#4 - Cool Hand Luke

"What we've got here is a failure to communicate."



Let me clear something up. I love this movie. If I were to list my top 25 movies, this would be in it. It is just that Newman has some really good movies, so this gets dropped to #4 for me. I know it would be #1 for a lot of people. I am okay with that. Who else could have played this role? I do not think there is anyone. Newman nailed this role. As Fubar said, nobody can eat 50 eggs.

Just standing in the rain...



One last tribute...



#3 and top 5 coming tomorrow.

#5 - Slap Shot

Slap shot is #5 on my Newman movies and would also be somewhere in my top 5 sports movies ever. That is an interesting stat considering I am not even a hockey fan!

This was a different role for Newman than some of his other roles. Any movie that has a bench clearing brawl before the game starts is ok with me!




I heart the Hanson brothers.

Preview of the week

My blog is going to be a tribute to the myth, the man, the legend, Paul Newman all week. Each day this week I will post a blog with clips from my top 5 movies of Paul Newman. On Monday, I will start with number 5 and on Friday, I end with my Paul Newman favorite movie and honestly my favorite movie ever.

Also, start thinking, my top 5 on Wednesday will be my top 5 favorite actors of all time. Yes, I am going overboard this week but the movie industry and the salad dressing industry!!!! lost an icon.

Anyway, I hope your weekend went better football-wise than mine.

Cheers!

RIP Paul Newman

I just saw that my favorite actor of all time has passed away. RIP Paul Newman.

The Hustler, Bustch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, Cool Hand Luke, the Sting...these are 4 must see movies and this is only the tip of the iceberg.

I will give many more blogs to this...RIP Paul Newman...RIP.

Trivia at the PO!

In a last second decision, I headed over to the Purple Otter for trivia night. Michelle's friend Paul is in town and we decided this could be a good thing to keep us occupied until Michelle finished her midterm. We had the Brewers game on one tv, Sox game on another, Mets game on another, and the USC debacle on another. It was a nice setup.

It was a good time with some easy questions and challenging questions. Paul, Michelle and I ended up getting 2nd place in the contest. The bar owner and cook got 1st place...sketchy I know. So we won $15 off our next tab at the PO! Woohoo! I will be there Sunday for the Broncos game.

So, if you ever want something to do on Thursday night, swing by the PO. It is fun.

539 - Welcome New Ball...and watch Fox News!

I picked up my new ball before bowling. I had them drill it the same as my spare ball but I had them put in tighter finger tips in-sets (is that the right word?). This is I believe the key I have been looking for. I have much more control on the ball. A few times I held on too long but for the most part, I felt in control and I did not drop the ball ever. I think I am going to take my spare ball in and have new tips put in. Anyway, as a team we bowled awesome. We have over 1,100 pins each game and still lost. I know...impossible but the other team's anchor averages a 179 and had a 686 series. His games were 220, 236, 232. I had a 539 series but I left 30 pins out on the alley. I should have had a 570. I opened two tenth frames and I had a 1 after a spare(held on to the ball too long...oops). My games were 183, 199, and 157. Oh, karma did help us out for the tough loses. We won the strike pot and we struck so it was 53 dollars a person. Yes!

Now, if you are around the TV on Friday. The Fox news is running a clip on 'Who is the best bowling alley in chicago?'. How do I know? Well, there was a camera there taping people bowling. The camera guy would be on the lane about 5 feet up. I picked up a single pin spare while he was taping me. That is intense...I probably will not be on the clip by it could be a fun clip to watch.

Cheers!

Top 5 - Welcome to the Fall!

We are officially in the fall season. The weather is cooling down. Football is on every weekend. Baseball teams are in playoff hunts. Bowling season is back. Oktoberfest beer is flowing! This top 5 will be your 5 favorite things about the fall. (Here is a hint... a couple of mine are above).

1. Football begins! Now, I am not just talking about Denver Bronco football or even American football. I am also talking about Liverpool football! Really, sports are at their peak during these couple months with baseball playoffs and all the football games going on. What a great time!

2. Thanksgiving! It is no secret that Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday. My mom's side of the family gets together. It starts off with football in the morning. Stuffing our faces during the day and then playing cards. Great day. Not sure how much longer these Thanksgivings will last (I say under 5 years) but I will never forget them.

3. Oktoberfest beer! I am sorry. This is my favorite beer. Sam Adams Oktoberfest beer is great. I actually like most of the Oktoberfest beers that are out there this time of year.

4. TV show are back! Holy cow are shows back! I love it! This week especially, every night has been a plethora of new seasons. It is a good time to be a TV fan.

5. Pumpkin flavored items! Now, I make pumpkin shakes at home year around but what I am talking about is the options at the restuarants, fast food places, and ice cream shops. Yes, please...I will take two!

That is my list. What is yours?

Cheers!

PECOTA is the best!

It does not surprise me at all that PECOTA was better at predicting the baseball season than any of the so-called experts. Additionally, it comes of no surprise that Buster Olney and Steven Phillips came in dead last. I love the two best predictions are the ones I put bets on. Yeah!

Now, I just need to figure out how to send something through registered mail...

A little homage to It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia

Season Four just started and the second episode was just amazing. This show can miss from time to time but I have put together a little video of some of my favorite scenes. I hope you enjoy!

Cheers!!

Weekend Wrap-up

My oh my, what a great weekend!

First off, the weekend up in Michigan was just perfect. I will give a quick overview.

• The weather was perfect.
• The cottage we stayed in was AWESOME. You could easily put 30 people in that place. It is literally two different houses with a giant pool room in the middle.
• Pool volleyball Friday night was great. What a fun time!
• Saturday moring golf with Fedea and Murphey was a great way to start the day. I even came to terms with my driver! I am back baby!
• After the wedding, the party bus was a good time.
• A new first at a wedding...knowing the bartenders...never a good sign. Lets just say my night ended a little earlier than others. Fun times!
• Sunday - traffic was light getting home for the most part.
• Denver wins again. They are 3-0 when I go to the Purple Otter to watch the game. I am just saying!
• My wife is starting to turn the corner on not feeling well. This is VERY IMPORTANT!

As you can see, the weekend was jam packed! It was a great way to end the summer. I am looking forward to having the next few weekends free.

End of Summer

The weather may disagree with me but this weekend is end of the summer for me. It was a great summer and I could not think of a better way to finish the summer than with Phelan and Ali's wedding. Just wow.

I am actually glad that the summer is coming to an end. Do not get me wrong. The summer is my favorite time of year. I am looking forward to having more weekends free and getting back on a workout schedule. I am not sure I am on board with this whole sympathy pounds idea. I do not like where this is headed. Hopefully, next week I will start back to a normal routine!

I am also super excited for all the TV shows to start next week!

Cheers!

Top 5 - Wedding Style

Due to the high volume of weddings we have attended in the last few weeks, I am listing my top 5 wedding drinks. This is different than a drink on a normal night. You have to pick something you want to go the whole night with that will not a) fill you up or b) knock you out. For example, I love to have a Makers on the rocks but there is no way that is what I drink at a wedding reception. I would have to mix it with something. Without further ado, here is my 5.

1. Gin and tonic. Actually, in my ideal world, this drink would be a gin and DIET tonic. I am a gin fan. This will become clear as you go through this list.

2. Gin Gimlet. I actually was just introduced to this. It is lime juice and gin, nothing else. It turns out to be a fantastic drink.

3. Whiskey and diet or bourbon and diet. If I had my choice, it would be Makers and diet but any whiskey or bourbon will do. The only downfall of these drinks is that they can pack a punch you do not see coming.

4. Light beer. In general, I stay away from beer because it fills me up and I want to be moving around on that dance floor! You can never go wrong with beer...well, ever.

5. So-co and diet. I still remember the first time someone showed me this drink. It was 1998 and it was my brother's wedding. Thank you Chuck! It tasted like a cherry coke. The only down fall is that when comsuming for than one or two (or 10), it can become a little sweet.

Cheers!

Bigger, Stronger, Faster

This weekend I watched a very interesting documentary. It is called Bigger, Stronger, Faster and is about steroids in America. I can not recommend this movie enough. The man who made this movie has two brothers that both do steroids. It brings up very intriguing questions like what are steroids? Why are some acceptable and some not? What about other performance enhancing drugs? Why does a person feel the need to take steroids? How harmful are they?

Anyway, if you have the time, it's about an hour and fifty minutes long.

Cheers!

Dear Ed Hochuli,

Thank you so much for blowing your whistle early and thus causing the play to be dead. I appreciate it and I know that Jay Cutler appreciates it even more.

Keep up the weight lifting!

Your friend,

Toolio

Election Humor

Try JibJab Sendables® eCards today!

Happy birthday CFunk!

Happy birthday to retired blogger and political guru extraodinaire, CFunk.

Is he at work or did he take the day off?

Lets hope no singing chickens show up today...

Top 5, with video!

Happy Wednesday to all! Today's top 5 is a little hard to explain. Sue gave the suggestion of top 5 exclamatory words (i.e. Never! or Ouch!). You get the point. I turned that into top5 words that you use most frequently (keeping it clean of course). What makes this one difficult is that you need people around you to tell you what they are because you do not even realize you are saying them. Without further ado, here are my five words in no particular order.

1. Horrible. I find I say this a lot especially when talking about sports.


2. What?!? Actually, it is more the wwhhhhaaaaat? If I am out having a good time and someone shocks me with information, you have 100% chance of hearing this.

3. Easy... Easy... This usually comes out when I am getting ripped on. So, I say this a lot.

4. Garbage. I did not realize I said this a lot until talking to some co-workers. Much like horrible this comes out a lot when talking about sports.

5. NICE!!! My cousin Bryan says this much more than I do but I have definitely picked it up.

Happy hump day!

Top 5 - TV Show Theme Song

I am doing my favorite tv show theme songs of all time. Thank you Sue for the suggestion. I found this link to be very helpful and there is a fun guess that theme game there too! One rule - no cartoons.

1. A-Team. I almost put Cheers theme song here but I just can not. A-team theme song is the greatest ever! If you have a problem, no one else can help, and you can find them, maybe the A-Team can help! YESSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS!
2. Cheers. Wouldn't you like to get away? Sometimes you wanna go where everybody knows your name... I think this is not only a good theme song but a good karaoke song.
3. Jeffersons. Moving on up! This song makes me laugh. It is so catchy.
4. Fresh Prince of Bel Air. What can I say? I heart Will Smith.
5. Chips. This one was tough. I have many that could be number 5 but this one is unique and worked well.

I want to give a special shout out to a few more - Married with Children, Threes company, Night Court, Sanford and Son, Miami Vice, The OC and Dawson's Creek.

Have a good rest of the week.

Bowling - straight!

Last night was my first night of bowling. Technically, last week was but I missed it.


Well, if you remember correctly, my hook ball is in the bottom of the Chicago river. We had a bit of a falling out. I never got the ball replaced. All I had with me last night was a plastic ball I use for picking up spares.


Well, I hunkered down and threw a straight ball from the right corner. Man, I miss throwing that. You do not have to worry about oil. I was throwing the ball on the same mark every time. Granted, you hit a little light or a little high and you leave splits and I definitely left some splits.


I ended the night with a 508 series (my average is only 161...yikes). 158, 156, 194. Not a bad night. I was pretty consistent. My straight time will be short lived. I plan on buying a new hook ball this weekend.


Top 5 is coming around lunch today.

Cheers!