30 before 30 - september update

I didn't accomplish a whole lot this month. In fact I don't think I have a single thing to cross off. However, I did complete some of the ongoing things such as reading and completing some of my unfinished tasks.

1. Write A Letter To The Editor

2. Learn Spanish
I am finished with the first section of Duolingo. I'm still learning a lot of new stuff but I have a ways to go.

3. Donate Blood

I am waiting for the next blood drive at work. Seems like an easy way to knock this one out.

4. Weigh Under 200

5. Go White Water Rafting

6. Go To A Hockey Game

7. Visit Portland

8. Run A 1/2 Marathon

9. Learn The Thriller Dance

10. Take A Dance Class With Sandra

11. Start A Fire

I found a couple of different ways to start a fire without matches or a lighter. One is with steel wool and a battery and the other is the bow drill method. I'm going to do both, hopefully in the next few weeks.

12. Go To The Top Of The Space Needle

13. Go To A Comedy Show
I bought tickets to Louis C.K. but it's not until December.

14. Go Backpack Camping

15. Walk Across The Tacoma Narrows Bridge

16. Ask 10 People Their Favorite Book And Read Them
I finally finished reading other random books so I'm starting on this one some time this week. Just gotta figure out which book to start with.

17. Paint A Picture

18. Attend A Midnight Premiere Of A Movie

19. Read 10 Books To My Kids
The Hobbit
Harriet the Spy - Starting this one this week. Shouldn't take very long.
The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe
Charlie and the Clocolate Factory
The Phantom Tollbooth
Holes
The Invention of Hugo Cabret
The Watsons Go to Birmingham
Number the Stars
The Golden Compass

20. Go To A Seahawks Training Camp Practice

21. Eat At A Top Rated Restaurant

22. Watch The Top 50 Movies on IMDB
I didn't watch a whole lot of movies this month. Most of my movie watching time was spent watching season 6 of Dexter. The movie quality is getting better, and I'm starting to rewatch some good ones that I had already seen. Best movie I watched this month - American History X.

23. Go On A 5 Day Fast

24. Make Something With Homegrown Food

25. Go To Canada

26. Finish My Unfinished Tasks At Home

I rearranged the kitchen a little (moved the fridge and a cabinet), rerouted the light switch, painted the light and walls, cleaned some of the attic, and painted the laundry area.

27. Read The Bible

28. Volunteer At A Homeless Shelter

29. Complete A Mud Run

30. Bet On The Superbowl Winner Before The Season Starts
This might end up being the most difficult task to complete. Apparently in Washington State you can't gamble online. I tried signing up for a few different websites, but since I am a Washington resident I couldn't. I might have to go to Vegas or have someone place a bet for me, but unfortunately it will have to wait until next year.

stumble upon stuff

Nothing is better for dealing with boredom on the Internet than StumbleUpon. For those who haven't had the pleasure of experiencing it's greatness, it is just like the Pandora music program (hopefully you know what that is) but for websites. You fill out a little checklist of your interests and voila, it will start finding websites that you should be interested in. If it starts giving you stupid websites you aren't interested in, just give them a thumbs down and it will stop showing similar websites. There is also a mobile app....so download it. Here are 9 random websites I like that I found using StumbleUpon.

86 Booze Rules

Magical Glowing Cocktails

25 Phrases You Wish You Could Say At Work More Often

Old Spice Music

Bald-Hairy

Robot Drummer

Basketball Player Impersonator

Bubble Guy

Funny Signs

six songs of me

I found a website called Six Songs Of Me and thought I'd share my six songs as well as some explanation for each of them.

1. What was the first song you ever bought?

This one is a little weird because you don't really buy individual songs so I'll put the album. I remember having music in the early 90's but I'm pretty sure someone else bought it for me. This is the first CD I can think of that I actually bought myself was Incesticide by Nirvana which I got to keep me occupied during a car trip to California. Crap, the question says song.....um, I guess I'll just go with the first song on the CD, Dive.

2. What Song Always Gets You Dancing?

The only time I have ever danced is when I'm too drunk to care that I'm making a fool of myself, so to answer this one I consulted with someone who has witnessed most of my sweet moves, my wife Sandra. ......Unfortunately she was of no help. I guess I'd say the music that most makes me want to dance is drum and bass music. As for a specific song, I'd say Messiah by Konflict. It is the first track on Dieselboy's The 6ixth Session. Any song that can cause a metal band to switch genres and start making drum and bass music (Pendulum) has got to be worth dancing to, right?

3. What Song Brings You Back To Your Childhood?

I like this question. There are a lot ways I can go with this because different songs bring me back to different times of my childhood and the people in it. It seems like any person or time of your life (at least for me) can be described with music. Old school country (or whatever it's called) reminds me of breakfast at my grandma's house when I was little. Oldies remind me of riding to school with the LaBerge's in 5th grade, soul music reminds me of hanging out with my dad, grunge music reminds me of when MTV actually played music, and the list goes on. If I had to pick just one song though that brings me back to my childhood, I'd have to go with Jump by Kris Kross. I can't wait for the backwards overall fad to come back!

4. What Is Your Perfect Love Song?

This is a girl question and I don't really want to answer it. I guess I have to put something here, how about Kiss You All Over by Exile. It's a good thing Adam Sandler makes sure people don't forget about all of that awesome 80's music.

5. What Song Would You Want At Your Funeral?

What better than to Rick Roll everyone at your own funeral? Funerals should be a celebration of someone's life so a funeral song shouldn't be sad, depressing, Coldplay style music. I wouldn't want my funeral song to remind people of my death, I'd rather have it make them smile. That's why I would pick Never Gonna Give You Up by Rick Astley.

6. Time For The Encore. One Last Song That Makes You, You.

This one has to be Teach Me How To Dougie by Cali Swag District. Did you expect anything else? I'm pretty sure this song/dance was made just for me. There are two great things about this song. First, who else has a cartoon AND a song/dance named after them? And second, whenever masterpieces like this are made you get the laugh at all of the YouTube weirdos that need to share their skills with the world.

ten things i think i think

1. Although he wasn't known for talking, I think this Charlie Chaplin speech is pretty great. Also I think it is sad to hear speeches like this that still apply after all those years.



2. I think these are some things that sports analysts/announcers say that I hate:

Intestinal fortitude - when used in reference to someone having "guts". It just sounds stupid.

We are going have to out score them to win (or other variations) - when used in reference to a high scoring game. Thank you Captain Obvious.

110% - when used in reference to the amount of effort given. This pisses me off 110% of the time.

World Champions - when used for champions of leagues that do not exist internationally (NBA, NFL, etc). Is the rest of the world arrogant enough to call themselves "world champs" of anything without competing against other countries?

3. I think the link below is a good reminder that there is a world beyond America.

10 things American's don't know

4. I think this is an interesting stat (as of 8/10/12)

2012 Mariners average home attendance - 22,710 (MLB average - 31,414)
2012 Sounders average home attendance - 39,469 (MLS average - 18,732)
Just saying....

5. Little bit of randomocity. So I was reading an article disputing a market analysis for the Seattle area in reference to bringing the Sonics back (yeah I know, boring) and I saw a word that caught my eye....embiggen. I knew I had heard this word before but I couldn't remember where. Turns out it is not actually a real word but it was mentioned in an episode of The Simpsons. Why do I remember things like this but I can't remember to take the garbage out to the curb?

6. I think these are a few random quotes I like:

"Some people are born on third base and go through life thinking they hit a triple."
-Barry Switzer

"May the best day of your past be the worst day of your future".
-Unknown

"Give a man a gun and he can rob a bank. Give a man a bank and he can rob the world".
-Bob Wehadababyitsaboy....no, I don't know the author of this one either.

7. I think people should not be allowed to eat seafood for lunch at work when other people are in the office. If this smell was actually appealing, there would be air fresheners made out of it.

8. I think kids are funny. Here are 3 things that my daughter did the other day that made me laugh:

First she was singing the usual daily impromptu song that makes no sense whatsoever when she decided part of the lyrics should include spelling out the word "stupid". The only problem, other than being kinda weird, was that she spelled it "s-t-u-p-e-d". I told her she might want to keep that song to herself.

Later the kids were playing in Alyssa's room when she found a pair of oversized green glasses that were from St. Patrick's Day. Since the glasses were more than 5 minutes old, obviously they were broken (the lenses were missing). Aidan asked why there were no lenses and Alyssa said "Some people don't have lenses because they can't afford them". She is catching on to our attempts to make her more mindful of the hardships that some people face.....but why the hell would someone buy glasses with no lenses?

Lastly, my kids love taking pictures and videos for no apparent reason. Alyssa managed to no only capture this gem of a picture but also post it on Sandra's Facebook with an accompanying comment of "Crazy Laddy[sic]". I'm not sure how kids learn how to do this stuff at such an early age, but it's pretty funny.

9. I think puzzles like this are great. Maybe it's nerdy, I don't know, but I hope they still have kids do stuff like this at school. I've heard about tests like this being used for job interviews. Here are some examples:

http://hunternuttall.com/
http://www.kent.ac.uk
http://www.knowledgebase-script.com

10. I think basketball in the Olympics needs to be a U23 tournament. I get no joy out of watching the USA destroy every other country. Some people will point to the close championship game with Spain and try and say the rest of the world can compete with us. I say that the lack of a center due to injuries is the only reason that game wasn't a 30 point blowout....The Gasol brothers looked like beasts and Pau is only the 4th best player on the Lakers. The US rarely is able to put their best team on the court due to injuries, players not wanting to risk injuries, or contract issues, yet still destroys every other country. The team of injured guys that missed the Olympics (Wade, Rose, Howard, Bosh, Griffin, Aldridge, Billups) would still probably beat most countries except maybe Spain and Argentina when healthy. I don't think the disaster of 2004 will happen again simply because American players now know that losing is possible, but winning a game.....not a preliminary game, but an actual this-one-counts, win-or-go-home game by a score of 156-73 is nothing to be proud of in my opinion.

my nfl playoff predictions

It's less than a month away from the start of the NFL and I am feeling a lot like Bart Scott getting ready to play the Steelers....I CAN'T WAIT!!! There are few things in life that get me as excited as football. That excitement has led me to making my first (and probably last) "doug's official nfl playoff prediction". I tried finding a way to make a fancy, easy to read version of this but I suck with Excel and couldn't get the stupid file to embed correctly and I just gave up.

In case there is any confusion in the picture below, here are my pick in order of playoff seeds. AFC - New England (13-3), Baltimore (11-5), San Diego (9-7), Tennessee (9-7)(Division Winners), Buffalo (9-7) and Denver (8-8)(Wild Cards). NFC - Philadelphia (12-4), Green Bay (11-5), Seattle (10-6), Atlanta (11-5)(Division Winners), Dallas (10-6) and Chicago (9-7)(Wild Cards). Yes I know the Saints, Steelers, Texans, Lions, Giants and 49ers are not in there. And yes I know a 3 seed for Seattle seems a bit high. There are a lot of good teams in the NFC so I think there might be some surprises due to good teams with tough schedules getting left out.

So why the Bears and Ravens? People have been saying it for awhile, but I think Joe Flacco is ready for a breakout season. Ray Rice is the best RB in the NFL in my opinion, and they were a pathetic dropped TD away from being in the Superbowl last year. I think their offensive improvements (and hopefully Cam Cameron's play calling) will make up for the loss of Terrell Suggs and Ray Lewis and Ed Reed will carry the defense once again, knowing it may be their last shot at a Super Bowl. They might even get the Jerome Bettis treatment from a few years ago.

As far as Chicago goes, to me they remind me a lot of the Giants. They aren't the most consistent but I think they will come through when it counts. In my opinion Brandon Marshall was the best acquisition any team made this offseason and I've always been a big Cutler fan. He has been able to put up numbers with average WR's and below average OL. If they give him any kind of time, I expect a big season from him.

So who does everyone else have winning it all this year?



click to embiggen

30 before 30 - August Update

July was a busy month but I managed to get a few things on my list accomplished. I don't think I'll have any time the rest of this summer for any outdoor items so hopefully it stays warm for a few months or I'll be waiting until next summer.

1. Write A Letter To The Editor

2. Learn Spanish
I am almost done with the first section of Duolingo. I think I'm well on my way to being able to speak basic sentences.

3. Donate Blood

4. Weigh Under 200

5. Go White Water Rafting

6. Go To A Hockey Game

7. Visit Portland

8. Run A 1/2 Marathon

9. Learn The Thriller Dance

10. Take A Dance Class With Sandra

11. Start A Fire

12. Go To The Top Of The Space Needle

13. Go To A Comedy Show
I bought tickets to Louis C.K. but it's not until December.

14. Go Backpack Camping

15. Walk Across The Tacoma Narrows Bridge
This was a lot of fun and the kids actually enjoyed it also. There isn't really any parking near the bridge but we found a spot nearby with 3 spots you can park at on the side of the road. If I get ambitious I'll post some pictures.

16. Ask 10 People Their Favorite Book And Read Them
I posted a question on FB awhile ago asking for book suggestions. I have one more to read and then I'll start these.

17. Paint A Picture

18. Attend A Midnight Premiere Of A Movie
I saw the Dark Knight Rises. Wasn't as good as I was hoping for but going at midnight definitely made it more entertaining. I went to the new Bremerton theater for the first time. The theater received a messed up copy of the movie which caused the audio to sound like stuttering for the last 30 minutes. It sounds annoying but it was actually kinda funny (it might have been more upsetting if the movie was better....or maybe I was jst laughing because it was 2:30 in the morning). Anyways, we got free movie tickets out of it so it was worth it.

19. Read 10 Books To My Kids
The Hobbit - 2 more chapters! I hope the other books are shorter
The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe
Harriet the Spy
Charlie and the Clocolate Factory
The Phantom Tollbooth
Holes
The Invention of Hugo Cabret
The Watsons Go to Birmingham
Number the Stars
The Golden Compass

20. Go To A Seahawks Training Camp Practice
This was a lot cooler than I thought it would be. The only downer was that I went to the first practice and they weren't wearing pads yet, so there wasn't any tackling or anything. Also it would have been cool to see Terrell Owens. There were activities for the kids to do and we got an autographed Sea Gals calendar. We had to leave a little early so we couldn't stick around for player autographs but I'm definitely going back next year so maybe I'll get some then.

21. Eat At A Top Rated Restaurant

22. Watch The Top 50 Movies on IMDB
I have watched about 20 of them now. It's weird how many quotes or conversations I've heard that relate to things in the older movies I watched. I would have been clueless had I not watched them. Best movie I watched this month - North by Northwest.

23. Go On A 5 Day Fast

24. Make Something With Homegrown Food

25. Go To Canada

26. Finish My Unfinished Tasks At Home

27. Read The Bible

28. Volunteer At A Homeless Shelter

29. Complete A Mud Run

30. Bet On The Superbowl Winner Before The Season Starts
I haven't made my bet yet but unless I change my mind I'm going with the Baltimore Ravens.

guns don't kill people, fear kills people

First let me explain my background with guns. I do not own nor have I ever owned a gun. I do not hunt nor do I have a desire to go to a shooting range. Firing a weapon that is designed to kill is just not something my brain has decided is necessary, especially since I have 2 young children. However, I do not condone anyone for owning a gun. I do think there are a few good reasons to own a gun....just do not count self defense, protection or "fear" amongst them.

We live in a country that is consumed by fear. Americans seem to be afraid of anyything they are told is a potential risk whether it's the fear of not having a gun, the fear of Y2K, or the fear of Universal Health Care. There is virtually no evidence to suggest that there could be a repeat of the attacks in Aurora, Colorado yet there was an increase of more than 40% in Colorado residents registering to purchase guns....all because of fear. Americans have good reasons to be afraid of everything, just watch the news. The news is mainly comprised of reasons not to go outside (murderers, rapists, bank robbers, etc..) with some weather (which is usually another reason not to leave the house) and some sports sprinkled in at the end.

It is unfortunate that the only time guns get any attention is when one of these crazy mass murder situations occurs. Then we get to hear a thousand people explain why we need more gun control and 1000 people defending the right to bear arms.....only the end result is we always do nothing. I'm not going to try and argue one side or another but what I will say is that it is ridiculous that a person is able to purchase 6,000 rounds of ammunition and semi-automatic weapons as easily as the Aurora killer did. People on both sides of the gun debate should agree with that. There will always be access to weapons for those who are hell bent on killing others, but I have a hard time believing that regulating the types of weapons, amount of weapons, and amount of ammunition one can purchase along with stricter penalties for violators of gun laws wouldn't have some kind of effect on the roughly 30,000 Americans that die each year from guns. To do nothing about it is to be acceptant of every gun related injury/death in America. Furthermore it is a slap in the face of every victim of Columbine, Virginia Tech, Aurora and every other unnecessary gun related incident.

If the sad tragedy in Aurora has one upside (if you want to call it that) it's that people are at least talking about the gun problems in America. I'd like to see more regulations but more importantly I'd like to see the government/independent studies/college students/anyone take a look at why Americans live in fear and how we can reduce it. Michael Moore is kind of a weirdo, but read his article on the gun debate. He makes a lot of good points, and also addresses the fear factor that people have today. People are always going to kill others but it's the fear that is created when one person kills another, the feeling of "what if this were me" which continues to prevent us from doing anything about it.

I'm not sure what the answer is but at some point we are going to have to figure it out.