Thursday, August 31, 2006

Half Time

I know you can't read the offense board, but it says that the raiders have 2 first downs, -3 passing, 13 rushing, for a total of 10 yards of offense. You have to love it! Chants of Raiders suck are met with silence from the Raider goons in the stands... Priceless!

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Here we go! My first hawk game me the season... I am stoked!

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Wednesday, August 30, 2006

Great White North

So Carrie and I are eating dinner the other night and Mr. Jay Steller (Cyanocitta stelleri) lands on the finely hand-crafted railing I just installed and runs back in forth across it. What a cool bird I thought to myself, You could see his intelligence just by how he was moving around. He looked like the Glen Plake of the bird world. I almost forgot that I highly disliked the guy.

Almost until he unleashed a barrage of the most unholy demon spawn of a bird call that I have ever witnessed. Aaaack! ack! aaaaaaack! aack, aaaaaack! AAAAAAAAck! AAAAAAAAAAAAACK!!! After about 30 minutes of this he finally gave it a rest. Peace had returned to our backyard. Not for long, once C and my nerves finally settled down, Jay came back with three of his buddies and they each went to a different corner of the yard. They then proceeded to have a 'yell fight' for an hour and a half.

What the hell did I do to deserve this?!? So I happen to have the one backyard with a lot of trees. I was considering taking them down.

I actually missed the times in apartment B107 when I would light the BBQ and the heavyset 6'4 bald guy with goatee, wearing a tank top, cut off sweats, (occasionally a bath towel and no shirt, no joke) and flip flops would say to to me, "Hey partner, what time do you want me to come up?" It got to the point to where I would watch him through the curtain, and when he turn his back, I would run out to flip or bring in the burgers. My meat was inconsistent those summers.

But I digress...

I hate Jay Stellar.

BTW, I looked up Steller's Jay on Wikipedia to find the scientific name (not memorized, sorry) and about fell over backwards when I read this...

You also won't want to feed them around your home for the reason stated above, but also because they are the loudest, most obnoxious creatures in the forest.
They shriek and caw ceaselessly.

LOL!

Here is a reason to dislike Canucks.... (like we need more!)
The Steller's Jay is the provincial bird of British Columbia

Just kidding we love you, Eh? You gave us Rick Moranis!

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Tuesday, August 29, 2006

Miscellaneous Ramblings...

What up, home fu schnickens?!? It's the Mike Dizzle!

So I was thinking today, Why doesn't Car and Driver, the greatest all around auto magazine, publish their Road Test Digest online? This is a crime! No worries though, I decided to take action... Yes, your friendly MDizzle decided to start typing in the entire digest. If you don't believe me check right here... I got the first page in and decided to give it a break. I know, I have way to much time on my hands. In a weird way, it was kind of relaxing, I set the itunes on a 5-star palylist and typed away... Maybe I'll finish it in a few days. Feel free to use it to settle your frequent car arguments, but remember, these numbers are not gospel.

Why I love punk ....
Dead Kennedys, MTV - Get off the Air. Spot on. Does MTV even play videos any more? I honestly haven't watched MTV since Jackass stopped airing new episodes.

BTW - Best Dead Kennedy song? Holiday in Cambodia.

edit - the spreadsheet isn't viewable with out an invitation. drop me a email if you would like to view it.

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Monday, August 28, 2006

Parasitic Song of the Morning...

The Beach Boys, "I Get Around".... Uggh. Why is this in my head????

It could be worse, It could have been "Sloop John B" or ...shiver... "Kokomo", the worst song EVER!

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Sunday, August 27, 2006

Deck Update...

Deck update for August the 27th.

No progress on Saturday. No, I wasn't being lazy or playing Madden, Carrie and I went to a retirement lunch for Bill (congratulations) and went to a wedding for one of Carries co-workers (congratulations).

Sunday I killed! All my rails are now up, though I am still waiting for the balusters. Tomorrow I will do a second coat of stain before the rain that is expected for Tuesday shows up. I need to install the three steps off the lower porch and cut and install the 'picture frame' deck boards and the deck is ready to party!

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Friday, August 25, 2006

The Cardinals New Stadium...

Before you accuse me of being a dirtbag, know that my wife was the one to bring this to my attention.......

The Mortons Family (of Hard Rock Cafe and Mortons Steakhouse fame) has offered the Arizona Cardinals $30 million over 10 years to name the stadium after their new chain, Pink Taco Stadium.... Snicker, snicker.... LOL!

Dalton said the team doesn't wanted to be associated with the Pink Taco brand, but wouldn't say exactly why.

Hilarious!

BTW, I checked out the Pink Taco site here (no worries, it is safe) and it looks like a cool place to sip a good tequila. I'll definitely check it out if in the area of one...

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Thursday, August 24, 2006

Madden 2007



I have been playing the new Madden 2007 for three days now and I am impressed and disappointed...

Impressed with the graphics, they are absolutely amazing, almost real. What a difference from the first 'video' football game I ever had, Coleco's Head to Head football, where your player was just a red dash. I was enthralled with this game, I wonder how excited today's ten year old would be to play it today. They even have the voices of the QB's making the calls...

disappointed in my meager skills. I just got done playing the Packers and they smoked me! I didn't check the stats, but the only drive that they didn't score on me was when time ran out on the half. At least I stopped them a few times, forcing them to settle for FG's. I need to stop letting John Madden make the calls for me... He'll say, "This play'll stop 'em for sure" and Ahman Green will bust one for 35... Thanks John! Oh well, I'll keep at it.

I think I'll spend some time in practice mode running certain plays against the different defenses, I need to improve my reads and vision. Yes, it is that intense!

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Wednesday, August 23, 2006

Parasitic Song of the Morning

Car Toys "Push the Button" Jingle.... If you haven't heard it, consider yourself blessed.

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Tuesday, August 22, 2006

Football is Boring.

Thanks to Jeff for finding this article....



As the Mariners' two-week plunge into mediocrity continues, as some of baseball's best teams arrive in town to pad their stats on a team in full wilt, and as football season promises to steal away attention like a soap opera siren, that anger is getting replaced with another "A" word.


Boy, this is music to my ears! If you haven't figured it out yet, I'm not much of a baseball guy. Yes, I got excited for the '95 "Refuse to Lose" Mariners as that was a very new experience, but I quickly got tired of it... By the time 2001 and the 116 wins I was bored with it all. BTW, the "A" word is apathy...

LOL, I love this next bit...



"Fans feel like the guys that have been making decisions are not making good ones. This is bordering on the verge of no interest. When the NFL season starts, (the Mariners) will be all-but-forgotten."

Not to Eric Draluck. At least not entirely. Football is boring, said the devoted, despondent Mariners fan. "I'm always going to watch baseball," he said. "I'm a baseball guy. But I'm disappointed as everyone must be."

Did he get his sports mixed up? I can understand him disliking football (well not really) but calling it boring? That is like a glacier saying an avalanche doesn't have enough action...

Rick Reilly of Sports Illustrated said it best here. Some highlights -


Time the baseball was actually in play, including pitches, batted balls, foul balls, pickoff attempts, relays, throws to bases and anything else even Bob Costas might consider actual sporting activity (and I was being generous with the stopwatch): 12 minutes, 22 seconds.


Percentage of time that the ball wasn't in play: 94.

Percentage of time my cerebrum wasn't in play: 94.



Football is boring? REALLY. I doubt you will ever see THIS as a promotion at a football game.




C'mon! Knitting at a game, and he calls football boring?

Can you imagine the ribbing this guy got when he went to work Monday morning? Hopefully he got hit in the head by the foul ball his wife and kid are watching as he blissfully works on his Mariner turquoise rally sweater for September evening games and snaps back to manhood...

Beano Cook said it best when the then commissioner of baseball, Bowie Kuhn gave the returning Iran hostages lifetime passes to major league parks, "Haven't they suffered enough?"

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Monday, August 21, 2006

Monday....

Pretty busy today, writing with one hand while enjoying an 'after school' snack of string cheese and a Diet Coke... Getting ready to crank some Ramones on the Ipod and get high on some paint fumes in the garage.

Good Hawk game last night, nice to see Matty get the O running. D needs to step it up, granted they were up against Peyton Manning and missing some key guys. Trufant needs to wake up... No worries though. I think if this would have been a regular season game it would have been a good battle.

I really want Plackemeier to be teh punter... He has a great nickname... 'Gus the Mule' LOL.

Time to go paint! Adios!

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Saturday, August 19, 2006

Deck Update

After contemplating over a couple of pitchers of Industrial IPA (my favorite at the moment) at the Diamond Knot Brewery in Mulkiteo with some good buddies, I decided to advance the deck BBQ/load test to September 9th.... The only thing that could spoil this is the arrival of the black anodized aluminum balusters that I need to order. If they haven't arrived, the deck would be cool for adults but I would be worried about children.

For you Husky fans I'll have the OU game on the big screen. For my mom and dad who will be celebrating their millionth, plus or minus a few years, anniversary, we will sing a song for you... most likely to the tune of 'Happy Birthday' as it is simple to change the words. If you decide to have a nice dinner elsewhere I will understand. :)

Please save this date! I am 97.432% sure that it will happen. I shall send out invitations the second that I have my precious balusters in hand!

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Deck Update

Poured the concrete to support the lower stairs, got all the rail posts bolted up... Being held up by dad who is hogging his compound miter saw. Once I procure that from him I should have the rails up and lower stairs done lickity split.

Status... Ahead of schedule. Moving the BBQ/load test to no later than mid-October. Pencil it in!

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Mariners Baseball... Refuse to lose!

Refuse as in garbage....

Are they still playing?

Big surprise that I see more Seahawk gear on people around town than Mariners. I predicted this a couple years ago and the Super Bowl appearance cemented it. The Seahawk pheonix would rise from the ashes and reclain the town that is rightly theirs.

Good riddance!

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Friday, August 18, 2006

Laundry

This is why when Carrie and I have kids we will keep them in a cage like zoo animals. LOL!



Good thing the parents didn't have a glass front dryer when I was growing up....

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Darryl Tapp

In a break from thinking about my next move on my deck I read the camp diary of the Seahawks Rookie DE, Darryl Tapp. I was impressed, he sounds like he has a good head on his shoulders. No big surprise, just a typical Ruskell player... big motor, good head.

Lets hope his year goes the way of last years second round pick that wrote a diary and was consider to be picked to early in the draft, Lofa Tatupu.

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Truck Surfing

For y'all that haven't seen this before... a classic!



Watch for the hydrant. LOL! Too bad the video isn't of better quality, I would have loved to see his face the moment he realized that it was going bad.

This guy is lucky, back in 'cave man' times he would have been the first one picked off by a pack of velociraptors...

Buffoon!

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Thursday, August 17, 2006

Found: Mexican Fisherman

Wow, This story makes Gilligans Island sound like a sitcom...

I cannot imagine what it would be like on a small 30 foot boat with nothing to look at but the great expanse of the Pacific Ocean. How did they not go stir crazy? I start ripping out sheetrock by March with our wonderful winters that give Seattle a reputation of rain. (the NFL season gets me to January, sometimes later)

They were found approximately twice as far from Mexico as they were from Australia. They ate raw fish they caught and gulls that they trapped. I'm guessing a middle of the Pacific gull tastes much better than an Elliott Bay flying trash can, which I imagine tastes like chicken with a nice motor oil and old fish reduction.

Imagine their feeling when they were rescued. When they were given their first plate of food.

How about family and friends? A good deal of them had probably come to peace with never seeing them again and BAM!, they are back. What a shock. A good one though...

At least these fellas had each other and a Bible to read so they didn't have to make friends with a volleyball.

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Wednesday, August 16, 2006

Treadmill Bike

Check it out! Why walk when you can ride the treadmill bike... LOL!

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Tuesday, August 15, 2006

A Wonderful Idea!

Here is our genius state government at work - 2 Dots 2 Safety.

This was someone's brilliant idea to curb tailgating on a stretch of I-5. They painted giant dots on the freeway 80 feet apart, signifying 1 second of separation at 60 mph. We all know that you should have 2 seconds between you and the car ahead as it gives you plenty of time to avoid plowing into the guy when he slams on his brakes. Common sense.

No big deal until they unveiled Friday the signs that said there was a $101 ticket if you didn't keep the 2 dots between you. Since nobody likes a ticket, people would slow down if they were getting a little close. Here is where the problem started. Car 'B' would slow a little to keep his distance behind car 'A'. Car 'C' would have to slow a little more behind 'B'. Car 'D' would have to go slower yet. Pretty soon a stretch of freeway that typically has decent traffic flow is slowed to a crawl. Now at 10 mph having a 2 dot separation is 12 seconds! People were unsure if the State Patrol would still nail them for being within the 2 dots....

To end this long story, the signs were covered before the weekend was over and traffic moved smoothly again.

Here's more...

Dubbed the "2 Dots 2 Safety" program, the test patches on the pavement will be in place for a year. If the program improves motorists' behavior, the painted dots could pop up around the state on other highways, DOT spokesmen said.


LOL, they are pulling them up after a week!

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Deck update

Just got done staining the deck posts, all twenty of them... I couldn't stop thinking of Mr. Miyagi the whole time I was wielding my brush. Must defeat Cobra Kai!

Tomorrow, I start bolting them on to the deck...

Still on schedule to finish before November. Keep your calendars open!

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Wilcox to Sign

KJR am is saying this morning that the Sonics are going to announce a deal today with Chris Wilcox.

Great news! I like this guy... He adds some much needed Kemp-ish excitement to the team. Hopefully this means the Sonics can continue where they let off last year, putting them back in the playoff picture.

My favorites are still Swifty and Johnny Gasoline (my nickname for Johan Petro, lets spread it around...)

-update- Done deal.

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Monday, August 14, 2006

Seahawks Preseason Musings

I'm not a big fan of the preseason.... Even less when we should have a good team returning. Injuries, like the one that Clinton Portis suffered, scare me. The last thing we need to see is someone rolling over Walter Jones's knee or Hass cracking his wrist on someone's helmet while following through... Devastating enough in a regular season game but maddening in an exhibition game.

You say, "Mike, players get hurt in practice all the time, what are you gonna do, ban practicing too?"

Nah, Obviously you need practice, but they can take precautions to minimize risk (red shirts on QB's, etc...)

I think they should do like college, every game counts. Extend the games that count from 16 to 18, maybe throw in another bye in there. Sure we'd have to wait another week to see football, but instead of seeing the good stuff for two series before the seconds and thirds come in, BAM! they'd be on the gas. How sweet would that be?

Feel free to comment! ;)

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Sunday, August 13, 2006

Top 5...

...Bands that I would be fine with if I could only listen to their work for the rest of my life.

  1. Beastie Boys - You got your hip-hop songs, jazz inrumantals, and hard core punk songs all wrapped up in one package.
  2. The Ramones - Proved that all you need is three chords and a minute and a half, makes me smile every time.
  3. Nirvana - No doubt they would have been an easy #1 given more time.
  4. Pearl Jam - Old standby, easy listening for Mike.
  5. Janes Addiction - Amazing live, Perry Farrell looks pretty good in a ball gown.

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Haiku-a-go-go

almighty Starbucks
sublime tall almond latte
should have had grande

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Saturday, August 12, 2006

Deck Update

My deck is still not finished, the deck warming BBQ/ load test should be scheduled before November rolls around....

I'll keep y'all posted!

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Airplanes are cool!

Spent the day up at the Abbotsford Airshow in BC today and got reminded that F-15E Strike Eagles are loud. VERY LOUD! One did a high speed fly by, ala Maverick in Top Gun. If I had a cup of coffee in hand, it would have ended up in my lap. I was amazed by how much noise such a relative small package could put out! By the time my fingers bolted for my ears it was too late, the ears were ringing.

I am always fascinated to watch these pieces of engineering marvels at work. Even more amazing is to see a plane like the F-15 fly next to its WWII counterpart, the P-51 Mustang. The mighty Mustang is a mouse compared to the fire breathing monster that is the Eagle. It took ~40 years since the dawn of flight to get to the P-51. In the 30 years between then and the first F-15 flight they made a hunred fold advances in performance. There have been many advances in the 30 years since the F-15 first flew, but nothing even as close to as dramatic.

Stopped by the Skagit River Brewery on the way home. Tasty stuff. Their Skullers IPA is firmly planted in my top 5 beers. Too bad this place is a bit of a haul from my palatial estate. There is a train station right next door to it, but since this isn't Europe, it is of no use to me. Boo!

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Friday, August 11, 2006

Piquet vs Senna

Nice! F1 needs to get back to some racing like this... Nelson Piquet can't make the inside line stick on Ayrton Senna so he takes him around the outside with an amazing drift.



To translate, it says something about a Boeing 747 at the end...

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ROCK!

Is there any better song to crank the car stereo and belt the lyrics to than Silverchair's Tomorrow?

You gonna wait too, fat boy
fat boy, wait 'til tomorrow...

I should think not.

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A picture is worth a thousand weapons...

Hmmm, I wonder why we don't see this on the news... Could the news be cooked a bit to sway our opinions? No way!

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If I could dance

I'd want to dance like this...



If you haven't seen this yet, watch it now.... Hilarious!

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It's the most wonderful time...

Last night Carrie and I popped in the Seahawks NFC Champions DVD that I got her for her birthday. Yes, It was for her, she is arguably more in to the Hawks now than me.... That's saying something!

Anyhoo we weren't going to watch the whole thing, the Office was on, so we just watched the NFL Films Game of the Week, NFC Championship. If you are a Hawk fan, buy this DVD just for that. AWESOME! The goosebumps just popped up thinking about it again. If you haven't caught it on the NFL Network, it has Steve Sabol, and all the pomp and circumstance that only NFL Films provides. I found myself clapping many times.

The highlight... When the Hawks had the game, late in the 3rd or 4th, they showed the team lining up in a mob for a kickoff. In slow motion as the they pan across the team, Josh Brown is bent over, setting up the ball as the rest of the team, with huge grins, is doing their dance to Young Jeezy's "And then What"... Boom, boom, clap. Boom, boom, clap. I started crying right there! Probably one of the best pieces of cinematography I have seen!

Only 30 days to go!!!

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Thursday, August 10, 2006

Testing, testing, 1 2 3? Dan Fouts, GP, Sr, and KC say hi! Trying out the posting from the mobile phone... Slow but damn cool!

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White King Salmon

I never knew that white king salmon existed until last night. Carrie and I were at Ray's Boathouse and it was one of the specials along with seared albacore with a yellow curry.

While sipping on a Grey Goose dirty martini (thanks Jeff), a hard-core game of ping pong was being waged in my head.... Should I go with a tried and true veteran, the tuna, or should I take a chance with the newcomer, the white salmon. Tuna, salmon, salmon, tuna, I don't know...

Eventually tuna won out so I don't have anything to tell you about the salmon.

Just kidding, I picked the salmon. It was great! Probably the second best piece of salmon I have had, and I have had a lot! (the best was at Ray's too, Copper River...) I would highly recommend it if you run into it. They arn't kidding when they call it white, it has no coloring other than the grill marks. It was milder than your everyday salmon, but still definitely salmon.

FYI - if you are going to do a Google search for white salmon, throw in a 'king' or you will get everything but what you are looking for....

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Pork Chop Injured

Man, this guy cannot catch a break!

Pork Chop Womack, my favorite Hawk since he played with the giant club on his hand a few years back, pulled a hammy. The good news, he is only out for a week or so. This poor guy seems to get hurt every year, usually knocking him out for quite a duration. Last year he was to anchor the right side of the line, got hurt, Locklear took over and never gave the position up.

Hopefully this'll be the only injury for him and he'll spend the season next to big Walt opening big holes for one Shaun Alexander, NFL MVP and Madden 2007 cover boy.

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Wednesday, August 09, 2006

I almost forgot...

...not really

Happy birthday Carrie!

I had to shave twice in one day for the first time in my life today. Why? Not because I can grow facial hair like a lumberjack, but because I missed a patch this morning. Idiot! I had to go through a whole day at the office with it! I don't think anyone noticed as it was in the shadowed part of my face between my lower lip and chin. If I had a beard this wouldn't be a problem.

Normally I'd let it go until tomorrow but I'm taking Carrie out for a nice (no jeans and t-shirt for me) dinner and it would kill her if I didn't take care of it.

Well its off to dinner for us, hopefully the restaurant will have a sombrero for Carrie to wear and they'll sing and clap for her. If not I'll do it after a martini or two.

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Here we go....

Here it is, my first post...

I hear you asking, "Mike, what the heck are you gonna say on a blog?"

I don't know... I'm kinda flying by night here. Basically I'd like to pour the contents of my brain out on this page. A lot of it may bore you to tears, but hopefully a little bit may be interesting.

Maybe, as a bonus, I'll improve my typing abilities, grammar and spelling. Maybe not...

More to come....

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