The Apocalypse?

Wow, the NFL is messed up. John Navarre is starting for the Cardinals this week. John Navarre!!!! John frickin' Navarre. You have to be kidding me. The guy was a truly mediocre college quarterback. The guy had every weapon in the world during his time at Michigan and still threw up mediocre season after mediocre season. This guy was throwing to Bennie Joppru for the love of God. Anyway, go Cards.

Thoughts from Thanksgiving

Well, the year to date has been down and up. I have a lot to be thankful for, in general. I can't cover it all here. It's great to have a great job with wonderful coworkers. It's great to have great friends. It's great to have a girlfriend that makes me so happy. It's great to have a family that I love to go home to at the holidays. It's great to live in a country where they don't censor my blog. Things are on the upswing and 2005 should be great. That said, my thanksgiving pictures are already up. I also updated the sports section with some new thoughts. I'll work on culture soon also, I promise.

Wanted to say one more quick thank you to Mark Swartz for reading my latest barrage of blog entries and posting the first comment for my reinvented blog. By reinvented, I mean simply that I am writing in it again. I know that there are a few more of you out there reading it. Let this be an inspiration to you to comment incessantly.

So thanksgiving was pretty good. I swung down to Bourbonnais on Thursday with the gf along. We had a great dinner at my mom's with a bunch of grandparents and a couple of others. The food rocked and I completely ate too much, but it's thanksgiving so there's almost a legal mandate for that. We played a bunch of texas hold 'em and some H.O.R.S.E. on my brother's nerf hoop and caught Tommy Boy in the late night hours. We also went bowling with my grandparents and I did alright. I'm working on throwing a hook now. I think that I might catch on to it. I got a new ball from my grandparents too (well actually it's one of Poppa Charlie's old one's), which should serve me well in this endeavour. Good times all around on Turkey Day (outside of the Bears getting trounced), I guess is what I'm saying.

Friday was cool too, we ended up going to Christmas with the Cranks, which was basically terrible. It was kind of disappointing too, because I like Skipping Christmas by John Grisham, the book the movie is based on. The fact that people behind us in the theater were incessantly kicking our chairs didn't make it much better. Don't be that person!

It was great to see my cousins Devon and Alaina too. They are the cutest and coolest chicks under 15 that I know.

Sandy and I rolled over to my dad's too, that night to stop in and have her meet my dad and his wife. It was all good. We ended up playing some Skip-Bo and I got dead last. It was my first time with the game though. Still, I wasn't pleased. I do like the game though, I might have to scoop it up.

Anyway, that's about it for the Thanksgiving holiday. Hopefully, the Irish will get it all together today and take USC. That would be nice. Keep on rocking into Christmas....it's officially shopping season. Scary.

In parting....say a prayer for Martha Stewart this year. She deserves it.

A few catch up thoughts.....

I didn't write for a while, so I feel like some thoughts are owed.

First, let me just say that I'm going to update the "Sports" and "Culture" pages of the site in the next couple of days. I know that the content is tired. I'll at least give it a refresh.

On to the comments.....

1) The election - I voted for John Kerry. Why? I have few ideas. I think mostly because the war in Iraq is a disaster and we should have known better. We've got innocent and poor teenagers and civilians over there going to their death and I would argue that the country is worse off. We had Saddam cornered and the guy had nothing. We had choked him off and Iraq was no threat. His desire to be a threat doesn't make him a threat. If that were the case, we would have invaded Cuba long ago. We still would, if they had vast oil fields. That said, my pocketbook is still happy that W is still around, and I won't cry too many tears. I had no love for Kerry anyway. The real tragedy of this race is the prospect of a Hillary Clinton run in 2008. That my friends is frightening. By the way, wouldn't you be unhappy if you were the elder Bush? You had to run against William Jefferson Clinton, and all your son had to do was beat the ketchup lady's husband. You lose and he wins and you have double his IQ. That hurts.

2) Martha Stewart - Martha is in jail. She's an example. It's so unfortunate. I'm a huge fan of her and to put her away for so long for this is completely unnecessary. Probation would have worked. Community service would have better served the world. No one gains by her going to prison. If you think that rich people are going to stop using insider stock tips, you are crazy. That's one of the perks of being rich in this country, and it isn't going to stop. It definitely isn't going to stop because of this. I feel like this whole thing is the result of Martha being perceived as an Ice Princess and a witch. Why is that? She is successful? She is uncompromising? I'm not saying she wassn't mean to some people and a tad insensitive, but really, is that an offense punishable with prison? I would hardly say so. I own a Free Martha t-shirt with her head on it, by the way. I wish they would shoot her show from prison.

3) The Chicago Bears - The Bears are having a tough season. Most of the problems are the result of injuries though, if you ask me. Rex Grossman going down just completely derailed the season. I'm actually am becoming a fan of Rex, despite lambasting him mercilessly on the old chrismilone.com. For the first time in a long time, I feel like the organization has a plan. The head coach has a plan. The offense has a plan. The defense has a plan. The fact that everyone is working towards carrying out these plans is truly encouraging. I'm very impressed with Lovie Smith and his staff. I know that the Bears are going out there to give it their all and play some killer defense every week. I know that we are going to get better. I know that if we had any receivers better than David Terrell, even Craig Krenzel might have a shot at winning with this team. I know we aren't winning very much but our head's are in the right place. I'm very proud to be a Bears fan this season.

4) The Chicago Bulls - I'd like to say the same thing about the Bulls as I did about the Bears. I really admire what Paxson has done to clean up the mess Jerry Krause left behind. Moving Jamal Crawford and dumping ERob were masterful moves. Kirk Hinrich, Luol Deng, Ben Gordon, and Tyson Chandler should be a good core to build around for the next few years. I feel like we have some great young talent and I like the culture of accountability that Pax and Skiles are putting in. Unfortunately, it hasn't translated into the win column. We still have work to do. Eddy Curry has to go. I don't think that we will really get anywhere until that happens. We need someone to be the go to guy at the end of games. I nominate Hinrich, but he still has to mature into that player. It might end up being Deng, but both of these guys will take a year or two to get there. Regardless, we could be a playoff team next year if we could get it together. If we could move Curry, we could put together a run at the end of the year and carry the momentum into next year. We really need to shake this culture of losing. I'm starting to feel like a Clippers fan.

5) Hockey - There probably won't be a season. I don't know a single person that cares.

6) The Office - I own all of the DVDs including the Christmas special. There has never been a better show. I just can't say enough about it. If you have no idea what I am talking about go here: http://www.bbc.co.uk/comedy/theoffice/

You really need to see this soon.

7) The Incredibles - An incredible movie on so many levels. It really nailed the something cool for adults that all kids will love thing. It really should get a best picture nomination. It was that good. Go Pixar. Does anyone else think that Pixar is about to bounce Disney down the charts in this space? To me, it's hardly a question of if, it's much more a question of when. I look forward to my first vacation to Pixar World.

8) Kanye West - Dude got bummed about getting passed over at the AMAs for best new artist and complained in the press. Yep, I will never like the guy. Thanks for playing Kanye. It's the AMAs for christ's sake. It's not the Pulitzer, just chill and go make a couple more million bucks. If you can't be happy with that, you have a problem.

9) Gambling - I have a 12 pack of beer on the Bears having a better record than the Browns. Feelin' good.

10) The U2 iPod - Hmmm....doesn't this take selling out to another level? I mean promoting your album in Apple commercials before it even drops? I'm all for it though. I love Apple. Is every musician out there going to get their own iPod now though? Won't everybody want one? When Chingy gets his own, I'm in.

Finally Done

So, I was taking this Java class at DePaul until about 4 hours ago. I am so pumped to be done. Clearly, it was a challenge, as I was in Canada all weekend and at work this morning. I studied about four hours total for the final. This after having skipped the bulk of the classes. Let's just say that the Computer Science curriculum at DePaul is a little less rigorous than what they throw at you at the University of Illinois. It was almost comical. I probably put 30 hours total into the course of my time, including class time. That's like one machine problem in CS 101 at U of I.

Anyway, I'm glad it's over as it was tired and straight up triflin'. Hopefully, the next go round will offer a little more of a challenge. As a result of this time around though, I am actively considering other activities that might awaken my inner student. I'm thinking this might not be cutting the mustard, so to speak. I really just don't know what will anymore on this to be honest. I really feel like I might be best off just teaching myself whatever I feel like, but my tuition reimbursement puts guilt in my head. I really should use it. Oh well, such is life....

Reflections on Quebec

Je me souviens indeed. I just read that Montreal was named the best city in the world in which to live by Details in 2000. Not that Details is really the bomb-diggity, but it does show that the city and concurrently, the whole province should get some love.

I've been to Montreal a few times, and every time I'm there, I just want to stay. It seems there is never enough time to take in the whole city. I could probably spend two years just eating through all of the wonderful restaurants. The poutine and chocolate croissants alone are probably worth at least a month long study.

Montreal is just a tremendously cosmopolitan city. I know that is a cliche, but if there is a city that definies the word, this is the one. It's got a great big city feel with European charm and all of the perks of modern north american cities. There is strong public transportation, great food, cleaner water, great shopping, a large business district, tremendous museums, old european architecture alongside modern skyscrapers, and friendly people that generally embrace both the cultures of France and the English speaking world. To me, it's like evolution took a step forward here and everywhere else needs to catch up.

That said, there are still the usual things that you notice elsewhere in Canada. To me the thing that i like the least is the needless inferiority complex around the United States. I think that Canadians have a great deal of national pride and they are proud to be Canadians (maybe with the exception of some separatists in Quebec), but they all seem to try to find things that are there own, like the CFL, Nelly Furtado, and Mike Weir. They do this to say Canada is great and kind of make a show out of it. They like to point out what is great about Canadian culture in the face of the US culture invasion that they see going on. To me, this sort of just crazy. There are a ton of things to celebrate about Canada that are uniquely hers without trying to make an unnecessary spectacle of it. Trying to point it out cheapens it. I just wish there was more of a "we're Canada, screw off" attitude going on across the board.

Having said all of that. I could totally see myself becoming a Canadian resident at some point in my life. I love the people and the culture. The Canada that I know is definitely something to celebrate. Quebec, in particular, is a province that I just can't get enough of, however hard I try.

Vive le Quebec magnifique.

Montreal Day 3 - The Finale (again belated)

As you might guess, Day 3 started a little bit later. It started well though. It was off to Chinatown for dim sum and some old favorites. I got some Congee which just about made my morning. To say that we ate a lot, would be a gross understatement. The food was wonderful. I was very impressed with the tri-lingual waitresses that seemed to do just fine moving between Cantonese, French, and English. Quebec is great like that.

With a full belly, it was off to Old Montreal to peruse the gallery scene and the various specialty shops in the area. Old Montreal is great, the buildings are all 18th century, so you really get that European feel walking through. It's very clean also. We stopped off for a little banana custard with some maple syrup on top and it was wonderful.

From Old Montreal, it was off to more shopping and the stuff that we overlooked in Day 2. We picked up some stuff at Roots. I love my new sweatshirt and I got a man bag at Mexx. I hear what you are saying.....but when you carry an iPod, phone, monster wallet, and who knows what else, you just need something, especially in the city. I was using my backpack before. Now, I'm working with something a little more befitting my sense of style.

Mexx is a great store by the way. I recommend checking it out in NYC or wherever you can find it. Unfortunately, we have none in Chicago.

After shopping, it was time to roll back to the airport formerly known as Dorval. Sandy got raped on her tax refund at the rapid refund place and I decided to support the French-Canadians by skipping mine all together.

The flight back featured an uppity male flight attendant. He gave the safety speech and then grilled two chatty girls next to us on what he said. They couldn't answer, obviously. He then went and repeated the whole thing. He clearly was power tripping. It was one of the craziest things I have ever seen.

Quelle voyage!

Montreal Day 2 Recap Belated

Okay, so I'm back home and I didn't get to recap the other days in Montreal. Don't sweat it though. I'm going to do it right now. The pictures are also now online, so check those out with the quickness.

Day 2 started out fairly early, with us moving through some shops in the area above the underground city near our hotel. We couldn't find a good breakfast spot and the stores weren't really bumping yet. Sandy decided to ask the operator of one of those tourist shops that sell a maple syrup, canada t-shirts, and a bunch of other random objects, where we should go. He didn't come up with much other than a place that I suggested the previous night. I didn't hear the conversation though. We ended up at kind of a crazy whole in the wall place with a bunch of horses and stuff on the wall. It looked pretty much like I'm guessing it did in about 1971. The breakfast was great though. I had a rockin' omelet and Sandy polished off some eggs, sausage, toast, and potatoes. It kept us going until dinner.

After breakfast we wove through several malls that are all connected through the underground city, including the Eaton Center on Rue St. Catherine which was probably the best one. We basically shopped all day long. I didn't really get too much though, other than a couple of postcards. We couldn't exactly find what we were looking for and no one got crossed off my christmas list. It was a fun shopping experience though. We found Chinatown on the way, and discovered some stuff that we had missed on the way back.

The highlight of the evening for me came when we hit Marche Movenpick for dinner. As stated previously, it's a personal favorite. We had some Chinese soup, pizza, salad, and some pasta followed by some tremendous cheesecake that was crustless. Where the crust usually is, there was a layer of white cake. Yummy.

After dinner, it was back to the hotel. I blogged while Sandy caught a nap. I also watched almost all of Happy Gilmore then got sucked into The Legend of Bagger Vance. Our best laid plans of getting to the casino were looking iffy. Finally, about midnight, with me dead tired, we got on our way. The casino there is beautiful from the outside, but it's kid of a funky layout inside. There are about 8 levels, so you are always going up and down stairs and escalators. To say I prefer Vegas is putting it mildly. Anyway, Sandy found a $15 blackjack table and seemed to be doing alright. I wandered off and tried my luck at a $25 minimum blackjack table, buying in with just $100. I lost 4 hands in a row. This is why I should stick to poker. Thank God those were Canadian dollars. I went back to find Sandy walking around by her table. This wasn't a good sign. We burned her last $10 playing some silly video poker, and we were back to the hotel by 2.

It was a long day but lots of fun. I think it took me about 7 seconds to crash at the end. On to Day 3.....

Montreal Day 1 Recap

So, I'm writing this from Montreal. This is my 1st successful attempt at blogging while travelling, especially while on any sort of vacation. So far, blog on the upswing. Anyway, day 1 of Montreal was great. I've got some good pictures which I'll import as soon as I'm back in the Chi.

The first day of the trip went remarkably close to plan. The flight out was a little bit delayed in the morning. We were stuck on the airport for a little more than an hour, so that was fairly frustrating. After we got on the way though, things were looking up. We got into the airport and hit some sick traffic due to a bad expressway accident. There was a Jetta on it's side and essentially mangled completely.

We got to the botanical gardents in plenty of time. Many of the outdoor exhibits were closed due to it being "off season", but we got to walk through the mostly plantless gardens, in addition to all of the indoor stuff. It was still beautiful out there, even with most of the plants gone. We then hit the Insectarium which they might as well call the beetletarium, as that's the bulk of what they have on display. Then it was off to the Biodome which is like a mini-zoo/acquarium combo in Olympic Stadium. That was just alright. We saw a little monkey, and I thought about slingshotting some annoying predatory birds to death. Thankfully, no carnage ended up being required. Next time, I might come armed though.

After the gardens, we walked over to the Mont-Royal area to Au Pied de Cochon (The Pig's Foot). They kind of funked the reso up a bit, but they sat us right away. It was quite busy, so that was a plus. We started with the foie gras poutine. It was out of this world. For those that don't know, poutine is basically french fries with cheese curds and gravy. I know it sounds funny, but trust me, it's incredible if done right. The foie gras was right on the money also. It was incredible and I highly recommend it. For dinner, we decided to go out there a little bit. We got the Venison ribs and the pig's foot and split them up. The venison ribs were really good, I thought. I didn't intend to eat bambi, but once I was working on it, I dug it. They were a little more chewy than beef or pork ribs are so it takes a little longer to eat. By the end of the dinner, my palette had made the adjustment and I was really digging it. I don't even know how to describe the pig's foot. I enjoyed it, it was expertly prepared. It was kind of fatty though, and the skin wasn't my favorite. There was some tender dark meat though, that was megatasty. I'm not sure I'd order it again, but I am glad to have tried it. I definitely don't regret it.

While on the way to dinner and on the way back, I got to see some great parts of the city that I hadn't really seen before. That was just incredible. Montreal is absolutely beautiful. The Mont-Royal area has a lot of Chicago parallels, which is a good thing. It seems that all of my favorite foreign cities seem to bear (at least in my mind) a strong resemblance to the spirit of Chicago. Montreal is definitely no exception. Tomorrow (hopefully), a recap of Day 2.

Bon soir.

Arbitrary Day

Good Day! Today just seemed like a good arbitrary day for me to start writing in my blog again. I really need to write more as it's very therapeutic. It also allows me to have some proof of my literacy. So what to write, what to write....

Well, today is my Friday. I'm off tomorrow to spend the weekend in Montreal. Ah Canada, the land of Nelly Furtado and maple syrup. I'm flying out in the morning with Sandy. It should be an exciting time...our first voyage together. I absolutely adore Montreal. I've been several times. I don't know if it's the French, the beauty of the city, the food, or what. It's just a great place to be. One of my all time favorite restaurants is there....Marche Movenpick (sorry, I'm too lazy to put in the accent marks). It's not expensive or anything, it's almost cafeteria style, but I just love it.

I think I'm going to pick up a new digital camera tonight and do my best to capture the essence of the city. Look for the pics. I'm picture happy lately, if you haven't noticed already. I'm probably keeping that up too. I might have to cycle some things in and out after a while though, as disk space still isn't free in this world. One thing that I need though is a good gallery software. I'm using the default kit that comes with my webhosting and I'm just not satisfied with the navigation. I know that many others have commented on this also. If you have any recommendations drop me an email. I'd greatly appreciate it.

So here are some cursory plans for the voyage, if you are interested -

Day 1: Montreal Botanical Gardens, Biodome, dinner at Au Pied de Cochon.
Day 2: Christmas Shopping in the Underground City followed by gambling in the Casino de Montreal
Day 3: Dim Sum in Chinatown and miscellaneous exploring.

Au revoir.