Gustav

Before you read further, here are two people, who understand what may happen much better than I do.

Here is a post by someone that comes highly recommended by my sister-in-law (and many others), many people are much better people than I am, here is an example of one. I hope that if Gustav is what Katrina was, that many more people take up the cause like Lance has.

I also stumbled upon a blog of someone from New Orleans, she has gotten out, and I hope she has something to go back to.

As landfall draws near of potentially a catastrophic hurricane, I wanted to take a moment and say that I hope everyone in the Gulf Coast Region gets through this as best as possible. The unfortunate disaster of Katrina has taught us all valuable lessons, lessons that I hope lead to a minimal loss of life. I think all of us, those such as I, safely in my home in Wisconsin, and those fleeing New Orleans, realize that homes and property will be lost. Homes can be rebuilt, a life cannot.

As I watch coverage of the evacuation, I see highways that I was on only a couple of weeks ago. I drove past the levees that were rebuilt, that millions of people now hope hold up during the next few days. I stayed in a hotel, which had to renovate 60%of its 41 floor building, and stayed closed for over a year after Katrina. I walked Bourbon street, and listed to brass bands on the street. Filling the streets again with music that helped bring New Orleans back. Both the hotel and street most likely stand empty today. It is amazing to think that a major city can be turned into a ghost town. Mother Nature can be one powerful woman.

This next part is not exactly the place for this, but I also wanted to comment on the naming of Hurricanes. Not that Gustav is a popular name in the US, but I feel that it wrong to attach names to things that could cause massive devastation. Their are millions of Katrina's who are now associated with one of the worst events in US history. Why do they need names? Their has to be a better system.

WHO?

Sarah Palin has been named as the VP choice for John McCain. Some of you, I am sure know all about Sarah Palin, from her days on the pageant circuit, to her days as mayor on the means streets of Wasilla, and her current 20 month stint as the Governor of the great state of Alaska. Those three people can skip this blog, you probably won't like what you are going to hear.

I think that this may go down as the worst VP choice ever. That's right, ever. From what I have read about Sarah Palin in the last few days, I think that she might have a bright future in the Republican Party, she is a hunting, pro-life, NRA member, Caucasian (the only thing she is missing is she is not a man). I think she is jumping to the national stage way to soon.

Here are some issues I have.

1. Woman are not lemmings, they will not vote for John McCain just because he has a woman candidate. I don't think the only reason he picked her is to get the Hilary voters, but I think it is part of the reason.

2. John McCain only met her twice before Friday. With only a few phone conversations. The VP spot is pretty important, I am not sure if it should be selected after only a few meetings.

3. John McCain is 72. Now I have nothing against someone in their golden years, I would think everyone would agree that there is a higher chance of John McCain dying of natural causes while in office than any of our recent Presidents. Does anyone think that Sarah Palin will actually be able to run our country if he dies? Based on attach ads against Obama, McCain can't even believe that she is prepared.

If I were a Republican I would also be worried about the Vice Presidential Debate. Joe Biden is going to destroy her. Not only because Biden has the experience of numerous debates, but he has experience. Unless the question is about great ways to prepare moose (Palin has stated this is her favorite meat) Biden will have the upper hand. Obama has been spending the past 4 years preparing to run for President, while McCain has been around longer, Obama has been able to build similar experiences. Palin herself, only a couple of months ago didn't think she would be the VP pick, she has prepared herself for nothing.

Big Boat

As part of my reward for finishing as one of the top weight loss members of my team in the recent weight loss program my work put on, I got to take a bus to Door County, and have dinner on my CEO's yacht. While I am sure that it isn't the biggest boat in the world, it was by far the biggest boat I have been on. Once I have access to some pictures I will put some up.

The yacht was amazing. It is 112 feet, has 4 state rooms (bedrooms), a galley (kitchen), living room (can't remember the nautical term), a deck on the front of the boat, a deck on the back, and an upper deck, along with crew quarters, and the place where you run the boat. It had 4 bathrooms. The captain lives on the boat, he has no other home.

He keeps the boat in the Caribbean during the winter, in the spring sails it up to the St. Lawrence seaway, through the Great Lakes, and down to Milwaukee for the summer.

Each engine cost $450,000 (it has two), it holds over 5000 gallons of gas, and when running at full throttle can go through 200 gallons an hour.

Most of the time, I would feel a little bitter about someone with a boat such as this. While talking with my CEO, he told a story about the name of the boat. The boats name is ________ ___________ II (I prefer not to mention what the name is). He asked if we new why it was II. None of us did. He let us know that when he and his wife got married that they had about $20 in the bank, and borrowed money to buy a trailer in a trailer park. The name of the trailer they lived in was the ________ __________. So when it came time to name their boat, they only thought fitting to name it after the trailer they started out in. A fitting bookend to where they came from and where they had gotten together. I can't feel bitter about someone who worked hard to get where they are. I can only hope that someday I can achieve a small piece of what he has.

I also got to have my very own paparazzi type moment. When we docked the boat in Sister Bay, and were getting ready to head back to the bus, another boat came over, and the group on board started taking pictures of us and the boat (mainly the boat). It was cool to be able to be on the thing that everyone else was in awe of.

"My mom told me to"

So I got to spend some time on Bourbon Street in New Orleans last night, after dinner. It is quite an experience. Great music, interesting people, fun atmoshphere.

We were at, The Famous Door, and as they do in New Orleans, they were trying to entice people (females) to take their shirts off for things. In this case bud light T-Shirts. Seeing as it was for Bud Light T-Shirts they didn't have any takers. Then one brave soul took the stage. The MC asked her if she was going to show her goods to get the goods, and she said, "Well, my mom told me to, she is right down there." Sure enough, their was mom, waving to the crowd, supporting her daughters efforts in showing her chest for a cheap T-Shirt.

None of us were quite sure what to make of that. I am sure that Thanksgivings are very interesting at their house.

New Orleans

So I left early this morning to travel down to the Big Easy. I am headed to New Orleans for a work trade show. I have been to New Orleans once before, and love the city. The last time I was in New Orleans, I was given a first hand tour of the lower 9th ward by a police officer. The devastation was horrible, but it was amazing to hear stories from someone who stayed to help protect the city while everyone else had to evacuate. Enough can't be said or written about to give credit to what people did in the time of tragedy.

I am excited to get to go back, and see how far things have come. We are staying downtown, so I hope to get some time to walk around.

Foiled Again

Like the ending of every Scooby Doo episode, the rubber mask was pulled off to reveal the space monster, pirate ghost, and in this case Big Foot, was not what we thought it was, but Farmer Jenkins.

You can read a story here.

I have to admit that I am disapointed. I am not sure why I thought that someone had actually found Bigfoot, but I did. The twelve year old boy inside of me, wanted to believe.

So now I fall back into the real world. One in which Bigfoot does not exsist

The Results are In

My companies weight loss challenge is over. I lost 18 pounds and 4% body fat. Which at the end of the day is not all that bad. It is not what I set out to do, but it is a great start.

The silver lining though is that I did win the IT weight loss challenge, that a few of us did, making me over $100. Also I was 5th overall in weight loss on my team, which earns me a dinner cruise on the CEO's yacht. Not such a bad result.

While I still haven't been exercising like I would like, I have tried remain on a healthier diet.

I will continue to provide updates on my progress. I still hope to give my 5:30 mile a shot next year, and I still have a long way to go.

A curious recomendation

As I have noted in previous blogs, I am a big fan of Kevin Smith movies. His newest movie is Zach and Miri make a Porno. I had heard that they were aiming at having the first trailer for the movie run before Pineapple Express. Seeing that both movies star Seth Rogan, it made sense.

Since I haven't seen Pineapple Express yet to see if the trailer is before the movie, I went over to IMDB to see if I could find the trailer. I couldn't but I came across something that I found very interesting. At the bottom of the Zach and Miri page, IMDB had a couple of movie recomendations. Saying, if you enjoy this movie, you may enjoy these. Listed were:

Rich Kids
For Pete's Wake
Chasing Amy
Jersey Girl
The Lizzie McGurie Movie

If this were Sesame Street, the one of these things is not like the other, music would be playing. If you guessed, The Lizzie McGuire Movie, you are correct.

What does the Lizzie McGuire Movie have to do with a movie about two 28 year olds who decide to go into the adult film industry because they need some cash. For those of you who don't know what the Lizzie McGuire movie is, Lizzie McGuire was a show helmed by Hilary Duff on Nickolodean.

I am not sure how their rating system works, but few people looking at the Zach and Miri page, will be eager to check out Lizzie McGuire.

Holy Bigfoot Bloggers!!

Since I snagged the awesome Julia Child is a spy story, I thought I would wait a bit, and let someone else blog about this.

Since no one seems to care about the biggest discovery in any of our lifetimes, I will break the Bigfoot silence.

So, two guys in Georgia found Bigfoot. Dead. They then dragged him out of the woods, and put him in a freezer. For a month or two. Then finally decided to start telling people, and releasing photos.

While I realize that this will end up being an elaborate hoax. I hope that they really have found Bigfoot. How crazy would it be, if they let reputable scientists examine the body, and they confirm it is some sort of monkey/human/other hybrid.

The 10 year old boy in me has come out, and I can't wait to see my first Bigfoot.

Arsenic and Old Lace

I love a good spy movie, or book, or story. Basically I enjoy spies. It would be awesome to serve our country as a member of the CIA, using my job as a cover to travel the world and spy on our friends and enemies.

So when I came across this story this morning, it blew my mind.

Julia Child, yes that Julia Child, was a member of the OSS, which was a precursor to the CIA. She was stationed in Sri Lanka and China as a researcher for the head of the OSS.

I can't wait for the upcoming move: Julia Child, The Spy who Sauteed Me.

Cheersanity

So it seems that I am a sucker for the "Bring it On" movie series. I have a very hard time not stopping on them while I flip through channels, and I currently am watching "Bring it On: All or Nothing". Though it doesn't hold a candle to the original, it is a mildly entertaining movie.

Answer: Barry Manilow and Kenny G

Question: Who are people that have blogs that are whiter than mine.

Actually I am not sure if they actually have blogs, but if they did, I am sure that they would be whiter than mine.

Now that we have that setteled, just some random white person observances:

1. Aaron Rogers is off to a good start, and I admit that I was excited by his Pre-Season touchdown pass.

2. The Chinese Womans (Girls) Olympic Gymnastics team has 12 year olds on it. I am sure of it.

3. Michael Phelps is a Beast.

4. Today I have seen rumors that John McCain is going to have former Democratic Senator Joe Lieberman as VP and Obama is going to have Republican Senator Chuck Hagel as VP.

5. I hear that Estelle Geddy died recently. I belive she was 114. The biggest traveisty is that this eliminates the possibility of a Golden Girls reunion. Tear.

I think Matlock is on, got's to go.

Dennis Hall

Dennis Hall is an olympian from Stevens Point. He competed in Barcelona, Atlanta, and Athens in Greco Roman Wrestling. In Atlanta he won a silver medal. I got a chance to hold that medal today.

At our companies Summer Picnic, which was Olympic themed, Dennis came and gave a speech. One of the things he does when he speaks places is passes his medal around. As you may have noticed I really enjoy the olympics. Getting the chance to hold an actual olympic medal was a pretty awesome thing.

08-08-08

Happy Triple 8 day. More importantly Happy Olympic Opening Ceremony Day. As I type I sit in front of the TV, and take in the opening ceremony. As I have mentioned previously, I love the Olympics.

Trevor was born during the 2000 Sydney Olympics. I spent many a night watching water polo or handball while feeding or changing Trevor. Also since we were in School at the time, my schedule was more condusive to watching hours upon hours of Olympic coverage.

This years Olympics is chalk full of story lines. Not only is it taking place in China, which has loads of stories an intrigue. Will the "Dream Team" take gold, will 40+ year old swimmer Dara Torres medal. Who will win the showdown between the US and Chinese woman's gymnastic teams. The best things about the Olympics is the stories that come out of no where.

Go USA.

Vote Powers!

No, I am not currently running for a political office. My dad is. Since it is his birthday today, I figured I would take some time and tell all of you why you should vote for him, or at least tell all of your friends that live in the 6th Assembly district to.

To start off, this is my fathers second foray into the political world. For a time in 2006, he had declared his candidacy for the 6th District Assembly seat. For a myriad of reasons, he ended his candidacy early, stepping aside to let another Democrat run for the position. After a recent death in the family, he realized that you don't always get second chances, and decided to run again.

My father is a Democrat, Vietnam Vet, Father, Husband, Grandfather, retired teacher, former Boy Scout Leader, and all around amazing person. I am partial since he is my father, but you ask former students, co-workers, acquaintances, and they will tell you the same. For example, I met a co-worker of mine today, that is from the same town that I am. Once he found out who my father was he let me know that my dad was the reason that he started out as a History Major in college. He followed that up with that he dropped History as a major after realizing that not all teachers were as cool as my dad was.

I also saw another former student of his changed her Facebook update to: ANOTHER POWERS CAMPAIGN. THIS TIME WE WILL WIN.

If you would like to know a little bit more about his candidacy you can see his website here.

At the end of the day, I know that my father is someone that I want in Madison working towards making our state a better place. He will hit Madison with fresh ideas, the desire to make a difference, and a work ethic of getting things done.

So if possible, please support my father in any way that you can. In State elections word of mouth can go a long way, so please spread the word. Regardless of the district you live in, my father will be working to move our state Forward. With people like him in Madison, everyone wins.