Favorite Places

Can my bucket list have places on it I have already been? One of my favorite places to be is at a music festival with my wife. Especially jazzfest in New Orleans. Its something we started doing pretty soon after we got together. Here was one of our first, the Memphis Blues Festival in 1994. At that little 'porch' stage Joan is standing in front of was unknown artists. The guyplaying was handing out tapes and playing blues for anyone who would listen. His name is Keb Mo'...!


And this was from our first jazzfest in 1995. That is Coco Robicheaux, Louisiana blues and medicine man! He was pretty crazy. That was a great trip and so much fun. We have not returned since Katrina but we will be back.



So put that on the bucket list, jazzfest with Joan as many times as possible before I die!

Happy Birthday Katie!

I can't believe your 25! Seems like yesterday you were Daddies little girl and the only kid!

I'm so proud of you and hope you have the greatest birthday ever!

LSU wins the SEC

LSU beat Kentucky in a down to the wire nail bitter. With that victory LSU claims the regular season championship outright!

Geaux Tigers!!

No. 18 LSU clinches share of SEC crown!

LSU finished last in the west only a year ago. Now with 12 straight SEC wins and 9 wins in a row LSU is dominating. One more victory and they will win the conference outright! A great way to celebrate the 100th year of LSU basketball.

Geaux Tigers!

Conan

This is Conan's last week in the late night slot from New York. I get Conan's humor and he is hilarious. Its been fun watching the recaps of past episodes this week.

Not sure what moving up in time slot and to LA will do to his act. Thanks for all the great, funny stuff over the last 16 years.

Good luck, Conan.

Beast

This is the weekend for the annual Birthday prime rib! Can't wait...

Rifle
This is the Ruger 10/22 carbine. It shoots 22 caliber long rifle bullets. This model of rifle was the first gun I ever bought. Got it in 1980 and had a lot of fun with it plinking everything in the desert around Phoenix, AZ. I loved that gun. Sadly it was stolen when we moved from Phoenix.

So recently I've been wanting to get back into shooting. The boy has also been asking about it as well. So I naturally returned to my old friend the Ruger. I bought the same model and it arrived just last week. Since Texas is all private property the boy and I will head to the range to plink. But it will be good to teach him how to shoot and have some fun together.

Just Because...

Sometimes you have have to laugh at the random crazy stuff on this here internet.

Teenagers

Had to love this quote from a facebook dialog about stressing out over getting into colleges:

"im not stressing out at all. i didnt have to writ essays and im pretty sure the schools im applying to are super easy to get into. haha i dont want to go to a hard school."

Oh my, too funny.

The day the music died...



February 3, 1959

It was 40 years ago...



Jan 30, 1969.

Life...

Life moves pretty fast. You don't stop and look around once in a while, you could miss it.

-Ferris Bueller

ICE DAY!

There is freezing rain in North Texas so the schools are closed! Have fun kids.

As for work that is still undecided :-( It may have to be a "Work from Home" day today :-)

The 2009 List

Part of the reinvention idea is really based on the fact I turn 45 years old this year. So I guess its time for the mid life crisis where you realize the "going to get to that one day" stuff needs to be gotten to!

So the 2009 list does include resolutions that are typical but it also includes new activities I feel drawn to or back to at this crossroads in life. The list (in order of priority):

1) Ask God to be in charge everyday - I always want to do it all by myself but it never works...
2) Daily exercise - no longer an option at this age. 30 min a day minimum, no exceptions.
3) Control finances - yet another typical list item but one that is critical with 2 kids in college
4) Reinvention - subtle changes so I don't get to stale...
5) Golf improvement. The game has been stagnant for me despite myself. It's time to get serious or walk away.
6) Deer hunting. The last time I hunted I was 18. Its time to get back.
7) Fly fishing. I've always wanted to try this and it seems like a good time.
8) A technical certification - got to challenge the mind and keep work skills up

That is it and that is a lot. Probably wont get it all done in 2009 but now is the time to start.

Fit issues

I did do a brisk 30 minute walk yesterday around the kitchen island. So I'm off to a good start.

Then I tried to fire up the Wii fit. But the Wii wouldn't power up. Figure we have a detached cable. Dug though the massive spagetti pile of cables for the TV/cable box/ps2/game cube/fit jumble only to find out it is connected properly. Oh man, fear set in that the Wii was dead. The Wii that took a lot of effort to procure! I pulled out the power adapter and Wii box. Figured I might as well check the power adapter. Who ever hears of a power adapater going bad? But had to check it. I got my trusty digital multi-meter and set it up for a DC voltage measurement. The label on the adapter says it has a 12V output. The meter read ZERO. Problem found. I order a new power adapter which is $20 and will take a week to get here. So now I'm out of a Wii for a week. Ug, nothing is ever easy.

Fitness

The new year has worn off now and any feable excuses I had left are used up. The last one being if the new president doesn't have to start work until Jan 20 well then me too! Oh, so feable I know. So its time to get back to fitness. While I'm not sure I can shed 20 lbs like my friend committed to I do need to unload some and keep the bp down. So resolution one kicks into full implementation TODAY!

The Dream

...From 1776 to 1862 to Jan 20, 2009, was really for us all.

Blogging Drought

Not much to say which means to much going (back on the work bullet train), obsessions, angst, searching, routines, winter, and just getting in my own way!

You know how it is...

And yes, I need to buy new shoes. Both of them have a huge crack right under the balls of my feet! Cheap Kohl's shoes... Ah, and yes, I have only one pair of 'daily' shoes at any given time.

Pop Culture

On my last visit to Chicago this sign was in my hotel room:

'Pop' is a term for sodas in the midwest. We always used the term 'Coke' for sodas regardless of what type it was. And other people actually use 'soda'. And it just so happens somebody studied this and made a map of what term is used where. I found it at the stange maps site:

Blue = Pop, Red = Coke, Yellow = Soda

click here for a bigger image of the map

More SEC football

This has been a couple of days of some exciting games. The SEC really did well (until last night anyway).

South Carolina - oh well, they got to a bowl

Ole Miss - Love the upset and what a great game to watch

Kentucky - Another great game to watch, East Carolina was evenly matched in this game of knees.

Alabama - Wow, where did the Utes come from? I really didn't expect this outcome and am always glad to see another BCS shake up. Leave it to the 'bamers to make a mess of it all. The Utes will go down as number 2 but will have the legitamate argument to number 1. An all to familiar yearly BCS argument ritual.

SEC in bowls:
12 teams total
8 teams went to bowls
5 wins (LSU, Ole Miss, Georgia, Kentucky, Vandy)
2 losses (Alabama, South Carolina)
1 left to play for the National Championship (Florida)

Impressive!

To bad the national championship wasn't tonight. Spreading these bowls out all over just doesn't do a whole lot for the sport in my opinion. I know we have another BCS bowl to go (go Longhorns) and their is the NFL to contend with but come on schedulers. I want my college football to end with the holidays...

SEC!!

They said Vandy couldn't beat the BC streak... Vandy 16 BC 15 . Yeah 'dores!!

Then LSU was the underdog to G Tech.. But LSU put that one down 38 - 3!!

Go 'dores!
Gueax Tigers!
Go SEC!!!!

Vacation

Into week 2 now and it is flying by. The weather has been good so that has been a big plus.

Yesterday the boy and I went to the driving range together. That was a lot of fun.

Then Joan and I went to see Slumdog Millionaire. This was a really good movie and it was great to have a date night.

Tomorrow night is the annual New Years dinner party with friends. We take the young master to the Grand parents for an over-nighter and the girls go their own way.

One more day of 2008, how did this happen?

Tamale Night

To start the festive season off we had Tamale and Pictionary night. The parents, older brother, oldest daughter with significant other and son, and all of the other children came together at our place on Sunday evening. Earlier I had picked up 5 dozen tamales from Joe T. Garcia's bakery in Fort Worth. The evening started by devouring the delicious tamales. All really enjoyed this and gut busting goodness was had.

Then we had a great game of pictionary. These were the advanced set of cards Joan had made. Two teams were made and off we went. Nothing like the free association that comes pouring out when your trying to figure out what the person is drawing. Lots of family fun.

The highlight was my brother trying to get us to guess zombie. Here he is below as well as the zoom in of the clues. Needless to say we didn't get it. After the timer went off and he was explaining it I'm still not sure I followed his logic. This included his picture of the pituirary gland... So all night the phrase "Chris, is that a pituitary gland?" kept coming up!!



More activities are planned, can't wait!

Merry Christmas yall!

Man Shack

Yesterday I took advantage of the beautiful weather and played a round of golf with the club. Afterward we went over to one of the members house for the post festivities.

We had the gathering in his new man shack! This baby sported a shop, gym, ping pong table, pool table, soon to be indoor driving range, and 50" HDTV. Outside the shack was his new putting green and outdoor driving range with markers.

Wow, now that is a man shack like I have never seen...

Random Cell Phone Picture

Texas Winter

Yesterday it was a beautiful 80 degree day. The boy played outside all day. Positively shorts and t-shirt weather. Then about 7pm a front blew through and the temperature dropped 40 degrees! Today's high will be in the 30s! But don't worry by Thursday it will be back in the 70s.

Such is winter in Texas. A see saw of temperatures for several months. I was in Chicago a few weeks ago and those people already had their winter regalia out. Layers of heavy clothes. You could tell they were dressed for the cold and ready for it to be cold for a long time. My wardrobe hardly includes any long sleeves. When it gets cold I just throw on the coat and power through knowing in a couple of days it will warm up again.

SNOW!

The girls texted at 7am this morning to report the ground was covered in snow! This is a rarity in south Louisiana. Here are some pictures from New Orleans at the French Quarter and St. Charles St. Very weird indeed!

Stove again...


As Joan pointed out the dead stove makes a great storage cabinet for the toaster oven!

The Stove

We have your typical stove, oven on bottom, burners on top. Our stove decided to kill itself about 6 months ago. For some reason it went into full self clean mode all on its own and burned itself up.

So far six months it has sat there with breaker off. And we have cooked without it. What is suprising is that so far we have not missed it. The kitchen is so full of additional cooking appliances that it turns out the stove is really just not necessary. While we have discussed getting a new one so far there has been no rush to do so. In fact its now like a mission to just avoid buying one.

I suppose there are a lot of things we have that we would get along just fine without.

Planets

Maybe you have been noticing at dusk the last couple of weeks two bright objects in the southwest sky. The moon has been passing through them this last week. These two objects are Venus and Jupiter. Both are very bright and you can see them clearly before it gets dark.

So take a few minutes, go outside and take a look at dusk.

Vacation

-The Saints ROCKED the house last night! Even without Reggie. And Duece set the all time Saints touchdown record. DEUUUUUUUUUUUCEE!
-It's nice to be on a full week of vacation. The company has a use it or loose it policy so about this time of year people really start disappearing. I'm using 3 days to get the week off!!
-Winter is real tough here in Texas - NOT! I was in Chicago last week and forgot how people really layer and dress for cold. I don't have any of that stuff so maybe I should quit complaining about the cold we get here.
-The kid and I have been playing football and basketball everyday. Great fun. I'm going to try and get him to the 9 hole golf course this week too.
-My brother had his first kid, a son. I'm so excited for him. He and his wife will have a lot of joy with the little prince.
-This year for Thanksgiving my Mom is cooking a prime rib instead of turkey. Yum, Yum!!
-I can't get enough of the new XM channels. Between the Grateful Dead channel and the JAM ON channel I'm listening all the time.
-I still can't believe how low gas prices have become! At racetrack yesterday it was $1.58!!! Wow.

Chicago...



Traveling to Chicago in November is usually not fun. And when its for me to give a customer demo with lots of buisness implications it's really no fun! But you know what makes it all better??

That's right, yummy, delicious Portillo's!! Especially the Italian beef and sausage combo with sweet peppers on a roll plus crinkly fries on the side. Man that is to die for.

It just may have to be deep dish tonight at Lou's...

Thoughts of the Day

-Thanks Dad and all the other veterans who fought for our country. We will never know your sacrifice but will benefit it's reward.
- Nothing is as perfect as Joan's sweet tea
- Traffic in Denton is horrible. But gas there was only $1.84/gallon today!
- Google maps on my Motorola Q phone is pretty awesome
- I have to go to Chicago next week for work. Talk about winter shock, ug.
- Very much looking forward to the holiday time off coming up soon.
- For the most part cars are there for you but when things go wrong it can be painful.
- Is anybody really going to shop this Christmas season???

Polotics 4

I know a lot of one side is saying the sky is falling and the other side is pointing fingers at the current administration. But really if you look at it the president's office over time it oscillates back and forth between right and left. That means most people are in the center. After 8 years one way it's time to drift back the other way and so forth. To much of one thing, especially in politics, is a bad thing. And change in our government is always slow no matter who you are. So I think this will be good for the country and in 4 years we can all decide again which way to head.

NASCAR Nation

Today was Monday after one of the big NASCAR races. I drive to work down 35W so go right by the track. I could avoid it but I love to see the spectacle of NASCAR nation leaving sacred ground. Monday morning all the thousands are peeling out of the track and heading home. The freeway is bumper to bumper RVs with all the faithful. In a sense I'm people watching as I'm driving. You get to see all kinds. And they all have crazy flags, stickers, trailers, custom BBQ pits, and the best of all suped up golf carts. These people know how to have a good time and they come prepared!

This evening I drove home in the dark, it was only 6pm :-(

Winter...

Yesterday there was frost on the ground. Our electric blanket has been used twice this week. The mornings and evenings are getting dark. Even though I'm still wearing a short sleave shirt to work with no jacket the season has changed. Let the long winter stretch begin as my depression sets in...

Politics 3

I think the old adage that if the economy is good the incumbent party wins and if the economy is bad the opposing party wins is about to play out.

I get at least one email a day from a concerned friend passing along a detailed account of why it is party X's fault we are in this economic mess. Of course one day its from a Republican friend and the next its from a Democratic friend. Some things just don't change.

Maybe I will vote this week to get the drama over with. I still have yet to decide. Barr is looking pretty good at this point...

Stuff...

- The Bosox went down in the 7th game. Nobody took their eyes off of them until that final out was done because those guys prove over and over again how scrappy they are. Funny how a few years ago the Red Sox were everyone's favorite underdog (besides the Cubs) and now they are the dynasty winning machine. So overnight the world has become Ray's fans. Its a great story, I'm on board.

- Fall is here :-( And looming is the worst day of the year for me. We shall not speak of the day when the clock hands move in the middle of the night 1 hour.

- The wife and I are secretly lamenting our age. It seems to be that point when you realize everything really has changed and you are on the other side of it. I recently had 2 great aunts die. One from my Dad's side, one from my Mom's side. Both of these were the last of their generation in our family. So my Mom pointed out that now they have moved up into that oldest generation slot and therefore I have moved up in the order as well! doh!

- My answer to polotics and a bad ecomony is sports. Give me college football, MLB and NFL so I can ignore the problems of the world!

- It's time to retire the traditional Elvis mask I wear on Holloween. I need something new, going to have to make a mask run.

- The Texas State Fair has come and gone again and I didn't make it, again :-(

- I'm not going to miss the King Tut exhibit

- Happy Monday.

Baseball

You got to love playoff baseball. Last night's Red Sox come back was amazing and exciting! Within two innings to go from being down 7-0 and winning 7-8 was incredible! The bad part is I wish both teams could win. Not sure Bosox have it to come back all the way this time though.

Looking forward to some more games like this.

More Politics

Things are heating up. We were discussing this the other day.

Person 1: "I vote straight regardless of what the name is. It doesn't matter who the actual person is and I'd never vote any other way." This person went on to say almost everyone is this way and that its rare for people to vote based on the person and to not follow a strict party line.

I have to admit I do see this behavior from the majority of the people. I guess I'm in the minority. Although I have been registered with one party all my voting life on every election I decide based on the information I have on the person running and party is just part of the equation.

Person 2: "I'm not registered to vote and have never been registered to vote. I have no opinion and just don't want to be a part of it."

I can see a lot of people opting for this as well. The alternative is to seek opinion of others and that usually goes down the path of there is only one right choice...

Politics

I'm pretty a-political but had to comment on this. Yesterday I was behind a car that had two bumper stickers on it. The first was "Protect America, Nobama" and the second was just "NO" with the O being the Obama logo.

So this person took the time to adhere two bumper stickers to their car for what they were against. Yet they did not bother to add any sticker to endorse who they were FOR!

That's politics in a nutshell....

Back from Austin

It was good times and a plethora of live music. We festivaled all day and then went to an after show each night. Austin is the live music capital of the world so its only fitting that it have such a festival. Much like New Orleans' Jazz Fest its a community event instead of just a concert production.

We got to see a lot of great bands including the unknowns to the well known. The varieties in the line up keep things interesting all the time. And the intimate after shows were a nice addition to the festival this year (that's Jakob Dylan in the picture).

Thanks Austin!

ACL Festival

Thursday I'm off to the Austin City Limits Festival for 3 days of live music! I guess I need to go look at the line up and see who is playing...(!)

STRIKE!


His second game pitching was much better then the first. Good improvement He had a fair number of strikes and really stayed in control! Way to go son, we are very proud!

Live Music

Last Friday I ventured to the Granda and caught a great Umphrey's McGree show. They were fantastic and really put on a great show.

IKE Cometh

(As seen from the International Space Station)

Another massive storm in the gulf, this time Texas will take the hit. Hopefully everyone gets out that is told to. The kids are reporting that strong wind and rain started in Baton Rouge this morning.

Twin Towers

I'll never forget that feeling.... vulnerable, exposed...

Proud Dad Alert

Saturday was the opening game for Fall Little League. The son has a new team this time around so things are going to be different. He has also been going to the baseball gym all summer to improve his skills including pitching training. Pitching is something he has never attempted before.

In preparation for the first game the coach tells him that he is pitching first! He pitched the first inning and even threw a few strikes. I was very proud just to see him take it on, to get up there and go for it! It was a great moment!

Gustav Pounds Baton Rouge

We arrived Friday night in New Roads. The girls came in later that night. The next day we all had a great day on the river. The weather was perfect. But this was the calm before the storm.

All day the news was consumed by Gustav. Fortunately, the storm never slowed down over the Gulf so Cat 3 was all it could muster. But this meant the storm was coming in earlier. Instead of Tuesday it would hit Monday. LSU's football game kick off was moved up on Saturday from 5pm to 10am, the earliest kick-off in school history. The Contraflow plan was moved up from 6:30AM Sunday to 4:00AM. My cousin spent the day putting everything away and trimming tree limbs. He was hoping it was for precaution that would not be needed.

South Louisiana seem to mobilize Saturday night. My coworker left Thibideaux Saturday at 7:30pm on HWY 90 with his family. Thidideaux was in the direct path of the storm. It took him 12 hours to get to Shreveport (normally about 4 hours). The girls left to return to LSU Saturday night before the Contraflow began.

We decided to leave Sunday morning. At 7:45am we headed north on LA1 avoiding HWY 190 and I-49 south of Alex. LA1 was deserted so we made easy time. Joined I-49 North at Alex and all seemed light. But about 50 miles up the road traffic stopped. It would remain thick the entire trip back to Dallas. Mostly moving at the speed limit but with bunches that would slow down and stop occasionally. Almost all Louisiana plates getting out.

Spent Monday watching CNN. Not much was reported on the Baton Rouge area. But it took a beating. Lots of wind, not as much rain. Worse for this area then Katrina or Rita was. The power went out around noon. I got text messages from the girls into the late evening but its been silence since.

Now waiting for the day after damage reports. Although Gustav was no Katrina it was still a very scary storm. Thank goodness for all the preparation this time.

Into the Eye...

It's Labor Day weekend so we are doing the traditional road trip to Louisiana. This year we get to visit two daughters that are in residence at LSU. Daughter #2 is a senior. In her first week as a freshmen in 2005 Katrina hit! Welcome to Louisiana. Now Daughter #3 is a freshman and Gustav is heading straight for Louisiana to welcome her. Hopefully things will be far less mayhem then the devistation that Katrina brought.

We will get in late tonight. The govenor has order New Orleans to evacuate Saturday. Gustav is due to arrive Tuesday. So we maybe leaving early to avoid storm and traffic.

fit... wii fit!After hearing about the wii fit for so long I finally decided to get one. The boy says its fun and I know it can't end up as a clothes hanger collecting dust in the corner.

Well getting one proved quite the challenge. You can't just buy these things, they are harder to get than the wii itself. I had to employ serious technology to get one. I found a wii stock tracker page and set it up to send me a text message whenever it found one on line. The first few days I kept missing getting one. One would pop up and then be gone in seconds. But finally I scored one from Toys R Us!!

The Wii Fit arrived a few days later and I was committed. I found out rather quickly this thing was serious! And how out of shape I was :-( First time up I take the body test and it gives me my wii fit age.... 49. Ouch, even the family winced.

But me and my personal wii fit trainer have been at it for 6 days now. He keeps telling me to keep working at it, one day I'll be in shape but only if I excercise everyday.

The truth is I'm enjoying it. It's a fun way to approach excercise. It's easy to do. Whether it works or not its got to beat sitting on the couch.

Game Time!

Today the little widget thingy on this page for LSU football changed indicating this week's game! College football is here and I'm excited. LSU goes into the season with uncertainty at the quaterback position like many other SEC schools are facing. Unfortunately the loss of Perrileaux now reflects on what just could have been a much more certain repeat trip to the BCS. But none of that matters once ball is kicked off on Saturday.

My Morning JacketRock and Roll brother called Saturday to invite me to his work. My Morning Jacket was playing at the Pladium and he knew I liked them. So I headed down to the Palladium and hung out with the bro at the sound board. Very cool since the place was jammed packed. And since he is the sound man the best seat in the house is where the sound man's ears are!!

The band was great! This was a stronger set than what I had seem them do a few years ago. I really enjoyed the full 3 hours. I was really amazed by the light show, tons of lights. Erika Badu made an appearance and sang one of the songs in the encore.

Love live music, thanks bro!

The King



I was thinking that night about Elvis
Day that he died, day that he died
I was thinking that night about Elvis
Day that he died, day that he died
Just a country boy that combed his hair
And put on a shirt his mother made and went on the air
And he shook it like a chorus girl
And he shook it like a Harlem queen
He shook it like a midnight rambler,
baby,
Like you never seen

- Gillian Welch, Elvis Presley Blues

Well she drew out all her money from the Southern Trust
And put her little boy on the Greyhound Bus
Leaving Memphis with a guitar in his hand
With a one way ticket to the Promised Land
Hey little girl with the red dress on
There's party tonight down in Memphis down
I'll be going down there if you need a ride
The man on the radio says Elvis Presley's died

- Bruce Springsteen, Johnny Bye Bye


Aug 16, 1977. RIP Elvis.

Nest is emptier...

Kid #3 left for college on Sunday. She drove by herself to Baton Rouge. And we are left a bit emptier. She will be fine...

But we are loosing critical mass. Down to only 2 kids in the house. One of them is a high school senior so she is rarely seen. Thus leaving the house feeling very empty. Kind of one of those things when I was a younger parent and heard about that I just didn't get. Empty nest? Woo Whoo!! But then when it starts to happen you get it...

Geekfest '08

Last week I traveled to Austin to attend NIWeek 08. This is a week long technology conference presented by National Instruments. Not exactly a household name. But for 3,000 experts in instrumentation, automation and graphical programming its mecca. This is an Austin based company that lives the moto, keep Austin weird. They take innovation, engineering and out-of-the-box all together and produce gee wiz stuff for us engineers.

This technology is exciting and spectacular. Part of NI's vision is to create more engineers and technologist. With our enormous appetite for all technology such as cell phones, hdtv, wireless internet, video games, ipods, etc. you would think ever kid in America would want to be involved. But not so. It seems our kids measure success by Derek Jetter or Hanah Montana with little room for much else. Technology is cool and so many oppotunities are out the for the taking. NI is working to get to kids into techology, primarily with their Lego Mindstorm robots. This is NI's brain child and one of their most exciting projects (slightly cooler then their fully automing the beer making process at the Spotzel brewery in Shiner, Texas).

So I applaud companies like this and really am awed but the power of innovation when its fueled. A modern day Edison lab for sure. And yes, that makes me fall into the geek squad. As Joan pointed out, "We have seen the enemy and they is us!". But I'm ok with that. Enjoy your techology!

RIP Jerry

See here how everything
lead up to this day
and it's just like
any other day
that's ever been
Sun goin up
and then the
sun it goin down
Shine through my window and
my friends they come around
come around
come around

Hail Caesar!



Last night we went to the Caesar Salad competition in Dallas with a group of friends. This competition is hosted by the American Institute of Wine and Food. Some of Dallas' best chefs and restaurants serve their Caesar Salad and an appetizer. They included:

J.W. Foster * The Fairmont Hotel
Mansour Gorji * Canary Cafe
Chad Kelley * The Oceanaire
Daniel Nemec * Kirby's Steak House
Mike Owens * Morton's of Chicago
Scott Romano * Charlie Palmer
John Tesar * The Rosewood Mansion on Turtle Creek
Jason Weaver * The French Room
Brian Wubbena * Truluck's
Michael "Buzzy" Zeve * Sevy's Grill

There were 10 restaurants in all. We tried every one of them! So it was very filling and delicious. All of the salads and appetizers were really good. The appetizers included escargot, crab (crab, crab and more crab), filet mignon, sweetbreads, quail, duck, and others. Very much a variety.

It was lots of fun, a night out and good eats. Joan and I thought the Canary Cafe salad was the best. But the winner this year was the Mansion at Turtle Creek. They did have a great salad and their fried sweetbreads were very tasty.

So it begins....

LSU's first SEC match up will be at Auburn on Sept. 20!

I'll wait to start complaining about USC and Ohio State's soft schedule. They deserve to play each other... oh wait, I guess I just did complain!

USA Today Poll

1. Georgia (22) 0-0 1,438

2. USC (14) 0-0 1,430

3. Ohio State (14) 0-0 1,392

4. Oklahoma (3) 0-0 1,329

5. Florida (5) 0-0 1,293

6. LSU (3) 0-0 1,163

7. Missouri 0-0 1,143

8. West Virginia 0-0 1,008

9. Clemson 0-0 999

10. Texas 0-0 979

11. Auburn 0-0 888

12. Wisconsin 0-0 747

13. Kansas 0-0 714

14. Texas Tech 0-0 644

15. Virginia Tech 0-0 568

16. Arizona State 0-0 560

17. Brigham Young 0-0 547

18. Tennessee 0-0 506

19. Illinois 0-0 422

20. Oregon 0-0 399

21. South Florida 0-0 350

22. Penn State 0-0 313

23. Wake Forest 0-0 203

24. Michigan 0-0 112

25. Fresno State 0-0 91

Oysters

On Saturday Joan and I went to a Oyster eating experience at the Oceanair Seafood Room. This was a special event where the executive chef led an oyster tasting. He educated us on oysters themselves, where they are found, flavors, differences, etc.

The tasting included a list of 4 different west coast oysters and 4 different east coast oysters. We received 3 of each on the half shell and he required us to eat then straight up, no crackers or sauce (naked). That way we could compare the flavor differences of each of them.

I was very suprised by the variations. Even though many are the same species, the environment they grow in has big influences. Some where chewy, others buttery. They all had various flavors in them. And each had a different saltiness and ocean taste.

Joan isn't a big fan of oysters but she did a respectable job tasting (and passing the rest to me!). Two dozen oysters is a lot for a non-oyster eater, especially when they have to be eaten naked!

It was a lot of fun and a really enjoyable afternoon!

Take Your Child to Work Day

Last week we had take your child to work day. This has been around a number of years but this year engineering took on the coordination of activities and events.

A full day was planned and the kids got to see a lot of neat stuff that happens in the day of the life of an engineer at Motorola. We had tons of phones and electronics, x-ray machines, guassing magnets to change the TV screen colors, soldering, assembling, sound tests, and so on.


And of course engineers are a different bunch. Many of them have "toys". So the highlight of the day was the Tesla Coil. This demo started with a Jacob's ladder. Then a Van de Graaff generator to use static electricy to make the kids hair stand out striaght. Next the demo moved to a small tesla coil that made light bulbs light with amazing colors. And finally was the big Tesla coil. This was the big show and the kids oo-ed and aw-ed all the whole time as electric charges shot all over!



It was a good day for all.

All Star Fun




My son and I watched part of the all star game last night. I love to see his excitment just because so many stars from all the different teams are there at once. We missed the opening when they introduced each postion with hall of famers first then the player for this year. But we did talk about some of those historical players. "Yogi Bera, who's that?"!


And I have a feeling he will want to add a Hamilton t-shirt to his Ranger collection next time we go. What a performance at the home run derby!

Got to love baseball. Now I'm feeling like I need me some more baseball soon!

The Quiet Before...

We strolled around campass last week just to walk around and visit Mike. Mike was asleep in his spot. The campus was empty, closed, totally dead...

Hard to believe that in a month this ghost town will transform to life. Two of our girls will be living here, one for the first time to move out of the house.

And, of course, Death Valley will open for buisness... dun dun dunnnnnnn

4th of July

In our family we have this thing about traditions. I'm the instigator of most of it. But once a tradition is established it must be followed at all costs. And we have a bunch of them.

One such tradition for the last many years to go see fireworks on the 4th of July while sitting on the banks of the mighty Mississippi River. They are set off on a barge in the river at the I-10 bridge in Baton Rouge. We sit on the opposite side on the levee with the state capital lit up in the back ground and the fire works show before us.

Well the last two years had not gone so well. Two years ago something blew up on the barge right at the start and the show was ended right then. Then last year the show was just a dud, seeming to just end mid stream. So when it came time this year I was thinking maybe it was time to skip the show, avoid the 30 minute drive, and just do our own little show that always follows instead. The adults were all for this.

So I go to take the consensus with the kids asking them what they want to do? They answered, its a tradition, we have to go. Enough said, lets go...

This year the show the most spectacular we had ever seen. Several times we thought we were in the big finale only for the show to slow down and keep going. I guess the organizers knew the last two years were disappointing and were making up for it. Even after all was finally done and we were all leaving one more shot off. As if to put the exclamation mark on the end.

Thanks kids. It was a great, traditional 4th of July.

As it should be...

Sometimes a lyric just strikes you.

Sometimes the lights all shinin on me
Other times I can barely see.
Lately it occurs to me what a long, strange trip its been...

It seems like that is the way things are right now with kids growing up and life passing by.

Have a great 4th. We are off to Louisiana to sit by the lake and watch the grass grow.

Half way there.... Happy Birthday!!




Today our 'baby' turns 9 years old! Yikes, how did this happen.... Happy Birthday!

Bocce!

The father's day gift this year was a bocce ball set. This has proven to be great family fun! It is easy to do, outdoors, and creates fun and excitement. Of course my son perfers bocce on the wii....