The Daily Rude

Challenge Nation 2011

2011-10-02T17:31:00.003-05:00

Challene Nation is another urban scavenger hunt race, and this time The Cassols enlisted the help of our homegroup for our Johnny Google Fingers.

Partner...check

Shirts...check

Map....check

Clues...check

The 12 clues were given as follows (you can skip 1):

1. S.W. of the T.S.B.D find the G.K. with the north pergola as the backdrop, form a pyramid

2. Find a stranger with a pro-sports team (non-Texas)

3. With 72 miles of this, Dallas has more than any other American city, take your picture with one and pose like it.

4. Find a stranger with drivers license from a state that begins with L,M,G,S,O,V, or P (we skipped this one)

5. Find a building older than 1915 OR occupied since 2011

6. Find an iconic Dallas municipal edifice with architecture designed by the same guy as the pyramid at Louvre and the east building of DC's National Gallery of Art, with a huge pool of water, find the short pillars outside and spell out D-A-L

7. $9 million worth of longhorns, this is the largest collective bronze work on the planet, take a "Texas" picture with the one at highest elevation

8. Red steel girders near the Nasher Sculpture Center at the intersection of David Schwimmer's character on Friends and "the most trusted name in fiberglass"...pose like the sculpture

9. Find the theatre that is the last remaining of "theater row", shares the name with J. Carrey's first foray into dramatic acting.

10. Take a photo with someone on a segway OR any out of state license plate with W or X OR person wearing overalls, OR a dog on a leash

11. Small urbanish park opened in November 2009, take a picture of the sign that looks like it is missing "I-N-G" that once hung on a garage that used to be at this site.

12. "The Day the Music Died" there is a small monument to him, the guy with the iconic specs, its hard to find in an alley, near Spaghetti Warehouse...rock out in the photo

5th Place, baby! (Time: 1:04)

An open letter to my left knee...

2011-07-01T10:34:00.000-05:00

Dear Knee,
Why do you hurt exactly in the same spot that I nailed you with a racquet a few hours ago?
I guess sometimes these mysteries of the world will never be solved.

Regards,

Rudy

Abby Takes a Bath

2011-06-09T12:22:00.001-05:00

So, last night I was coming back from homegroup, had been gone about 3 hours, Julie was still at a teacher thing when I got home. I came into the house and heard water running. I had just repaired a leaking toilet so I freaked and ran into the bathroom fearing the worst, that our toilet had sprung a leak and was flooding. It was not. As I walk back down the hallway, Abby came running out and I reached down to pet her and she was completely soaked. Then I noticed my Toms were soaked through. I turned on the light and looked at our wood floors covered in water. I followed the trail of water back into our master bathroom and low and behold, the tub faucet was on full blast, completely full and over-flowing. I shut off the water, really confused how this happened. Then I heard it..., the dreaded dead-battery alert on the smoke alarm. For some reason this is pretty much Abby's most hated sound in the universe. She goes completely insane, like "a-mental-patient-in-the-corner-of-a-padded-room-rocking-back-and-forth-in-the-fetal-position" insane. Normally, it only goes off at 2 in the morning, though.

I don't know how long the was going on, but I can only assume she panicked, jumped in the tub (for some reason) and accidentally turned the water on. The funny thing is that she hates baths, and judging by the amount of water spread throughout the house, she must have jumped in/out of the tub voluntarily several times...

We figured she is either smarter that we give her credit for and started the bath as a refuge from the "fire"...or she just really wanted some "me time".

Palin on Paul Revere's Ride

2011-06-09T06:37:00.001-05:00

Palin is going on a 3-month bus tour, paid for by campaign money (that isn't really campaign money because technically, she hasn't "filed" for presidential candidacy) under the guise that this tour is to promote interest in American history. She is stopping by all these famous historical landmarks to learn about history and "raise awareness".

She sounds like a 3rd grader giving a book report on a book she didn't read. It is sad that she can go to all this effort and THIS is the version of Paul Revere's ride she came away with.

Colbert has her back, though...

The Colbert Report
Tags: Colbert Report Full Episodes,Political Humor & Satire Blog,Video Archive

Video Link:

http://www.colbertnation.com/the-colbert-report-videos/388583/june-06-2011/paul-revere-s-famous-ride

Tornader'

2011-05-25T09:40:00.005-05:00

still here...BUT BARELY!

my buddy took a picture of the funnel cloud that touched down about a mile from our house ...crazy stuff.

We had just gotten home from dinner and Julie turned on the weather when we heard the sirens, and she said, "Tornadoes! I'll clean out the hall closet."...and I said, "okay, I'm gonna go take a shower."

...meanwhile, Abby watched the egg-sized hail fall and wanted outside....I'm pretty sure she thought they were marshmallows.

Gross/Funny Story

2011-05-18T18:10:00.004-05:00

...so I've been suffering from horrible seasonal allergies the past few days. Abby got up with me as usual for her morning "reward for waking up". I was reaching down to hand her the treat, and a sneeze snuck up on me. I sneezed and then heard a and looked down on the tile floor and there was a giant puddle of snot laying right next to Abby, who hadn't noticed because she was focused on the treat. I laughed thinking about how close it came to hitting her. Abby gobbled down her treat and turned and sauntered back to bed like she usually does after getting her morning treat. As she turned and started to walk away, I noticed another giant puddle of snot on her back. I busted out laughing and got a towel to wipe her off. She seemed annoyed that I was delaying her return to bed, and was completely obvlivous to what I had done to her. I couldn't help but think that if I hadn't seen that just in time, and if Abby had made it back into bed with Julie, when Julie "discovered" it, she would probably have no choice but to divorce me..."Irreconcilable Grossness".

Popular Paws

2011-04-14T12:15:00.003-05:00

Popular Paws was founded in 2011. The vision is to redeem dollars spent on our furry friends. Americans spend $41 BILLION dollars a year on their pets. Sure, we love to pamper.... why not do it for a cause? All proceeds of Popular Paws during the months of April-July will go to support a team headed to Kenya to support NAOMI'S VILLAGE Orphanage.

http://www.popularpaws.blogspot.com/

In efforts to raise support and Awareness for Naomi’s Village, Stores in Dallas will be selling the Collars Send it to your dog lovin’ friends! We are attaching a brief fact sheet about Naomi’s Village to each collar so pray for the people in the stores who take a look!

Naomi's Village Update

2011-01-28T08:33:00.002-06:00

Yesterday, Naomi's Village, the orphanage in Kenya that Julie and I went to help with the construction of this past July opened its doors. This is an incredible feat, given the beauracracy obstacles, corruption issues, and logistical nightmares that only God can take credit for. Forgive the cliche, but if a picture (attached) is worth a thousand words...

Joshua was the first child to call Naomi's Village his home, and that was the teddy bear waiting for him on his pillow when he picked out his bed. 2 other children were tucked into their first bed last night. Over the next week or so, the first 15 children be there, and there are still a 4 or 5 children that need sponsors.

$132/month is a full sponsorship, but partial sponsorships are also available (Maybe team up?). If God is moving you to help, let me know, and I can put you in touch with Julie Mendonsa TODAY!

Thanks for all the prayers and support, and Praise God for this blessing!

You can follow God's continued work at Naomis Village here:
http://naomisvillage.com/

BupBall Award

2010-12-29T19:57:00.002-06:00

I'd like to take this time to congratulate myself for a championship fantasy football season.

I prepared several months in advance, working day and night to hash out the perfect fantasy football management strategy. After crunching the numbers and manipulating my data, I arrived at the perfect plan...."mediocrity" (Or as I like to call it, Operation: Steady Eddie).

I watched hours and hours of game film, fine-tuning my strategy...

It came down to the final Tuesday night game between Philly and the Vikings. As long as LeSean McCoy and the Philly D didn't put up more than 27 points, I was golden.

I watched helplessly...there was nothing I could do but watch and wait in eager anticipation...

McCoy gets the handoff, could this be my doom?

Still plenty of time, and the points are accumulating...

The clock ticks down...Victory is MINE!

I rushed to the BupBall Awards ceremony to receive my recognition from myself...

There are so many people I'd rather not bother thanking....

Congratulations to "The Rothlesrapers" on my first Fantasy Football Championship since 2000.

P.S. I am well aware that this gloating nearly ensures it will be at least another 10 years before I win again.

Sudan "Live"

2010-12-29T09:22:00.001-06:00

For those that don't know, Southern Sudan has an election in January 9th to decide whether to secede from Sudan and become its own nation (see details on the conflict below). There is expected to be a lot of post-election violence/genocide. George Clooney started an organization to raise funds to hire private satelites to shoot photo/video of the land to track the expected atrocities. Previously, these things occur and there is never anyone held accountable, either out of general apathy or lack of evidence. Clooney's organization is posting the video on a public website and basically stating, "You don't have to do anything about it, but you can't say you didn't know."

Article on Clooney's Organization
http://www.time.com/time/world/article/0,8599,2039887,00.html?xid=rss-topstories&utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+time%2Ftopstories+%28TIME%3A+Top+Stories%29&utm_content=Google+Feedfetcher

Background info on the conflict here
http://articles.latimes.com/2010/dec/26/opinion/la-ed-sudan-20101226
(or here is an exerpt)

Anyone who has traveled to both the desert-like north of Sudan — where the capital city of Khartoum is located — and the flood-prone south cannot help but notice the extraordinary differences between them. The people of the north are mostly lighter-skinned, Muslim Arabs. Those in the south tend to be darker-skinned, Christian and animist rather than Muslim, more recognizably African. The north borders the Arab nations of Egypt and Libya; the south leads to Kenya, Uganda and Congo.These disparate regions were melded into one country as part of the same blunt imperial exercise that deformed so much of the world: The British, that is, decided it should be so, creating a nearly 1-million-square-mile nation whose linguistic, cultural, racial and historical contradictions were readily apparent long before the country became independent in 1956. As independence neared, the people of the south were increasingly dominated by those in the north, pressured to adopt Arabic as their official language, subjected to increased proselytizing to convert to Islam, and ultimately placed under the political control of the government in Khartoum. Unsurprisingly, the marriage was an unhappy one from the start, and the result has been a half-century of violence — cross-border raids from the north, kidnappings, slavery, subjugation and war. Before it was settled with a landmark, comprehensive peace agreement in 2005, the south's struggle to free itself from northern rule was the longest-running civil war in Africa, leaving some 2.5 million people dead.

Souper Salad

2010-12-28T19:43:00.001-06:00

They should call it "Souper Salad...hold the salad."

Either that or "Sweatpants City"

Merry Christmas From the Cassol's

2010-12-23T06:06:00.002-06:00

A Visit to Santa

2010-12-23T06:04:00.004-06:00

Look who was on TV

2010-12-15T06:08:00.000-06:00

Bup International Christmas Card

2010-12-10T06:10:00.000-06:00

Yogurt

2010-11-24T06:43:00.001-06:00

I just ate my yogurt, and then after I finished... I looked down and realized that I ate the yogurt I brought yesterday that had been sitting out on my desk all night.

That is all.

CNN Headline

2010-10-08T08:23:00.003-05:00

At first, when I read this headline, I was like "oh, seriously, don't people have anything better to do?"

Headline: "Guest sues Hyatt over cross-dressing employee"

And then I read the article:

(CNN) -- A Hyatt guest returned to her room to find more than fresh towels, according to a lawsuit filed in Los Angeles Superior Court this week.

Dayanara Fernandez claims she found a male hotel employee in her room wearing her panties, skirt and high-heeled shoes during a June stay at the Hyatt in Deerfield, Illinois.

...and then I was like, "oh...oh yeah...yeah, you probably shouldn't do that."

City Chase 2010

2010-09-12T17:12:00.005-05:00

Saturday, Julie and I competed in the Dallas CityChase with Sunny & Aaron, and Erin & Casey. Its a 2-person team, but you are allowed to work with other teams. This race, like the Urban Dare and Great Urban Race forces you to solve clues and stratergize a route (on foot or with use of public transporation only) to hit the required checkpoints and perform the required challenges at each checkpoint. This race stretched way beyond the boundaries of any of the other races we had done, and our previous strategy of just running to the locations failed us for this event. Our lack of knowledge of the bus system ended up making us work much harder than most teams, but in the end, we did get all 10 punches (most of the 360+ teams that we saw at the finish line did not get all of theirs punched).

Here was our approximate route:

The Cassholes

The Team:

This race was a little different (and I liked it) that we had to do a short scavenger hunt before we could even get our clue sheet to start the race

...and then we were off...

...to the Red Brick Courthouse for a BlackBerry photo hunt...

...Ten Sports Bar on Main Street for a Wii bowling challenge...

...and to Thanksgiving Tower for a "parquor" challenge...

While we were "parquor-ing", Jeremy (aka Johnny Google Nuts) came up with a clutch clue-find. We had him searching for Paul's gym, and he figured out it was really Pulse Gym we should have been looking for, and Sunny saw it right as we were leaving that challenge. If Jeremy hadn't texted the answer just in time and if Sunny hadn't seen it as we were walking out, we never would have found this one...NEVER. Inside Pulse Gym, we had to pick a bag of candy out of basket. I didn't hesitate to snag the peanut M&M's. As soon as I grabbed them, I went "DOH" as I just realized what we were going to have to do. We had to hop on a stairclimber and work until we burned the number of calories in the candy we chose. Wups, Peanut M&M's was the worst choice (90 calories), so I had to work my butt off to not hold up the group.

The next phase of the race is where if we had a decent knowledge of the DART system, it would have really paied off. We had to make our decision based on things we could get reasonably run to, and it was hot Hot HOT! We made our way north to Pike park to shoot some baskets (and Sunny tried to die along the way)
At Pike park, we had to shoot a free-throw and a layup. Luckily we could trade off partners, so Julie hit the free throw and I hit the layup. If I had to hit the free throw, I'm pretty sure I'd still be there right now.

This was the Magnolia theater, and this was NOT one of the locations we were supposed to visit...and this mistake ended up costing us pretty huge.

We hit the T-Mobile store in West Village for another BlackBerry challenge, where one partner has to text message you on another scavenger hunt through West Village then get back to the T-Mobile station.

halfway up McKinney avenue on the long trek to West Village, Sunny was about to die, so she and Aaron had to drop out of the race and find some fluids.

The rest of us were off to Cole Park for a Flip Cup challenge (with a twist). Instead of beer, you had to eat a live mealworm....yes, LIVE meal worm. I didn't understand the instructions so I just reached into the cup, pulled one out and ate it, so actually had to eat 2 (the second one as part of flip cup game). The loser of the flip cup match (vs another team) had to eat a LARGE LIVE MEALWORM. Those things were disgusting, so I'm glad Julie was on the mark with her flipping.

Erin and Casey were going to skip the mealworm challenge but if they did, then it would mean we would have to find some other checkpoint to make up for this one, and that would mean more running. We were exhausted, so luckily they stepped up and ate the worm.
Also, they won their challenge (BARELY), so they celebrated not having to eat the big worm...

Our last long trek was from Cole Park to Reveshon Park (via the Katy Trail) where we could knock out two challenges in the same area, (skipping GRIGGS PARK and then making up for our "wrong theater mishap")

The two challenges in that area were kinda lame, a step challenge and then singing some CAR-EOKE. You had to do the singing with a stranger and it was in a part of Dallas were there was nobody around, so we had to force some little girl to get in a car with strangers, while Erin and Casey had to pay some shirtless guy $1.

There, we had 10 punches, time to get home via the bus route Jeremy (aka JGN) had mapped for us, the #29 bus would get us within a mile of Gilley's. Unfortunately, we had to wait almost 30 minutes for the bus, during which time 3 other teams had joined us at the busstop just minutes before the bus got there. There was no way we were gonnna let them beat us after we had been that far ahead of them, so Julie made us sprint the last mile to get back

Our bodies were done, finito, 5.5 hours of this business.

And here was the route again....

Falling Out of Bed

2010-09-12T17:01:00.002-05:00

The other night around 2am, I was startled awake from a deep deep sleep by my lovely wife, Julie. Something caused her to wake up and look at me and think I was falling off the bed. She did what any good wife would do, which is scream into the face of a sleeping husband, "ARE YOU FALLING OFF THE BED?!?!" I woke up, like any normal person would do if someone screamed in their face in the middle of the night and answered her, "No."

She promptly fell back asleep and left me laying there wide awake for about thrity minutes trying to get my heart rate to slow down to normal.

She later explained that she didn't want to reach out to save me because she was afraid to grab onto my injured shoulder. I thought this was funny, because in the split second that she thought I was falling off the bed, she had the awareness to remember about my injury, but not the awareness to realize that if I truly was falling, I would have hit the ground by then.

At least I know she cares....

Woopsy

2010-08-18T06:49:00.002-05:00

I did manage to stop and get gas on the way to work today. This was after I was up most of the night for some reason...until abut 30 minutes before my alarm went off. I was pretty tired. That's probably why I drove away from the pump with the gas nozzle still in my tank. Good thing those things are made to snap off.

If you stop at the Kroger Fueling Station on Macarthur, stay away from pump #9...I wouldn't trust the way that was "reassembled".

Kenya Mission Trip Video

2010-08-14T17:46:00.005-05:00

Here is a video I put together from a bunch of photos and video from the trip...

http://animoto.com/play/ZbVFfXaU0LIXvfO4UbsfFA

CNN is officially worthless

2010-08-13T12:36:00.002-05:00

Today, this is a CNN headline: Bieber: Kardashian is 'extremely hot'

Article:

After spending time together at a White House dinner and getting wet and wild for a fashion shoot, the teen singer says he and the reality star are keeping in constant touch even with their busy schedules."I have her on [BlackBerry Messenger] and we, like, talk all the time," the 16-year-old told Access Hollywood Wednesday before performing at a Nashville charity concert.Calling their "The Graduate"-themed Elle spread "cool," Bieber says he knows just how lucky he is to have gotten the chance to work with Kardashian. She's really beautiful so that was ... I mean, any 16-year-old would want to do a photo shoot with her," he says. But there's more to the "Keeping Up with the Kardashians" star, 29, than just her looks. According to Bieber, "Beyond just being, like, extremely hot, she's actually, you know, a really nice person."

I had to read this hoping that there was at least something of substance here worth reporting, but alas there was not....unless you count the fact that they were both at a White House dinner...I am without words.

Kenya Mission Trip (Part 2)

2010-07-28T17:03:00.018-05:00

Bob Mendonsa lead us on a 1-hour hike down the mountain on the same trail that the locals climb each day (in a suit) to get to work or pick up supplies.

The Kenyan countryside is easily the most beautiful place I have ever been in my life. Its going to be hard to top the Acacia trees, the giant cactus, and surrounding mountains,

and everywhere you go, the locals come out to see the Mzungus (white people).

We were all excited to finally see in person the orphanage that we had only seen in pictures and read so much about the past year. We could actually see the red rooftops from the house where we were staying, but we were finally stepping on the ground that would soon be full of local children.

Julie Mendonsa gave us a tour of the building while her son, Will, through rocks at us from the rooftop.

After the tour, Julie M. explained their vision for the orphanage, many of the obstacles they have faced (evident of Satan trying keep this place from opening), and how God has continued to bless the project by removing the obstacles. It was really inspirational to hear her speak and share her heart for the kids.

We piled in the cars so we could visit the IDP camps before dark. As is common, we encountered some "traffic"...

I didn't realize it at the time, but this first visit to the IDP camps would be the highight of my trip. I wasn't sure what to expect from the camps, but I do know that what we experienced was beyond anything I could have predicted. When 3 cars full of Mazungus pulled into the field, 50 kids, most of them under 8 years old came sprinting into the area with huge smiles. Before you could even realize what was going on, you were walking and holding a child's hand, and probably had another one hanging from your arm. I didn't process it until later that night, but I couldn't get over how joyful and full of love these kids were. I tried to imagine myself in the same situation, and despite my best efforts, I doubt I would be able to be around "rich people" without being absorbed in bitterness. Not these kids, it was clear that God has done some major work on their hearts.

The loved to see themselves on a camera...

Many kids are the primary caregivers of other kids, imagine a 6-year old taking care of a 2-year old...

We played some games...

...and then they turned me into an amusement park ride.

My buddy Edestus...

And Julie found herself a little buddy...

We walked back to the cars before dark and had a long day of construction waiting for us tomorrow

To be continued...

Kenya Mission Trip (Part 1)

2010-07-27T17:40:00.010-05:00

In the interest of not boring you to death, I'll skip the air travel portion of our trip. However, there were two really cool things God did for us during our travels...
1. We were carrying 5 giant crates of tools and construction supplies with us, and despite a few of the crates being over the weight limit, the nice folks at British Airways "looked the other way" and let the crates slide by free of charge.
2. We were concerned with getting the crates through customs in Kenya, as they can pretty much "tax" you on anything they want. It took us a while to gather up all of our bags, and the last mission team that came through got searched and ended up having to cough up some cash to get their bags through. Well, as we headed towards the doors, the guards just turned and walked away (for some reason...he he) and 15 of us waltzed right through with no issues.

Because it isn't really safe to travel at night, mainly because there are lots of walkers along the side of the highway that you can't see, we stayed in the Methodist Guest House in Nairobi for the night. In the morning, we packed 3 vans

and drove about 45 minutes to the C.U.R.E. ENT house in Kijabe, where we would stay the rest of the week. Before we left, Esther, one of our Kenyan drivers prayed over us, and I remember being really moved by how heartfelt her prayer was.

We packed 7 people in a small van, and little did I know, this would be the most comfortable I would be in a vehicle for the next 6 days. Only about 10% of Kenyans own vehicles, so you better believe that when you are driving somewhere, there is going to be "lap sitting".

The drive from Nairobi to Kijabe was pretty unreal. Not only was it awkward to get used to driving on the left side of the road, but in Kenya, there are no traffic laws...NONE. It's like a giant game of chicken, you push your way through an intersection. Our driver was quoted as saying, "In Kenya, if someone stops at a redlight, then they don't know what they are doing."

Aside from the traffic, I really enjoyed the strange sites on the drive into Kijabe. There were hundreds of Kenyans moving their flocks down the side of the highway, people sleeping in the fields, church services in the grass...

...tiny kids walking by themselves along the road, and tons of hot pink beauty salons.

As we got closer to Kijabe, the paved roads ended, and the crater-filled dirt roads up into the mountain took over. Because of the condition of the roads, we traveled at about a max speed of about 5mph, and I thought it made the designed speed bumps a bit redundant.

We arrived at the CURE ENT house (where doctors on short term medical missions stay) about noonish on Sunday. The accomodations were much more comfortable than I had expected, and had an amazing view of the countryside from our back porch.

We got settled into our bunkbeds and got ready for our first hike down the mountain to see Naomi's Village for the first time.

To be continued...

Kenya Mission Trip (Background)

2010-07-27T16:46:00.005-05:00

15 of us flew to Nairobi, Kenya (through London) on 7/16 as part of a short-term mission team with plans on helping with the construction of Naomi's Village, an orphanage in Maai Mahiu (just outside of Kijabe) that, God willing, will soon be home to 110 boys and girls from the area. The Mendonsa family, now full-time missionaries for the past several years, left the Dallas area to follow God's plan for them in the medical missions, and in the process, gave them a heart for the incredibly tragic orphan problem in Kenya. One blessing after another, God has paved the way and helped the Medonsas partner with Lost Orphans International to make this home a reality.

Many of the children that will soon call Naomi's Village their home are currently living in the IDP camp(Independently Displaced Persons) less than 2 miles from Naomi's Village. Disputes over the results of the 2007 Presidential Elections in Kenya led to protests, unrest and violence along ethnic/tribal lines. The Rift Valley was one of the major hotspots for the violence and the Kikuyus in the area were chased out of their homes. Most of them were prominent businessmen and landowners and had everything they owned burned to the ground, including documents showing proof of marriage, diplomas, and citizenship. Many of the men were killed, and the women were raped before the 235 families escaped on foot and settled 300 kilometers away with just the clothes on their back. They pooled together enough money to buy 2 acres of land. UNICEF showed up and dropped off tents and then split. In the 2 years since, the families have organized themselves into a community, but still lack electricity, running water, many other basic needs.

God placed the Mendonsa family in this area knowing they would be later needed to serve the people in the IDP camps, providing them with bibles, reading glasses, regular church services, and above all, love.

Despite the tragic story, these people have an outwardly evident love and trust of God, and this is no more obvious anywhere else than in the children. Right now, these kids have many circumstances stacked against them, and a home in Naomi's Village gives them the hope and total support care they need to overcome.

Dad Life

2010-07-09T17:30:00.002-05:00

Hilarious music video about dads...

(shot in widescreen, so better to watch at the link)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fZa7hU6tP_s

My favorite parts:

"I look niiiiiiiiiice"

"Crepe Myrrrrrrtle"

(The dad dancing and then stopping cause he hurt his back)<--brilliant

Nap Buddy

2010-05-13T06:28:00.001-05:00

Link: http://www.youtube.com/v/e85IYJQbLpU&hl

Granola Bar

2010-05-05T12:54:00.003-05:00

...so this morning, I was packing my lunchypoo for work, and I went to grab my standard granola bar. As I was reaching, I noticed this slim (like a fruit rollup) Southbeach Granola Bar that said, "Whipped Chocolate". I thought "Ah, cool, a new slimmer granola bar...I'll try that." At work, I pulled out the fancy new treat as a preface to my lunch and realize that...no, its not a fancy new type of Southbeach bar...it was just a granola bar Julie must have left in her purse on a warm, sunny day and had been melted/smashed down flat...and then she put it back in the pantry...you win THIS time, Julie (shaking flattened granola bar in clenched fist at the sky).

p.s. It was still delicious.

Kirby's Great Escape <--A Must See

2010-04-23T06:48:00.003-05:00

My buddy, Jeremy, has had a 5+ year battle with containing his expert escaping dog. It appears he is out of his league.

This last time, he finally figured out how his dog was escaping his backyard and set up some cameras to capture it. I edited his footage to illustrate how amazing this is. I still have no idea how he decided to try this the first time. My favorite part is when he pops his head out and checks to see if the coast is clear.

Go, Kirby!, GO!
Kirby's Great Escape: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TFbZCWqvrFE

Latest update on Naomi's Village

2010-04-22T16:25:00.003-05:00

Praise God for the genereous response we have gotten from our support letters for our mission trip to Kenya this July. Julie Mendonsa put together this amazing slideshow of the Kenyan people and the missionaries working to build Naomi's Village, the future (August 2010) home to 110 orphans.

Video Link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t-RlRuyXORs

Kesha

2010-04-20T17:32:00.004-05:00

Kesha's "Tik Tok" performance on SNL this weekend fell short of the extremely high expectations I have developed from our pop stars. You have to watch the background dancers in the video to really appreciate how terrible this is. 3 minutes in, she takes a break from her rampant arm-waving choreography to rhetorically quiz the audience, "Did you ever stop to think...maybe we are the REAL aliens?" (and then promptly returns to playing her fake laser organ).

In my experience, if you want people to take your deep/profound statements on humanity seriously, it helps if you background dancers aren't dressed like giant-headed spacemen.

In related news, I think I know what I want to be for Halloween this year.

SNL Performance Video

Anke Monitors, Schmankle Monitors

2010-04-16T13:43:00.003-05:00

(see article below)

Apparently ankle monitors on criminals in Dallas do not work. "It is old technology", and the problem stated in this article is that the cost to implement something that works costs $9/day.

A. How does it cost $9/day? I paid like $40 for the GPS in my car and have been using it for over 2 years. A simple program could link each ankle bracelet to the probation officer's cell phone and alert him within seconds of a violation.

2. Who cares what it costs? Probation is a privelage for people that don't want to be IN jail. If they want the privelage of being out of jail, then THEY pay for it. I have a feeling most of the people incarcerated would easily pay $9/day to get out.

III. If the current system doesn't work, then stop using it. 250 violations?

Full Article

NEWS 8 EXCLUSIVE
Attaching an ankle monitor to a convicted criminal is an alternative to jail. The device is designed to keep officials posted on an individual's whereabouts at all times.
But what's the point if the checks and balance system is out of balance — and leaning in the offender's favor? Keeping track of criminals on probation isn't easy. Despite monitoring devices, they get lost in the system — especially the kind of monitoring devices Dallas County uses. It is old technology. "You don't know where they are... you just know where they are not supposed to be," said former Criminal District Judge Vickers Cunningham. And that's the problem. People like Keon Thompson slip through the monitoring cracks. Police told News 8 he was miles from his home and allegedly selling drugs while not one, but two monitors were clamped to his ankles. "Cost. That's the bottom line," Cunningham said.
The county hasn't been willing to pay the money to accurately track probationers. It would cost about $9 a day, but some of the cost could be passed on to the offenders.
Dallas County isn't willing to upgrade, so the problem repeats itself.
"We had a defendant in my court that had over 250 violations, and it was never brought to my attention," Cunningham said. GPS tracking is the answer; the same system used by millions of motorists for navigation can also pinpoint someone's exact location. "We can zoom in on satellite tracking and we can get a street view and show the corner he was standing on," Cunningham explained. News 8 tested the system; the GPS tracker monitored our every move. It even showed what parking space was used when stopped. This technology would keep track of thousands of criminals from pedophiles to murderers. The question, then: Is $9 a day a small price to pay for safety?

2010-04-16T13:43:00.000-05:00

Full Article (
http://www.wfaa.com/home/The-9-dilemma-Ankle-monitors-that-dont-work-91000654.html

THE NEW PHONE BOOK IS FINALLY HERE!

2010-04-15T06:37:00.001-05:00

Why do we still get phonebooks delivered to our front doors? Do people still use the phonebook? I would venture a guess that the majority of people living in our neighborhood have access to the Internet. And for the few people remaining that prefer to thumb through 2000 pages to locate a plumber who was smart enough to name his business "AAA", do they really need a new edition dropped off at their door once a month? In the very least, there should be an "opt-out option" for the people who consider this both an annoyance and a tremendous environmental waste. I wonder if the HOA would be okay with me putting a giant trashcan on my front porch with a sign that says, "Put your phone book here."

Mission Trip to Kenya

2010-04-12T17:31:00.001-05:00

Dear Friends and Family:

We hope that God is doing as many wonderful things in your life as He is in ours. We realize how blessed we truly are to have been placed in a safe suburban neighborhood, just a stone's throw away from anything we could possibly need or want. The work God has done in our heart over the last year is best illustrated with by the lyrics from Hillsong United's "Hosanna":

Heal my heart and make it clean
Open up my eyes to the things unseen
Show me how to love like you have loved me
Break my heart for what breaks yours
Everything I am for your kingdom's cause
As I walk from earth into eternity

Last year we started to feel God's calling to do His work in the world around us. This July, God willing, we intend to answer His call.

The Background:
After the presidential elections in Dec. 2007 violence erupted in Kenya as various tribes protested the naming of incumbent Kibaki as the winner. Homes were burnt to the ground, women raped, men murdered, and children left abandoned and scarred. Forced to flee for their lives, thousands found themselves living in Internally Displaced People’s (IDP) camps set up by the government. Home for them is now a tent in a dirt field shared by 10 or more family members. The men and women in this camp are forward looking people who have resolved to make a new life for themselves. These people need so much - food, water, clothing, housing, and counseling as they still try to process the past atrocities.
Our church Homegroup has been supporting the Mendonsa Family, a long-term missionary family in Kenya who perform surgeries on Kenyan children with physical deformities. While in Kenya, they have raised the funding to build a badly needed orphanage, and Lord willing, children will be calling Naomi’s Village their home by Aug. 2010. The Eldoret IDP camp is located just across a 2-lane highway from the Naomi’s Village site. Many of the workers on the building site are men from the IDP camp, and some of the orphan children there will soon live at Naomi’s Village.

God has offered us a challenging ministry opportunity to go to Kenya with Lost Orphans International (http://www.lostorphans.com/). From July 16th through 25th, this 10-day mission trip will be helping with the final stages of the construction of Naomi's Village, as well as reaching out and spreading the Gospel to the Kenyan people.

Luke 10:2 He told them, "The harvest is plentiful, but the workers are few"

While God has opened up a door for us to develop a greater heart of compassion for His people around the world, you will be able to share in this compassion in several ways. First, you can help pray for us and our fellow homegroup members, Ty and Sherah Robinson. We will need prayers that God will prepare us for our visit and bless our efforts as we minister to the people of Kenya. We will also need prayers that our financial needs will be met. At this time we need to raise $6,000/couple to attend this trip, and that is quite a challenge! Another way you can be involved is to help provide that financial support. Would you consider supporting us with a donation? We will need to raise all of our funds by May 1st in order to pay for airfare, food, and lodging.

Whether you feel led to contribute financially, through prayer, or both, all of your support is appreciated.

We look forward to doing God's work in Kenya and cannot wait to let you know how God has worked through this team when we return.
Thank You! Thank You! Thank You!
-Rudy and Julie Cassol

For more detailed information on Naomi's Village:
http://mendonsamissions.com/www.mendonsamissions.com/Naomis_Village.html

If God puts it on your heart to donate to our mission trip, you make an tax-deductible online donation by following these instructions:

*Note -The site is fixed now, so please follow these directions to donate...
1. Visit the Lost Orphans website: http://www.lostorphans.com/.
2. Click on the Rescue a Child tab
3. Click on the “ DONATE NOW” button towards the bottom of the page
4. Click on the Give Now button
5. Select Lost Orphans in the pull down menu
6. Select “ Kenya Naomi’s Village (July 16-25)”
7. Fill out Address and Credit Card Info
8. In the COMMENTS BOX please put “For Rudy and Julie Cassol”

2010 Ft. Worth Mud Run

2010-04-11T16:06:00.002-05:00

Erin made me do this with her, it was brutal, but tons of fun. Thanks to Julie who was our very own personal action photographer for these shots...

Easter Photo Fun

2010-04-11T16:03:00.002-05:00

Julie was practicing her phototgraphy, I was practicing my male modeling, Abby was practicing her "watching a leaf blow by" skill.

Old Shirt

2010-03-05T14:43:00.002-06:00

Work dress code is business casual, so I have a closet full of polo-type shirts that I buy in bulk when I find a sale. The "on-sale" shirts usually don't hold up too well in the wash, so I often have a few shirts with bent collars or those permanent wrinkles etc. The kind of wear and tear that tells you I should probably not wear this shirt anymore. However, my frugality is conflicting. My typical morning rational plays out like "I probably shouldn't wear this shirt....BUT....BUT...if I wear this shirt today...that's like ONE MORE wear out of this shirt, which means I'm saving a wear of one of my "good" shirts....so in a sense...FREE SHIRT!"

With that being said, I also wore a braided belt all through college (until Julie finally took it from me). I never got that memo. I never got a lot of memos.

tsunami

2010-03-01T09:31:00.001-06:00

My friend Lue and his wife were lucky enough (or so it seemed) to score a Hawaiian vacation this past Friday. So on Saturday, when I read about the tsunami, I sent Lue a text thinking how funny it would be if my text was the only news they had gotten warning them of the potential disaster....and I somehow saved the entire island of Hawaii, and the President calls a press conference to shake my hand...you get the idea. (This idea is even more ludicris (<--ha) as I am probably the most phone-allergic person I know, so to receive an award for using my phone....you get the idea). Anyway, the thought made me laugh, so I decided to go ahead and send the text (which took me about 4 minutes to type)

Sent Text:
"You do know there is a tsunami heading your way."

The Reply:
"Who is this?"

I think sending out generic warning texts is the best way to find out who actually thinks you are important enough to keep in their phone contacts.

oh, Palin.

2010-02-12T07:42:00.002-06:00

Sarah Palin busted writing her speech on her hand...

I remember this cheating technique...I think it was a middle school Spanish vocabulary quiz. I guess she was too busy demonizing the word "retard" to memorize her talking points.

Is this really the best the GOP can pull together? There has to be someone else...

Link
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F9_8ONlC_H8

CNN.com headline

2010-02-03T12:18:00.002-06:00

Headline: "Study: Abstinence program most effective at delaying sex among youths"
http://www.cnn.com/2010/HEALTH/02/02/abstinence.study/index.html?eref=igoogle_cnn

Related Study: Not Driving prevents 100% of auto crashes , statistics show

Appended Study: Not teaching people to drive, 100% worthless at preventing crashes once people ultimately get in the car to drive anyway.

Church in a bar? What?

2010-01-29T10:18:00.000-06:00

Who: You. And bring a friend.

What: Tavern Church.
It's a Church. It's in downtown Dallas. It's in a bar. You can have a beer while hearing the Word. The music will be incredible (literally, guys from some of the coolest bands in north Texas- that just-so-happen to be believers.) The teacher is hip and fresh. He has a PhD from a Big 12 school w/a sucky football team- but you'd never know it. You won't be preached at, you'll be spoken to. Questions will be answered. It's VERY casual. No judging- we just hope you join us as we present and participate in the Good News.
http://tavernchurch.blogspot.com/

Where: City Tavern
www.citytaverndowntown.com
1402 Main Street
Dallas, TX 75202-4012
(214) 745-1402

When: The last Sunday of each month @ 7:30pm
The first service is THIS Sunday, January 31st.

Relief Efforts

2010-01-15T17:24:00.003-06:00

The U.S. graciously supports other countries during times of crisis, epidemic, and tragedy. Although we can't predict where and when disaster will strike, it is inevitable that large groups of people will at some time need the help of countries like ours who are blessed with things like ample food, water, blood, and other medical supplies. It seems like the biggest problem with responding the to the needs of communities during disasters is always "logistics".

With that being said, I don't understand why our governement doesn't have a fleet of cargo ships or air craft carriers fully loaded with food, water, bedding, medical supplies, helicopters, fork lifts, trucks, communication equipment, and anything else commonly needed during these situations. The ships could be fully loaded and ready to dispatch to anywhere in the world to deliver the supplies to the coast, and then airlifted directly to ground zero. The carrier could then be converted to a makeshift hospital or temporary housing during reconstruction.

...just a thought

Talent

2009-12-23T07:57:00.002-06:00

The acapella reality show "The Sing Off" just ended this week, and Nota, a group of guys from Puerto Rico won the show...deservedly.

I was blown away by the talent of all of the groups, in particular the ability to recreate all the instrumentals with only their voices...pulling all of this off live, while dancing/moving around et.

Their version of "Down" was better than the original...

Video Link:--> http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6bOq-E_-xKE

Although, it really just made me sad that all these no-talent ass clowns with their "auto-tune" albums get the record deals when there are so many highly talented artists out there just scraping by.

Merry Christmas

2009-12-22T09:47:00.000-06:00

Making Sexy

2009-12-10T10:57:00.000-06:00

If you want to see some serious dance moves...

http://sendables.jibjab.com/view/k8e4M1UwAWatiG96

Try JibJab Sendables® eCards today!

White Elephant 2009

2009-12-07T18:31:00.002-06:00

The 2009 Cassol White Elephant Party has come and gone. This year's winner was Haas, because no matter how hard you try, you can't place a dollar amount on a monkey sock puppet kit. Last place goes to Angie, because she is married to Jeremy who is going to insist on displaying his clown lamp in her beautiful home.

Saddest Coupon Ever

2009-11-23T14:07:00.005-06:00

I enjoy a coupon more than the average fellow...but this one just makes me sad.

In case you can't read the fine print, its only good on Thanksgiving Day...in the bar...with food purchase.

In related news, you know where you can find me on Thanksgiving Day.

2000 and Late

2009-11-18T11:42:00.003-06:00

Did anyone else watch the Black Eyed Peas on SNL this weekend? Julie and watched in disbelief at how terrible BEP actually are.

The Boom Boom Pow performance reminded me of a 5th grade talent show, complete with choregraphy that I'm pretty sure I used in my own 5th grade talent show. Ah yes, the ol' "start with our back to the audience and one-by-one, we'll turn around to face the crowd."

I still haven't figured out what the long-haired Hispanic/Indian guy (Apl D Ap) brings to the table. He must have been the kid in the neighborhood whose parents weren't home, so that's the only place they could get together to practice.

Flashback to 1994
Apl: Hey, when do I get to sing?
Wil: How about you put on these tight pants and just stand over there and act out the words to the song?
Apl: Do I get a microphone?
Wil: No. ...(sigh)...Ok, fine, but you can't plug it in.

Video Link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VkNpo-Z6vO8

I kind of like the radio version of a few of their songs, but they are totally ruined for me now. I've never actually paid attention to their live performances before. I know the SNL stage is pretty dead for bands and whatnot, but if that is what they look like when you take away all the flashing lights, then its pretty sad. Its kind of like when they turn the house lights on at a bar at 2am after last call....yeeesh.

Silver Alert

2009-11-13T13:43:00.002-06:00

I like how they changed the "Missing Elderly" alert to a "Silver Alert". When I see those posted on the digital signs on the highway, I always giggle to myself picturing some 90-year old man in a motorized scooter cruising along the median of a highway after creating a devious escape plan during Matlock, when everyone would least expect it.

Although, I am always much more concerned whenever it says "Missing Elderly: 1994 Blue Ford Pickup." I just hope someone told him about the new "texting in a school zone" law.

Fall Fashion

2009-11-09T20:27:00.003-06:00

I saw this ad on the margins of my Facebook page. Please tell me this isn't going to be the new fall fashion...

God and Sex by Matt Chandler

2009-10-23T11:08:00.002-05:00

Matt Chandler did a sermon and Q&A on sex last week, and it was really good, definitely worth an hour or two of your life.

You can download the MP3 here:
http://hv.thevillagechurch.net/studies-seminars

Summary:
The first 25 minutes is a sermon where Matt identifies biblical examples to illustrate how God designed everything with a specific purpose and process Every aspect of society, from education, to marriage, to agriculture, and sex has very specific examples in the Bible of God explaining that there is a "right" and "wrong" way of doing things. I highly recommend this, even if it is a just a refresher, but if you have a short attention span and you can accept the fact that God has a very specific intention for everything, then you can skip to about the 25th minute where Matt begins to address God's intention for sex specifically.

At the 59 minute mark, Matt opens up to questions (for about an hour) from the audience submitted via text message. He doesn't hold any punches and covers everything from pornography, lust/masturbation, entitlement issues, sexual abuse, dating/finding a spouse, talking to children about sex, homosexuality, and even anal and oral sex.

Whether you are a believer or not, his commentary/advise in all of these areas is hard to fault.

I think you owe it to yourself to listen, and I know Julie and I would love to discuss this (whether you agree or not) over dinner, perhaps?

Wife Carrying Championship

2009-10-21T07:07:00.003-05:00

Julie, pack your bags, we totally have to do this...

Its a race where the husband has to carry his wife through an obstacle course, but the video says it all.

Link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DjASMk6TIXE

"Teams are comprised of a male and female competitor, however the female does not need to be the legal wife of the male. Teams also have the option to have the male carried by the female if they so choose. Please note that this season, both team member must be 21 years of age or older.

Carrying methods often include the piggy back or firemen's carry, but teams are encouraged to create their own style. Experienced teams and all winners to date employ the highly-technical Estonian carry, which has the woman upside down with arms wrapped around the man's waist and her legs draped over his shoulders. This frees the man's arms for balance and negotiating the obstacles. The team will have a penalty added to their finish time if the "wife" is dropped.

The 278-yard course is built on the lower slopes of Sunday River Ski Resort. The course begins with an uphill run on a dirt road and continues through a field, a 10-meter long waist-deep water obstacle, and then downhill and over two 39-inch high log hurdles. The course is relatively flat with sections of soft sand and grass, and one hairpin turn. The winners will recieve the wife's weight in beer and the wife's weight times 5 in cash."

Paranormal Activity

2009-10-19T12:53:00.003-05:00

Julie and went to see Paranormal Activity Saturday night, with the stipulation that we would watch something funny before we went to bed time.

So anyway, Paranormal Activity if you haven't heard of this movie yet, is an extremely low budget horror movie (think Blaire Witch) where your own imagination is what scares the crap out of you. It turns out this girl has been followed by "something" she saw at the foot of her bed when she was 8. Her boyfriend has the idea to buy a video camera and try to capture what the girl claims to be "haunting" them. The entire movie is shot in 1st person (think Cloverfield) from the perspective of this video camera (often set on a tripod in the corner of the room). The movie itself in pretty freaky, but its the little imagery of some otherwise innocent scenes that get stuck in your memory long after you leave the movie theater that does the most damage to your sound sleep. Each night, the haunting gets worse, and its even creepier that they get to witness what was going on while they were sleeping by watching the footage the next morning. Each night, things get progressively worse and frustratingly hopeless. They can't leave the house because the haunting follows the girl wherever she goes, and you can imagine how hard it would be to get to sleep each night knowing what was going on in your room while you slept. The most effective part of the film was how normal and relatable the main characters were (as compared to your standard horror film). I didn't feel like they did anything I wouldn't have tried as well.

Overall, it was about a 9 out of 10 on the scale of "scary". I still think The Strangers was scarier, but mainly because it uses a sicko human villain as opposed to a "supernatural" villain.

As promised, we watched Management (Jennifer Aniston and Steve Zahn) and it was NOT funny, so I guess I kind of lied...and Julie did not sleep well that night.

Spoilers Below:

My favorites:
-Camera angles, because it was on a tripod, you felt stuck, wanting to see around the corner but not being able to.

-They never actually show the "villain". This helps leave it in your mind, which is always scarier than anything a makeup artist could come up with.

-The time code in the corner of the camera, as innocent as it was, put me in panic mode. It would speed up and slow down and I would say to myself, "oh crap, it slowed down"

-The creepiest scene was her getting slowly drug out of bed still asleep, also the first time the demon actually touched her, which until that point, I had assumed that it just made noises.

-The two scenes where the girl gets up in the middle of the night and just stands there staring at her boyfriend sleeping for several hours. It is filmed in fast forward, so her jerky movements were killer, combined with the speeding time code.

Cassol Birthday Photo Hunt

2009-10-11T15:43:00.009-05:00

Saturday, to celebrate Julie's 30th and my 31st, we divided into two teams to compete in a photo scavenger hunt that Julie and I put together. We had two hours to get as many of the items as possible (and optional bonus point stipulations).

The first 16 clues were "competition" clues, so the team that most creatively represented the clue would win all of the points.

50 Points - The overall funniest picture with NO EXPLANATION

*Team Rudy Wins

50 Points - "Most creative use of ‘leap-frog' "

*Team Julie Wins

50 Points - "I can't believe we all fit in here!"

*Team Julie Wins

50 Points - Make yourselves appear really small

*Team Rudy Wins

50 Points - Picture of a "Catalog Pose"

*Team Julie Wins

50 Points - Mimic a statue or fountain or artwork

*Team Julie Wins

50 Points - Imitate the Beatles crossing a crosswalk

*Team Julie Wins (although I disagree)

30 Points - Picture of a teammate doing exactly what the sign "says"

*Team Julie Wins (this one was close)

30 Points - Capture your reflection in an unexpected place

*Team Rudy Wins

30 Points - Picture of "An Unsual Perspective" (could be everyone's shoes, or the just top of their heads etc)

*Team Julie Wins

20 Points - Picture with "The Most Unusual Animal"

*Team Rudy Wins

20 Points - Picture of "The Strangest Thing that Starts with the letter Z"

*Team Rudy Wins

20 Points - Picture of "The Most Relaxing Place"

*Team Julie Wins (this one was close, mainly because of Raja)

20 Points - Picture of "The Biggest Butt"

*Team Julie Wins (due to creativity)

20 Points - Picture of "The Worst hair" (Stranger)

*Team Rudy Wins (uh, obviously)

20 Points - Picture of "The Crappiest Building"

*Team Rudy Wins

The next set of clues was simply "Get a picture of a teammate and ..."
(Certain "liberties" were taken)

5 Points - Picture of teammate being the bartender behind the bar

5 Points - Picture of "CARNEVALE"

10 Points - TEAM PICTURE doing a shot

5 Points - Picture of stranger using a phone (land line)

Team Rudy forgot to get in the photo

5 Points - Picture of Jeremy in a chugging contest with a stranger (+10 if he wins)

5 Points - Picture with a biker (-10 if it’s a cyclist)

(Grant chased this guy down, not realizing that a cyclist was MINUS points)

5 Points - Picture of "We're Running a business here" Guy (+10 if team takes the picture with him)

5 Points - Picture of misspelled obscenity written on bathroom stall (+5 if it rhymes)

Team Rudy forgot to get in this photo as well

10 Points - TEAM PICTURE of entire team kung-fu fighting (+5 if its in a Chinese Restaurant)

5 Points - Picture of a teammate holding 3 teammates off the ground

5 Points - Picture of roadkill (+5 if its smoking a cigarette)
Team Julie = Fail

5 Points - Picture of everyone in your group sitting in one chair together

5 Points - Picture of a dog pooping (+5 if the dog is looking at the camera)

5 Points - Picture of a couple (stranger) holding hands

10 Points - TEAM PICTURE with someone 85 years or older

5 Points - Picture of a big person walking a small dog (+10 if the dog has clothes on)

(too bad there aren't bonus points for looking like you are riding a skateboard)

5 Points - Picture with a puppy (+5 if the dog's name is Abby, +25 if the dog's name is Rosemary)

(The dog's name was Charlie, so we were close)

5 Points - Picture of Erin pretending like she is peeing at a urinal (hand braced on the wall) (+25 if there is a male stranger actually peeing next to

her)

5 Points - Picture of teammate ripping a phone book in half

5 Points - Picture of Pino's "twin" (+20 if Pino is in the photo with him)

5 Points - Picture of teammate with a tongue in nostril (+5 for each additional person who can also do it)

10 Points - TEAM PICTURE jumping in the air (must be off ground)

10 Points - TEAM PICTURE cheering on the Aggies with some Aggie Fans (at least 5) (+5 if the Aggies are on TV in the background)

5 Points - Picture of a bartender tossing bottle in air 'Cocktail' style

(Team Rudy forgot to get in this photo as well)

5 Points - Picture of teammate kissing a foot (+ 20 if they are McArtor's feet)

5 Points - Picture of Angie playing Naked Photo Hunt (+ 5 if Angie only plays 1 game)

10 Points - TEAM PICTURE at bar, on stools, with backs to camera

5 Points - Picture of stranger in Camo (+5 if the stranger is NOT homeless)

(this photo would have counted if the clue had said "Camaro" like they thought it read)

10 Points - TEAM PICTURE in 1 bathroom stall

5 Points - Picture of Luke waving from really really really far away

(+10 if nobody else is in the photo)

10 Points - TEAM PICTURE posing dead with arms crossed and pennies over eyes

5 Points - Picture of a human pyramid of at least five people (at least 2 strangers)

5 Points - Picture of a stranger in a vulgar t-shirt

(I guess that's vulgar....I guess)

5 Points - Picture of Thad racing a stranger at the 40-yard dash (+ 20 if he wins)

5 Points - Picture of someone getting money out of an ATM (+ 5 if it is NOT Thad)

5 Points - Picture of Julie fitting a wine glass in her mouth (+25 if she actually gets it in)

10 Points - TEAM PICTURE drinking next to a clock at exactly x:30pm (ie 1:30, 2:30) (+5 if it is a wall clock)

5 Points - Picture of Wino "birthing a baby" in public (+9 if it’s a real live-birth)

5 Points - Picture with a local celebrity or someone famous

(ok, this was a stretch, I'll admit)

5 Points - Picture of 10 or more people doing the "Rudy" chant

(+25 if they pick Rudy up on their shoulders)

(The got a movie...awesome)

5 Points - Picture of Raja giving a mammogram (+10 if it is for a stranger)
(must have gotten deleted or something)

5 Points - Picture of a tatto with lettering (stranger)

5 Points - Picture with exactly 14 people (counting group)

5 Points - Picture with twins

TWINS!!!

5 Points - Picture of your entire team drinking from the same drink with straws

5 Points - Picture of a Volkswagen Beetle (+5 for a PT cruiser, +10 if it is yellow)

(No Team Julie's in this photo)

(It was funny that we got the same car, though)

5 Points - Picture of people holding teammate up in a chair

5 Points - Picture of something big AND green

Photos also on the list that neither team could find:
5 Points - Picture of entire team with police officer (+5 if he gives a "thumbs up")
5 Points - Picture of the entire team at a dinner table with a family
5 Points - Picture of stranger with a mullet (+5 if you are in the photo with them)
5 Points - Picture of a stranger with dreadlocks
5 Points - Picture of a "Red Dog" neon sign
5 Points - Picture of stranger in scrubs
10 Points - TEAM PICTURE with stranger in wheelchairs or on crutches (+5 if McArtor takes a picture with him/her)
5 Points - Picture of a family with 4 or more kids (present)

Results

Team Rudy got 310 on the Potluck to Team Julie's 245

Team Julie won the competition section, accumulating 370 to Team Rudy's 190.

Total Points:

Team Rudy 500

Team Julie 615

Congratulations to Team Julie, twas a good ol' time!

However, depending on how you judge the following, it could have gone either way...you can be the judge...

"I can't believe we all fit in here!"

"Beatles crossing a crosswalk"

"Doing exactly what the sign says"

2009-10-05T18:57:00.003-05:00

So, many of you know that Julie has been trying to understand God's plan for her career for a while, but more intensely in the past couple of months. We have been praying for God to give her a sign or some sort of indication of his plan. Her recruiting numbers at her current job have been struggling due to a string of horrible luck. She had countless near-bookings fall through at the last second for very "strange" reasons out of her control (hmmm...weird how that happens), to the point where it was actually getting funny/ridiculous. It was clear that God was making His point that recruiting was probably not where He wanted to do His work with Julie. She has felt a calling into the world of teaching, but there haven't been many opportunities since the school year had already begun. A week ago, I was checking the mail and there was a coupon hanging on the door for a Montessori school in Coppell. I put the coupon on the counter next to her phone (I almost didn't because I was afraid she would think that I was implying that she wasn't doing a very good job with her job search). Anyway, she called the next day and it just so happened that they were looking for a toddler teacher to start right away. After an interview and a follow through, they hired Julie and she starts immediately.

So in summary, we asked God for a sign, and He put one on our door. Praise God for the blessings and answered prayers, and thank you all for your prayers for her as well!

p.s. Today I had the gift of seeing Julie come home in this little jewel....

Great Urban Race - Dallas 2009

2009-10-04T16:56:00.004-05:00

Saturday, the Cassholes competed in The Great Urban Race, a city-wide scavenger hunt adventure race where you have to answer clues, perform challenges and stratergize to finish the race requirements as quickly as possible.

We started/ended at Dick's Last Resort where we were given our clue packets. We got our Johnny Google Fingers (Jeremy and Angie) on the phone and started working through our clues. The clues for this race were much different than the clues from The Urban Dare. The Urban Dare merely required a good Googler to give you a location. This race had many more clues that you couldn't Google, or were at least more difficult. We took about 25 minutes to mapped out our destinations and choose the correct path (a mistake we made the last race).

I started out with my home-made map, but never could get my bearings, so I turned if over to Julie. We headed to "Bathies" where we had to identify 3/5 oil smells correctly on a multiple choice test. I have no sense of smell, so Julie was the logical choice for this challenge. She wrote down her selections and we left (we wouldn't know the answers until the end and if we were wrong, there was a 30-minute penalty). I asked her if it was difficult, and she said, "I dunno, they all just smelled gross."

Our next stop with the the help of JGF (Johnny Google Fingers) led us to Landry's to get a photo in front of the marquee. We took our photo and left without ever actualy reading the marquee, which instructed us to take our picture in a "piggyback".

We left and headed in the wrong direction (as I still had the map) and accidently stumbled onto the segway guy, who wasn't on our list at all, so we got our photo with him and backtracked up Pacific Avenue.

We passed Landry's again and noticed that everyone was "piggybacking" in their photos, so we re-read the clue and ...wupsy...we missed that little requirement, and retook our photo....wupsy.

The next stop on our list had us stop at a clock, but the clues said you had to have your photo taken at exactly 12:30, 1:30, or 2:30. It was 12:45 at the time, so we obviously decided to skip that one.

We ran to Bell's BBQ place where Julie had to eat a delicious brownie (poor Julie).

Our next task required us to donate 8 rolls of toilet paper to a local charity, Jonathan's Place. We knew we had to find a place to buy toilet paper, and luckily we happend upon City Tavern, where our good friend Ramos was working. We asked him to help us out, and he just stood there with a stupid look on his face and said, "all we have are the big ones." Thanks, Ramos.

We found a CVS and bought the goods and dropped them off. Right after we dropped them off, we ran around the corner and there was a homeless guy in the middle of the street with his pants around his ankles, squatting and taking a dump. I was thinking that donating the toilet paper to him might have been more useful.

We also had to get a picture with either someone in camo, someone in scrubs, or someone with a cast. We found a nice homeless man in camo.

We then ran to Texas Palm Trees, where Julie de-seeded a pumpkin, and then carried it with her the rest of the race.

Farmer's Market was a tricky one to figure out, as the clue was "A place with a tractor and the word "welcome" in 5 languages." During the clue research phase, I told Jeremy to try Farmer's Market, and it ended up being right...lucky guess on that one.

The first clue on the sheet was a crossword puzzle that when solved, gave us the name "tephejez" which is a jazz club off Elm Street. When we got there, we went upstairs where some old dude was giving "two-step" dancing lessons. We were only supposed to go around the dance floor once, but this guy was really trying to give lessons, and nobody cared. We grabbed our flyer and split.

The rules stated that one of the tasks was "optional". We had already skipped the clock task because we didn't want to stand around for 40 minutes, and that was quite far away now. We also had to find a 3 Texas license plates, one with "G", one with "U", and one with "R". We had found "G" and "R" but hadn't found a "U" anywhere. I was beginning to think they didn't exist. We still had a long run up to Nasher Sculpture Center and planned to look really hard for a "U".

We weren't 100% sure that the Nasher Sculpture Center was the right place. All we had was a picture of a sculpture that I had to describe to Jeremy on the phone. I described it as "it looks like the Terminator when it turned to melted metal". Jeremy said, "I'm not going to google statues that look like the Terminator". I described it a little more and we landed on the Nasher Sculpture Center (although, I'm still not sure how, given those clues). On the way up there, Julie wasn't convinced that was correct, so we had Julie and Jeremy play the "describe game" again, and I think they were still talking about different sculptures, but it ended up working out.

Still no "U" license plates, I'm convinced they don't exist and this is supposed to be the clue that we determine is "optional". Unfortunately, we can either wait 45 minutes to go back and get the clock clue, or head to the finish and take the 30 minute penalty...its a no-brainer.

We finished at 1 hour and 45 minutes (+ a 30 minute penalty). Not sure where that puts us in the rankings, but it seemed like a lot of teams had finished. We agreed that next time, we should read the clue sheet all the way through before we start trying to figure things out (Julie's suggestion that I completely ignored....I know, I know...I get excited!)

-->Update, we ended up 87 out of 187. If we hadn't had the 30 minute penalty, we would have been at least 22nd or better...I blame the license plates.

Acer

2009-10-01T07:24:00.001-05:00

So, I am shipping my P.O.S. laptop back to ACER since it doesn't work anymore (after 3 months). I was trying to tape up the shipping box and was getting frustrated because every time I cut a new piece of shipping tape, the box tape would lay back down and stick to the roll. Then I would have to search for the seam over and over and over again...anway, it was frustrating.

I got pissed and got out the scissors and just slashed at the roll (to make my own seam). I looked down and realized that blood was just pouring onto the counter because apparently I had sliced my thumb pretty bad. Didn't care, this stupid package was going out.

Out of spite towards Acer, I kept wrapping the box trapping giant smears of blood under the tape. When I was done, I stopped and looked at the package and started laughing at how bloody the package had become and imagining the tech dude at Acer wondering what possibly happened during the shipment of this package.

A&M offense

2009-09-28T08:32:00.001-05:00

A&M leads the nation in total offense

A) Too bad we can't play highschools ALL season long
B) This is the part where they begin to give me hope (after I had already come to terms with them sucking), just so they can snatch it away..its an Aggie tradition.

Mass Text

2009-09-17T06:34:00.003-05:00

Right before Julie went on live TV last night, I tried to send out a quick mass text to let people to know to turn on their TV's. I am not a fast texter, so I just picked as many people as I could from my contacts and sent the following message:

"Turn on channel eight now"

I probably sent the text to about 20 people or so. Of those 20:

15 responded:
"Why?" or "What for?" or "(insert long,pointless explanation about where they were and why they can't get to a tv)"

1 responded:
"I won't be drinking wine in Grapevine this weekend."

4 responded:
"Who is this?"

3 Observations:
-If someone sends me a text that says "Turn on Channel 8 Now", I don't ask questions, I just turn on channel 8. What's the worst that can happen?
-The best way to find out who thinks you are worth putting you their phone is to send a mass text.
-Jaime watches Good Morning Texas on the regular.

Grape Stomp

2009-09-17T06:29:00.002-05:00

Wednesday night, Julie entered a grape stompin' contest on Channel 8's Good Morning Texas After Dark. She lost, but the other dude had more grapes in his barrel. The real jewel of this clip is Julie's interview.

"Do you have a strategy?"
"Fast, Fast!"

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8rXzu4VjTo0

"Wow...yes...fabulous."

p.s. Angie may have had something to do with Julie being randomly selected from the crowd....maybe.

Avatar

2009-09-11T06:01:00.003-05:00

Have you seen the trailer for this James Cameron movie yet? I can't even tell what its about...either that, or its about EVERYTHING.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j6AAt-oV3wE

1. We are in space.
2. We are back on Earth, but probably the future, since the land islands are floating and the air in the atmosphere appears unbreathable, or at least to soliders in wheelchairs.
3. Technology has improved in the future, but apparently not past using helicopters.
4. Cut to science lab where we keep giant blue sleeping elves in aquariums.
5. We wake the elves up, and they are kinda mad, so they turn into CGI.
6. They must have escaped into the jungle (this is probably explained in more detail in the actual movie)
7. In order to defend themselves from the giant tiger-lizards, they become skilled at the...get this...bow and arrow
8. They ride zebras and light fairies dance around them
9. They light fairies better hide because the robot mega-army is moving into formation
10. Did I just see a dinosaur?
11. I did see a dinosaur...and now the blue people are riding them into battle against the robot fleet.
12. No, No, No, I was wrong...its really a love story.

Coming this December

Recall

2009-08-05T20:04:00.002-05:00

So, Kroger tracks your product purchases via your rewards card that you scan in at the register....

Our checkout conversation tonight went something like this:

Cashier: ...and it looks like some parsely you purchased has a recall for salmonella.
Me: That was like 2 weeks ago, we already ate it.
Cashier: Oh, ok...well...have a great day.

Test Question

2009-08-04T19:40:00.002-05:00

Here is a question on a standardized test to become a certified teacher in the state of Texas...

10. Some health benefits of regular physical activity are:
A. Builds strong bones and controls weight
B. Makes you thin and pretty
C. Gives you something to do
D. All of the above

Now, I know what answer they want you to put, but an analytical mind could make an argument for "all of the above". It doesn't say "the main benefit is", but rather leaves the door open to many possible benefits of physical activity. "Makes you thin and pretty" is very subjective, but one could argue the fact that the complete lack of physical activity might make you fat and ugly, so thin and pretty might be "some benefit" of physical activity.

Disirregardless, no one can say that "C" is wrong. You could go as far as to say that making fart sounds in your armpit gives you "something to do".

I think next to every question on these tests, whoever wrote it should have to put their name next to it.

Busted

2009-07-27T11:52:00.003-05:00

"They want to give the impression that they are fish and wildlife officers, certainly not what they really are -- an elite squad in search of one of the FBI's 10 most-wanted fugitives.....For the past few years Edward Eugene Harper has been tending a flock of sheep in the semi-wilderness of the region. But 15 years ago he failed to turn up for a court appearance in Mississippi on charges he had molested two girls, aged 3 and 8. He'd been on the lam ever since."

If it took them 15 years to find THIS guy...

... then I wouldn't exactly call them an "elite search squad"

I invented something...

2009-07-23T11:45:00.001-05:00

I invented something just now...
It's a pizza...with another pizza chopped up and spread on the pizza like a topping.
I call it...wait for it...wait for it...a "Pizza Pizza"

(Don't try to steal my idea)

My Favorite Billboard

2009-07-13T18:03:00.002-05:00

I pass this billboard on the way home from church every weekend, and it never fails to make me giggle. Not only does this lady have the same haircut as her dog, but her dog is totally smiling for this picture.

OKIE Noodlin'

2009-07-13T17:34:00.004-05:00

So Hilary and Bryan invited us to join their friends out for weekend up in Paul's Valley, Oklahoma for their annual Noodling festival. For those that don't know, noodling is the backwoods sport (illegal in many states) of catching large catfish with your hands. Basically, you reach into caves in dark, muddy waters in the side of the river, and the big catfish bite your hands, and you try to pull them out. The winner this year was a 69lb-er. At the festival, you hang out all day in a blocked off street near the weigh-ins and wait for the noodlers to bring in the hauls. Perhaps the best people watching I've ever seen.

Julie snuck a photo with the winner...

http://okienoodling.com/

Naps are Dangerous

2009-07-10T16:59:00.002-05:00

Soooooooo....

I took my nap (as usual), and when I woke up, I swung my legs out of bed and stepped out (as usual) and crumbled straight to the ground. Apparently my left leg was 100% asleep. I had no feeling in it at all. As I was laying on the hard wood floors trying to figure out what just happened, I realized my left elbow no feel good. I layed there for a while waiting for:

A: Julie to come home and find her husband laying on the bedroom floor crying
B: Feeling to come back to my leg
C: Abby to stop licking the sweat off my head
D: My Xbox to boot up so I could take "Razor Sharp" to the UFC Light-Heavyweight Championship

p.s. my elbow still no feel good.

Texas Education Requirement Updates

2009-07-07T13:05:00.002-05:00

Less Requirements, More Electives For TX HS Students

High school students across Texas will have more electives as soon as this year.
The Texas State Education Commission has reduced four semesters of previously required coursework -- including two semesters of computer technology, one semester of PE, and one semester of health education -- from the 26 credit Recommended High School Program used by most students.

Awesome...if there is anything our kids need less of, its computer skills, exercise, and nutrition. And we all know the value created by the "electives" in high school. Autobody class (aka smoke in the parking lot) and woodshop (aka bong making class) had a lasting impact on the careers of those students.

Doggy Wedding

2009-06-19T15:33:00.003-05:00

Thursday, Kirby and Abby tied the knot in a mass doggy wedding ceremony in Lee Park complete with DJ, wine, real pastor, and wedding cake. I think the pics will tell the rest of the story...

The Pastor (complete with dog bone cross necklace)

p.s. Marty Younkin was there, and I thought he was going to officiate it, but it ended up being his wife.

Kirby and Abby's Wedding License

Abby excited, but Kirbs looks like he's about to make a run for it.

By the time the ceremony got under way, they couldn't even stand to look at each other.

Julie and Jeremy said their punny vows for them.

Jeremy said Kirby's vows with enthusiasm, ", "I do-do doggity do."

(notice the lady in the background dressed for an actual wedding.)

The "Exchanging of the Bisquits"

The happy couple

Kirbs in his tuxedo

Their first dance

(and by "they", I mean Abby and her treat)

Johnny Dictation

2009-06-08T10:29:00.002-05:00

so I'm sitting in this workgroup meeting and trying to take good notes so that I can re-read them and try to understand what is going on. This dude just went on this long 2 minute rant, and I was typing furiously without looking down, and when he was done, I looked down and noticed that my fingers were one off of the home keys...let me tell you that my notes on that rant are less than awesome.

Also of note...the "mustache to no-mustache" ratio in this room is about 3:1

White Rock Adventure Race

2009-05-30T17:00:00.005-05:00

Julie and Grant (Team Carnevale) and Sunny and myself (Team Sundolph) competed in the White Rock Sprint Adventure Race this weekend. This was our first adventure race which consisted of a Run/Canoe/Run/Bike/Mystery Event. The race started off with a 2 mile run from Winfrey Pointe to the canoe...and then the chaos started.

We got in a 2-person inflatable canoe and paddled for what was supposed to be about a 30 minute "down and back" course. Team Carnevale did much better than Team Sundolph in this event. Staying in a straight line was pretty challenging and it was impossible to get comfortable. Your choices were to either sit on your feet (which set your quads on fire) or the back person could lay on their back (which set your stomach and hip flexors on fire). I had to switch back and forth and nearly dumped us during one of the transitions (I'm not exactly "nimble" and I don't think Sunny knew how close we actually were to going overboard). I estimate Team Carnevale finished about 5 minutes in front of us on the canoe and started the run back to the transistion area to get their bikes.

We made up good time on the run and were suprised to see Team Carnevale still at the transition area when we got to our bikes. Apparently Grant's Walmart bicycle (never before ridden) had its rear tire explode (it was described as a gunshot) as he was running up to his bike (never actually put any weight on it, just exploded). We jumped on our bikes and hit the course while Team Carnevale tried to get his bike fixed with the on-site repair team.

The majority of the 12+ mile bike course around the lake wasn't that bad, except it wasn't a closed course, so you had to weave through the dogs, walkers, joggers etc. However, there was a pretty difficult "off-road" portion for mountain biking. It was an extremely steep uphill climb through the woods(we had to hop off and walk our bikes up) followed by an equally steep downhill portion where you had to navigate multiple paths by following pink ribbons. Sunny struggled with this part as she was not very comfortable with the downhill and was watching the ground and missed most of the ribbon indicators. She made it out, though, and we rode through a field to get back on the path to head to the finish. On the way out of the field, we crossed Team Carnevale heading into the off-road portion. Apparently, they had fixed Grant's bike, he started riding it, got about 50 yards down the road, and his back tire blew out again. They fixed it, and continued. His bike continued to decompose along the way, as the handle bars came loose (not good for the off-road portion) and his brakes fell off (also not good for the off-road portion). Good thing he bought the $6 Walmart bike insurance.

They mystery event was a little disappointing, but at by that point, I didn't care. The bike seemed much longer than 12 miles, and I had begun to think that the mystery event was "more biking". We dropped our bikes and then had to craw under an cargo net and run to the finish. We completed the race in 2 hours and 10 minutes. Julie and Grant finished 19 minutes behind us, and had they not had so many bike issues, they probably may have beaten us.

Overall, it was a pretty fun race, much more fun than the standard running races. I continue to struggle with the bike portion, mainly because I refuse to actually pay money for a decent bike. I was riding a $60 Target bike that only has 2 gears, "chain on" and "chain off".

Oh, pottery club.

2009-05-15T08:37:00.002-05:00

This girl had an unfortunate camera angle come back to bite her in the yearbook.

How about this solution? Wear underwear to school. You are 16, and if your panty-line showing is an issue, then it's probably not school appropriate anyway. Mom, stop blaming the school for your daughter not wearing her unmentionables. Oh, and mom, when she does her CNN interview, how about you have her put on some shorts that cover her unmentionables as well. She is 16.

Meatball Sub

2009-05-14T12:44:00.002-05:00

(this isn't my story, but I heard it on a 5TAAT podcast and had to share, I'll write in 1st person because it sounds stupid in 3rd person)

So, I went into a Subway and ordered a foot long meatball sub. My sandwich artist's name was Daniel, and I don't want to say he was "special", but I don't want to say he wasn't either. Everyone knows the footlong meatball sub gets 4 meatballs. If you can imagine the bread of the sub cut open and laying in front of you, now visually divide that bread into 4 sections where each meatball should go. Daniel placed the first meatball between sections 2 and 3 and so on until he had 3 meatballs in the center of the bread with about an inch of empty bread on both ends. I was thinking to myself, "what's the plan for the 4th meatball, Daniel?" Daniel stared at the bread a few minutes, and I could see the wheels turning. Soon his manager came over and looked at the sandwich, looked up at me, and then looked at Daniel and said, "This one gettin' away from you, Daniel?"

What a great phrase, and kudos to the 5TAAT guys for a great story.

Eat a corn dog on primetime television...."check"

2009-05-04T20:41:00.004-05:00

Jeremy, Julie, and I were in the background while Don, Zach, and Andy got their head shaved in support of St. Baldrick's Cancer Research for kids. I helped myself to a corn dog while we watched, and Angie produced the hell out of a live spot.

Dallas Urban Dare

2009-05-02T17:29:00.025-05:00

Julie, Erin, Casey and I ran the Dallas Urban Dare this weekend, and with the help of our Johnny Google Fingers (Angie, Jeremy, Dana, and two of Erin's buddies), we navigated the streets of Dallas in a race similar to a one day "Amazing Race".

We had 11 clues and you could do them in any order, with the help of a map, phone, friends, camera, and public transportation (if you choose...we did not).

We realized later that there would have been a much more optimal way to hit all the spots, but you kind of learn as you go.

After we got our clue sheets, we sat down and divided the clues and called our friends for help. We spent about 20-25 minutes, plotted them on our map, chose our path and took off.

9. Get your picture with "Line of Thought"

(and then we ran ran ran)

6. Go to plaza for cancer survivors for Spellbound dare. We were given a word (environmental) and had to walk around the plaza and find all the letters that had a number assigned to it, and then add them up. I did not do so well with this.

5. Get your picture with the mural with the quote from Ralph Waldo Emerson. "The artist must be sacrificed to their art. Like the bees, they must give their lives into the sting they give." I still don't get this one, but whatever.

4. Find the sculpture "Men Against Man" for your bubble dare. Here we had to eat a bubble gum covered in whip cream without using our hands, and then blow a bubble. I struggled with the bubble blowing. It tooke me 2-3 tries and a whole lot of flying spit before it passed for a bubble.

**5-Minute Bonus if you can find 6 people (non-competitors) to build a human pyramid.
Pretty sure this kid on top:
A) Didn't know what a pyramid was.
B) Was scared of the big sweaty stranger forcing him to do said pyramid

10. As a writer, Erato is my muse. Go to the park where she and her sisters are represented by stones for your 3-legged dare. (we snapped a photo of Erin and Casey going around the fountain)

3. The artist Wyland is known for his whaling walls worldwide. Get your picture with his Dallas mural.

2. Find the UD offical near the dinosaur wearing cowboy boots for your beanbag dare.

7. Meryl Streep plays the role of single mother Donna Sheridan in a recent film. Get your picture in front of the restaurant that goes by the name of this movie. We were going to catch a bus for this 2-mile haul from the West End to Deep Ellum, but it was a 20-minute wait for the next bus, so we decided to run....and run...and run.

...and finally, Mama Mia's.

11. This Pooh character is distinguished by his black and orange stripes, and a springy tail. Get your picture in front of his tattoo parlor.

The last two stops were both in uptown, which was about another 2 mile trek north. We opted against the busses again and humped it to Griggs park. We got to Griggs and couldn't find anyone official there. The dude had left. A few minutes later, he drove up and was like, "oh, I left." We did a stupid wheelbarrow course and headed for our final stop.

1. If you lived in the biggest city on the most populous European island, you would be a (blank). Get your picture in front of an establishment that goes by this name.

And then we sprinted for the finish line (The Gingerman)

We checked in with the officials who verified our passport and photos and got our final time 2:25.

We couldn't leave without a tribute to the Urban Douchi...

And we're still waiting to find out if we won "Sweatiest Foursome"

We got 7th/8th Place overall

(not sure how many teams, but I was pretty impressed with our results)

Abby's 1st Easter Egg Hunt

2009-04-14T07:33:00.002-05:00

This year we decided to let Abby do an Easter Egg Hunt. Anyone that knows Abby knows that she'll do anything for food, and she is on constant patrol for dropped crumbs in our house. All we had to do was open the door and she knew the hunt was on.

(Video Link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4LsTNHcl1kw)

House Guest

2009-04-01T08:25:00.003-05:00

So we returned from Atlanta Sunday afternoon, and Grant (Julie's brother) had been housesitting/dog sitting for the weekend.

Sidenote:
There is always a pleasant suprise whenever the Carnevale brother's housesit. One time, they had eaten all the pistachios in a bag and put all the empty shells back in the bag and put them away. Another time, we found days later that they had taken bites out of most of our candles.

This time, we are pulling up to the drive way just as Grant is pulling away. He stops and rolls down his window and says, "you have a bird in your house" (and drove away). Not really like that, but its funny to picture it that way.

He took the time to explain from his car that the bird flew in the back door to try to grab something off our coffe table, but it was too heavy, so it dropped it, and then got confused and flew into the front of the house, where we have a window about 12 feet off the ground. I'm not sure how long the bird was there, but when we got inside, it was repeatedly slamming itself into the glass trying to get away.

We opened the doors and I got a broom to try to poke it down from the window so it would fly around and hopefully find an exit. (fail...it just kept hopping over the broom)

Julie got a towel and through it up there like a net, and pulled it down. It flew into a few walls and eventually made it into the back of the house where it got tangled in the blinds. Julie again used the towel to scoop it up and carry it into the backyard to release it (but not before it poo/peed on everything).

HOPE for Naomi's Village

2009-03-30T12:56:00.002-05:00

The people that brought Dallas LOVE now bring to the DFW Metroplex HOPE. On Friday, April 3, 2009, Veritas fashion along with Ransomed Productions will host a benefit for Naomis Village Orphanage (NVO).Throughout the evening your ears will be filled with the ambience of music from one of Dallas top musical artists Sleeperstar.

(Promo Video Link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_-Ots54G1ZY)

Your eyes will take in amazing works of art completed by some of the finest emerging artists in the DFW Metroplex, including members of The Veritas Artist Collective, 5D Artists Group and DIAC (Dallas Independent Artist Community).Your pallet will enjoy food and wine, your skin will sense the familiarity of close friends and loved ones, and your heart will take in the story of the vision behind Naomis Village Orphanage. All the while, your soul will break for African children who have no place to call home.

Doors open at 7:30pm Sleeperstar 9:30pm-10:30pm
(HOPE Venue: 118 Lynn Avenue Lewisville, TX 75057)

There will be a 20$ suggested donation at the door, CC and cash areaccepted. 100% of door proceeds will be donated to Naomi's Village.All fashion product will donate 20% of sales to Naomi's Village and allartist will donate 30% of art sales.Individual donations to the orphanage will be accepted at the event.Raffle tickets will be for sale for an event raffle with insane items.100% of raffle ticket sales will be donated to the orphanage.We still need to raise approximately $50,000.

The silence that surrounds children affected by HIV/AIDS and the inaction that results is morally reprehensible and unacceptable. If the situation is not addressed, and not addressed now with increased urgency, millions of children will continue to die, and tens of millions more will be further marginalized, stigmatized, malnourished, uneducated, and psychologically damaged. -Carol Bellamy, Executive Director of UNICEF

Bike Club

2009-03-23T08:58:00.002-05:00

Here is the world premiere of "Bike Club", the first official release of Bup Productions...

(Link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ivMm1ZFTYL8 )

Mosquito Hawks

2009-03-20T13:20:00.002-05:00

I'm not sure whether its true or not, but I was always told that mosquito hawks ate mosquitos. Although, I've never actually seen a mosquito hawk eat a mosquito, so I am somewhat skeptical. In fact, the mosquito hawks that I am familiar with like to fly around my ceiling and flutter around my tv when I'm trying to get my 30-Rock on. If mosquito hawks were really mosquito hunters, then shouldn't they be OUTSIDE with all the mosquitos? I tend to think that the mosquito hawks are actually more annoying than mosquitos, especially when you find a dead one in your drinking glass. In this case, is the treatment worse than the disease?

Couch Shopping Technique

2009-03-12T10:52:00.002-05:00

Julie and I recently went couch shopping. It's kind of my constant mission to do stuff to make Julie roll her eyes at me. So everytime we sat down on a couch to test it out, I would do the whole "pantomime remote control at an invisible tv" thing to simulate what it would be like. She was immune to it rather quickly, but it kept making me laugh, so I kept doing it.

One of our last stops at The Dump, I noticed some other dude shopping with his wife, and he was doing the same "pantomime remote control" thing.

It was a proud day to be a man.

Worst Introduction Ever

2009-03-12T10:36:00.003-05:00

Yesterday I was at a conference with several guest speakers from the industry. Each speaker wrote up their own bio for the host to read during their introduction. The host was a Hispanic woman with a very thick Hispanic accent. During the introduction of a speaker who looked exactly like Detective Stabler from Law and Order, she read...

(this is how she read it)
"...has a Master's degree in Electrical Engineering. His hobbies include young men, basket ball, and flying airplanes."

The audience of about 25 erupted in confused/awkward laughter. The speaker quickly corrected her. It turns out, he put "old man basketball and flying airplanes", but she was trying to make a flattering joke. Unfortunately, her grammar error combined with her rather unfortunate reading pause "outted" the guest speaker. And you could tell he worked hard on his presentation....poor Detective Stabler.

p.s. I couldn't stop giggling.

My BJJ Tourney

2009-03-10T07:09:00.007-05:00

Saturday, I was in my third Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu Tournament, yet my first "gi" competition. For those new to the sport, BJJ is submission grappling, which means takedowns, chokes, joint locks, but no striking. Gi competetition means you wear the "robe", as opposed to "no-gi" where you grapple in shorts ( ie UFC). The main difference is the ability to hold (and be held) by your clothes. This forces you to be more technical as you cannot just slip out of holds like you can when you are sweaty. There are also a variety of chokes you must defend against, because nobody, and I mean NOBODY, wants to get choked out with their own clothes.

In BJJ, they use a belt system to show rank, but it takes about 2 years to get your blue belt, then purple, brown, and eventually black. It is not uncommon to take 10 or more years of dedicated study to get your black belt, and there are fewer than 150 black belts in the US.

I entered myself in the "White Belt 30 and up" division, and this was a relatively small tournament, so there were only 4 people in my division, 3 of which I train with at my school. I also entered the "absolute" division, which means all white belts regardless of size or experience.

Match 1: ( http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dt_tO3pGGlI )
My first match, was against a guy from my school. He was smaller than me, but very squirrely, and I had a hard time holding him still. I scored a bunch of points on positioning and was winning 12-0 (there is a 15-0 mercy rule) before we were restarted at the center of the mat. There was probably less than 2 minutes left, and if I scored any more points or even if I had just laid on top of him, it would have been over. However, this never occurred to my right arm, who decided to take a small nap on my opponents chest, and was quickly snatched up. I fought off the arm bar for a bit, but it was pretty tight, so I went "tappy tap"...Thanks alot, right arm.

Match 2: ( http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ix2XyWYNaxo )
This was the first match of my division, and also against a guy from my school. I probably had about 10 pounds on this guy and he hadn't been training long. I hit my first clean takedown ever (inside trip) and we landed in his guard (him on bottom with legs locked). I broke his guard (unlocked his legs) and passed with to knee on stomach, where I tried to transition to an arm bar, but he sniffed it out (given that we train this combination at the same school, not too suprising). We ended up in my guard and he posted a leg which I grabbed and swept him with a flower sweep to full mount. From mount, I was able to isolate an arm and lock in a keylock and get the submission.

Match 3: ( http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vO6V56YjibQ )
This was my divisions championship match, and thankfully, I didn't have to go against someone from my school. There are a lot of "mean" things you can do that really suck for the other guy, that I just don't do to people I train with (and they return the favor), so going against someone I don't know was refreshing. This guy was my size and quickly disposed of his first opponent, so I figured he would be a good test (plus he had blood all over his gi). We started and he tried to do a flying arm bar, which I wasn't expecting at all, but it was kind of sloppy, so I ended in his side mount. I kept rushing my moves too much, so instead of getting to full mount, I kept getting stuck in half-guard (where he has control of one of my legs) and eventually full guard (he did this pretty well). I started to break open his guard, and for some reason (I have no idea what I was thinking) I just decided to try to jump out of his guard (FYI, this is not a known technique). We scrambled and he ended up turtling up on me and eventually doing a sit-out escape and getting side mount of me (not good). He tried a keylock on me, which I defended and then rolled him over (not good for him). I already had the keylock pretty much locked in at this point, so I took mount and finished it. It was a pretty nasty one.

Overall, I definitely feel improved, but I'm still discouraged by my lack of composure. I repeatedly do things that do not make sense, especially when I get tired. And thanks to Julie who spent her Saturday smelling my gi.

Your Monday-Maker...

2009-03-02T12:19:00.003-06:00

For those needing a smile on a Monday morning, I give you "Bizkit the Sleep Walking Dog"

(link http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z2BgjH_CtIA)

Good find, Steph!

Wupsydoo

2009-02-26T11:38:00.003-06:00

The condos under construction near our house had a bit of an incident yesterday. One of their lifts slid on some loose soil, crashed through the brick wall and fell onto the street. Luckily no one was hurt, but I'm sure somebody is clearing out their locker today.

(photo by Rudy Cassol, free-lance investigative journalist)

(photo by Rudy Cassol, free-lance investigative journalist)

(and in case you were wondering...yes, yes I did get on my bike and ride down the street to take pictures and email them to my wife at work.)

Million Schmillion

2009-02-26T11:07:00.003-06:00

Does a million dollars even have any meaning anymore? That used to be the benchmark for what got people's attention.

I realized this when I was watching CSI NY the other night and the police force got the "Blue Flu" when the city could no longer afford to pay them. In the end, a wealthy person made a $20 million donation, and instantly the police force went back to work. I was like, "really, $20 million is what cause the city to shut down its police force?"

In the wake of all this economic yada yada, that just seems like pocket change. I barely blink at a headline unless it has a "$B" next to it.

Need phone to make talky

2009-02-19T08:45:00.003-06:00

So, my phone has barely worked the past 3 months or so, but since I hate talking on the phone, I was in no hurry to get a new one. I also completely detest "salesman" and phone salesman are one of the worst. For this reason, it is extremely painful for me to go in those stores. I have to bring Julie with me for moral support. We tried about a month ago to go in the store, and after about 20 minutes with the sales girl, I couldn't take it anymore, and I walked out.

Monday, my phone finally died completely, so I got Julie to go back with me. This time, it was a different sales girl, and she talked kinda fast. She was all business, got straight to the point, no messing around...I liked her.

However, for some reason, I couldn't understand anything she said. I'm not sure if I just sent my brain somewhere else as a self defense mechanism so that I could get through this (like the dentist) or what. She was asking me really simple questions.

She asked our pet's name (to access our account), and I just stared blankly at her and then turned to Julie to answer, "Abby". Then I turned back to her and nodded my head slowly.

There were several other questions which I don't remember, but I do remember Julie answering for me. Finally, I could tell she was confused and asked "Who is this phone for?".

So we were leaving the store, and I said to Julie, "I'm pretty sure that girl thought I was retarded and you were taking care of me or something."

"My name Rudy, need phone to make talky."

Brawny Guy

2009-02-18T14:58:00.003-06:00

DO NOT...I repeat DO NOT do a Google Image search for "Brawny Guy" if your safe search filter is not on ALL THE WAY...I'm just sayin'.

(also, do not bother yourself with why I was doing a Google Image search for "Brawny Guy")

Day at the Park

2009-02-16T13:38:00.003-06:00

We went to the park this weekend to play with our camera...here are a few of my favs.

(Abby ran the wrong way)

Beersplosion

2009-02-13T12:44:00.003-06:00

So, as a hobby, I made a batch of homebrew beer. I had this kit in my garage for over a year, so I was pretty sure that the heat had killed the yeast and that this was going to be a throw-away batch anyway, so I decided to experiment with adding some fruit flavor to the fermentation process. I poured in a couple of cups of pomegranite juice. The first bottle was ready to drink Superbowl Sunday, and it was terrible as I had expected. The new batch had been brewing and was ready to go to bottle last night. I started pouring out the old "bad batch" to clean the bottles since I was already in the cleaning process with the empty keg. I still don't fully understand why, but to say that one bottle had "contents under pressure" is a bit of an understatement. I am guessing that the sugar from the juice was distributed unevenly into this one bottle, so the excess sugar overly carbonated this bottle.

The phrase "explosion" does not do justice to the force with which sticky, foamy beer spewed uncontrollably (think geyser) to the ceiling of the kitchen. Luckily my face absorbed most of it.

It was a learning experience. I learned that when you need some extra time to clean up your mess, yelling "Julie, DON'T COME IN HERE!" is not very effective.

Valentime's Day

2009-02-13T09:51:00.002-06:00

Public Valentime's card exchanges amongst groups of people you are forced to be around daily is one of those kid traditions that should have carried over into adulthood. In elementary school, you decorate a brown lunch bag with red, pink, and white construction paper hearts and such. Then you hang your bag with your name on it on the chalkboard, and during the Valentime's Day party, you walk around with those "out of the box" cards that you stayed up late the night before signing only your name on and stuffing it with those conversation heart candies.

I remember that they always made us give a card to everyone so that no one felt left out. I do remember feeling sad when you are walking around and everyone's bags are stuffed except the chubby girl's bag. I guess kids would equivilate giving her a card with wanting to marry her or something. I was never that mean (I developed my "meanness" in college). However, there was always one or two kids in the class that I didn't like. And being a kid, there are only so many ways you have at your disposal to exhibit your dislike for someone...and deliberately NOT putting a candy heart in that person's card was one way to deliver that message.

On the flip side, I also remember that there was always a girl in the class that you couldn't wait to open her Valentime to you so you could see what she wrote or which conversation heart she picked for you. Turns out, all that was ever written was just "her name" (as that's all anyone wrote), and the conversation heart "choice" always sent you mixed signals anyway. Yet somehow that chalky taste in your mouth and lame saying "URA QT" was crystal clear. "So you're tellin' me there's a chance."

Morning Carrot

2009-02-12T08:22:00.003-06:00

Abby's sun rises and sets with food. She is the most food motivated dog I have ever seen. Because of this, she once ate herself sick, got pancreatitis, and thusly, can no longer have any people food (other than some fruits and vegetables).

(sidenote)
I'm also pretty sure she can tell time. She gets fed regularly at 7am and 5pm. Everyday she'll wake up from her mid day nap, walk out to the kitchen and bang in her bowl loud enough to hear it throughout the house. I'll look at the clock, and sure enough, its like 4:53pm or whatever. She's usually accurate to a 10-minute window...it's pretty impressive.

Anyway....

Every morning, Abby wakes up with me and stumbles out into the kitchen, still groggy and half asleep, to get her "morning carrot". Once she gets her carrot, she immediately goes back to bed. She then wakes up with Julie a bit later and also gets her "morning carrot"...and then goes back to bed. This is her routine.

The other morning, there was only one carrot left, and I gave it to her. It was kind of small, and she looked disappointed, so I said "no more". She went to bed. When Julie got up, Abby didn't get up with her. We joked that she must have known we were out of carrots. We didn't make it to the store to restock, and the next day, no Abby. She didn't get up with either of us. Now this is really strange for her. Julie stopped at the store on the way home the next day and gave her a carrot in the evening.

I'll be damned if that dog didn't get up with me this morning and resume her "morning carrot" routine. If I didn't know how food-obsessed she was, I might dismiss this as a coincidence, but no. I am now convinced that dog keeps perfect inventory on her treats.

Economically Stimulate This

2009-02-10T12:42:00.002-06:00

(arrow pointing to economy)

Reading all the pork garbage pumped into the economic stimulus package by both Republicans and Democrats alike is pretty disheartening. I'm no economist, but I do know that a capitalistic economy will eventually work itself out with or without help. I'm not against the stimulus package in theory, but I am against the concept that Americans are all "entitled" to "things". Not everyone is going to come up smelling like roses. With $800 billion of future generations' money at their disposal, the stimulus package "open checkbook" approach includes some of the following:

$50 million for the National Endowment for the Arts
$650 million for digital-TV coupons; $90 million to educate “vulnerable populations”
$350 million for Agriculture Department computers
$88 million to help move the Public Health Service into a new building
$448 million for constructing a new Homeland Security Department headquarters
$600 million to convert the federal auto fleet to hybrids
$450 million for NASA (carve-out for “climate-research missions”)
$600 million for NOAA (carve-out for “climate modeling”)
$1 billion for the Census Bureau
$4.5 billion for U.S. Army Corps of Engineers
$850 million for Amtrak
$87 million for a polar icebreaking ship
$1.7 billion for the National Park System
$55 million for Historic Preservation Fund

These dollars are part of the Emergency Stimulus package that will do nothing to create jobs. There is already money allotted for these infrastructures in the budget, and these are upgrades that could easily wait until a more convenient economical time.

I fully believe in the investment in infrastructure. However, I think all $800 billion should be earmarked towards fixing up the all the schools, hospitals, roads, parks, and buildings, utilities. I mean fix the crap out of everything. When someone loses their job, hand them a shovel and a paintbrush with their unemployment check, train them and allow them to learn a new trade.

This way, when our economy does recover, and it will, everything will be fixed up, ready for expansion and growth, and we have a humbled workforce to run it.

ho hum.

Women Drivers

2009-02-10T12:40:00.001-06:00

This compilation had me in tears. The sound is terrible, so I'd turn it off, but the lady at the gas pump is priceless. I also enjoy how the edit the video so that you are asking, "how do they know its a woman driver?" and then the door will open and a woman will get out...priceless.

Badger Car Salesman

2009-02-10T12:33:00.001-06:00

Here is a compilation of a series of local car commercials. It's well worth the full 3+ minutes...

I'm on a boat

2009-02-09T12:34:00.003-06:00

If you didn't see this on SNL, its worth a watch on Hulu. The Lonely Island guys are in a league of their own...

(http://www.hulu.com/watch/56632/saturday-night-live-digital-short-im-on-a-boat)

"Never thought I'd be on a boat, just big blue watery road" - T-Pain

A Moment of Silence

2009-02-06T13:54:00.002-06:00

Next time you are in a crowded room, in an environment where someone is speaking and the general social expectation is for you to sit quietly and listen, pay attention to how many times people cough. I'd say conservatively, in a room with around 500 people or more, someone coughs every 5 seconds.

The cough itself is a pretty wierd bodily action. Per wikipedia, it's a inhalation/forced exhalation against a closed glottis, followed by a violent release of air from the lungs.

There can't be THAT many sick people ALL the time. So I have to imagine that someone is sitting there in a room with other people where the only thing they are expected to do is sit quietly and listen. And without cause or warning, their body forces them to inhale and "violently" exhale against their vocal chords, and this is normal to us. People do it all the time, and nobody really notices.

I only noticed the other week when I was sitting in church (not coughing) and I was listening to the room. I started thinking, "Seriously, how can this many people need to cough RIGHT NOW? Who is breathing soooo hard as to trigger their cough reflex? Why can't people just sit and NOT cough?"

Next time you are in a quiet room, just pay attention to how many coughers there are out there...its kinda gross if you imagine that CSI slow motion high-frame rate camera shot with all the germs flying around all over the place.

I just realized....

2009-02-06T13:53:00.002-06:00

The phrase "I mean C'mon!" could be the title of pretty much all of my blogs.