How Did I Live Without It?

A little over a month ago, our family got a DVR...in fact, a DirecTV HD DVR. This was a Father's Day gift from my mother-in-law. We had always avoided getting a DVR because I was afraid I'd watch too much TV, plus it was an extra $7 a month we didn't need to spend. Oh, how silly we were!

Now that I have a DVR, I don't know how we ever lived without it. Here are 3 examples of where the DVR has greatly improved our lives (or at least mine).

1 - The British Open - I had to play piano at the 7 am and 9 am masses on British Open Sunday. I set the tournament to record, got home around 10:30 and watched the 6 hours of coverage in just a little over 3 hours. It's amazing how fast golf goes when you fast forward through commercials and the time it takes the players to walk to their golf balls.

2 - "Eureka", season 4 - I'm actually able to watch this series live. I missed the first 4 episodes while getting caught up on season 3.5, but I recorded them. As soon as I finished 3.5, I was able to start right in on DVR'd versions of season 4...fantastic.

3 - Running late - My wife and I love the SyFy show "Warehouse 13." Last night, we were running late getting the kids to bed, but no problem. The DVR was recording away...we started about 20 minutes late, fast forwarded through the commercials and finished shortly after 9 pm.

I could go on and on. I've recorded cooking shows to support my new hobby. We've recorded programs for the kids, and even the smartest person in the house has gotten into the recording game. It's great and definitely worth $7 a month. It actually reduces our TV time. So, thanks to my wonderful mother-in-law for a great father's day gift.

I See Right Through Their Tricks

Today it took me 25 minutes to get home from work. I live 4.6 miles from work, so it shouldn't take me 25 minutes. Generally, I can do it in 10-15 minutes, even with traffic. Why did it take me 25 minutes? Road Construction!

There are 3 road construction projects on the main road between my house and work. My understanding is that all 3 projects are, at least partially, funded by the economic stimulus package. That's right, Obama's stimulus package...you see where this is going don't you?

So, I write this blog where I am critical of President Obama. Within 2 years of my starting this blog, 3 Obama-stimulus funded road construction projects show up between my house and work. Coincidence?...

I think not...this is obviously a deliberate attempt by the Obama administration to silence my stinging criticism. Well, it won't work...all that construction does is gives me more time to think up blog ideas. How do you like them apples?

Blogger's Note: If you don't get the sarcastic, cynical, slightly paranoid conspiratorial humor in this blog...than I feel sorry for you.

Movie Review: The Italian Job

Here it is...a movie that isn't either 4 or 5 stars. "The Italian Job" is only a 3 star movie, though it could have been 4 stars if not for Mark Wahlberg. The man can't act...not even a little.

"The Italian Job" stars Mark Wahlberg as a master thief. After a job goes bad, his crew recruits master safe cracker Charlize Theron to help them settle the score. What follows is a series of maneuvers and twists that attempts to rival "Ocean's Eleven" but ultimately fails.

As I said, Wahlberg is terrible. I don't know how the man keeps getting acting jobs. I guess he might be good in straight action roles where no emotional range is required, but this was not that type of roll. Edward Norton portrays the villain, and while I usually like Norton, the script didn't really give him a chance to shine. The rest of the cast is similar...the script really didn't help them stand out.

So, why did I still give this 3 stars? Well, there was enough going on that it held my interest for 2 hours, and I did like the small twist at the end, though I sort of saw it coming. I guess I also had fairly low expectations, knowing it was a Mark Wahlberg movie, so that sort of helped too. Low expectations are an almost certain guarantee of a good movie watching experience.

Quite a Dust Up

This week, I saw a news story. The EPA is pondering regulating dust. That might be the most ridiculous thing I've ever heard, but it's sadly true. The EPA has long been the extremist wing of the nut job extremist left, but this is reaching a new level of craziness, even for them.

For one, how the heck are they going to enforce this? Are they going to have dust police who drive around the country side and ticket farmers in their Combines? Are they going to procure Air Force drones to patrol the skies and scan for dust particles and then eliminate the dust threats as they find them? Or, will they force our farmers to go back to the days of horse drawn farm equipment? There's no telling with this bunch.

Really, all I'd like to see is a little common sense...sadly, I think the obituary for common sense was written long ago by our Federal Government.

Real Deal Golf

I realize that I may be the only one who cares about golf that ever visits this blog, but it's my blog, so I can write about it. I'm going to write about 2 golf courses that I played recently that, to me anyway, are awesome examples of what golf courses should be.

The first is located in Sioux Falls, SD. I know there is at least 1 reader of this blog who will be disappointed I didn't stop by when I was in Sioux Falls, but it was a golf weekend with a golfing buddy from High School, and the weekend was packed with golf...there was just no time. I'll catch you next time.

Anyway, the golf course is Prairie Green which is actually a Sioux Falls municipal course located on the south side of town. Prairie Green is ranked by Golf Digest as the #5 course in South Dakota. I've played quite a bit of golf in South Dakota, and I've never played a course in that state that is as good as Prairie Green. The entire golf course is right in front of you, and it's in great shape for a municipal track. I just loved this course. We played from the Championship tees, which were roughly 6,700 yards, with a course rating of 73.1 and a slope of 125. I played really well, for a change. I plan to play this course whenever I can get to Sioux Falls and it's not snowing.

Then, last weekend, the family was in the Twin Cities for a long weekend. On Saturday morning I made the trek to Willinger's Golf Club in Northfield, MN for a long awaited 18 holes. We lived in the Twin Cities for about 2 years, but I never got to play this golf course when we lived there. So, when the opportunity arose, I took it. Willinger's is the hardest golf course I've ever played. At 6,800 yards, it's not very long, but it's packed with danger. The slope of the golf course (which indicates how hard the course is for bogey golfers) was 150...the maximum is 155, and average difficulty is 113. Despite the difficulty, Willinger's is a beautiful track with the front 9 routed through and around several marshes and the back nine routed through the woods. Check out the slide show on the Willinger's website. I actually played ok, but the trouble got me on a few occasions.

These were really fun opportunities for me. Living in the Midwest, sometimes we think we don't have that many good golf courses, but the truth is, there are great golf courses everywhere...you just have to remember to look. Thanks for indulging a golf blog.

Movie Review: The A-Team

"Still wanted by the government, they survive as soldiers of fortune. If you have a problem, if no-one else can help, and if you can find them, maybe you can hire the A-Team!!!"

Yes, I broke down, went to the cheap theater and saw "The A-Team" movie. Starring Liam Neeson and a bunch of other guys I don't know, "The A-Team" acts as a reboot of the 1980's TV series. I don't know if there will be more movies or not...I guess that depends on how this one did at the box office.

I'm not going to spend a lot of time on the plot of this movie, because there isn't much of one. Liam Neeson is Hannibal Smith, and he is the leader of a crack team of Army Rangers who never fail, because of Hannibal's planning. After all, he "loves it when a plan comes together." When they are wrongly jailed, Hannibal sets about breaking his team out and finding those who sent them to jail. What follows is so much over the top action that it reminded me of last summer's G.I. Joe movie.

There was a lot of nostalgia for me with this movie because I remember the TV Series so fondly. Plus, Gerald McCraney was in the movie, and he was part of one of my dad's favorite 1980's shows, "Simon and Simon." Double nostalgia. As an action junkie, I found this movie really fun. I can honestly say this is the first movie where I've seen someone "fly" a tank. Watch it and you'll understand. There was enough plot to make this pass as a movie, but it was all about the action. It's way over the top.

The nostalgia, coupled with the over the top action made this a 4 star movie. Most people will disagree with me, but that's fine. I'm used to that.

TV Series Review: Eureka, Season 3.5

I've been away from blogging for a while. Been really busy and blogging would have added stress, and since I started this as a stress reliever, blogging when stressed would have been the opposite of my plan.

So, season 3.5 of "Eureka" is awesome. I think Sheriff Jack Carter (played by Colin Ferguson) may be my new favorite TV character. While I think "Psych" is the better show, "Eureka" is close...and SyFy's other hit "Warehouse 13" is getting close as well. I just love these quirky, "mystery" type shows.

In season 3.5, major changes are afoot in Eureka, America's smartest town. Carter is still Sheriff, and still dealing with more than his share of scientific mishaps coming from the research of the town's geniuses. Along with the constant trouble, Carter also has to deal with a daughter getting ready to leave for college, acting as the birth coach for Dr. Allison Blake and finally meeting a new love interest in Dr. Tess Fontana. It all makes for a series of 10 quirky, compelling stories that, at times, are laugh out loud funny. This is a 5 star series (unlike Nuke, I'm not stingy with my 5 stars).

I think it's amazing that the cable networks are now making the best TV. Even if you excuse my strange tastes, most of the really critically acclaimed shows seem to be on cable. My 3 favorites, "Psych", "Eureka" and "Warehouse 13" are all cable network shows. It just seems that the over the air networks have gotten lazy.

By the way, now that we finally have a DVR, I'm watching season 4 almost live. The goodness continues.