Happy 4th of July, my fellow Americans! I hope everyone's weather is as beautiful in their cities as it is here. I just finished up grilling some sweet corn and a few Johnsonville brats (hot and spicy ones, if you're a fan of food you should try them), and have the whole afternoon ahead of me. I'm really looking forward to the fireworks tonight. I don't know why, but I love me some fireworks. I'm like a little kid when it comes to these sort of things. Last year, I was in Washington DC for the 4th, and, as you may imagine, they put on a pretty decent show. Watching the fireworks from the steps of the Lincoln Memorial as they are being shot off over the Washington Monument is almost overwhelming. Especially with an estimated 500,000 people watching in the Mall. It's quite the scene, if you ever have the chance to go, do it!
(this is footage from last year's fireworks in DC. Not taken by me, this guy's a little closer than we were, but it was still impressive)
Apologies to my Canadian readers for not wishing them a joyous Canada Day, I hope all went well!
Speaking of Canadians, congratulations to Jad for surpassing 10,000 hits! I know I've supplied my fair share of those ticks on the counter, but that is a rather impressive stat! Keep it up man, and everyone keep his counter rolling!
And also a hearty congrats to Joey Chestnut, winner of this year's Nathan's Famous Hot Dog Eating Competition. Chestnut ate an astounding 66 hot dogs in 12 minutes. 66! He takes the crown from Takeru Kobayashi, who had won the past 6 years' competitions. Mad props Joey, mad props.
Well, that's it for me! I hope everyone has a fun and safe celebration, we don't need any missing fingers or eyes put out or parts of thumbs cut off, and we don't want anyone to try to tackle 67 hot dogs in 12 minutes. That would not end well.
Happy 4th everybody!
Showing posts with label 4th of July. Show all posts
Showing posts with label 4th of July. Show all posts
Wednesday, July 04, 2007
Monday, June 04, 2007
4th of June?
Why does the 4th of July have to fall on a Wednesday this year? Doesn't it know that having a holiday in the middle of the week just makes it that much harder to make plans with people who have "real jobs"?
You see, almost every year for the past 6 or 7 years or so, some of my friends from my days at Iowa State get together for a few days of having fun. Last year it didn't happen, because I went to DC during that week. (And let me tell you, if you ever have the chance, to go the fireworks in DC. Marin and I watched them being shot off over the Washington Monument from the steps of the Lincoln Memorial. Pretty incredible scene.) We also play home run derby every year, and last time we played the Trivial Pursuit game that I referred to in the last paragraph here. (It was also when Heinricy came up with the line "We're sleeping in teams!" about our sleeping arrangements. Good times!) This year I'm going to have to figure out when we're getting together, either the weekend before or the weekend after. The weekend before has the Iowa City Jazz Festival. Both weekends have home games by the Swing of the Quad Cities. I guess we'll have to see which works out better for everyone. H has already said that she and Bill won't be able to make it the weekend before, so that may necessitate a move to the weekend after the 4th. It all depends on Jimbo and Charczuk. We'll have to start planning this now, though, since people will be traveling from all around. Hopefully it'll all come together and we'll have a good time. I'm optimistic.
You see, almost every year for the past 6 or 7 years or so, some of my friends from my days at Iowa State get together for a few days of having fun. Last year it didn't happen, because I went to DC during that week. (And let me tell you, if you ever have the chance, to go the fireworks in DC. Marin and I watched them being shot off over the Washington Monument from the steps of the Lincoln Memorial. Pretty incredible scene.) We also play home run derby every year, and last time we played the Trivial Pursuit game that I referred to in the last paragraph here. (It was also when Heinricy came up with the line "We're sleeping in teams!" about our sleeping arrangements. Good times!) This year I'm going to have to figure out when we're getting together, either the weekend before or the weekend after. The weekend before has the Iowa City Jazz Festival. Both weekends have home games by the Swing of the Quad Cities. I guess we'll have to see which works out better for everyone. H has already said that she and Bill won't be able to make it the weekend before, so that may necessitate a move to the weekend after the 4th. It all depends on Jimbo and Charczuk. We'll have to start planning this now, though, since people will be traveling from all around. Hopefully it'll all come together and we'll have a good time. I'm optimistic.
Wednesday, May 09, 2007
It's anything but trivial to me
Generally, I'm a nice, laid-back, easy-going guy, I really am. Once the board comes out, and the pie pieces are lined up, however, the gloves come off, and I am a cold-blooded killer. I of course am referring to the wondrous game that is Trivial Pursuit. I will yell, I will throw things, I will make people cry. I will show no mercy. If my brother and I team up, we are a nearly unstoppable force, spewing knowledge left and right, occasionally pulling an educated guess out of our collective ass, and usually nailing it. Who's listed in the Guinness Book of World Records for the most claps? Vanna White. On what two NBA teams did Kareem Abdul Jabbar play? Milwaukee Bucks and the LA Lakers. (oddly enough a movie question, not sports & games.) Who wrote Last of the Mohicans? Come on, anyone from Iowa should know this, especially any Hawkeye. James Fenimore Cooper. (our state nickname "The Hawkeye State" is from this book.) What rodeo even used to be called "Bull Dogging"? Steer wrestling. These are all actual questions from tonight's game, all correctly answered by the Brothers Flenker. We rule.
One thing that always seems to happen, no matter how hard I try to stop it, is a team giving hints to another team. Or people answering when it's not their turn. I cannot stand this. I don't know if there's one thing in this world that gets me as riled up as these actions. Seriously. Like tonight, there were a couple of people in the room that weren't really playing, but when they would hear a question they knew, they would either blurt out the answer or give clues to the correct answer. Oh, and people talking over the one asking the questions. I've never dropped the f-bomb so often, directed at a person. (that's not true. I swear quite often, but I've been good on here so far, I'd like to keep it that way for at least a little while longer. But I do have my moments or whole days when I say the "f word" as a noun. Or adjective. Or adverb. Or a period. I kind of like those days.)
Really, it all depends on who is playing. I've had many a game that was all good and fun. But I've also had games where I thought I was going to flip out and just totally scissor-kick someone right in the head.
The most frustrating, but also one of the funniest games I've been involved in happened a few years ago on the 4th of July. Some friends (Bill, Jim, Jody, Charczuk, and Heinricy) were all down in Muscatine for the holiday, cause that's what we did. We had all just gotten out of the hot tub and had a few Coronas, and decided we could get a game of the Pursuit in before bed. Bill and Heinricy ended up on a team together, much to Bill's chagrin. If there's one thing people should know about Adam is that he can fall asleep at any moment if he's laying down, there have been a few instances of him falling asleep in the middle of a conversation. And of course Adam is laying down during the game, only to be nudged whenever it was their turn. Then someone would read the question, Adam would come up with some answer with logic that was anything but logical to the question, and get it correct. The prime example of this involved a question asking for an American Indian tribe, I can't remember what it was exactly. Anyways, Heinricy wakes up, is told the question, and says, "well I had a 'Navajo taco' for lunch today, so let's go with Navajo." And it was correct. Bill and Adam ended up winning the game. I was displeased at the time. I think it's hilarious now.
One thing that always seems to happen, no matter how hard I try to stop it, is a team giving hints to another team. Or people answering when it's not their turn. I cannot stand this. I don't know if there's one thing in this world that gets me as riled up as these actions. Seriously. Like tonight, there were a couple of people in the room that weren't really playing, but when they would hear a question they knew, they would either blurt out the answer or give clues to the correct answer. Oh, and people talking over the one asking the questions. I've never dropped the f-bomb so often, directed at a person. (that's not true. I swear quite often, but I've been good on here so far, I'd like to keep it that way for at least a little while longer. But I do have my moments or whole days when I say the "f word" as a noun. Or adjective. Or adverb. Or a period. I kind of like those days.)
Really, it all depends on who is playing. I've had many a game that was all good and fun. But I've also had games where I thought I was going to flip out and just totally scissor-kick someone right in the head.
The most frustrating, but also one of the funniest games I've been involved in happened a few years ago on the 4th of July. Some friends (Bill, Jim, Jody, Charczuk, and Heinricy) were all down in Muscatine for the holiday, cause that's what we did. We had all just gotten out of the hot tub and had a few Coronas, and decided we could get a game of the Pursuit in before bed. Bill and Heinricy ended up on a team together, much to Bill's chagrin. If there's one thing people should know about Adam is that he can fall asleep at any moment if he's laying down, there have been a few instances of him falling asleep in the middle of a conversation. And of course Adam is laying down during the game, only to be nudged whenever it was their turn. Then someone would read the question, Adam would come up with some answer with logic that was anything but logical to the question, and get it correct. The prime example of this involved a question asking for an American Indian tribe, I can't remember what it was exactly. Anyways, Heinricy wakes up, is told the question, and says, "well I had a 'Navajo taco' for lunch today, so let's go with Navajo." And it was correct. Bill and Adam ended up winning the game. I was displeased at the time. I think it's hilarious now.
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