Top 5 - Vic Mackey Style!

November 25, 2008 was an end of an era. The show that put FX on the map had its series finale. I can easily say that show was my favorite drama of all time and one of the best shows I have ever had the pleasure of watching. The Shield started on fx network when the network had basically nothing. Thanks to the popularity of the show, fx now has quite the number of shows including It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia! Plus, The Shield basically paved the way for shows like 24. Anyway, if you have never seen this show, shame on you. Shawn Ryan created it and many thought it was too extreme for cable. They were clearly wrong. I digress. Last night was the last episode and it was not a let down. In honor of the show, I am going to do five of my favorite people I loved to hate that were ever on the show.

1. Maura Vendrell - Shane's wife. She is a conniving woman. She forced a divide in the strike team and she was dumb enough to spend some of the Armenian money. I hate her. Hated.
2. Armadillo Quintero - This guy was smart and the most ruthless bad guy the show ever saw. His plot line was just amazing. He is known for burning his enemies to death. He is also responsible for the rape of a 12 year old girl who had offered to testify against him. He would mark his rape victims with a tattoo of a dove on their face. Vic gave him quite the beating with a law book after this happened.
3. Ben Gilroy - Gilroy was assistant chief and the true creator of the strike team with Vic at the helm. He was corrupt too though and was using his political influence to facilitate an illegal real estate scam. In the end, Vic forced Gilroy to run to Mexico where he ended up dying. He was always a pain in the side of the strike team.
4. Jon Kavanaugh - This character is IAD that came in to bring down the Strike team and more specifically Vic. Forrest Whitaker played the role perfectly. The character keep pushing and pushing and pushing until finally Lem broke down. He went on the run. Kavanaugh went too far and ended up in prison but the strike was never the same. Damn him!
5. Margos Dezerian- After the Armenians lost $2m, they sent their number one hit man after the robbers. Margos was known for chopping off people's feet after killing them. He was a strange and scary individual.

I am truly going to miss that show. Luckily, I have the first four seasons on DVD!

Happy Thanksgiving to all!

Maximum Strength

Well, I just finished a 16 week workout program called Maximum Strength. The book is written by Eric Cressey. He is a young trainer who is getting quite the reputation training athletes. It took me 20 weeks to do it. I was not very good about going 4 times a week. What can I say? Well, before you start you test your broad jump, bench, squat, deadlift, and weighted 3 rep chinup. Here are my results.

Standing broad jump - 87" to 94"
Bench - 205 to 240
Squat - 215 to 265
Deadlift - 305 to 365
Chinups: None to 2. Yes, for the first time in my life I can do chinups and pullups. I am as shocked as you are.

Not sure where I am going next but if you ever want to gain some strength this book is just awesome. Plus, the dynamic warmups he has you do before the workouts is just great. My shoulders and knees have never felt better.

Have a good week!

Top Chef

So, last season Michelle got me watching Top Chef. It was in Chicago so it was not a hard sell. I watched my first episode last night of the new season that takes places in New York. I heard that I have to pick a winner for the year. I like team Europe but there is no way I can root for them. Someone from the US has to win. I can not believe Ariane is even on the show. She should have been booted this week. Not a good call Jess. I am going with Jeff. He is from Niceville. NICE! Let the games begin!

Back to the Future - Doc - A Bronco's fan???

So I started watching Back to the Future part I from the VERY beginning this weekend. I happened to catch it on some random movie channel. Anyway, Marty goes over to Doc's house. They pan around to all the clocks and one of the clocks has the old school Bronco logo on it. I can not believe I have never seen that before. Also, I never really thought about where this movie takes place.

The delorian has a California licence plate. I paused the movie. That still does not take away the fact that in my mind, now, forever, Doc will be a Bronco fan. Way to go Doc! Go Broncos!

Top 5 - Leftovers,mmmm food.

With Thanksgiving right around the corner, I thought this idea was a very good one. Whether it was the glass of wine or not, I am not sure but Addison's mother came up with this idea last night. Nice work Jess! Anyway, this one is self explanatory so I am going to dig right in.

1. Thanksgiving plate - Re-creating the meal all over again. Hello! Who does not love that!
2. Lasagna - Am I the only person that thinks lasagna can be eaten for breakfast, lunch and dinner? Am I the only person that thinks lasagna can be eaten cold or heated? I am getting hungry...
3. Pizza - The ultimate leftover food that you do not make. Lets say it is late at night and you are hungry. You order pizza. You eat and go to bed. You wake up and BAM! breakfast is waiting. Cold or warm. Great leftover.
4. Meatloaf - I am a big fan of meatloaf. The best is the next day you can make this into a meatloaf sandwhich or you can heat it back up.
5. Spaghetti - With years, I turning further away from pasta. However, I have to give credit to this meal. Add a little more sauce the next day and heat it up and it is like brand new!

Have a good wednesday!

620 - 194, 212, 214

YESSSSSSS! Can I tell you all how much I love my new ball? Can I tell you all how much I love the finger tips on this new bowling ball? Well, I am going to anyway. My first game I missed three single pin spares (note to self: change the finger tips on your spare ball). One of those single pin spares was in the 10th frame. I missed the 5 pin for a 194. Believe me when I say this. I was so close to dropping down and doing 5 pushups. My next game I started with three spares and had a clean game including two marks in the 10th for a 212. In my third game, I opened the 3rd frame and then struck the next 5. I opened the ninth. I had no business doing this. I then realized I had a 600 series in the bag. So I ended up striking twice in the 10th frame and a 7 on my last ball for a 214.

As a team, we swept last night and I carried the team the third game. That was a good feeling. I also won some money for mixed doubles. So I came home with more money than when I got there. It was a good night of bowling for me!

Why I do not gamble for a living.

Sorry I have been behind on my blogging. I have a few things to write about. One of them is Rambler basketball. They did not look good at the preseason game. They were opening up at home against a fellow jesuit school that is a division II school from Missouri. A bunch of us went to the game expecting a win and a good time. Well, Loyola ended up losing the game by 7 I think. I have blocked it out of my mind.

Anyway, Loyola's next game was against Georgia. Yes, Georgia the SEC team. You would think on name alone Georgia even though they are not a good basketball team in the SEC would recruit much better players/atheletes than LU. Also, coming off of LU's loss to a division II school, you wouls think Loyola would get killed in this game. I would have bet the house against Loyola (but I will never bet against LU again Sue).

Well, Loyola won 74-53. They won by 21!!!!!! WHAT!?!?! This is why I do not gamble for a living.

Top 5 - American Holidays

Ok, as a little shout out to the holiday season that is rapidly approaching and veterans' day, I am doing my top 5 American holidays. I will allow a little leanency with the definition of American Holiday. I do not think St. Patrick's day is an American Holiday but I will allow it if you want to use it. According to the US government, here is the list of holidays. Without further ado...

1. Thanksgiving. This is not even close. It is a guaranteed 4 day weekend every year. It involves food and football. What more do you need? Really?
2. Christmas - I like the general atmosphere of Christmas. I usually take a few days off and make it a break from work. It is a good time of year.
3. Memorial Day - This is great especially for people in places that have seasons. This usually is the beginning of summer! YES! The weekend is filled with BBQs. Mmmmm, bbq.
4. 4th of July - Yeah America! Screw those brits! I am not a big firework guy but I love my bbqs and since this holiday is in the middle of summer, bbqs are plentiful.
5. New Year's - The beginning of the year. A clean slate. A day of good college football. It is a good day.

On a sidenote, I rolled a 516 last night. The team did not do too well. Also, I will blog about my golfing experience within the next could days.

Cheers and happy hump day!

Editor's notes: Jessica reminded me of something. If I would have wrote this blog between the ages of 5 and 18, Casimir Pulaski day would have made my list. All hail the Polish General! Also, Cletus' top 5 that includes sports days is a great twist on this list. MLB opening day...great...

5 day weekends

I know I have no posted in a while. I apologize. Three days in San Diego and then the weekend wore me out. Hahaha. Actually I had a blast and I will have a separate blog just about my round on the south course. Here are some thoughts from the last 5 days.

1. I bought a book in the airport before getting on the plane to San Diego. It is called Sex, Drugs and Cocoa Puffs by Chuck Klosterman. It was a fun book. I recommend it. I thought it was a great book to read while traveling.
2. Yes, Torrey Pines is home to a great golf course but just north of the lodge are these amazing hiking trails that take you all the way down to the ocean. I loved these trails and wished Chicago had something like that.
3. The weather was perfect the entire time we were there and the view is amazing. Landing in Chicago to 40 degree weather made me rethink where I live.
4. Most hotels, a bottle of water is hard to find and it usually costs $5. Where we stayed, all you had to do was ask an employee for a bottle of water and it was in your hands in 5 seconds. I found this strange.
5. Sprinkles cupcakes are the best cupcake I have ever had. Nothing comes close (so far but I will keep testing...). Thank you Michelle for picking those up in LA.
6. I love flying home on Friday. I then have Saturday and Sunday to recover. Ha!
7. I had the best commute to the airport I will ever have. On last Tuesday, due to the Obama gathering downtown, no one was leaving the city. I left my desk at 5:05 pm. I was THROUGH SECURITY at Ohare at 6:05 pm. I had to park the car in economy and it still was nothing. Ohare was empty. Yeah, you just heard me right.
8. Last but probably should have led with it. Happy birthday mom!

Have a good week!

Top 5 Liqour Drinks

I am having trouble here at Torrey Pines, well, focusing really. The view, the atmosphere, the peace, I need to soak it in now. Peace and quiet is coming to an alarming halt soon enough!

Anyway, here is my top 5 liquor drinks. These can be mixed drinks or anything on the rocks or neat. It can not be beer or shots. It is that simple. My biggest struggle is the order.

1. Makers on the rocks - the old standby. I can not drink too many of these(well, i pay the consequences if I do) but if I am meeting someone for a drink or two this is what I turn to. It is so smooth.
2. Jack and Diet Coke - What can I say? This is probably the most popular mixed drink in the US and there is a reason for that. They are good!
3. Lime Rickey - Funk showed me these recently and I can not get enough. I am a gin drinker so these are right up my alley.
4. Sugar free lemonade and Vodka - The summer drink! Aldi's lemonade is the perfect mixer for this. These are great for outdoor events.
5. Strawberry Daiquiri - Number 5 was hard but I have to give the nod to this blender drink. Such a sweet tasty drink.

A special shout out goes to White Russians (usually my holiday drink of choice) and gin martinis. Well, I hope you all have a great rest of the week.

Random thoughts

Ok, a few things.

1. As you probably already know, we are expecting a baby girl. I am excited to say that everything is healthy and I now have motivation to lifft weights for the next 20 years.
2. Last Friday was a lot of fun. The Dark Knight on the IMAX was amazing. There were some good joker costumes including the nurse Joker. Also, I had never been to Bubba Gump before. I enjoyed it.
3. Saturday was even more fun even though Liverpool flat out blew the match. I mean...WTF! LU won but does not look very strong. It is early though. Florida football is hitting stride at the right time of year...holy cow!
4. I am super excited about flying to San Diego. I have been to San Diego briefly before but staying at Torrey Pines...wow. I found out I am playing the same course they played the open on. I am going to shoot 150!
5. I am not sure if there will be a top 5 tomorrow. It all depends on the wireless situation at the lodge. haha.
6. Go Vote! Despite what the media says (they did give the presidency to Kerry in 2004), this race is closer than most think. Luckily by the time I land, it will already be decided...probably not....
Cheers!