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.