Wild Game 2008: Wild vs. Vancouver Canucks - 03/38/08

I know this is a few days old but I am finally getting some time to post. We took the boys out to their first NHL/MN Wild hockey game last Friday. The littlest one loves hockey so he was very excited to get their. My wife and I worked from home so we could head out a bit early to make the trek to the Xcel Energy Center to make the 7pm game. Well, little did we know we would encounter one of the biggest traffic jams on 494 eastbound that evening; it was all over the news.

We ended up taking the alternate route and made it to the game with about 15 minutes to spare. We had nose-bleed seats but were grateful as we got 4 tickets to the game, a free hockey puck for each of use asl well as field-side tickets to the MN Swarm in a few weeks. Our first grader was funny as he was pretty hesitant on going up the 2 story high escalator ride to ge to our assigned seating and was even more scared when he got there and realized he had to walk down some stairs to get to our row. (For those of you that know sitting in the nose-bleed seats, you can practically look straight down) I think he was afraid of falling. Well we got him to come down and we all enjoyed the game. We had the usual foods consisting of soda, hot dogs and ice cream which the kids enjoyed. The game itself was awesome. The boys got to witness an all-out team brawl as as well as almost-typical Derek Boogaard (aka The boogie-man) one-on-one 2 fisted throw-down. To top it off, the Wild won 4-0! I love going to Wild games, just wish tickets weren't so darn $$!

iPhone!

You've heard/seen some of my 'sneak-peak' posts. You also seen my Twitter posts on it. I've had it for about a week now... I figured I could post my 'review' of it thus far. But first a little history:

With the 2-year contract running to an end with Verizon Wireless a few weeks ago, the time had come to make a switch from my Palm Treo 700w. Both my wife and I were not necessarily dis-pleased with Verizon, but we both had our eye on certain phones we'd like next time around. Mine was the iPhone. Like my post back in the summer of 2007, I've been very much interested in them and constantly hear about them on several tech podcasts I listen throughout the week.

Going to the iPhone was basically a choice between going with AT&T Wireless and using the iPhone 'out of the box' or 'jailbreaking' it and using it with T-Mobile or some other GSM carrier. Well, seeing my better half wanted a Blackberry, AT&T was a option and went for it.

I must say this phone is very slick. It's very easy to use, intuitive, and entertaining to use. I went for the more expensive version, the 16Gb sized version which was the same size as my 3rd Generation iPod that recently died (yet again). I am now able to carry one device that acts as my phone and MP3 player. It syncs all my contacts with OSX Mail and calendar items with iCal. A sweet bonus with this phone is built in wireless for web browsing, text messaging, Google Maps, a weather widget and camera.

There are a few downsides to this device as opposed to my old Palm Treo 700w, but nothing critical. I am truly liking this phone... A LOT!

Landshark Lager

New beer alert!

I heard about Landshark Premium Larger on one of my podcasts, Diggnation, so I went online and looked up their website. It looked cool, sounded like something to try so I did a search within their site to see where the nearest retailer was that stocked it. Cool, there was a place nearby.

Well, I went and got a 12 pack while I was running some errands today and cracked one open with a neighbor over some Papa John's. "Hmmm." I thought it. Not horrible but not too great. I must say its mediocre at best. As far as taste, it says its an 'Island style lager' so I would put it in the category of a Corona/Corona Light, Red Strip Light or something to that sort.

I now have 10 left and don't plan on taking them on anytime in the near future...Maybe they'd go better with a slice of lime... Oh well. At least I have my Miller Chill.

iPh....

It's finally coming to a person you know soon!

Mii and the Wii

ANOTHER VIDEO GAME SYSTEM? Yeah, but this one was for *the kids*. We gave them the ever-popular Wii this past Christmas.

Although this was probably the hottest gift this past holiday season, we got one. I actually stumbled upon it. Wifey and I were already talking about getting this for the boys but were planning on just picking one up at our local Sam's Club or something. Well, as a avid listener of KFAN's Video Games Weekly, I knew these things were hard to come by so when I walked into a nearby Gamestop just browsing for used Xbox games, I was surprised to hear the guy say to me, "Are you here for a Wii?". I said, "No, but I was thinking of getting one. How many do you have?" He said they had a few (as UPS was dropping of numerous boxes that were taking up about 1/4 of the store floor). After a quick call to 'the boss', I quickly snatched up the Wii, as well as another game, wiimote and a nunchuck.

The gift turned out to be a great game console set! Even the 4 1/2 yr old picked up this game! I must say I was very impressed that the kids picked up on this and had a great time. Personally, even I was surprised that the games were are as fun as they are. The interface is simple, the games are simple. I think thats why this game is so popular. Even though the graphics aren't as good, no online co-op play, this is a great way to get together with the family and play against each other or even play on the same team.

I highly recommend getting one; even the adults can have fun with this thing! I like playing the Wii Sports, which is the game that comes with the system. I'm actually a 'pro' ranking in the Tennis, and Bowling games!

Guitar Repair

HOLY COW! I just got back my 2 guitars back from the repair shop and I am completely blown away with what was done with my Yamaha acoustic FG-410A. This thing is like a brand new guitar! Leonard Shipiro Guitar Repair did an amazing job transforming this 10+ year instrument into a brand new, easily played acoustic!

I know I am not the best player, but having this guitar re- setup and re-strung, I am now inspired to pick it back up again and perhaps do some recording with it! I only wish it had a built in pickup so I could go directly into Garageband with it. Perhaps, you'll get to hear some audio snippets out here at some point?!

Stay tuned I guess!

Book Review: Michael J. Fox - Lucky Man: A Memoir

So I decided to download and listen to some audiobooks. Seeing I listen to alot of podcasts and music on my ipod/Zune at work and in the car, I though an audiobook would be something to try out. The first audiobook I've sync'd up with my portable player was written and read by Michael J. Fox called Lucky Man: A Memoir. This audiobook was only about 6 hrs worth of listening and finished it in about a week (which probably would have taken me several weeks to physically read) .

This book covers everything about his life starting with him growing up in Canada (bouncing around from Military base to another due to his fathers career in the military) to his latest life struggles and challenges. The underlying subject line in this book revolves around him discovering, struggling and ultimately coming to terms with Parkinson's disease. There were times during this book that brought a tear to my eye - when he talks about the passing of his grandmother and father for instance.

I learned a few thing about Michael J. Fox. First off I didn't realize he was a big smoker and boozer during his prime. He confesses that he probably had a slight problem during the 'haydays' of the Family Ties sitcom and Back To the Future movie series (which I am watching with my 1st grader at the moment) and ultimately gave up both nearly a decade ago. Overall, this is a decent book. For me it is always interesting reading about someone else's life.