I will remember how I thought he was an awesome player for the Brewers. But I will also remember what he said in that interview and that will go with the memory as well.

Getto's Top 30

2005-06-06T11:15:00.000-05:00

Great article for anyone looking for good restaurants in Milwaukee. Dennis Getto writes about his Top 30 again in last Fridays Milwaukee Journal.

He lists some really good places for food and some places I want to try soon.

Trailers

2005-05-23T21:40:00.000-05:00

I'm personally not a proponent for watching trailers on the internet or tv. I find them to be a poor quality in both sound and picture. Even the websites dedicated to the movies host poor quality trailers and if they are any good you aren't able to download them and keep them if need be.

Seeing that I work in a theatre I enjoy standing in the back of a theatre and watching them on the big screen. About 10 years ago, that was the first and only way to see the full trailers, but in these modern times you can see full movie trailers even on your telephones, yet I remain a purest.

As earlier mentioned I am very excited for the Batman Begins movie (my brother remains skeptical but that is neither here nor there. If he wants to defend his ignorance, he should start a blog) I stopped by the DivX website to update my drivers when I saw that they host high quality trailers of many major releases coming and already out. I highly recommend going there for your pretheatre trailer viewing, instead of many of the crap sites out there.

http://www.divx.com/movies/trailers.php

And yes, I have downloaded both Batman Begins trailers.

Rock Bottom hits bottom

2005-05-21T19:54:00.000-05:00

Many of you are aware of the fine establishment of Rock Bottom. However few of you are aware that Rock Bottom has all-you-can-eat chicken wings and all-you-can-drink beer on Thursday nights for 15 dollars. The reason I say "few", is because last Thursday was the last time they will offer this sweet deal of deliciousness.

I demanded an answer for this travesty when it finally sunk in (I was drinking a lot of Naughty Scot and was in denial). The guy at the door explained that management feels they are not earning money (understandable, seeing that the before mentioned sweet deal, is in fact a sweet deal) but the employee explained that Thursday nights is the busiest weekday night for Rock Bottom because of the sweet deal. I said I would write letters and he gave me his blessing and endorsement.

As a card carrying member of the Mug Club I find this very disappointing. I urge all of you who love both chicken wings and beer to tell Rock Bottom the way you feel. I advise sending in your protests to their website. Together we can make a difference.

Crimson Room

2005-05-17T13:45:00.000-05:00

I was told about this Crimson Room at www.chrisdiclerico.com, and tried it out. Its a puzzle game where you have to get out of the room using what you find to help get you out. It was very fun but the only stupid part is at the end.

Good luck, the only hint I will tell you is that there are 13 items to find. I got them all, and my brother got up to 11 before homework called him away.

Fear ends... Justice prevails (god I hope so)

2005-05-16T01:11:00.000-05:00

The more I see the latest Batman trailer (as discussed on the Chatanooga Choo Choo) the more I am excited for it. I don’t know what it is. From what I can tell the entire trailer is basically the first reel of the film and the last reel of the film. Batman will be heavy drama and backstory to the dark knight and that’s what has been missing from the last couple Batman films.

What I don’t think the trailer touches on at all is Gordon, which I believe will be a large part of the film. I hope the story is similar to the one of Frank Millers Year One for Gordon’s plot, but I’m open for anything with Gary Oldman as Lt. Gordon.

I’m very excited at seeing the inner turmoil of Batman’s early years and training, for the first time on film (you don’t see Batman for the first hour). The most important part of Batman is his struggle to find himself inside and outside of the cowl and I believe that will be touched on more intimately with Nolan behind the camera.

My only fears are that WB hasn’t realized that the silver screen is too small for two villains and that they don’t over do the love story, even though its Katie Holmes. I’m tired of Bruce Wayne showing his woman the cave and who he really is, that plot point is getting as stale as the bat cave air.

This Batman is truly a new beginning and I hope it revives the dying franchise of the caped crusader.