Had a great trip to Phoenix this last weekend - great area if you have not been there.  Spent some quality time with my folks, highly recommend the area if you are into hiking, outdoor activities, etc.

Recommendations - local brewer Four Peaks Brewing Company - Kilt Lifter is a great beer.
http://www.fourpeaks.com/beer/mainstays/kilt-lifter/#     

Highly recommend Old Towne Scottsdale as a place to stay, shop, drink and dine.  Great area with alot to do.  Also 15 MLB teams do spring training in the Phoenix area for the month of March - bored, make the trip down, games are cheap, venues are great, weather is better than here.

What a week here in Nebraska - a federal judge rules against Nebraska's discriminatory gay marriage ban and the Governor (who happens to have an openly gay sister) and the State Atty General rush to the Appeals court to stay the judges ruling and the Appeals Court does so.  So as a state, we had about 48 hours of trying to actually do something right and fit in with the country - just to get kicked back into being Bible thumping, scared of the world, necks.

If you believe this is a religious issue, you are reading you Bible wrong.  If you feel this is infringing on your rights as a Nebraska citizen, then you should be able to understand why the people who are fighting for this to move forward feel the same. If you feel like you are being a bigot/or prejudiced, you are.  And I will repeat my previous thoughts - these people are already gay, living together, and raising families, they are simply trying to get equivalent rights to other couples - how in the world does that affect you and your family?

2nd political thought of the week - we have had 3 police involved fatal shootings in the last month in and around Omaha/Lincoln, with 2 in the last week.  The most recent appears completely justified, the prior one the guy was drunk .148 BAC and could not be controlled by 4 officers even though unarmed, and the first one was a female who was threatening 4 officers with a steak knife. 
To all law officers everywhere, I appreciate deeply what you do, the difficulty of your jobs, putting yourself in harms way, and dealing with what you do.  That being said, if a single individual is the target of your pursuit, no one else is in harms way or potential of harm, and a sliver of a chance exists that if you just be patient and let this person/conflict run its course instead of pressing the situation, stand back and take 2 more minutes to see if you can resolve something without shooting someone.
I am also taken aback by how many law enforcement people I have talked with that continue to discuss shooting at body mass and continuing to fire until the situation is resolved.  Both the female suspect and the drunk guy in my examples above were surrounded by 4 officers at a range of 20 feet.  My mom could have shot them in the leg from that range.  This is a training issue coming from the police force itself.

Sorry for anyone that has been checking the blog for info and seeing nothing. Been swamped lately with work, family, life, school stuff for the kids, etc. Little break coming up with a trip to Phoenix coming up, but of course looks like they will drop out of the sun and 80's they have had just in time for our arrival.  Of course - oh well, still better than midwest snow, ice and cold.

Thoughts for this week - thanks to all of the attendees, donors, helpers, sponsors, etc. at the Skyhawk Baseball Association Bash Fundraiser last Saturday - hope you had fun, I know I did. Baseball around the corner - good luck to all players trying out for teams all over the country. Remember, if you love baseball enough, and get cut, you will find somewhere to play.  If you are willing to look for another program or team, you don't love the game.

Did you watch the Oscar's - normally not my thing, but the last hour was good - Lady Gaga with the only performance I would ever watch of hers, good acceptance speeches, some politics in the room, the determination again that Common can act and speak, but should not sing, Doogie is a funny guy, etc.

Current odds in Vegas on NCAA Basketball tournament  - if the #1 seeds are based on odds to win tournament - they are Kentucky, Wisconsin, Duke and Virginia. See the info at http://linemakers.sportingnews.com/.

New TV if bored - AMC Better Call Saul looks and feels like a winner - 1st 4 episodes have been pretty good so far. Check it out.

http://www.ketv.com/politics/nebraskas-gay-marriage-ban-to-be-challenged-in-court-thursday/31356904

Well Nebraska continues to drag its feet in coming out of the dark ages on gay marriage and joining the other the other 37 states and District of Columbia where it has been legalized.

Quotes today from both the Asst Atty General and the Atty General of Nebraska

Dave Lopez, representing the state, made his argument around the definition of marriage. He said marriage in Nebraska is meant to "promote procreation and to promote stable relationships."

My response is that you are saying the only reason to marry is to have children?  And when in comes to promoting stable relationship, should there then be a fine or penalty for the roughly 50% of marriages that end in divorce.


The Nebraska Attorney General's Office has said it will appeal any decision blocking or overturning the voter-approved ban on gay marriage.

"I don't buy into this notion that all the states are going to eventually end up going there and we should just join them," Nebraska Attorney General Doug Peterson said. "This is an institution that has been limited to a man and a woman recognized for 2,500 years."

I can't even respond to this one - I thought our former Atty General was simple minded - this guy replaced him with even less grey matter.

 A couple notes for both of you directly from the Nebraska State Laws category.

Nebraska Revised Statute 42-101

Revised Statutes» Chapter 42» 42-101

42-101. Marriage a civil contract.

In law, marriage is considered a civil contract, to which the consent of the parties capable of contracting is essential

 

Note on this one - civil contract - not a word about religious ceremony, procreation, man and woman, etc.

 

The issue at hand is the following item that was implemented into the Nebraska Constituion in 2000.  Nebraska State Constitution» I-29

I-29. Marriage; same-sex relationships not valid or recognized.

Only marriage between a man and a woman shall be valid or recognized in Nebraska. The uniting of two persons of the same sex in a civil union, domestic partnership, or other similar same-sex relationship shall not be valid or recognized in Nebraska.

 

It is a violation of rights to enact a law that establishes the removal or separation of rights based on bias to a specific party.  This would be no different than enacting a law saying women can not have a driver's license. 

 

For those of you that agree with our state's laws and our current State Government position - one quick reminder.  A gay couple that is already together, living in your home town, who work, pay taxes, and have kids in your kid's school, will continue to be together and live in your community regardless of whether they are married.  Their marriage simply gives them rights like other people to estate situations, medical planning, retirement planning, tax benefits, etc. that we already have.  Their marriage will in no way, shape, or form affect you and your day to day life.  So your denial of their rights is a bias and is no different from the bias against an ethnic group, another religion, etc.

http://t.co/YV6RlA4FXJ
http://t.co/YV6RlA4FXJ

NFL - gotta love these

http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/nfl-shutdown-corner/roger-goodell-made-more-44-million-last-wait-211537621--nfl.html

Read this - amazing matter what you think but considering the year he had downright unjust

Great Valentine's Weekend - spent a nice night Friday with Tracy and the boys at Johnny's Steakhouse, visited the Joslyn Museum Saturday, had a family game night, watched Million Dollar Arm - good movie ( might bug real baseball fans a little), and got Caleb back to school today.  Love them all and appreciate that they all put up with me everyday.

New Grapefruit beer over the weekend - pretty good

Multiple sports thoughts today for the followers: 

Went to a local high school basketball game the other night - two evenly matched teams, one team worked pretty hard, made adjustments, and simply played the game.  Other team (the home team) kept whining about calls the refs did not make, (actually watched a couple players turn and look at the officials for a call as the other team took the ball down the court on),did not move well without the ball on offense and did not adjust to what they were being given. Guess which team won the game?  That's right - the 1st one.  Worst part - 2 of the players on the losing team are small college potential kids (D2 down), if I were a scout and was watching this game, I would not have recruited them based on how they acted, not how they played.

Current time of year sucks - NBA is not worth watching, NHL is not my thing, Sportscenter sucks, NCCA Basketball does not matter until tournaments start, etc. Baseball is just around the corner - local high school kids - if you are just getting started, you are already behind. 

Pitching notes today on Gamechanger - the importance of 1st pitch strikes. 

Your amateur sports resource delivered by GameChanger

We looked at top pitching staffs in Ohio and Texas. What did we find? Both have excellent first-pitch strike percentages.

Bored Netflix find of the week - Sirens, a comedy by Dennis Leary about an EMT department in Chicago - very funny, easy comedy to watch. 7/10

Daake and the Lemon Lime Smile

Thought we would repost this one for all of the followers. Please take a minute and watch http://vimeo.com/http://lemonlimesmile.com/
The link above is for a great cause - Leukemia and Lymphoma Society. Please take a look at the great work being done at Daake - they are so good at giving back!

New Beverage try last night at DJ's new location is West Omaha - had a great time with friends.

Red Hook - KCCO Black Lager - between a Guiness and Amber Bock with a sweeter taste.

Good beer - worth a try.  http://redhook.com/beers/kcco-black-lager/

 

For those of you with Direct TV - here is the Bourbontucky documentary I was talking about.  Audience Channel on Direct TV - find it, record it and sit down with a bottle of bourbon and watch it.

Love the sights and sounds of spring - even though winter hit us hard this week.
Tryouts start first week of March - are you ready?

For those of you that have watched Netflix original series House of Cards - a little reminder of the past - new season available on February 27th.  I will be out of town, but will binge the whole series after that weekend.  Looking forward to it.

I have been really busy and have not had time to post lately....... Ok, got that bullshit out of the way, so back to it we go.

Found some new things lately to share with like minded folks - the first being a nice website for news searches, music topics, sports, etc. Search anything recent. Try it out and see if you like it.

http://www.rightrelevance.com/

Second - need to give a shout out to Todd, Tyler, Petey Mac, Puss and Craig - this is the crew on Z92  - The Todd and Tyler Radio Empire - every morning for the last roughly 19 years.  I sincerely miss any morning I can not hear them live and am downright pissed when I don't get the chance to catch up on podcasts. Best radio show in the country - I have listed to others, nothing compares.

http://www.tntradioempire.com/ - live link and podcast info

You can also find them on the iphone app Todd and Tyler Radio Empire app - listen live and podcasts available there and on Radio League app on iphone.

3rd - want to give props to Big Dog Beverage in Elkhorn - not many small town liquor stores have this good of a selection of beers, wines, and liquors and post their entire inventory online for your search - http://bigdogsbeverage.com/

Last for this note of the day - Justified keeps getting better - love the show and recommend it to anyone who wants a reason to have a glass of bourbon while watching TV. Speaking of bourbon - if you have Direct TV - the Audience channel on Direct TV did a documentary on bourbon called Bourbontucky - worth the watching if you are a fan.

Watched "The Judge" last night with Robert Duvall, Billy Bob Thornton,  and Robert Downey Jr. - really good movie, great story, great acting, runs the gamet of emotions, and would highly recommend for anyone and everyone to watch.  Surprised this movie did not get more traction for some potential awards this year.  I would give it an 8.5/10.

Coming up to getting close to game time this weekend for the Super Bowl - my current feeling is that Seattle somehow wins this game and it stays right at the total, so no good advice other than take Seattle.  This is a combination of the deflategate stuff surrounding New England, the overhype by the majority of betters putting money on New England (2/3 of all bets on New England), and the theory that the "masses are asses" mindset with betting - don't follow the crowd.  Only prop bet I like is who gets the ball first - you would think this is a 50/50 bet, but New England defers almost everytime they win a coin toss and Seattle might just decide to take the ball if the win, so it should actually be Seattle 75% New England 25%.  Pretty good odds on Seattle.

Pro Bowl does not fill the sports void this week - no real football, college and pro basketball don't matter until tournament/playoff time, no baseball yet! ESPN can't get enough of deflate gate (and how stupid is that whole thing).  I almost was bored enough to watch tennis, but I stopped myself.

Went to American Sniper - great movie, difficult to watch, emotionally draining.  Can not imagine how hard it must be to watch if you are a veteran that served during that time, how hard it must be to revisit those thoughts and feelings.  9/10

Watched Lucy tonight - interesting premise, but movie kind of runs off course as it goes along. Morgan Freeman and Scarlett Johansson carry it but only a 5/10 rating. Old movie reminder of the week - Basic, with John Travolta - watch it evertime it is on.

Quick thought to ponder - what special "gifts" would you want - having all knowledge like this movie is to much. I would go with control of the body and your physical being, ability to swing in time but only a week or so forward or backward, and immortality for the time you want - not forever, you would age but could stay healthy for the time you choose.  Throw in teleportation for the Star Trek fans and we are good to go.


Recent TV - Banshee is killing it as usual, Shameless is always good, and Blacksails started tonight - very underrated show.  continuing to enjoy the Goldbergs, the show just continues to grow on me.

Politics - both parties completely puked on themselves over the last week. Republicans continue to bash literally everything the President does, can't and won't try to find any common ground, let Joni Ernst deliver the SOTU response, which sounded like someone reading "Little House on the Praire"  outloud, and then backed it up by letting Palin step back into the picture - advice - house arrest in Alaska.  The Democrats continued to respond by stating what they were going to do instead of trying to work thru things in some form of bi-partisan attempt, can't seem to get anyone out in front of bad situations/bad press, and right now - regardless of how well things are going for the average person, the public hates the attitude they feel Obama, Biden, and Hillary all have. They need to soften the tone and rhetoric.

On a lighter note - those of you from anywhere but Omaha - recent news here is that a coyote has been seen running around a neighborhood in LaVista. Wow - a coyote, in Nebraska!  What's next, someone sees a deer standing next to the road?

http://www.nfl.com/draft/2015/mock-drafts/bucky-brooks

Look thru this and realize if any of it is realistic it supports why some teams don't get better.

Winston - pass, Randy is a great kid but 3rd?.

Ok readers, love him or hate him, I read thru the State of the Union address and President Obama did a pretty good job on this one. I would give him a B - read it and absorb what was said, not just what you agree or disagree with. Major points - independent fact check review.

From ABC News:

State of the Union Fact Check: Rhetoric vs. Reality

http://abcn.ws/1575yPv

Main thing I took away - he is telling both parties the system is broke - bipartisan work needs to be done and start to be done more often if we want to continue to move forward.

Thoughts from the weekend.

Football - was right on Green Bay plus the points, would have been wrong on the overs had Seattle not stormed back to win.  Can't believe Green Bay dumped this one, so sorry for Packer fans everywhere.  Your team did not play to win at the end, they played not to lose and that kills you every time.

Indy - don't even know what to say - thought they would be in this game - obviously wrong, New England dismanteled them.

Super Bowl thoughts - Seattle opened at -2.5 and the line swung to New England -1 after the first round of betting in Vegas.  I say the game should be a pick em game with an over under of  48. 
Thoughts are New England and the overs.  Seattle played horrible against Green Bay and put up 28 points anyway.  Their defense looked soft to start and Brady will pick them apart similar to what Rogers did if that is the case.  New England will throw up points one way or the other.

Prediction New England 31 Seattle 27

Experimental drink of the day at the playoff party yesterday - thanks to all who came - had a great time.  In a shaker small shot of Patron Cafe XO, shot of vodka, shot of fireball, splash of Seven up, shaken over ice and poured into shots.  Turned out to be better than expected. Did not have a name for it yesterday, have decided on simply Cafe Fireball.

Politics from the last few days - don't care which side you fall on with the gay marriage debate, but it is about time the Supreme Court got off their ass and will make a decision on this.  They will hear the case in April, ruling in by June, and the assumption will be that gay marriage bans in the remaining states that have them will be removed with their ruling.  (currently only 13 states still have a state law/amendment banning gay marriage or defining marriage as man/woman).  This is not a states rights issue (states do not have the right to discriminate on equality issues) so don't bring that argument up.  This is about equality for partners, couples, parents, etc. and them having the same benefits and rights that other people already have.  I have no issue if your particular religious entity does not want to perform or recognize marriage in your church/religion, but marriage is a legal status no a religious status.  This decision will simply open up the ability for couples that already exist to have the same financial, ownership, insurance, parental, rights that current married couples have. 

Other politics - The White House announced a package of initiatives Saturday to create new and expanded tax credits for the middle class, including a new tax break for two-earner families and a tripling of the child tax credit, and pay for it through a big increase in capital gains taxes and a hefty fee to discourage risky borrowing by big banks.  I realize a large group of my fellow Nebraskans hates this argument, but the capital gains tax changes are overdue.  Current tax laws basically set up like this - if I build an investment portfolio over my entire life with original investment values of $500,000 but a current value of $1.5 million, if I sell or close out this portfolio, I pay capital gains on the $1,000,000 gain.  If I die however and pass this on to my kids, they inherit it without any capital gains taxes.  One way or the other, the capital gains occurred and should be taxed.

Read more: http://www.politico.com/story/2015/01/state-of-the-union-2015-barack-obama-economy-taxes-wages-114353.html#ixzz3PIVNdngU

http://www.tripadvisor.com/TripNews-a_ctr.amazinghotelpoolsEN

Take a look at this and then look out your window fellow Nebraskans - face it, we did not do a good job of choosing where we live and we should all reconsider moving in the near future. 

Close the whole state from about December 1st until April 1st, load up and drive south until we can enjoy the sun

My bad again - I am finding that even though I thought I had alot to write about with all my scattered thoughts, sometimes life itself gets busy and gets in the way.  Lots of work, still more of the unforgiveable, tortured, repetetive, and simply meaningless online training again this week (over 2 weeks my company will have lost 40 hours of standard worktime from me, paid me for an addl 25 or so hours of overtime, trying to make up for that, and in the end, I literally learned nothing I was not already aware of.  Ok - got that off my chest.

Football - continued the trend of being wrong on the NCAA National Championship game - all of my original money was on Oregon -7, then some on the side went to overs.  I did hedge just before game time with a little bit on the moneyline of Ohio State - but still lost overall.

NFL - had the Packers - they won and did not cover, had the Colts (got that one right), had the under on Seattle/Carolina - lost there, and won on the overs of NE/Baltimore but lost the same amount on NE.  

This weekend my immediate thoughts are to take Green Bay +7.5 and Over 46 vs. Seattle.  If you believe Seattle covers - take the unders.  I like the overs in NE/Indy at 53.5 but only if you believe Indy stays in this one.  I see it being a 31-28 kind of game so that means Indy +6.5 is good and overs.
Still have Indy in a futures bet from the beginning of the year to win the Super Bowl - so will need to hedge something on New England to offset it.

NEWS OF THE DAY  - I like to drink, ask anyone that knows me, but I am not sure I want to be able to stumble in or out of a bar 24/7.  Picture Husker 11am games next year if people could be in the bar from the night before and then trudge over to the game.  Ugly with a capital F(*%$#$!

http://www.ketv.com/politics/proposal-would-allow-nebraska-bars-to-stay-open-247/30731820?absolute=true

MOVIES AND TV REVIEWS

Banshee started up again - first 10 minutes of the show make you want to find a friend real quick if you know what I mean. Again - I am a fan of gratuitous sex and violence.

Shameless got off to another good start and already got picked up for season 6 next year.

House of Lies is running out of story lines, same with Episodes, and looking forward to the final season of Justified starting up next week.

Walton Goggins and Timothy Olyphant might be the two least likely heroes in the world - if you saw them on a normal day - combined weight of about 300lbs between the two of them, you would not think much of them.  But these boys are both pretty good actors and they carry the show. 

Only movie of the week was Jack Ryan - Shadow Recruit and believe it or not - I liked it.  7/10 rating and a decent rental.

Last but not least - someone close to me had a difficult personal situation this last week, he found out that people are not always what you think, don't always do what you expect, and sometimes you can't explain the crazy shit that they do.  He handled it like a champ and I am proud of him. Live, learn, remember, and move on. 

Went to the UNO Hockey game last night with my wife, sister and brother in law.  UNO got down 3-0 in the 2nd period before coming back and winning 5-4.  For you non-hockey folks, that is the football equivalent of being down 21-0 in the 3rd quarter and winning 35-28.  Great game once UNO started playing.  Their was a timeout in the 2nd period and I would give anything to know the exact words  the UNO Coach said during it, because UNO came back out playing lights out, much more aggressive, and with a little more attitude. 

We assumed the conversation was something like this "If you ()&*(%^(%^*s don't start skating a little harder and making a little more effort, the whole (&()^ing team will be skating well into the morning, and then I will get your lazy, )&(^ing worthless asses up again in the morning for another )&(*%&^(^ing skate around, before we do this shit all over again tomorrow night."

Either way, whatever he said worked like charm. Good job by both coach and players.

PS. DJ's downtown location - don't shut off half of your bar the night of a home hockey game for what appeared to be a lackluster party of 20 people. You missed out on about 100 extra drinkers before the game. 

Slacking off today - my bad.

I took the overs for NE and Baltimore and then put some addl money on Baltimore on the money line at +260.  Looking ok on both at half with it being close and higher scoring.  Still say final will be around 31-24 no matter who wins

For the late game I have revised my thoughts - I am updating my pick to Seattle laying the points and the game going under 41.

Seattle 27- 10

I guess I have reached the point where I realize, "I don't see the glass as half full or half empty, I see a glass I don't like, with something in it I did not order, and I am always going to ask for another one, preferably filled with Jack Daniels."

I have to express a little feeling today.  I have had one of those weeks that we all have, busy every waking second of the day, moving from one project/requirement to another with literally 1 minute to spare, its Thursday at 4:15 and I have 15 hours of overtime in already this week.  This has been due to the brilliance of current corporate America. 

Our country is filled with large companies, staffed by upper management that make to much, do nothing to improve the day to day operations of their company, and sit in their spots based on years with the company.  Below them is a huge stack of mid-level management and those trying to reach the ranks of the upper management. The problem with this group is two fold. 

A portion of this group actually were workers, worked their way up, and remember what doing the actual day to day work was like.  They have to ignore every instinct they have from their prior life as a worker, because the new management mantra is mandatory to follow if they want to continue up the ladder.  They feel our pain, wish they could help, secretly hate where things are going, but have no choice but to follow if they want to continue forward.

The second portion of this group are people who did whatever was needed to be promoted, job jumped, took transfers, moved from Omaha to Charlotte to Miami to Dallas to Minneapolis all within 3 years, each time gaining points with the management leaders because the were willing to do so to be promoted. Problem is they did 6 different jobs in those 5 moves, never stuck around long enough to get real experience in any of them, figured out just enough to move on and now they are managing someone who has 20 years experience doing that job and they don't even really understand what they do every day.  They look at charts, metrics, attend management seminars on how to get the most out of your workers and the majority would walk right over your desk and your burning body if the building was on fire to get to their next promotion. 

So here I sit today - in the midst of 2 weeks of mandatory online training being presented to all of the "workers" within my job class across the country.  This training was the idea of somebody on high, someone who started a project and had to get it to fruition, prove it was worth it, implement it, and shove it down our throats, so he/she could be promoted to whatever the next job class is. Now don't get me wrong, training is needed and necessary, but when you group everyone together regardless of experience, prior training, area where they work in the country, etc. and group train them online, well let's just say that is like having one big class of swimming lessons for everyone from a 4 year old who has never been in the water, to the 8 year old who won't go in the deep end, to the adult swimmer, to a gold medal swimmer.  You can't start this group out teaching them all the same thing and expect them to get the equivalent results out of this one class.

I have been told by people that I have a knack at never seeing the good in things, I find the bad and point it out, and demand it be resolved. That is called life - most people don't get patted on the butt for doing what they are supposed to do and doing it right, but they do get their butt chewed for not doing what they were supposed to do.  Don't like it, try harder to get it right next time.

Time to get back to some more important day to day info - some of the current news that the average person should be paying attention to.

Former CBS News correspondent Sharyl Attkisson has sued the Justice Department over the hacking of her computers, officially accusing the Obama administration of illegal surveillance while she was reporting on administration scandals.

In a series of legal filings that seek $35 million in damages, Attkisson alleges that three separate computer forensic exams showed that hackers used sophisticated methods to surreptitiously monitor her work between 2011 and 2013.

The Justice Department denies any wrongdoing, but Attkisson and her legal counsel point to specific "evidence" they have showing that this was done. 

Basic question on this issue - don't care which side you believe on this issue - to what length can the government (the NSA, the FBI, the Justice Department, etc.) go to investigate and glean information from a citizen of the United States. 

My Republican friends will tell you that the government can do whatever they want, to anyone they want, and that anyone who disagrees has something to hide. But send a state agent from Lincoln out to their ranch in Alliance to ask some questions about their bank account and cattle trades, and watch them turn into a government activist holed up in a barn in about 10 minutes.

I believe that our government has the right to investigate anyone accused of a crime, conspiracy, or believed to be assisting enemies of the state.  I believe the government oversteps its bounds all of the time in trying to find out what others know about potential government issues, projects, overseas activities, corruption, etc. In the area of reporters and the press, my simple statement is this - if the government is doing something somewhere, whether it be covert ops, planning an airstrike, covering up something someone did, etc. and a reporter can find out about it, it will be made public. That is the reporters job.

From the government standpoint, do a better job of not letting everyone know what you are doing and it won't become public.  There are things that the government does everyday, that you and I as a regular citizen does not need to know about.  I am not saying that is right, but it is the way it is.  If the President and the Joint Chiefs feel like we should invade Honduras tomorrow because of evidence of a terroristic plot, don't let that info by on CNN tonight, talk about it in the press for 5 days, and then be surprised when we get there next week and don't find anything.

Ok - yesterdays hotties review got a little grief for all being ethnic brunettes - not like I have a type or anything.  Hell, I am married to a very lovely blond girl.  So I thought I should do the updates of the current blonds I appreciate also.

 Blake Lively is simply beautiful - she can not act, but makes up for it by standing still just long enough to take your attention off of that fact.

Amber Heard - great eyes

Kristin Bell - not only is she funny and a fairly decent actress, but she is extremely sexy. 

 This one most of you will not know - Diane Kruger is the star of "The Bridge" on FX.  She is a very good actress and plays her part of a somewhat "off" detective so well it is sometimes hard to watch. The show was cancelled after 2 Seasons - but would be worth a watch to check her out.

 And of course, no guy, anywhere, can honestly say he does not like Jennifer Aniston.  She simply is to good looking, too funny, and seems to be someone that would honestly be interesting to hang out with.  I put all of that down to confirm I am not a creep, as she is just simply to hot to take your eyes off of.

Emmy Rossum - she is worth watching Shameless on her own.

One of the many new faces on Banshee

Brooklyn Nine-Nine's Melissa Fumero - ouch!

This is the kind of face you can see on Marco Polo. Lucky Bastard.

 

And last but definitely not least - Olivia Munn from the Newsroom - she plays an on air financial markets analyst and that only makes her seem oh so much hotter.  Tell me about the markets today darling.

Ok - I have been slacking - my apologies.  I will throw out some honesty to get the ball rolling.

Recent games - I took the following bets over the past few days :

Won on Ohio State and Alabama overs.
Lost on Auburn - 6
Won on Oregon -7
Won on Pitt overs
Won on Tennessee -3 over Iowa (come on Hawkeyes - you are a lock during bowl season)
Won on Kstate/UCLA overs
Won on Panthers - 5 1/2
Lost on Steelers - twice, had a futures bet on them to win the SuperBowl this year.
Lost on East Carolina/Florida overs - should have gone over - ECU fumbled in the red zone, missed a FG I could have made and then turned the ball over driving for a game tying TD at the end.
Won on the Colts -4
Won on Dallas/Detroit total sacks - over 4 1/2 - they combined for 9
And finally lost everything I was up since New Years on the overs of Dallas/Detroit. Terrible game, should have gone over easily.  Cowboy fans - not only is Tony Romo not your QB of the future, your offensive line got literally thrown around every other play of the game. Good luck next week and next year, you are going to need it because your season is over before you even fly to Green Bay.

All of that being said - my leans at this point for next weeks games.  I reserve the right to make corrections as game times get closer.

New England -7 vs. Baltimore - total of 47 1/2.  New England is better, is at home, has had time off, and Baltimore played well last week, which means they won't this week. New England and the overs.
New England 35 Baltimore 17

Seattle -11 vs. Carolina - total of 40.  Unders are tempting, but game will go over if weather is ok. Carolina is better than people think and if this goes to +12 take the points.

Seattle 27 Carolina 17

Green Bay -6 vs. Dallas and total of 53.  Green Bay drills the Cowboys and this only goes over if Green Bay scores 35 on their own, because Dallas probably can't score 17.

Green Bay 33 Dallas 14

Denver -7 vs. Indy - total of 54.  My tendency is to say that Indy will cover here and to do so the total should go under.  The changing of the guard from Elway to Manning, from Manning to Luck, etc. is always a good story.  Can Indy stop the run - maybe. Will Manning throw for a bunch of yards - maybe.  I will give you more thoughts on this game at the end of the week.

My gut says Denver 28 Indy 24

And finally - Oregon - 6 1/2 vs. Ohio State - total of 76.  Ohio State looked good vs. Bama, but I just don't believe the magic can continue. Oregon rolls em and the total goes under.  Prediction 45-20.

Recent Movies - Life of Crime - Jennifer Aniston, Mos Def, Will Forte, Tim Robbins, actually very funny, a little hard to watch and Tim Robbins plays a complete creep. 6/10

Good People - James Franco and Kate Hudson - slow but decent movie 5/10.

TV - Netflix - getting into Marco Polo - very good. Catching up on the Newsroom - this season is pretty good. Can not wait until all of new shows start back up this week - Shameless is flat out good, Banshee has simple violent plots and completely gratuitious nudity, and the next batch of House of Cards is coming soon. 

Last gripe of the day - if you are in management, IT, HR, or are in anyway, shape, or form responsible for any training, role changes, workload revisions, new programming, etc. for your company now or in the future - one rule stands true.  Do not change for the sake of change - make sure it is necessary, productive, contributes to your customer, and is not the evil plot of an upper level management person who came up with what they thought was a great idea and had the power level to push it forward without anyone calling them on it.

2nd - if you do need to make change - start from the bottom, what does the customer actually want and how do the people that deal with them on a daily basis provide that to them. Get the employees input and determine how to design a new system/operation. Ask them to help you work out the important parts, the day to day activity, the areas they need to work from a user standpoint, etc.