Bush, Clinton, Bush, Clinton - 30+ Years of Two Options?

Dale and I watched the Presidential Debate tonight with Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton. Here are my thoughts (for what they are worth):

It is much easier to watch two candidates debate versus six.

I found myself starting to warm to Barack. Up until this point, I have placed a high priority on experience. Although, I feel Hillary better understands what goes into being U.S. President, I found Barack to be quick on his feet tonight, engaging and charming.

An interesting point was made that if Hillary won, it could possibly be over 30 years of the Bush & Clinton families running the White House. That made me think. Is that really a good idea for two families to have such control of our government and country. It is weird. We see ourselves so much to be all about the people, but is it really just a few families?

It is also an interesting thought that Papa Bush drove the country into a recession and Bill Clinton brought us back into economic and social prosperity, now we may be expecting Hillary to do the same with the current Bush. Is it the President that makes the difference? Is our economy just cyclical? Is it Democratic versus Republican? Where does the difference lie?

Either way, the weeks and months to come will be interesting and it was also nice to see Barack and Hillary focus a bit less on jabs against each other. What did everyone else think?

I Know How You Are Feeling

Left Behind
by Emily Roberts

Marie Digby - Say It Again (Original Song)

I love her. Great song. Simple. Beautiful.

Reserved, Quiet & Isolated

I am in a weird mood today. I am feeling a little reserved, quiet and isolated. The type of day where you want to be alone and just think. Not really sure why....just the way I feel. So I gravitated to these pictures when I saw them on JPG. Both just seem to speak to how I feel.

Untitled by Bryce Laughlin

cold winter night by Pawa Jaz

Where The Wild Things Are

"Where the Wild Things Are” by Maurice Sendak’s was my favorite book as a child (and still warms my heart to this day). Spike Jonze is turning it into a movie. I am hoping he will bring the story of a mischievous boy who creates his own universe in which he rules a world full of hairy, wild creatures to life in a convincing and wonderful way. Today, Warner Brothers released some sneak peak photos to build excitement and this picture truly warms my heart, so it is a great sign. If you have NOT read the book, go get it today. You will not be disappointed.

The Road Less Travelled

Another great I from JPG Magazine Photos and I loved it. Titled Holga on Hindmarsh #2 and taken by Lucy Spartilis it reminds me upstate NY, where I grew up. If you like it be sure to vote for it.

No Pictures, Please.

I came across this photo on my new favorite site JPG Magazine Photos and I loved it. Titled Moo and taken by Carissa Byers, it is wonderful. If you like it be sure to vote for it.

Pimp My Website in 30 Minutes

I have been up since 2:30 AM. I know crazy, huh? I woke up with a great idea for work or what I hope is a great idea.

Indigio is an interactive agency, so simply put - we help make other people have great websites and online strategies. However, due to the fact that we work so hard to make others look great, we often leave little time for our own website, http://www.indigio.com/.

Sara, our Creative Director, who is a genius did a great redesign of our site in December 2007. However, we have a laundry list of 25 small things that need to be done to the site to improve performance, aesthetics, content, SEO ranking, etc. We did not get to this list in January 2008 because we have so much client work (not a bad problem, huh?).

But it does become an issue because our site is also a sales piece. Although our existing clients know the great work we do, prospects may see things on our site and think - "If they can't do it for themselves, how will they do it for me?"

So, I am planning on starting Pimp My Website in 30 Minutes. Inspired by shows like Pimp My Ride that make over an entire car in two days, I plan on empowering 4 Indigio staff members (which I fondly refer to as Indigians) to spend 30-minutes each work day in February 2008 tacking that laundry list. I plan on having one Engineer, one Designer, one SEO guru and one Client Services Manager take on this task. Together they should be able to handle every item on the list.

So 30-minutes does not seem like a lot of time...but when combined that is 40+ hours we will be devoting to http://www.indigio.com/ and I think they will be able to make a world of difference in that amount of time. 40 hours of TLC will go a long way.

To devote 40 hours of one staff members' time is tough and would hurt client deliverables and due dates, but to devote 10 hours by 4 staff members over a month is easy to manage, will not hurt revenue goals, will not hurt client deliverables and will not hurt client due dates. A win/win in my book.

This is why I love it when I wake up from a dream with a good idea. The bad part is, my mind gets racing and I cannot get back to sleep.

If only I had good ideas between 7:00 AM and 5:00 PM. Okay, time to get ready to go to the gym.

Puppet Up Uncensored Part 1

My friend John told me about this after he say my Muppet posts. Very, very funny. Worth the watch. Thanks John!

I Need A Favor For A Friend

My friend, Mike Mostransky, from college needs your help. Mike is a great guy (or at least he was in college) and based on the occasional email we exchange from time to time, he still seems to be a great guy. I like that in his emails he brags about his family. It is always great to see someone who loves his life and family and to me that is who Mike is at his core.

Most of all, he is the type of person who strives to meet his goals. One of his goals is to get published in JPG magazine. So he needs your help to make this happen, so I am asking you to pitch in. Please see his email below and if you like them, vote for his pictures. The photo above is one of the photos he did that he needs you to vote for and it is my personal favorite. Your help is appreciated.

Mike's original email asking for my help:

Hello ALL,

In a continued attempt to hopefully get published in the JPG magazine one of these times, I ask if would you please vote on each one of my three photos and make each of them a favorite up on JPG. To do so you will need to click on each individual link below, followed by selecting "Make Favorite" beneath the photo to the right and then clicking on the green thumbs up "yeah it rocks".

Photo #1 - End of the Line
Photo # 2 - Pink Balloon Blue Sky
Photo #3 - Morning Visit

Many Thanks!
Mike

This was the Muppet Show episode that changed my life

I remember when I was a kid, I LOVED this episode. Looking back, I know realize several things.

1. I loved Wonder Woman and Lynda Carter a little too much for a 6 year old boy...worship was actually a closer description.

2. I should have realized I was gay earlier because I wanted to be Lynda Carter, NOT be with Lynda Carter.

3. Love makes you do weird things, like think Lynda Carter could sing.

Funny thing is that this episode aired the day my sister fell up a slide and chipped her front tooth. I remember that was all the focus in my house, instead of this episode of the Muppet Show with Lynda Carter. The memory is a funny thing isn't it?

I still love Wonder Woman, Lynda Carter, Rubberband Man (although not Lynda's version)and the Muppets to this day. Oh and my sister and her tooth recovered nicely with a little cap.

I personally feel Lynda Carter needs to make a comeback. My God, how gay was that?

Am I The Only One Who Wished Muppets Really Existed?

Sadly, I think this is how they would be...sitting in the passenger seat jamming to tunes on the car radio. I think they would make the world a better place.

Girls Playing in the Backyard

You have to admit, these are two good looking dogs. I took these pictures this past weekend, while our girls, Millie and Zoe were enjoying warmth and the backyard.

This is Millie (left). I often tease her as being the stubborn child, which is why I refer to her as Dale's daughter. She is cute though (especially in this photo) and even I have to admit this. She is 1/2 Lhasa Apso and 1/2 Basset Hound. She is always looking for a lap to snuggle and overall, although stubborn, is a good girl.

Meet Zoe (right). She is my star and pride and joy. She is smart, confident and loyal. Zoe is not what I would call cute like Millie, but she is very soulful and I feel that is what makes her beautiful. Her eyes look at you like she understands the person you truly are inside. She is 1/2 Old English Sheep Dog and 1/2 Chinese Shar-pei. I know you are wondering, where are the wrinkles and where is all the fur. Aren't mixed breeds funny? Not matter what each 1/2 is, she is all love.

They are our special girls and they bring a lot of laughter and joy to our lives.

2,564 Days & What is the State of the Union?

Answer: Not good.

Tonight is the State of the Union address by President Bush. Sadly, I doubt I will watch. I used to be the type of person who watched the State of Union but after 2,564 days (7 years, o months, 8 days) of George Bush in office it has made me sad, tired and frustrated, so unless he is coming on the TV to resign, I doubt I will give it much attention. There is good news though, they expect this will be his last State of the Union address, so I guess that is something.

After 7 years, I can tell you that I am not satisfied with the state of our union and think the United States has not moved forward under Bush's Presidency and if nothing else, has declined from an economic, social reform and international view-point.

Fortunately, I see hope right around the corner as the next Presidential election nears (can we vote in February instead and get it over with). I personally see both Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton as far from perfect, but when compared to George Bush, they shine.

So I guess it is just a waiting game now.

Addicted to Soda (Or Pop As Some Call It)?

I finally understand why. I stumbled across these tonight. These are actual ads from years ago. Sad, isn't it.

Children Eaten By Bears Can Be Pretty

See. I told you so.

Find A Penny Pick It Up...

...Yuck!

Dale loves to find money, even pennies, on sidewalks. He saves all of his found money. I think this comic says it all.

Looking for a Home in the Denver Area?

My partner Dale and his siblings are selling their Dad's house. Their Dad passed away in October 2007 and they have finally finished emptying the house of all the personal items, so it can go onto the market in February 2008.

Dale has come across some people who have expressed interest in the house, so he asked me if I could create an email with some pictures. Instead, I thought it would be easier to put them on-line, so I created a blog that shows all the pictures - check it out. It is amazing how in less than an hour or so, you can create a nice place to send people to check out the house.

So, if you know anyone who is looking for a great house, it is located in Arvada, CO and is beautiful. All the contact info is listed on the site.

Following the Clues

This is an interesting article that I saw on Digg about a woman who found a camera in the back of a NYC cab and by following the photographs on the camera attempted to find the owners who were obviously tourists. Not sure why, but I found the story interesting and I liked how they treated it as a mystery and followed the trail. It would be a cute movie of the week, with the woman played by Valerie Bertinelli (from One Day at a Time Fame).

I wish...

...Halloween was more than once a year. Or maybe just find another holiday where I can dress up.

Just keep moving

I like this photo. There were times this week that I felt like this bug...like I was being swatted back in place by a cat. But I survived...most likely in the bugs situation, it was eaten by the cat.

As if it came from a dream

I photo is amazing. It is called Lone Dancer with Moon and was taken by Joel B. McEachern. It feel as if the tree is stepping right out of the water. It is truly breathtaking...almost like it came from a dream.

Janie & Baxter - Run For Your Lives

Why does it seem that the most untalented adults think they have the most talented children and/or pets?

While I was at the grocery store today, I came across an interesting conversation and display in the vegetable aisle. There were two woman that came across each other in the aisle that had, based on the conversation, not seen each other. They were former neighbors. The one woman was alone and the other had a daughter, named Janie, who I guessed to be around 6. How did I know her name was Janie? For the sheer fact that mother said it no less than 6 million times.

• "Janie get off the cart."
• "Janie don't touch."
• "Janie stand still."
• "Janie I said don't touch."
• "Janie stay with me."
• "Janie, quiet! Mommy is talking."
• "Janie you remember Mrs. Lang."
• "Janie say hello."
• "Janie tell her how old you are."
• "Janie I said do not touch."

I am not joking here. The saddest part was this all aspired in about 14 seconds. In the time for me to push my cart over, get two cans of lima beans, (shut up, I love lima beans and I need them for my vegetable soup) the mother had scolded or ordered Janie to do something this many damn times.

But that was not the part that really annoyed me. The mother who seemed to have no interest in her daughter, Janie, except to scold her spent the next two minutes telling the other woman what an amazing ballerina her daughter has become. I could tell Janie was dressed in pink and some sort of dance outfit. The mother then ordered Janie to dance for the other woman. I am not joking, suddenly the vegetable aisle at Safeway was some sort of So You Think You Can Dance reality show. The funniest part was they were all oblivious to the fact that they were blocking me and my lima beans (they are good, you should try them). So while Janie stood up on her little pink toes, I had to lean over and struggle to reach past the other woman to get my vegetables. In case you were wondering, Janie is no ballerina and had the talent you would expect in any six year old. But according to her mother, she was the next superstar. I could tell, as the continued place her mouth onto the side of the cart. Yuck! How about a "Janie don't put your mouth on that."

But this is not restricted to just parents and children. I got a double dose today. On the way home from the grocery store, I passed the new neighborhood doggie-daycare. They also offer dog training and dog skills (or that is what the sign said at least, as I was thinking, great Zoe needs a skill, how about cooking?). There were a few people outside the fence, so since it was nice out today, I decided to stop and watch. There were a bunch of dogs being taken through an obstacle course by a trainer and their owner. It seemed one owner per dog inside the fence, so the other people outside the fence seemed to be the other "proud parents".

The two woman next to me chatted away to each other (neither even said hi to me - bitches!) and were named Cheryl and Elaine. Cheryl's husband, Rod (I always find that to be a funny name for some reason) was inside the fence with their dog, Baxter. Baxter was a Jack Russell Terrier. They are good dogs, my Sister's family has one. Her name is Casey and is what I affectionately call a Baked Potato, a reference to her slightly over-weight nature. But she has recently slimmed down, so I guess I should call her French-Fry. Anyhow, I never figured out who the other woman belonged to either spouse, significant other or dog wise. But one of the other dogs and owners, must have been a part of the Elaine clan.

Cheryl, who talked far too loud for any human, proceeded to tell Elaine everything Baxter could do.

• "Baxter can sit."
• "Baxter can lie down."
• "Baxter does the cutest thing and crawls on his belly like a baby."
• "Baxter can roll over three times in a roll."
• "Baxter will sit on his back legs when you tell his to stand."
• "Baxter will bark when we say speak."
• "Baxter is so funny at night because he lies on his back and snores."

Okay, Baxter is a real genius. The whole crowd outside the fence gets it. We also can all assume you have no children and that you and Rod, are either unable to have kids, Rod is not willing or Rod does not want to sleep with you because you never shut up...so you are now living vicariously through some poor Jack Russell Terrier. If you listened to her, you would think Baxter was about to solve world peace.

Now I have no children, so I will not speak much about how I would raise my own "little Janie" because I may be just as bad, but I can speak to owning dogs. I personally am happy that Millie and Zoe do not know any tricks and our just dogs. Okay, Zoe will sit, it you tell her to sit. She will lie down if you tell her to go to bed. This was not through training really. She is just pretty smart. But if you tell Millie to sit, she usually just stares at you. If you tell her to go to bed, she would probably just lick herself. But I love her for this. I love that they are just dogs. They enjoy life and do not perform on command, nor do Dale and I expect this behavior.

I think that children and pets should find their own talents and not be trained by their parents. There is a part of me that thinks Janie and Baxter will both grow up and hate their parents. Both for being forced to perform on demand. There is a part of me that hope both will run away in a few years, but will find each other on the road and live together in a little loft happily ever after, free from their overbearing, boring mothers, who wanted to live vicariously through them.

• "Run Janie, run!"
• "Baxter, kill. Attack Cheryl."

My Body is Fighting My Mind

My body and mind are in a constant battle today. I am thinking my soul may have to mediate.

Mind: You need to grocery shop. You need to clean the house. You need to make homemade vegetable soup and an amazing salad for dinner tonight for six at 6 PM. You need to walk the dogs. You do not have time to frivolous things like this blog posting.

Body: You need to lie on the couch and watch mindless movies like Bring it On. You need to read Entertainment Weekly. You need to blog - your readers miss you. It has been a crazy week, you deserve to do nothing. Be lazy today. You need it.

Okay, my soul has a plan.

Grocery shopping is done. The soup is made and on the stove. I will blog (a little). Then I will eat a bit of lunch while I watch TV and read about Heath Ledger in Entertainment Weekly. Then I will bust out and clean the house. I am a Superman when it comes to multi-tasking. The mindless TV and dog walking will have to wait until tomorrow. Sorry brain. Sorry pups.

It's a deal!

WE ARE UNDER ATTACK!

Yes, you read the title right. We are under attack. Ugh!

I came from last night from a going-away party for, now former Indigian, Henry Fieger to have Dale tell me he had bad news. I hate those words, especially from Dale. He told me he was in the backyard to fill the pond and a few of the koi are dead. Not dead floating, but dead in pieces on the patio. Ugh! Our koi were attacked.

Yes, our pond has once again been hit by raccoons. This is not the first time. We have been hit in the past by a large Blue Heron and by several raccoons. How do we know?

Well, we actually saw the Blue Heron several times and since we are on a direct flight path between several large ponds and Stanley Lake it is unavoidable. We added fishing line to stop the Heron and have been bird free for about a year. However, the heron will only come around in the Spring when they are trying to get food for their babies.

This attack was raccoons. Did we see them, no? But we have learned they are the attackers because a Heron will eat a fish in one swallow and leave no remains. A raccoon will tear it apart and will leave pieces and scales everywhere. We have two areas where you can tell a fish was torn apart. Ugh!

It makes me sad. We are not sure how many are gone. Dale only saw there survivors so far. I saw none today, as they usually spend most of the winter 3 feet down at the bottom of the pond. The bad part is that when they hear activity they often come to the surface because they think it is Dale and I about to feed them. This week it was not us, since we cannot feed them in the winter or they will die, but rather mean, greedy raccoons. Ugh!

It is sad. Several of our koi are quite large and been with us for three years. We once had 17, last year 11 and this year - who knows. It hurts to have a beautiful pond and beautiful fish only to see both defiled.

Anyone have good solid advice to protect your yard from raccoons, as I may be hitting the WalMart for a shotgun? Ugh!

Meatball Sundae -Yum!

I love Seth Godin. Already a huge fan of his blog, Purple Cow and The Dip, I of course made sure I picked up his latest (and in my opinion greatest) book, Meatball Sundae: Is Your Marketing Out of Sync?

One of my resolutions this year was to read more off-line...but I guess it is okay to read a book about on-line marketing strategies, right?

Seth uses real and profound examples of why ”traditional marketing” like billboards, radio spots and television advertising (the meatballs) and “new trends” like internet media, blogs, or anything else categorized as Web 2.0 (the sundae toppings) often fail when not in sync.

You are probably thinking what does a meatball sundae have to do with anything, right? Meat - good. Whip cream - good. No, probably not…but I am considering giving it a try. I know some f you who read this blog were thinking - yeah, a cookbook review. (You should know I am not someone who likes cooking.)

Instead Seth uses the meatball sundae to create a visual comparison of companies trying to “be hip” by using the new Web 2.0 marketing techniques without integrating or updating the traditional marketing techniques within their marketing plan. One of the examples Seth uses is the $40 million Anheuser-Busch spent on Bud-TV, which added no new customers. His examples show how important it is for all marketing strategies within a company to be in sync or they will not be successful. The web 2.0 techniques are new and exciting, but any marketing initiative without success metrics, goals or a plan will not succeed.

I feel the lessons in this book are important for any company or interactive agency (like the company I work for, Indigio). For me, as exciting as the new web 2.0 marketing techniques are, it is important to remember return on investment (ROI). Unless, Indigio helps to build strategy and marketing techniques that increase revenue, create more customers or drive to a company’s success metric, we are not truly helping our clients. We need to remember this with every new initiative (and thankfully, I am proud that this is a focus at Indigio).

The book is broken into three sections.

Section 1 is “Thinking About the Meatball Sundae” and discusses the history of marketing.

Section 2 is “The Fourteen Trends”, which discusses new trends in marketing, including:

#1 - Direct Communication and Commerce Between Producers and Consumers
#2 - Amplification of the Voice of the Consumer and Independent Authorities
#3 - Need for an Authentic Story as the Number of sources Increases
#4 - Extremely Short Attention Spans Due to Clutter
#5 - The Long Tail
#6 - Outsourcing
#7 - Google and the Dicing of Everything
#8 - Infinite Channels of Communication
#9 - Direct Communication and Commerce Between Consumers and Consumers
#10 - The Shifts in Scarcity and Abundance
#11 - The Triumph of Big Ideas
#12 - The Shift From How Many to Who
#13 - The Wealthy Are Like Us
#14 - New Gatekeepers, No Gatekeepers

Section 3 is “Putting It Together” and features great case studies. The case studies give real life examples of companies who have been successful integrating new marketing and other companies who have not. I personally found this section to be the most powerful, but I am a person that likes theory, but loves real life examples.

This book is definitely worth the read, especially if you are involved in any type of marketing strategy. It may change the way you think or in my case, I feel it helped to reinforce what I already knew.

Looking To Save The World From Your Desktop

Check out http://www.freerice.com/index.php.

The link to this site was sent to me by neighbor and friend Toby Krout and he asked that I share.

At Freerice.com, you can "donate" 20 grains of rice to the needy simply by choosing the right answer to a word definition problem. Each correct answer results in another donation of 20 grains. The site shows through 2007, 6,948,988,060 grains of rice were donated through the site.

I know it sounds fishy, so I did some Google research and could not find anything saying it was not legitimate and actually found several independent sites that promoted the fact that it was real. So how does answering definition questions make rice? Here is what I found:

Freerice.com is the creation of American computer programmer John Breen and is the sister site of poverty.com, launched in January 2007 with a counter showing one person dying every 3.5 seconds from hunger. Breen also created the Hunger site in June 1999.

As to who pays for the rice, the site says, "The rice is paid for by the advertisers whose names you see on the bottom of your vocabulary screen. This is regular advertising for these companies, but it is also something more. Through their advertising at FreeRice, these companies support both learning (free vocabulary for everyone) and reducing hunger (free rice for the hungry). We commend these companies for their participation at FreeRice."

From other sites I found the rice is distributed by the United Nations World Programme (WFP).

You can also check out the sites FAQ section to learn more. So whether or not it is legit, I do not 100% know. You know the saying, if something seems too easy, it probably is. But what do you got to lose...spend 10 minutes...it is a good break to the day, right? You may be helping someone, you may not...either way it is no worse than any of the applications on Facebook.

Olan Mills Awesomeness

This was forwarded to me by my friend Scott and they are so much fun, I wanted to share. I have several photos of my parents from Olan Mills and they too have the heavenly cloud around them. Such memories.

---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Scott Ashley
Date: Jan 23, 2008 11:03 AM
Subject: FW: Olan Mills Awesomeness
To: twwhit72@gmail.com

I KNEW you would love these!!!!!

-----------------------------------------------From: Nate Rubin
Sent: Wednesday, January 23, 2008 12:58 PM
To: Scott Ashley
Subject: FW: Olan Mills Awesomeness

Overcoming Energy Vampires

"...when I talk about positive energy I'm referring to the optimism, trust, enthusiasm, love, purpose, joy, passion, and spirit to live, work, and perform at a high level; to build and lead successful teams; to overcome adversity in life and at work; to share contagious energy with employees, colleagues, and customers; to bring out the best in others and in yourself; and to overcome all the negative people (whom I shall call energy vampires) and negative situations that threatens to sabotage your health, family, team and success." - Jon Gordon

As many of my loyal blog readers know, I have several resolutions for 2008. These resolutions were selected to help make me a better me. I think we all have rooms to improve and I am no different. One of my resolutions was to read more off-line and another was to remove negative influences from my life.

Yesterday, I started reading a new book title the Energy Bus: 10 Rules to Fuel Your Life, Work and Team with Positive Energy (his helps two of my resolutions: reading and negativity - score!) I am only 20 pages into this book, so I am not yet ready to give a recommendation, but I do like it so far and I found the quote above from the first chapter to be very powerful and wanted to share it with everyone, as I feel these words are something we should all read and strive toward.

I especially liked the term "energy vampires". We all know these people. These are the people we encounter that suck the life right out of us and drag us to a negative place. They are everywhere...they may be family members, friends, co-workers, clients, a waiter and even a clerk at the grocery store. They are so negative they push their energy on you and can ruin your day.

I have sworn off these people for 2008, but these past few weeks I have allowed them to creep in and bring me down a bit. Today, it came in the way of a client. Although I love this client, today he/she was an energy vampire. I doubt he/she even knew it. He/she was frustrated with her/his situation and internal team, but pushed his/her frustration onto me via email of all things. I let this negativity that wasn't really anything I could resolve or control cause my day to take a negative turn. I know this impacted my office mate, Becki. She asked me several times if I was okay. I think I became her energy vampire. It may of even caused her to suck someone else's energy. I do not know how many people were impacted (it reminds me of that stupid vampire attack thing on Facebook).

For those I impacted today, I apologize. But no more! Beware energy vampires, for I will not let you suck the life out of me and I will not allow your evil to spread. I will rise above it and focus on the positive. This positive energy will spread and we will all be successful.

I beg you all to do the same, as I know I am not alone. Rise above it; fight the good fight; destroy the energy vampires (where is Buffy when we need her).

Where In The World is Tom?

I know many of you may be thinking what happened to Tom? He hasn't blogged since Sunday afternoon. That is not like him. He may not be interesting at times, but he is consistent, right?

Blog reader, Kathy, even sent me a tweet on Twitter this evening to check on me (just proves my point in a posting from last week as to how much I admire her- thanks for worrying about me Kath!).

I would like to say that Dale and I are on some exotic vacation, but we are not. But, I am alive and well, but my past few evenings have been spent catching up on work I have not completed during the day. Usually I work a few hours in the evening anyhow, but last night and tonight, I have come home from work, ate dinner (thank you Dale for cooking for me) and then went right to work until I go to bed. I am working in front of the TV, so it is not all bad.

But I thought I would give you an update, so you did not worry or stop visiting my blog. We all have weeks like this from time to time, but it is all good.

This Blog Posting Has Been Removed

It was actually very funny, but unfortunately not everyone viewed it that way, so it has been removed from view. Oh well.

Movie Weekend: The Great, The Chick-Flick & There Goes My Breakfast

Note: I know this posting is long, so if you are busy I highlighted words in blue that are all you need to read. However, this post reveals something embarrassing about me, so it may be worth the read.


I saw three movies this weekend. Yes, three. As a movie lover, this is like heaven. The best past is that the movies ran the full spectrum and from the title of this blog you can tell.

First up, The Great. On Saturday afternoon my co-worker and friend, Sara hit the Mayan Theatre on Broadway for Juno. We had both heard everyone rave about this film and I am usually hesitant when everyone tells you that you will love a movie because I end up disappointed. Juno did not disappoint and I can honestly say it is one of the most original and best movies I have seen in years. The dialog is amazing, the filming is simple, yet brilliant and I know worship Ellen Page (she plays Juno). If you have not seen this movie, stop reading, close this blog, turn off your computer and go to this movie immediately. With dialog like this, how can this movie not shine:

Juno MacGuff: My dad had this weird obsession with Roman or Greek mythology or something and he decided to name me after Zeus' wife.
Mark Loring: Zeus' wife?
Juno MacGuff: Well, yeah, I mean he got a lot of lays and stuff but this was his wife and supposedly she was beautiful and really mean. Kind of like Diana Ross.

Oh, you are still reading. I guess you have seen Juno then. Good for you. Or wait, or you did not take my advice. Bad blog reader. Bad. Seriously, go see Juno now. Run, run. I can't wait for this movie to come out on DVD. Oh and thanks to Sara for the fun afternoon distraction.

Next up, The Click-Flick. On Saturday evening, Dale and I joined two of the three Pemble sisters, Barb and Jeanne, for a wonderful dinner at Earls located on the 16th Street Mall. Earls has amazing food and although I had been numerous times for lunch (my office is a few hundred feet away), this was the first time for dinner. After dinner, we all headed to see 27 Dresses. At dinner the waitress, who was very nice and every remarked looked like Jennifer Love Hewitt, asked us what movie we were seeing. We told her that it was 27 Dresses. She looked at Dale and I and joked, I guess you too didn't pick that one. Dale said, yes we did. Little did she know that we were gay and Dale loves romantic comedies. 27 Dresses was very sweet. Kathryn Heigl lights up the screen and if you loved Pretty Woman, My Best Friend's Wedding, The Wedding Date or any movie where the girl loves one guy and then realizes she really should love another all while over-coming some personal issue - you will love this movie. It was good, not great, but truly enjoyable. Or just stay home and watch the Devil Wears Prada. Either way I am fine. Oh and thanks to Barb, Jeanne and Dale for a great date night. I had a good time.

Finally, There Goes My Breakfast or as many have referred to the film as Cloverfield. I went and saw Cloverfield today following a nice breakfast with our neighbors and friends, the Krouts. We love the Krouts and spending time with them is the high-point to any week. Toby Krout actually joined me for the movie. I do not know where to start except to say that this was probably one of the most intense movies I have every watched. I honestly came home and my instincts were to go into the dark basement and sleep while the TV played. I settled on blogging instead. The movie was truly amazing in that it kept the suspense and hype of the monster throughout, but the movie is presented though the filming of a hand-held camera. I liked it in that it was very real, too real at times and was presented through the victims eyes. I hated the motion of the camera and to be honest, it made me sick. From the trailer, I expected some of this movie to be presented this way, not the entire movie. By 20 minutes into the film I was sweating, my 40 minutes the sweatshirt was off, by 60 minutes I went to the restroom to splash water on my face, but instead ended up vomiting. I am serious, I lost my breakfast over Cloverfield. What a loser am I? I made it through the final 20 minutes and Toby and I both left the theater emotionally drained like we just got our asses kicked for 87 minutes. If you are the weak of stomach and if movies like The Blair Witch project bothered you, do NOT go see this film. Stay home, watch the Devil Wears Prada and live a happy life...the way I should have. If you do not mind this style of filming, go see this movie as J.J. Abrahms is a genius and this movie truly pulls you in. You feel it all. It is like you are there. It is incredible. However, oddly enough my neck still hurts and I am still a bit nauseous, so I am not 100% sure if it was worth it or not. My thanks for Toby to sticking it out to the end with me.

So that was my movie weekend. From extreme highs to confusing lows...but I got to see three movies with great friends, so that is never bad. Well, it is not great that I made my ass of myself by losing my breakfast over a movie either though, so I would say it is a wash.

I would love to hear what you thought of these movies. Are Toby and I the only two wimps out there who do not like movies filmed with camcorders? Please help validate our manliness. Well, we know I am not manly, but do Toby a solid and let us know you thought Cloverfield was hard to watch too.

193,260 Minutes Left of Love

On June 1, 2008 the musical, Rent will close on Broadway. This means there are only 193,260 minutes left. For many of you this will not mean much, but for me this is a very sad announcement as Rent is my favorite musical of all time. I have seen Rent over 30 times (I know scary, huh?) and for me it was the show that introduced me to Broadway and my love of musicals. It will always hold a special place in my heart. I am so glad I saw it with the original cast too.

If you have not seen Rent on Broadway, I can not recommend you get to NYC in the next five months and see the show, as it will change your view of Broadway musicals forever. If you have seen the movie it is not the same. It does not have the emotion of the stage version. I am hoping that I am able to make it there before June so I can sit and here these immortal words one more time live on the Nederlander Theatre:

"525,600 minutes, 525,600 moments so dear. 525,600 minutes – how do you measure, measure a year? In daylights, in sunsets, in midnights, in cups of coffee. In inches, in miles, in laughter, in strife. In 525,600 minutes – how do you measure a year in the life? How about love? How about love? How about love? Measure in love. Seasons of love."

So now you know, I am a huge fan of Rent, but what are my favorite Broadway shows of all-time you ask. Well, let me tell you.

1. Rent - This show is truly amazing as the staging is simple and brilliant. The voices are poignant and powerful. The show draws you in. It makes you feel. It makes you understand how life can be full of love, yet plagued by pain.

2. Wicked - This show is brilliant. Based on a good book this show bumps up against the Wizard of Oz and makes you re-evaluate everything you thought about Dorthy, The Tin Man and that Wicked Witch of the West that probably was not the wicked. The music is wonderful and if you got to see it with Kristin Chenoweth and Idina Menzel like Dale and I, you are truly blessed. See this show if it comes back to Denver. You will NOT be sorry. I have seen it three times now and was glad each and every time.

3. Phantom of the Opera - I still gasp every time the candles come up through the stage floor. Every time! The show is magical. The story is amazing. The music is haunting. I truly love this show. I saw this show in college for the first time and have seen it seven times since. I could see this show every week and be very happy. The current staging in Las Vegas is probably the best I have seen as the set was built exclusively for the show.

4. Mamma Mia - This show does not have a great plot and is predictable in so many ways, but it makes you fall in love with it. It makes you want to jump out of your seat and sing every damn ABBA lyric. It makes me happy and in many ways if the show that belongs to Dale and I, as we have seen it four times together. I have seen it six times total.

5. Lion King - This show is ruled by the costumes as they will truly amaze you. It is probably the show I would set best utilizes costume to capture the mood. They truly make you feel like you are in Africa. Much more adult than the cartoon version, it follows the same story, but with more dignity, grace and style. Every child should be introduced to Broadway with this show.

Honorable Mention:

Cabaret - This was the show my parents saw on the honeymoon. It was the first month the show was on Broadway. I saw the show only once, but it was the last month of the revival a few years back. It is a nice connection to my parents. The show takes on the difficult subject of the Holocaust in such a unique and powerful way.

Chorus Line - The show is simple. The sets are of a Broadway stage. But the emotions from the dancers always touch me and with a song called Tits & Ass, how can you go wrong. The movie is great too and worth the watch.

So those are my favorites. What are your favorite Broadway shows?

Get An Out-Of-This-World Deal

I love these ads. I love the side burns of the guy in the Radio Shack ad - hot. Now that mean screams computers and cutting edge technology. The second ad for email is from 1981. It is hard to believe that 27 years ago we were just introducing electronic email. How did we live without it. I love the visual of electronic email - eeek!

Supper Happy Fun Time When Pregnant Woman Attack

Dreams are a funny thing and sometimes I think are a reflection of a person. This morning while Dale and I were getting ready we both shared our dream from the night previous. This is not something we usually do, so it was funny that both of us had such vivid and memorable dreams.

Super Happy Fun Time

Dream: Dale's dreamt about our two dogs running through a park. It was warm, they were running, playing, rolling and just having a wonderful time. They played with ducks and Zoe was very inquisitive about the turtles in the pond. I asked Dale if they chased the ducks and he said no, it was weird they all played together.

Diagnosis: Dale's dream is very nice. I almost picture an animated sun and clouds floating by when I heard him explain the dream. I also think it manifests with Dale's recent comments that he is over the cold and Winter and wants Summer to be here. With single digit temperatures last night how can you not dream of warm, Summer days.

When Pregnant Women Attack

Dream: In my dream, my friend and work wife, Becki and I are at some sort of conference attending a formal dinner. Becki is about 8 months pregnant and huge, so my assumption is that it takes place in the future. Becki is on my right and next to her is a 6'2" woman who weighs about 250 pounds with blond hair. Now her height and weight do factor in. She is actually the woman I saw at doggie-daycare that day in real-life. So during dinner, she reaches over and takes one of Becki's dinner rolls off Becki's bread plate. Becki is kind (as she always is) and explains that those are her rolls. The woman comments, "What are you going to do about it prego?" Becki shrugged it off. A few minutes later the woman does the same thing. Within seconds Becki is up, has the woman's hand pinned behind her back and has her foot in the woman's back pinning her face into the dinner plate. The woman is creaming with her face covered in pasta and marina sauce. I am shocked and scream, "Becki!" Becki's response is, "All I wanted was my roll. The baby likes bread. We deserve bread." I said, "Okay," and continued eating.

Diagnosis: There are a couple of possibilities. Maybe I have a sub-conscious desire to see Becki fight other woman. That seems odd, but she did play rugby in college. I think in reality the woman I saw at the doggie-daycare scared me yesterday and I dreamt that Becki would protect me. See work wife's aren't just there to give you cookies. They fight and kick ass too. The weird part is that this is not my first dream with Becki. The last time I dreamt about her, she was abducted and replaced by her twin, Brenda, who I now refer to as the "evil twin".

So all I can conclude is that Dale's dreams are nice and happy and mine a right out of Desperate Housewives. Maybe I watch to much negative TV and it is leaking into my REM cycle. Oh well, at least they are entertaining, right?

Also, as a general warning...it is probably best NOT to take bread away from Becki.