Friday, September 29, 2006

M-I-N-N-E-S-O-T-A....MINNESOTA....MINNESOTA....GOOOOOOO TWINS!!

I am very proud of the late innings played by the Twins tonight. It was a beautiful sight to see. I had actually just pulled out my Homer Hanky on the strike before Mauer hit the game-tying homerun. It was pretty prophetic.

Here's my view on the postseason. The Twins should be fine with not taking the division. Without it, they would face the Yankees for 5 games, and Johan Santana would undoubtedly pitch two of those. If they should happen to win the division and also beat Oakland in the first round, the Twins would face the Yankees for 7 games. Rumor has it Johan would pitch only one of them. With Radke having a very nice showing tonight, this might not be an issue, but I believe they should buckle down on the rotation and try to work Johan in when it comes to crucial games. Silva could possibly be helpful in the more in the clutch situations, but in my opinion he doesn't have a good pitching matchup for a definite win against the A's. I'm slightly torn on this, but I believe it would be better for the Twins to face the Yankees right away in the postseason.


Question of the Day: Which do you think would benefit the Twins' postseason more -- first round vs. Yankees or A's?

Sunday, September 24, 2006

The Strawberry Shake Mystery

Tonight, Tommy and I stopped by McDonalds to get strawberry shakes after The Amazing Race in Blue Earth. We went in and ordered, and this is the conversation that followed. Remember, I'm quoting this as exactly as I can, so I apologize for any crude language. And also, we can't remember the employee's name so we just called him Damian.

Damian: "You want that?" [pushes chocolate shake towards me]
Aaron: "Why, you just make it for kicks?"
D: "No, I meant to make a small vanilla, but I pushed the wrong button."
A: "Oh, alright."
D: "You can throw it at something if you don't want it."
A: "Well, Main Street is always good. And I know Purvis got his windows cleaned by some kids today."
[I take my McChicken and strawberry shake off the counter]
[Tommy takes his cheeseburger and waits for his shake; Damian asks if he needs something]

T: "Uhh, I had a strawberry shake."
D: [points at me] "He just took it."
T: "No, he got one too."
D: [pushes button on screen] "Shit, he did."

It was probably the funniest trip to McDonalds I've ever had. Good times.


Moral of the Story: Always look for free shakes at McDonalds. It can lead to fun, interesting, and definitely random conversations.

"Oh, lover, I'll cover you..."

Woot for random RENT lyrics....anyway....

I attended an outdoor wedding for the first time in my life today. It was at Seven Mile Creek Park, in between Mankato and St. Peter. The weather held off for the half-hour ceremony, then it started to sprinkle. It was quite the beautiful day. I sat next to a hilarious guy named Les at the reception. He made fun of me for glancing over at some random girls that walked into the room. Les made a lot of other jokes about almost everything. He reminded me of someone, but I still can't think of who.

That was my day. After I got home, I went to Tommy's for a movie. I had to stop at the population sign outside of Frost and take the monkey off of it that Mariah left there, but she'll get it back somehow. That was actually the first real cunning way she's returned it. I'll give her props on that one....


Moral of the Story: "I'll be here when you're ready to roll with the changes" -- REO Speedwagon

Friday, September 22, 2006

Buccaneer Homecoming

Today was our Homecoming, and quite the lame one it was. Our schedule was supposed to be shortened so we could have our parade and everything, but we ended up with 80-minute classes for 3rd and 4th hour. It was horrible. Our pep fest was as lame as ever, and I wish I would've skipped out on it and came home. Was anything good about this homecoming? There were a few things.

First was in accounting. We took another easy test and spent the rest of the time messing around on the computers since we weren't given any other word because we had a sub. Good times....

Next was releasing the Spirit of Homecoming Past in chemistry. It was quite interesting. We also didn't do much the whole 80 minutes of the class.

Finally was my realization that Logan Becker is a great quarterback. If he were to by playing professionally the same way he is now (minus his 7-interception game last week), he would be racking up HUGE fantasy points for someone. I think next year I might just make a fantasy team out of my school's team and see how many points we would get over the year. I might have to do it after getting a stat book at the end of the season, but whatever works. I suppose I could get a stat book from someone this season and see what happens too.

All in all, I think this year's homecoming was still pretty lame. The negative outweighed the positive. Go Bucs!

Now I sit here bored, wondering what the actual final of the game was tonight since I left with 1:04 left in the 4th.


Word from the Frontline: As I got to my car leaving the game, I heard that Sukalski had just gotten his 3rd interception of the game. Buc Pride!

Wednesday, September 20, 2006

ChiSox

If there was one thing I really wanted for my birthday, it was for the White Sox to beat the Tigers. Lo and behold, Detroit got shut out yesterday. I credit Justin Verlander for pitching a not-so-great game.

Today's school day was pretty boring. Tomorrow's shan't (is that how you punctuate that?) be much better, except for the fact that I'm going to watch our girls tennis team play St. James tomorrow. That should be great since I know some of the St. James girls.

That's all I've got. Buc Pride.

Tuesday, September 19, 2006

The Cutting Edge

Welcome to midnight. I can now officially watch R-rated movies. Hooray for me?

I'm sitting here completely unwanting of the ambition to start this analysis. I've been procrastinating since Thursday, so why start now? I suppose it is due today, so I should get to it. But who really cares about the interpersonal communication involved in The Cutting Edge? Alright, Mrs. Ehlers cares, but does anyone else? No. Didn't think so. Thank you.

Other than that, I practiced "Man to Man Talk" today with Prince Dauntless. It went alright, and we're optimistic about having it down in no time. Having the song on CD (thanks Janet) will probably help me practice my actions. That will definitely be good.

It's cold outside right now. My thermometer says 41 right now, and I'd guess that's about right. There's also something random going on out there. A cat has been chasing a mouse around for the last half hour. They've gone by my garage a few times, and they kind of had a stand-off by the church. I haven't seen them in a few minutes, so I wonder if the mouse got away or finally met its timely demise.

This is my list of the first five people (in order) to wish me happy birthday today:
Emily Renken (we actually shared the exact moment together on MSN)
Janet Youngers (in 4 languages)
April Drube
Mariah Tappe
Shayla Bocock

And also, the most random one. At 11:50, the nice folks at RadioY sent me an e-mail wishing me happy birthday.

Tuesday, September 12, 2006

Ah, the power of parentheses....

Our read-through for the musical went really well tonight. I didn't actually have to read out loud until about 7:45 (we started at 6:00), but it was pretty entertaining.

And now for the reason behind my title. Every line of mine through Act 1 and the first 8 scenes of Act 2 includes parentheses. It's great. They've become my new friends.


Word from the Frontline: What I'm looking forward to the most for this musical -- the song "Man To Man Talk," where I, as the king, must give "the talk" to my son; at this point I am still only able to pantomime.

Back....from....school....

I just got back from school with a bit of news. That news is that I don't get to say a single word in my school's fall musical. Scratch that. I do get to speak, but it's not until near the end. Why is that? Because I'm the King who has been cursed and isn't able to speak. That means I get to do my entire part in actions until the curse is broken. It should be a good time!

Once Upon A Mattress
November 16-17
Blue Earth Area High School

Friday, September 08, 2006

Battle for the Brown Jug

Every year, around this time, Blue Earth Area High School experiences one of its greatest events: the game against Fairmont for the Brown Jug. Tonight was the night.

I heard about 15 minutes ago what the result of the game was. After 5 years without the jug in our posession, we beat Fairmont 20-19 to bring it home. I kind of wish I would've decided to go.

Last night, apparently, a few of our players were in Fairmont hanging out when a Fairmont player named Dion Tino (and some of his friends) noticed. They got mad just because the Buc boys were in their town, and one of Dion's friends took a swing at Forrest. He dodged it and only got hit in the arm, but Dion decided to punch cars.

The funniest thing about it all was Forrest's trash talk today. Forrest isn't a very big guy (if any of you were at TEC 62, he was the one with the spiked hair), but he was saying he was gonna take out Dion, whose arms are probably the size of my thigh. 'Roids? Probably....

Thank you, Dion, for having a name like Dion Tino and taking tonight's loss like the little girl that you are. We salute you for your car-punching prowess and steroid-like stature.

And always remember your team colors:
Maroon = BEA
Red = Fairmont
Color blind?

Thursday, September 07, 2006

Horribly singing songs for T. Boone Pickens

Quick line from "Damn Regret" by The Red Jumpsuit Apparatus to give a nutshell summary of what I felt tonight when I walked outside.

The moon is shining bright; the mood is feeling right

And now, onto tonight's post.


I auditioned for my school's fall musical, Once Upon A Mattress, today. The acting part wasn't too horrible, but my singing was miserable. I have major fears of singing in front of people I don't know andI can't read music to save my life (and so I can't do impromtu singing of songs I don't know). Both of those things were major factors in my 0.1 out of 10 singing abilities tonight. I think when the practices get going and stuff I'll be more comfortable with it and have no problems. I was one of 2 guys to audition today, and so I'm sure I'll at least get a minor part (which is totally fine with me). There is one male for sure that hasn't auditioned yet, but he's a complete shoe-in.

The greatest part of my audition was when they had me read for the part of the mute king. It was fun trying to act out everything instead of speaking, and the part only has 5 speaking parts at the max. On that note, the only down side is that there's a song as part of a trio. Like I said, maybe when I get more comfortable it won't be too bad.


There's really only one more thing I want to blog about tonight, and that would be T. Boone Pickens. In the past, Pickens has given away money to quite a few charities: Texas Scottish Rice Hospital for Children ($8 million), Katrina victims ($7 million), UT Southwestern Medical Center ($2 million), and the T. Boone Pickens School of Geology at Oklahoma State ($1 million). He could've given money to help out many things in his surrounding community. Oklahoma ranks in the bottom third of all states in infant death, child health insurance coverage, and child neglect. And one of out seven Oklahomans is at risk of going hungry. So what's his latest venture? Big bad Boone Pickens wrote his most recent check out to be the biggest in the history of the NCAA by giving $162 million to the Oklahoma State football team, very little of which will go to other sports.

When asked why he did it, Pickens said, "'Cause I want to. That's the blood, guts, and feathers of it." It's been a whole two years since he paid for the last improvements to Boone Pickens Stadium, and yet he believes the football program was in "an urgent situation that needed big dollars." How can this guy sleep at night when the new athletic complex is going to relocate 250 nearby families. Oklahoma State is giving these people a piddly $300 bonus for every year they've lived in their house.

I agree with Sports Illustrated writer Rick Reilly when he says, "Some people think they ought to name the whole school after Pickens. Boone Pickens University. Well why not? He's handpicked the athletic director, the football coach, everything up to the curtains in the suites. Plus, all the money he donates to the school goes straight back into his wildly successful BP Capital energy hedge fund. Which means he gives the money with one hand, manages it with the other, and decides how to spend it with, I don't know, his teeth?"

This guy may be a successful businessman, but he's definitely doing the wrong things with his money. A professor at OSU explained how departments at the school are in "basements, dorms, attics, and condemned buildings." If Pickens really wants to keep his donations inside of the OSU boundaries, he could at least help out the academics.


Word from the Frontline: I'm dandy....thanks for asking....

Tuesday, September 05, 2006

The joy that once was Facebook

I always used to see Facebook as a safer version of Myspace. Until now. Facebook has just started using new feeds to let you know every single move that is made by every single one of your friends on the site. You leave someone a little message on their "Wall," and the whole world knows within seconds. You join or leave a group, the word is spread instantly. Facebook's new idea really just screams "safe stalker." It still isn't as bad as the information that people willingly put out there that catches the eye of predators, but it is definitely borderline.

Now, onto my first day of school.

Study Hall
Sitting at a lunch table in a miniature gym for 85 minutes isn't exactly my idea of fun. I'm supposed to have it again 3rd quarter, but I'm going to find something to fill in that spot. It's going to be nice for any last-minute homework (which I'm bound to have), but I definitely can't say I enjoy it.

Accounting
This class is going to be simple. Tests every 3-6 days on each chapter that we get through, homework that should take a maximum of 20 minutes (maybe 40 if it's a rare, big assignment), and a lot of interesting characters in class. Our first assignment was to bring in a magnet for our teacher to put on his metal boards at the side of the room.

Chemistry
Shayla may hate chemistry already, but I love it. Schoenfelder is one of the easiest teachers to get along with, and our class has some fun people it in. Definitely the class to have after lunch.

Communication
We gave impromtu speeches today. My topic was "Explain how a person can be smart but might not be wise." It was pretty easy, but I couldn't think of much to say in the five minutes she gave us to prepare. Still wasn't too bad, and I'm thinking this class will live up to my expectations: Horrible!

Monday, September 04, 2006

Labor Day

I never have done much on Labor Day, and this year isn't expected to be different. I finally got out of bed a little while ago and walked outside. It's one of the most beautiful day's we've had this summer, which makes it all the worse that school starts tomorrow. I'm kind of excited to get back into a pattern of having something to do every day, but it's still school, homework, and tests.

All in all, I just want to find something to do outside today with this beautiful weather. Maybe a nice drive out in the middle of nowhere would be good.

Friday, September 01, 2006

Tonight's Revelations

I had a couple of revelations tonight, but they have nothing to do with my inner-most thoughts and emotions. They have nothing to do with religion. They have nothing to do with Arj Barker. They have everything to do with TV.


My first revelation is Kyle Cease. I saw him tonight on Comedy Central Presents, and I loved a lot of his jokes. He's got a ton of energy, and he feeds off the crowd like no other (i.e. "High-Five Guy"). My favorite joke:



You ever notice whenever you go to a restaurant it doesn't matter if you want Pepsi or Coke they always have the other one.
"Can I get a Coke?"
"Is Pepsi alright?"
"Could I have a 7Up?"
"Is Sprite alright?"
"I'd like a Slurpee."
"Icee?"
"Do you have any salt?"
"Does Mrs. Dash work?"
But my favorite restaurant ever is Taco Bell. I love the deliciousness of Taco Bell. Am I right? You over here...you know what I'm talking about. Everyone else loves corn, but you hate it! My favorite thing about Taco Bell is you can order a water and go to the other end of the place and fill it with Coke. I did this until I realized that it wasn't fair.....to the people in the drive-thru. So one time I went through the drive-thru and said, "Yeah, I'd like to order a water, but I want you to fill it with Coke."

My other revelation was from last night's MTV Video Music Awards. I didn't get to see the show because I was at a fire, but I watched the one thing I was looking forward to tonight on MTV.com. It was the live treadmill performance from Ok Go. You can probably hunt around for it on the site. I couldn't get a close enough link to bother posting on here.


Word from the Frontline: April almost died last night due to an explosion caused by a boiling can of root beer. Even more entertaining was the previous fire when it hit Tommy in the face (ironic, since it was his plan to put it in the fire).