Last weekend, Emily and the kids travelled to Evansville and left me at home to fend for myself. I was on-call for work, which is why I couldn’t join them. I also had to get some things done around the farm and the house, such as dismantling the kids old swingset in preparation for the new one to be installed.

Honestly, I don’t usually handle this well. When left home alone, I tend to stay up way too late, eat too much, and accomplish little. However, I did pretty well this time! I generally went to bed around 12:30 each night. On Saturday I went riding (horse), and then spent about 4 hours moving hay and cleaning up stuff around the farm. Sunday I spent most of the day taking apart the swing set, cleaning up the litter box, and doing some laundry. I also managed to watch three movies I have wanted to see but Emily did not… they were “2012″, “Harold and Kumar Escape from Guantanomo Bay”, “Lara Croft: Tomb Raider”. As for eating too much, well, we won’t discuss that…

Fortunately I watched 2012 first, because it was fairly depressing. This is not a movie I would recommend to anyone who has fears about the “end of the world”, but the effects were pretty cool. Tomb Raider was much better than I anticipated, even though I’m not a big Angelina Jolie fan. It wasn’t great, but it wasn’t bad. Think “Raiders of the Lost Ark” meets “National Treasure”. Finally, Harold and Kumar did not disappoint! Yes, the movie is lewd and crude, but I was still laughing. And I even discovered a “math poem” in it that I had never heard. Perhaps had math been like this when I was a kid, I would have enjoyed it more…

The Square Root of 3
by Dave Feinberg

I’m sure that I will always be
A lonely number like root three

The three is all that’s good and right,
Why must my three keep out of sight
Beneath the vicious square root sign,
I wish instead I were a nine

For nine could thwart this evil trick,
with just some quick arithmetic

I know I’ll never see the sun, as 1.7321
Such is my reality, a sad irrationality

When hark! What is this I see,
Another square root of a three

As quietly co-waltzing by,
Together now we multiply
To form a number we prefer,
Rejoicing as an integer

We break free from our mortal bonds
With the wave of magic wands

Our square root signs become unglued
Your love for me has been renewed

Some of you may recall that in Round 1 of the “Cheap Beer Playoffs“, I tried out six different inexpensive beers. I have grown tired of paying $8 for a 6-pack, and honestly this economy doesn’t justify it. Sure, I’ll still enjoy a nice craft beer from time to time. But to me, there’s nothing particularly outstanding about Michelob Ultra Lite or Bud Select that justifies its price. From Round 1, the advancing challengers were:

- Keystone Light (KL)
- Miller High Life Light (HLL)
- Pabst Blue Ribbon (PBR)

Round 2: Miller High Life Light vs. Keystone Light
First, I put the Keystone up against the Miller High Life Light. I found them both to be fairly full-bodied and malty, which I liked. But I found the Keystone to have a bit of a bitter, sharp finish that seemed to settle funny in my stomach. On the other hand the HLL had a pretty smooth finish. Again, I enjoyed it more than I thought I would. 

Winner: Miller High Life Light

Round 3: Miller High Life Light vs. Pabst Blue Ribbon (PBR)
The final contest was between the classic PBR and the HLL. I had given PBR the ‘bye’ in this contest because, after Round 1, I honestly thought it would be the winner. After all, it is sort of the American standard “working-man’s” beer. And I have to say, it was another close contest. Though the PBR is a little more bitter and carries a little more after-taste, it was still a refreshing beer. BUT, every so often, it would kind of sour my stomach. Sometimes I take a beer to have when I finish riding, and I found this was especially true if I let it warm up slightly before or during the time I was drinking it. On the other hand, the HLL was always consistent. It maintained it’s full taste, and always had that nice malty flavor. And though it gets a little harder to drink when it warms up a bit (despite whatever T-bone may say), I still found it drinkable. It is easy to have one or two of these and really enjoy it. And at rougly $13 for a 30-pack, it beat many of the contenders.

So the overall winner is Miller High Life Light!

You know, as a beer that kind of found its way into the competition at the last minute, this was surprising even to me. It’s not one I would have singled out, initially. And to be honest, this competition has been over for most of the summer now. But I kind of figured I’d hold off on posting the results to ensure that I was committed to my choice. I have now gone through a couple of cases of this, and still find myself enjoying it. So I’m sure it will work for me for a while. But if I need a change of pace, I’d still pick up a case of PBR. =)

I like beer… It makes me a jolly good fellow… I like beer… It helps me unwind and sometime it makes me feel mellow… ~ Tom T. Hall

As most of my friends and family know, I like beer. Not so much that I drink too much of it… I just enjoy having a cold one on a hot day or when I’m relaxing. I might have one or two every few days. Back in college I was a “Miller-Lite man”, but for some reason that beer now bloats my stomach something crazy. I can barely stand it. As I went through my 20s, I worked part time for an upscale liquor store and got into “boutique” and “craft” beers. I enjoyed them, but they are pricey and full of calories. I even attempted to brew my own beer for a while, but mainly just managed to produce vinegar. Later I switched to “less complicated” beers like Michelob Ultra Light and Bud Select, figuring I would save the calories, but it I wasn’t drinking enough to make it worth the difference. 

Lately I’ve enjoyed drinking Bud Light Lime (thanks to T-bone), which is great on a hot day after riding. But to be honest, I’m tired of paying $10-12 for a 12-pack of beer! Ironically I enjoy it less often because the cost adds up pretty fast! So with that in mind, I’ve decided to SIMPLIFY. I have chosen six “cheap” beers that cost under $15 for a 30-pack. Most of these have actually been brewed for quite a long time. The way I see it, people have enjoyed them for years, so why should my tastes be any more refined?

That said, I have completed ROUND 1 of the “Cheap Beer Playoffs“. Generally, I consider a beer to be the ‘winner’ if I either find myself NOT drinking it because I want to get the other one “out of the way” first, OR if I find myself drinking it because I enjoy it more than the other one. The winner is in blue. The ultimate goal is to choose ONE beer that I can keep “stocked” in my fridge and enjoy when I want. A secondary point was to switch to canned beer, because I can recycle the cans for money as opposed to getting nothing for bottles. I also don’t have to worry about knocking over cans in the garage and having one break.

The contenders and results are as follows:

Pabst Blue Ribbon (PBR) vs. Strohs
These were the only two beers that I tried that were not “light” beers. However, I actually (and even surprisingly) enjoyed the PBR. It has just the right amount of “malt” flavor I enjoy. It can be a tad bit bitter, but it didn’t bother me. I was disappointed by the Strohs, which is a beer I often drank in college (after I turned 21, of course!). Apparently my memories of the beer were better than the beer itself. I found it to be too sweet, and kind of flat tasting. Perhaps it was flat or skunked… not many places carry it, so who knows how old it was. But I didn’t care much for it, and probably won’t buy it again.

Keystone Light vs. Busch Light
Hands down the Keystone won this contest. I enjoyed it quite a bit. I actually used to drink Keystone “back in the day”, and it’s similar to Coors Light in taste. Like the PBR, it had a nice “malty” taste, though more “full bodied”. I found the Busch Light to be WAY too “sugary” and watery for my taste… it actually soured my stomach! I can drink it if it’s super-cold, but outside of that I didn’t really enjoy it.

Miller High Life Light vs. Old Milwaukee Light
The competition was originally going to be between the four beers listed above. However, these were last second “entries” and it turned out to be perhaps the closest contest of the bunch. The Old Mil Light actually wasn’t bad — better than I anticipated. But it has kind of a sharper, more “alcohol” taste than I usually enjoy, which makes it a bit inconsistent when drinking (it wavers between malty and sharp). I still found it drinkable, but not as enjoyable as the High Life Light. Honestly, I didn’t even know they MADE the HLL, but it turned out to have a nice malty flavor. The HLL is a tid-bit flat tasting, though, so this contest was close to being a draw. I found them both “drinkable”, but the HLL won out based on consistency. It is probably one of the more expensive of the six I sampled.

So that completes round one!! I’ll keep you posted as I begin Round 2! =)

After working in the yard most of Saturday, Emily and I decided to watch a movie that evening. I was at Lowes trying to decide which stones would make a better edging for a miniature “garden”, and Emily was taking care of the kids and other errands, so she picked it up. Her movie of choice was “7 Pounds“, featuring Will Smith. This was a movie which we knew little about, but both wanted to see based upon previews we had seen.

At first I thought this was going to be a movie about how much weight I gained over the Easter holiday, but I was wrong. Instead, it was a very “deep” movie about a man who sets out to change the lives of seven people, perhaps at the expense of his own. The movie is NOT an “action” movie or a love story, per se, but really about a man’s struggle with the actions of his past. In reflecting on it, I highly recommend it as it will make you think about certain things, even if it was not “critically acclaimed”. It’s maybe a tiny bit slow in some parts, but Smith is awesome as usual. This may be one of his better acting jobs, in fact. The title reportedly refers to  Shakespeare’s The Merchant Of Venice, in which a debtor must pay a pound of flesh.

I am posting an email here that was passed to me via my mother-in-law from my wife’s cousin’s husband. Yeah, that sounds pretty removed, but I do consider Brandon a friend. We’ve played golf together a time or two (OK, he played golf and I drove the cart all over the place chasing my ball), and we’ve hung out on several occasions over the years. But I digress… here’s the message:

Friends and Family,
You may not be aware that you now know an author. I am happy to announce that I have officially published my first hard cover fiction novel and it is available on line at Amazon.com and Barnes & Noble. The title of the book is Capable of Anything You can search for it on both web sites by either the title or my name and it should come right up. I have included in this email a pic of the front cover and the cover flap description (below). If you prefer, you can also buy a copy directly from me (those of you that live in the area) – signatures are optional and it’s a little cheaper. The novel took me 3 years to write and another 8 months to publish. The book publishing business is pretty tough and I was unable to get a major publishing house to pick me up (they take on very few new clients). Because of that, I chose to self publish this novel, which means that I did everything except the actual printing of the book – all design work, the dust jacket, etc, etc. It was a very interesting and rewarding adventure, though it was also very difficult and time consuming. Initial feedback on the book has been excellent – I even got a 5 star review on barnesandnoble.com! Now, I ask your help. I am hoping to sell enough copies so that I can go back to the major publishing houses and try to get them to pick it up and publish it nation wide (in bookstores) as well. My goal is to sell 10,000 copies. To help reach the goal, I’m starting an email advertising campaign. I ask that you forward this email to all your friends and family, telling them about the book and encouraging them to give it a shot and buy a copy. Also, ask them to pass this note on to their friends and family, and so forth. Thanks in advance and enjoy the book!! Don’t forget to give it a review!

Brandon A. Willis

So if you’re looking for a book to read this summer, I encourage you to check out Brandon’s book and support a local (or regional) author who’s trying to make a go of it. I give him a lot of credit, because it takes a lot of time and effort to not only write a book, but self-publish it get it on Amazon, etc. Thanks!

Last week, I had the opportunity to see the movie “Iron Man” as part of a vendor-sponsored event at a local theater. That means in order to see the movie (for free!), I had to sit through a 2.5 hour presentation. Of course, they fed us danish and coffee prior, and popcorn and coke during. And our rep took me to lunch afterwards, so I can’t complain. Oh, and I won a cheap t-shirt, too! LOL! The presentation was OK, but it turns out I had seen most of the content before.

For the most part, I’ve never really been a “superhero comic book” guy. Sure, I enjoyed some Superman comics, as well as Archie, GI JOE, and perhaps a smattering of Spiderman and Fantastic Four. But I was never a collector, and never really sorted out all the good guys from the bad guys. I consider characters like Iron Man, Ice Man, The Flash, Green Lantern, etc. to be “minor” superheros (because Superman could kick all their butts). But I have enjoyed the movie versions of most of these.

Anyhow, I really wasn’t expecting much from this movie, other than perhaps to see a half-dazed Robert Downey Jr. (Tony Stark / Iron Man) try to reinvigorate his career. So I was surprised to see that Downey did a great job, along with Terrence Howard (Jim Rhodes), Jeff Bridges (Obadiah Stane / Iron Monger), and Gwyneth Paltrow (Pepper Potts). I was particularly impressed with Jeff Bridges, who has a whole new look in this movie as a bald guy with a beard. I won’t give away too many details other than to say it was jam packed with action, was pretty funny (typical comic book style one-liners), and had good music. Certain elements were a bit implausible, but it’s a movie about a comic book character so don’t set your expectations on realism. 

Even if I had paid, it would have been worth it. And I don’t say that just because it’s the only movie I’ve seen in a theater since… well… I can’t remember. But once it comes out on DVD, I’ll probably rent it again just to see what I may have missed. If you haven’t seen it already, check it out!

Hey folks… sorry for the lack of posts recently. Things have been kind of hectic lately.

Anyhow, yesterday was Emily’s birthday, so we took the kids to see Ratatouille last night. The best part was that we had the whole theater to ourselves! That was nice because it was my son’s first movie, so he got a little distracted once we cut off his popcorn supply. What wasn’t so nice is that it took nearly $50 for a family of four, including two children, to attend a movie! Are movies going to join sporting events as being non-family friendly?! And that was with shared concessions!

The movie itself was good, but I’ll say it BARELY warrants it’s “G” rating. Emily and I both thought the various themes (being yourself, gourmet tastes, etc.) were on a higher level than most 3 and 4 year olds can understand. There was also an instance where a character told another he would “send him straight to hell”, and many instances where characters referred to others as “stupid” (a word we try to avoid with the kids). Finally (and this really isn’t a spoiler), there was one scene in which Ratatouille’s father showed him a window full of rat traps and dead rats. Considering the movie had already anthropomorphed the rats with humanistic characteristics, I found it a bit over the top. It scared the kids. BUT… it’s a great movie for kids probably 10 and up. I think it was borderline PG, though, due to some of the themes.

After we got home and Emily opened her gifts and we had cake, I ran downstairs to update my iPod. On a hunch, I hit ESPN.com and an “alert” popped up, informing me that Barry Bonds was up to bat. I tuned in to the live video feed, and watched as it went foul ball, foul tip, home run! I’m not big fan of Bonds, but seeing as how he has NOT been indicted (or tested positive) for anything yet, and he’s still hitting homers, I have to appreciate the historical record. It was a neat moment, and it’s cool I saw it on a whim.