Lunchtime Bloggin'

I supply you with some random thoughts as I eat my healthy lunch of brown rice, vegetables, and fruits.

State of the Union address was last night and at least what I saw was uneventful. The President (and I am talking about the figure, not the man) can't win in any situation. Regardless of what they think, someone is going to be upset and believe the opposite. I truly believe it is the worst job in America. Just imagine if every moment in your day was planned and every decision you made would be scrutinized by at least half of our country. I would last about 20 minutes and then when I said I had to go to the bathroom, I would slip away like Inspector Gadget. I didn't make it through the whole thing, which was 69 minutes long. You see that, 69 minutes. My god our President is a pervert. See how easy and fun it is to scrutinize.

Currently reading an article on ESPN.com about Tony Dungy and what he has done after coaching for the community at large. He is a good man and I don't think anyone would deny that. Now I don't agree with everything he says when it comes to religion or spirituality, but in a time where athletes and public figures for that matter shy away from controversy, Dungy is refreshing. I'm not saying he is a saint because he is helping Michael Vick or anything like that. I'm just saying he could have run away from the situation, but he actually approached Vick. He came in to try and help someone who is in the midst of a truly terrible issue. Dungy is clearly grounded, has his beliefs, and shares them with anyone who asks or will listen. I wish I could be more like that, or just people in general could have more of those qualities.

And finally anyone who follows sports knew the only reason to have a subscription to Sports Illustrated was to read Rick Reilly's back cover column. Well now he is at ESPN and still puts out a tremendous column every week. I've been going back in the archives lately and the dude can flat out lay the pen down. He does humor, sports, and tragedy all in one. If you have a chance I highly suggest you go to the archive and look up the story about the transgender sportswriter. I won't say much because it is a tender topic, but he essentially knew this writer as a man and a woman and respected all that they were. This person unfortunately killed them self, but it was a great column and one I'm sure that person would have read and respected.

Bangerangalastic...

Two posts in as many days. That's right kiddos, Zach is back in the groove. Unfortunately though, not a whole lot to write about. I write about the things I know. Sports, movies, food, rants, etc. So if you come here expecting more, (and I know my followers don't) that's too bad.

Time for some clean-up on random things from the past week. I did watch Paranormal Activity, or lets just say I watched the first 20 minutes, was bored to tears, fast forwarded to the last 10 minutes, and still knew what was going on. Absolutely nothing happened for nearly 100 minutes of screen time. How is that possible. I can see how it would have been a touch scarier in a dark theater at midnight showings, but that wouldn't have made it any more engaging. Just truly awful stuff. Movies that do nothing walk a fine line with me. The Big Lebowski is one of my favorite movies of all time, and nothing truly happens. However, Lost in Translation, Napoleon Dynamite, and now Paranormal Activity are on the list of movies where nothing happened and I couldn't stand it. Seriously, putting a camera on me at work and watching me type and create PowerPoint's could be more exciting than these movies.

My to-see list:
Up in the Air (Love me some Clooney)
Crazy Heart (Love me some Bridges)
Shutter Island (Love me some Leo and awesome fackin' Bawhston accents)

Sushi is freaking awesome. We ventured to Fugi Ya in Uptown and after slapping aside some Yuppies to get through the door, the night was fantastic. Meal was absolutely delicious and sushi truly does fill you up. Had some yellow tail, crab, and salmon. I think the real reason I like sushi is because I love raw cucumbers and avocados. And they seriously are in like every roll this place made. Love me some happy hour prices as well for both food and bevi. Japanese beer and lots of sushi? Yar betcha.

Ridonkulicious...

That's right kids. The amount of money that Avatar is making requires that I make up an adjective for it. As of this weekend it has made $553 million in the US, and about $1.8 billion world-wide. I would look it up, but that number has to rival some countries GDP. Either way it is an obscene amount of money. Doesn't hurt James Cameron that they charge extra for 3-D and IMAX showings. My take though is that the movie is very cool, thoroughly engaging, and a two-and-a-half hour eye-gasm. So kudos James, now go sit on your gold plated toilet and celebrate the being the owner of the 2 highest grossing films of all-time. Unbelievable...

Working is going very well and I really enjoy my job. Things are different everyday and it is a very welcome change from my old gig that was the same 5 things over and over again everyday.

Wedding plans are in motion and most of the important things are set. We have the date, officiant, ceremony site, and reception site. The rest is the filler details, which will certainly be difficult to all piece together. Lucky for me, my better half is really good at putting these things together and so far there have been no terrible arguments. Disagreements sure, but nothing that has driven us up a wall or had me grabbing for a knife.

Lastly, we purchased a netflix subscription and it is fantastic. You get to pick what you want and they just send the discs to you, how simple. And the big plus is the on-demand items you can watch straight on your computer. We started to watch the first season of Weeds and we were hooked. We watched the first two seasons (22 episodes, 30 minutes each) in a week. And now wait for the third season to come. I wish I would have invented netflix, because that man should be given a silver dollar.

I aint afraid of no ghosts....

It has been just a wild week when it comes to stories in the news. First and foremost (before I get to making any jokes) I send my thoughts to the people in Haiti. Much like the tsunami 5 years ago, it doesn't affect me, but the scope of the tragedy is huge. No official numbers yet but up to 100,000 feared dead. In terms I can understand, that is the West side of Madison. Damn. And to begin with jokes, who the eff is Pat Robertson and where does he get off. He said that Haiti got what was coming to them because they made a deal with the devil to gain their independence from France. He talks as if the devil is an actual guy who sits on a throne, strokes his tiny beard, and sharts out habenero peppers. It must be the answer because it clearly has nothing to do with the country being located on a FAULT in the earth's crust. So that means in 30 years when California rips off, the staunchly corpse of Robertson will claim it is comeuppance for all those Tyler Perry movies. Actually that could be true, those movies induce pain on a level only a guy who has been gored by a bull can truly understand.

Mark McGwire finally admitted to steroid use. Wow. Most shocking story to come out since Clay Aiken admitted he was gay. Thanks Mark. And you still won't admit that steroids helped you hit home runs. People who use steroids to get better from injury usually stop after said injury is healed. You kept going which means that you had enough horse steroids in your frame to kill livestock (or your pudgy son). The worst part about the whole thing is that he broke Roger Maris' record against the Cubs and I forever will have that image blazed in my mind. Kudos to Bob Costas for a good interview considering the hand he was dealt. Costas is the best in the baseball biz and it must have taken all his concentration not to pull down McGwire's pants, look in the camera, and say "Kids, this is what steroids do to you." Because down there, McGwire probably looks like the Asian dude from The Hangover by now.

NBC late night has been in the news a bunch, and anyone who knows me knows where I stand on the issue. Comedy is subjective and anyone can find anything funny. But Jay Leno is about as funny as full-blown AIDS. He has hijacked the network and now says he will quit too because what they are doing is unfair to Conan. How gracious of you, you goat chinned bastard. Conan has done everything possible in 16 years to gain an audience and bring younger viewers to NBC. He has done it well, and now in the brightest of lights it is not going great. But 7 months is not a great litmus test. Give him another year and if NBC really feels the same, then find a replacement. It is that simple. There I could run a television network.

Sadly, Michael C. Hall of Six Feet Under, Dexter, and Zach's dreams fame, has been diagnosed with cancer. He has Hodgkin's lymphoma which is the "good" kind and is in remission. I was very sad when I heard this news. But all seems well and then I got to thinking. Most cancer jokes are not in good taste, but how come bad people never get cancer? It is always the cool people. Hitler could have used a big dose of cancer, but no Patrick Swayze gets it. Come on God, that ain't right. Well Hall is going to whoop cancers ass and is going to show up to the Golden Globes on Sunday night. I will be watching and on Saturday I am hoping to blog my choices for the main categories. That is of course, if I am not still in shock from Paranormal Activity.

Until next time....

What Up With That....

I said a ooooooooooooooooo weeeeeeeeeeeeeee. Yeah I'm in a bizarre mood for a Saturday morning. All is well in the land of 10,000 lakes. I had my first full five day work week in nearly two months, and it felt awesome. Things at the job are going well and I'm finally getting into a groove as to what I am supposed to be doing all day. But on to the important stuff.

First things first, Kristi and I were sold rotten produce at the grocery store this past week. I was very displeased. We were all gung ho to eat healthy and have chicken stir fry with some red peppers. Well the peppers were rotten on the inside, just like Lindsay Lohan. Nothing more frustrating than trying to eat healthy and being denied by some bizarre snafu.

Lots of sports stuff going on lately. NFL playoffs are on the horizon today. I will check them out, only because it is football and that is what I do. I'm much more intrigued by college basketball, particularly Big Ten match ups. I love me some Illini and they play Indiana tonight. It should be another win for Illinois and they are going to need them before they get any deeper into league play. The big game however is undefeated Purdue going to the Kohl Center to take on Wisconsin. I've seen Purdue play twice this year (Tennessee and West Virginia) and they are damn good. The Badgers are spectacularly unspectacular. They really have no one who takes over a game, except Trevon Hughes when he wants to. Purdue has won in their last two visits to Madison, but I'm not sure if they make it three in a row. Both teams will be focused and make it an all out slug fest. I would be absolutely floored if it was more than a five point win for either team.