Day Two Hundred Nine

Dear Readers,
      Opening ceremonies for the Olympics were today.  It has officially started.  My seventeen days of sporting overload.  I have set our DVR up for the next week or so, and I have a feeling that we are going to fill it up fairly quickly unless we actually watch them every night.  Okay, it is probably more me filling up the DVR, but Raina does watch most of them with me, if not all of them.  We are about to watch the Opening Ceremonies and I am sure we have a few events recording for tomorrow.  I even got a new shirt today at the Nike Store to support my country.  Raina got it for me for my birthday.  It is pretty stinking awesome.

      Can you believe how much money has gone into this Olympics?  Isn't amazing to think about where all this money must come from in the "recession" that we are all in.  It just shows how important this event is on such a global level.  All these different countries and diverse cultures that are taking part in this.  The whole world converging in one place. 
      While I was out and about with Raina today, we noticed a flyer for an art gallery opening for tomorrow night.  It is a Star Wars art show of all things.  I couldn't believe my luck of seeing that flyer one day before opening night.  A kickoff night with food trucks and music from the Cantina Band.  It sounds like it is going to be totally awesome.  I am pretty sure Raina and I are going to head down there tomorrow night.  Anyone else is welcome to join us if you like, especially any other Star Wars fans such as myself.  It is close by in Westminster so join us as I go dream about all the art renderings that I wish I could buy and take home with me.  Sounds like a good time either way.

      I would also like to wish a happy birthday to a friend of ours who is living way out in the boonies of Michigan.  Jon Usborne, we are praying for a wonderful birthday and another amazing year that is blessed beyond your imagination.


This Day In History: 1940
American cartoonist Chuck Jones's Bugs Bunny first appears on the silver screen in A Wild Hare.  As in many future installments, A Wild Hare featured Bugs as the would be dinner for frustrated hunter Elmer Fudd.

Born This Day: 1906
Leo Durocher - American professional baseball player and manager. (Including the Dodgers)
1984? - Jon Usborne

"Happiness is made up of those tiny successes.... And if you don't collect all these tiny successes, the big ones don't really mean anything."

-Norman Lear

Big Olympic Fans and a Hurdle Fail.

Day Two Hundred Eight

Dear Readers,
      The opening ceremonies for the Olympics is tomorrow.  It is one of my favorite things to watch every four years.  The Winter Olympics are really cool too, but there is just something special about the Summer Olympics.  The sprinters rivalry between Tyson Gay and Usain Bolt, the Michael Phelps saga and winning a record eight gold medals, watching the Dream Team pull off another big win for the USA, or dominance of the Kerri Walsh/Misty May-Treanor dynasty.  Maybe we will see the next Carl Lewis or Jesse Owens this year.  I take great pride in how well our country does at these events.  Maybe another year of women's soccer taking the gold.  There are so many twists and turns and close calls.  So much real life drama.  Exhilaration of triumph and agony of defeat.  I love this time of year.  My DVR is going to be jam packed with sporting events over the next few weeks.  My favorite sporting events have to be track and field.  The sprints and relays.  Even the Decathlon is totally awesome and this year we have two possible medal candidates.  Imagine being that good at those many different events and being able to put them all together in one competition.  No room for slip ups or mistakes.  Every inch and every second mean so much.  Awesome time.
      There is only one downfall to this years Olympics.  It is in Great Britain, which made it the best opportunity for Raina and I to make it out there and enjoy the festivities.  They speak the same language there, sort of, and it is fairly easy to get to, in comparison to other countries.  It is just really stinking expensive, and it didn't fit into our plans to save for a home.  Both of us are pretty bummed out about it.  Just means that we need to save for another Olympic vacation in the future, or hope the games come back to the United States.  We both had an awesome experience of being at the Atlanta Olympics and have been wanting to go back ever since.  Money and timing have always been a problem.  We will get there one of these days.  You can probably expect me to be talking a lot about these games over the next couple of weeks.  I hope you enjoy them just as much as I do.

This Day In History: 1775
The U.S. postal system is established by the 2nd Continental Congress, with Benjamin Franklin as its first Postmaster General.

Born This Day: 1943
Mick Jagger - English rock singer in The Rolling Stones.

"Experience is not what happens to a man; it is what a man does with what happens to him."

-Aldous Huxley

Even Olympic trial swimmers have beards.

Day Two Hundred Seven

Dear Readers,
      I have a dilemma with school, already.  The next class in succession for my engineering courses is during the morning next semester.  Why can't they have one at night?  Almost all the other engineering classes require that next class before I can take any of them.  Which leaves me without another class to take in the desired field of study that I want.  It means I need to take a class that will be a general education class.  Either way I will need them for my Associates degree.  The only problem is that I haven't taken my assessment tests yet.  So I can't take most of those classes with either taking the assessment test or taking the most basic class as a prerequisite.  I don't want to do that, because I am sure I will test better than the basic classes.  Which means I wouldn't have to take them.  My enrollment date has come and I need to enroll in something, or else everything is going to fill up.  Most of the classes I want to take are full or are filling up very fast.  Now my other dilemma.  I can't take my assessment test until next Wednesday.  I really screwed myself up on this one.  I am going to get stuck taking some class I really don't want to take or something I won't need for my Associates.  Why does this have to be so difficult?  On top of all that, I need to fit in three assessments tests and an appointment with a counselor, all while going to school.  Which brings me to another problem.  Why don't they do any of those things on Fridays?  I already have most Fridays off and would be able to spend those days doing all my things on the list.  Unfortunately, everything is from Monday to Thursday and ends at 4:30PM.  Which is thirty minutes after I get out of work.  So now this is costing me a ton of money, a ton of time and now it is going to cost me my vacation time from work.  Just have to keep the end goal in focus.  Know what all this is going to achieve for me.  It will be to mine and my families future benefit.  I just needed to get that off my chest.  Thanks for bearing through my little rant.

This Day In History: 1999
Having overcome cancer, Lance Armstrong becomes the first cyclist on an American team to win the Tour de France.

Born This Day: 1840
Flora Adams Darling - Founder of the Daughters of the American Revolution.

"You can do anything, but not everything."

-David Allen

Just the facts ma'am.

Day Two Hundred Six

Dear Readers,
     Since the majority of you out there have seen The Dark Knight Rises by now, I wanted to talk a little bit about what I liked and didn't like about the movie.  If you haven't seen it yet and don't want any spoilers, I suggest that you do not read tonight's blog until you have seen it.  Leave now.  If you don't mind having the movie spoiled a little bit, read away.

      First off, one of my favorite scenes is an homage to the original comic books.  When Alfred enters the Batcave through the secret entrance.  Pressing the the three keys on the piano to open the secret entrance.  For a comic book fan such as myself, that was really neat to see, even if they showed it briefly in the first movie.
      Secondly, who doesn't love having a bad guy like Bane in the movie.  He was pretty stinking awesome in the comic books and they did a pretty good job of keeping to the comics in the movie.  They even had Bane break Batman's back, just like in the comic books.  The circumstances surrounding it were different, but it happened nonetheless.  I just don't like how they don't really explain how the mask helps keep his pain at bay or the fact that it actually is for his venom, which gives him his excessive amount of strength.  I just wish they had explained it better.  I also didn't like how quickly it seemed that Batman came back from his broken back.  It was just too much crammed into such a short time of the movie that it made it seem like he was broken and the next minute he was fine, all because that guy hit him in the back to knock the protruding bone back in. 
      Thirdly, I was a little wary of another Catwoman so soon, but they did a great job with the Joker and I thought Anne Hathaway did a superb job as Catwoman.  I love the attention to realism that sticks to costume aspects from the comic books.  Such as the special glasses that Catwoman wears that when flipped up gives the appearance of cat ears.  I thought that was a nice touch.
      Fourthly, the fact that they introduced Talia al Ghul and as secretly as they did.  If I didn't know anything about the Batman comic books, it would have had me fooled.  As soon as they brought up the possibility of the kid escaping from the prison being Ra's al Ghul's kid, I knew it was Talia.  Sticking to the comic books.  That was also cool.  The whole movie was done really well and I thoroughly enjoyed every minute.  I still think it is hard to beat out Heath Ledger as the Joker and find that The Dark Knight is a better movie.
      Now, on to what I didn't like.  There was not enough Batman scenes.  I understand they had to bring him back, which made it kind of like a secondary origin story, but they could have done it quicker and added more action sequences.  Batman is the whole reason for the movie.  The movie isn't called "Bruce Wayne Rises".  We needed more Batman.  Then there was the whole twist at the end where the baton gets handed off to the police officer named "Blake".  Telling us at the end that his legal name is "Robin".  Giving away the fact that he is the next in line to protect Gotham.  I would have been fine with them changing the fact that he is not an orphaned son of circus performers, if they had said that his legal name was "Dick Grayson".  Which is his name in the comic books.  That would have been much better and been a little clue that only the comic book fans would have understood.  That, in my opinion, would have been a much better way to let the cat out of the bag.
      By the way, the Batwing...Very Cool!  Wish I could have one of those for myself.  And nice that everyone was probably a little bit fooled, expecting that Batman was going to die, only to see him escape yet again.  Loved that.

This Day In History: 1956
Dean Martin and Jerry Lewis ended their team. They ended the partnership a decade after it began on July 25, 1946.

Born This Day: 1898
Amelia Earhart - Female aviator.

 "The richest man is not he who has the most, but he who needs the least."

-Unknown Author

Hahaha.

Day Two Hundred Five

Dear Readers,
      The OC Fair has to be on your summer bucket list.  Especially if you are a food lover such as myself.  So many different things to try.  Including an awesome twist to your every day funnel cake.  I know that you are thinking that a funnel cake is already fantastic and how could it get any better.  Especially with the strawberries and whipped cream on top.  Let me introduce you to the Mexican Funnel Cake.  Instead of regular old batter used as the base, try out a base made of churros.  You can't tell me churros aren't already delicious, and then turn it into a funnel cake with strawberries, whipped cream, and caramel sauce on top.  Awesome.  I am not one for sweets, but this one takes the cake.  Even though I can't eat very much sweets before I get sugar overload, I didn't want to stop eating this fantastic desert.  If you go to the fair this summer, you have to try the Mexican Funnel cake, your taste buds will thank me.  They even sell a jumbo version of a regular size one.  Chris and Liz decided to share the jumbo size.  Their eyes were bigger then their stomachs.  Raina and I couldn't even finish off a regular together.  Brandon and Brooke finished off their regular, barely.  My suggestion is to attack it as a group.  Sharing is caring.

The Before...

...and the after.

Notice the actual unfinished one in the backround.

I think I'm gonna be sick.

Brandon happily finished his.

      One of our traditions of going to the fair is to see the extra large versions of regular animals.  They have a giant horse named Hercules and a giant steer, whose name is escaping me right now.  Either way, it is a buck to go in and see them and we do it every year.  This year, they added a giant alligator to the fold.  That seemed like it was going to be totally cool.  Of course I had to set aside time to see the giant alligator that can hold his breath underwater for almost eight hours.  We finally made it in to see this monstrosity, only to be completely disappointed.  It wasn't nearly as large as I thought it was going to be and it didn't move the entire time we were in there.  I could have sworn it was either dead or a fake.  It's "eyes" were closed, which made it look totally fake.  Raina even asked if it was actually alive, which they claim it is.  Fat chance, what a waste of a buck that was.  It didn't move or flinch or bat an eye.  Just looked like a big fake rubber lizard sitting in the water.  The steer was much more entertaining.  There are clear signs to not touch the animal at all.  This thing is huge and I don't see how their little cage could keep it in if it went into a rage and really wanted to get out.  It was tied with one single rope.  Some joker behind us in line decided to pet the but of the animal, which made it flinch and move around it what looked like apparent anger.  Chris and I were ready to get out of there.  It looked like it was ready to take off and drag that weak cage with it where ever it pleased.  Which could have been right at either one of us.  Well, at least we knew it was alive.
      I always joke with Brooke about her broken body.  She has a bad shoulder which could use a surgery to fix whatever problem she has.  It comes from years of playing volleyball and doing gymnastics.  Now she has shoulder, elbow, neck, knee, and you name whatever else you can think of problems.  So much so that she can't even bowl or throw a ball around too much.  So I am always joking that there is always something new breaking down on her.  Just like an old car, falling apart with age.  At the fair, she managed to find a booth that was selling a special cold therapy, that can be strapped onto your body wherever you have pain.  They had a mannequin set up with about four or five varieties that they sell on it.  I joked that it was going to be Brooke after she bought them all up and started wearing them on all her ailments.  It was tailor made for her.  Hopefully it will give her the relief it needs, or at least a few more jokes for me.

Brooke's future.

This Day In History: 1996
The U.S. women's gymnastics team wins its first Olympic gold medal.  The win was clinched by a dramatic vault from 18 year old Kerri Strug, who made the vault with a badly sprained ankle.

Born This Day: 1936
Don Drysdale - American professional baseball player. (Dodgers)

"As man draws nearer to the stars, why should he not also draw nearer to his neighbor?"

-Lyndon B. Johnson

Chris Allen about to visit Big Al the alligator.

Day Two Hundred Four

Dear Readers,
      Holy cow I am tired.  We had another really long day.  I went to work this morning, then we went to the park and then topped our day off at the OC Fair.  My feet are killing me after being on them all day.  I can't believe I have been gone just about the entire day, from 6:30AM until 11:45PM.  I had a blast today though.  Got to try out my new glove and bat at the park today.  It was hot out there, but it was fun to swing that bat.  It really makes me want to hurry up and join a local league.  Only two more weeks of class and I should have enough free time to get out there.  It was funny to see everyone worried about pitching to either Chris or me.  Chris can drive that ball and I was just waiting to have one come flying back at me.  I was fortunate though.  Raina, not so much.  At least it wasn't by either one of us, it was by Liz.  Yup, Liz nailed her in the shin with a softball right back at her.  The ball hit Raina hard enough to leave the markings of the stitching from the ball on her shin.  Poor Raina just getting beat up.  I have some stories about the Fair, but they will have to wait until tomorrow, because I am falling asleep while I am trying to type this.  Enjoy some pictures of the park for now and one of me yawning while taking my self portrait.

This Day In History: 1934
John Dillinger, America's "Public Enemy No. 1" is killed in a hail of bullets by federal agents.  In a fiery bank robbing career that lasted just over a year, Dillinger and his associates robbed eleven banks for more than $300,000 and killed seven police officers and three federal agents.

Born This Day: 1890
Rose (Fitzgerald) Kennedy - Mother of John F., Robert, and Edward Kennedy.

"I'm like old wine.  They don't bring me out very often, but I'm well preserved."

-Rose Fitzgerald Kennedy

Sweating up a storm at the park.

Hey batter batter batter batter.

Liz showing off her swing before she damages Raina's shin.

My brother in law Matt made a dad friend.

Day Two Hundred Three

Dear Readers,
      I can't believe I forgot to put in our pictures of our new shoes.  There never going to be this shiny anymore, so we might as well make the most of these pictures.  Is it just me, or does anybody else love that smell of a brand new pair of shoes right out of the box?  There is something about it.

Mr. Half Marathon's

Mrs. Half Marathon's

      Another busy day today.  We did some shopping for our picnic/park day tomorrow.  Getting ready for another fun day in the sun.  We also happened to drive by a Play It Again Sports store on the way and noticed they were having a sale on all baseball and softball equipment.  Ever since I played in that softball league, I have been wanting a bat and glove for myself.  Besides, there is a field at the park we go to and it would be fun to play catch or maybe hit the ball a little bit.  Sure enough, I found a nice used bat and glove.  Even some brand new softballs for only $4.  Just the softballs that is.  I just wanted a decent glove and bat that wasn't fancy or anything.  I don't need to spend top dollar on something I am only going to use for a rec league or a day at the park.  Hopefully the power of the beard will help me get one out of the park.

      The nephews were over the house again.  Joseph and Joshua that is.  I bought a Green Lantern game for my Xbox a couple months back and Joseph has been asking to watch me play it.  He is all into superheros right now.  Spider-Man, Iron Man, Green Lantern, Superman, Batman and so many more.  Every time he comes over he asks to look at the box of the game, staring at the pictures.  Finally we had a little free time and I played my Xbox for the first time since moving in with my parents.  It was really quite nice to have that controller back in my hands after such a long lull.  The game included some special 3D glasses that I guess you would use if you had a 3D TV.  I don't, but the glasses were shaped like Green Lantern's mask, so I naturally had the kids throw them on.  It became the story that it was necessary to play the game with the glasses on.  So Joseph wasn't the only one wearing them, he also made me wear them while I played the game.  It is quite comical to think of me and Joseph sitting on my bed while playing a video game with kids 3D glasses on.  I have a picture to prove it.

In darkest day, in blackest night...

      We also finally got together to celebrate my niece, Kailee's, birthday today.  Just a small get together of family members for a barbeque.  A nice little evening spent outdoors and a coffee cake as a birthday cake.  We even took the kids for a walk to the park.  It was pretty funny to watch the kids change their minds from wanting to be in the wagon, to the other ride along car, to deciding to walk and even getting out for a sprint for a little bit.  Climbing over each other and hopping out while in mid walk.  Climbing everything in site.  Aw, to be young again, without a care in the world.  Loved spending time with all the kiddos, even though they can all be brats at times.

This Day In History: 1873
American outlaw Jesse James and his gang pull off their first train robbery.

Born This Day: 1924
Don Knotts - American actor (The Andy Griffith Show)

"Always do sober what you said you'd do drunk.  That will teach you to keep your mouth shut."

-Ernest Hemingway

Pictures of the party and walking to the park.

Coffee cake birthday cake.

Yup, spoiled with an Ipad.

Switching it up again.

We left him hanging as his punishment.