Moving Soon

It looks like I'm going to be able to move my site sooner rather than later. I'm pretty pumped about that. Wordpress is one of the easiest installs that I've ever seen. I'm really excited to try it out. Alli's blog will likely be the first one completely up and running and then we'll get ours up and running shortly after that.

Word.

"Don't be THAT guy..."

I have become THAT GUY.

You know, the guy who watches every reality TV show on the planet? This summer has unearthed a newfound obsession of mine...REALITY TELEVISION.

I resisted. For a long time, I really did. But when they make shows that are this compelling, you can't do anything to tear your eyes away from the TV.

Here's a little review of the shows that have caught my fancy this summer:

HOGAN KNOWS BEST
"WHAT'RE YOU GONNA DO WHEN HOGAN KNOWS BEST RUNS WILD ON YOU?" I really am ashamed to admit this. I truly did not want to like this show. It is simultaneously terrible and completely amazing. It stars Terry "Hulk" Hogan and the rest of his family (wife, son and daughter) and basically is about their life. Much of it lately is centering around his daughter Brooke and her striving to get a record deal. Hulk manages her through it with surprising grace and intelligence. Who knew? And he cares immensely for his family, which is very cool. It's pretty much a rehash of The Osbournes, but with people that I think are way more interesting.

BEING BOBBY BROWN
I was against this show from the start. That is until I was exposed to the CRAZY. The CRAZY is Whitney Houston who steals the show completely. Their relationship is both volatile and sweet and is some great television. I don't really set down to watch this show, but if it is on, I end up watching it.

Keeping with the same channel...

BLOW OUT
One of my friends told me that he was watching this show and I made fun of him. Well, consider this my public apology because this show is great. Jonathan Antin is one of the most explosive TV stars on TV since that dude Chris from the Apprentice. The people around him are hilarious and I just find the whole show pretty comical, but also extremely watchable. Now that Season Two is over, it will be interesting to see if it comes back. Maybe not, but with Jonathan, anything is possible and as big of an egomaniac as he is, I wouldn't be surprised...that guy loves himself an awful lot. Probably, Blow Out: The Baby is Born...

Also on Bravo is...

KATHY GRIFFIN: MY LIFE ON THE D-LIST
I have always thought that while Kathy Griffin was maybe one of the most annoying "pseudo-celebrities", she was also, BY FAR, one of the funniest. She had an HBO special a long time ago that I watched on a New Year's Eve that made me laugh harder than I had ever laughed in my life. I don't particularly like it when she is hosting stuff like Celebrity Mole or The Surreal Life (which, BTW, I can't stand), but when she is just being herself or ripping on celebrities, I am totally there. She is a riot and I like her show so far (one episode).

SO YOU THINK YOU CAN DANCE
I actually get a pass on this one because my wife has always been a dancer. She was captain of her drill team in both high school and college and even danced professionally for a basketball team after we got married. It's American Idol for dancers, but without Randy Jackson saying crap like, "It was a little pitchy." I can't stand that crap.

THE REAL WORLD: AUSTIN
I was totally over The Real World. I thought that after The Real World: Chicago, the show totally jumped the shark. It just got to be a big party with the pretty people. It was totally formulaic and you could predict the type of people that would be on every show. The straw that broke the camel's back was The Real World: Las Vegas. It was so disappointing that NOTHING REALLY HAPPENED when they were there. Just lots and lots of inter-roommate "relations" and your typical boring crap. HOWEVER, in my opinion, I don't think enough people give credit to The Real World for starting the whole "reality television" craze. When that show came out, it was huge and it still is. The reason is that they manufactured better drama than they can on normal TV shows because they make it look "real". I mean, it is "The Real World" for goodness sake...it MUST be real. This season has finally delivered with some serious drama. Plus, there's a dude from my hometown on it (albeit, he is the toolish Wes). The whole "Danny almost loses his vision" thing was CRAZY. I loved it. Brought me back to the show that I haven't watched since they went to Paris.

However, I don't usually catch it during its normal time because unfortunately, it conflicts with what is by far my favorite (and least embarrassing) show...

MIAMI INK
This is a legitimately interesting show. Premise: a guy owns and operates a Miami tattoo parlor with 4 of his closest friends. I don't know where these guys are in the KC tattoo parlors, but they are way more interesting (and surprisingly normal) than most folks I've seen. I have a new tattoo in mind and I want to go have it done by Chris Nuñez because I think he is the coolest out of the bunch. While the owner of the store, Ami, is a bit of a head case, I like the rest of the guys on the show and the stories of the people that come in to get tattoos are very interesting.

So that's all of them (I think). Pretty sad, isn't it. And that doesn't even include the home improvement shows that we watch, but we'll save that for another discussion...they don't really count.

People taking laziness to a new level

Have you heard about these types of services?

I may be in the minority here, but I cannot imagine paying someone to rip all my CDs for me...that just seems lazy. I suppose that there are people who value their time that much that they will pay someone else to get all their music digital. I could see it if you are a busy person (with money to burn), but I just don't understand it.

I have over 7000 songs in my iTunes library and I have ripped every single one of them myself. (OK, maybe not ALL of them, but most).

Interesting aside regarding this. My hometown newspaper made a mistake. In reporting this, they said that it was about $1/song, but it is really $1/CD. More affordable, but still a little pretentious. I bet those companies are making a killing though.

Thinking about Wordpress

I am planning on creating a blog for Alli's v3 site. In fact, what I may end up doing is using a CMS for the entire site. If I do that, I'll likely use Moveable Type. It's the largest free CMS out there and from what I've read, it's the most configurable when it comes to photos.

However, if I stay with a Flash-interface with a link to her blog, I might use Wordpress. From what I've heard, it is the easiest to install and configure. Other options? Possibly textpattern, but I doubt it.

Ideas? Brian, I know you use Moveable Type, what's that like?

The Dukes of Hazzard

There are a lot of critics out there saying that this movie is everything that is wrong with Hollywood: A remake of a mediocre-ish (I always loved it) TV show with a watered down script and a lot of action.

First of all, tell me what's wrong with that.

I don't necessarily want to THINK everytime I go to the movies. Sometimes I just want to zone out and enjoy myself. And that's exactly what I did during The Dukes of Hazzard. I thought that Johnny Knoxville and Seann William Scott were pretty funny as Bo and Luke and Jessica Simpson was not too much of a distraction. I half-expected to be so annoyed by her lousy acting that I couldn't enjoy myself, but she did OK.

To be honest, what bothered me the most about the movie was that with Jay Chandraskar (or whatever his name is) at the helm, we were unfortunately subjected to countless cameos by members of the Broken Lizards comedy troupe (the morons behind Super Troopers, one of the most completely unfunny movies I've seen). I understand throwing something in there for your fans, but what Jay Chandrawhatever didn't consider was that people could care less who he is or what he directed...people were going to go see the movie who had no idea what a Broken Lizard was.

You have to understand that I was predisposed to like this movie. You're talking about a guy who for his 8th birthday had his mom bake an extra smaller cake and put it on top of the other one and then decorate it with orange icing and a rebel flag. I loved that show and I was entertained by the movie.

It wasn't the best I've ever seen, but at least it was better than Super Troopers. My IMDb rating: 6 out of 10.

62 Things About Me

Inspired by Rachel, I thought that I would do something like this because I haven't blogged in a while and I need to do something besides PowerPoint. I came up 5 short of her list, but I might add more later...

1. I have resided in the Kansas City area for most of my natural life. For 3 years when I was little, I lived in Lamoni, Iowa and I returned 14 years later to attend college, where I would major in English.
2. I graduated high school 10 years ago from Blue Valley Northwest and I do not intend to attend my 10-year reunion. Not for $63/person!
   
3. I have been married for five years to Allison Ann Arnold.
4. We have a dog. His name is Dreyfuss because even as a puppy, he looked like he was a 70-year-old man in a little puppy body.
5. I like the smell of my dog. He smells like Fritos and I love it.
   
6. I go to the same church that I was baptized in.
   
7. I am a trivia junkie. I like to think that my brain contains the highest concentration of useless information in the region. I am particularly proficient in television and movie trivia.
8. Subsequently, my favorite board game is Trivial Pursuit.
9. I love game shows. Especially old ones like Press Your Luck, but my all-time favorite is Jeopardy. Before I die, I am going to go out to Los Angeles and do the "game show circuit".
   
10. For a long time, I just didn't understand what the big deal was about Macs. Then I tried OS X. I'm proud to say we are an all Mac household although I have to deal with the dreaded Windows environment at work. I've got a 20" iMac G5, Alli has a 17" Powerbook. Our wireless router is even an Airport Extreme Base Station.
    
11. I have worked for Perceptive Software in Shawnee, KS for 5 years, holding 3 different jobs and 2 official titles.
12. Currently, I'm a designer at the company, but I do it on the side too.
13. I am a sucker for movies. Anything really...I have very questionable taste...some people don't trust my opinion because they say I like everything.
14. The last movie I saw was Must Love Dogs. The best movie I've seen this year is Batman Begins.
    
15. My favorite actor is Jeremy Piven.
16. My favorite movie of all-time is Good Will Hunting, but I reserve the right to change my mind at any time. Rounding out my top 3 are Fletch and The Matrix.
17. My favorite TV show of all-time is Friends. Following close behind is Alias.
18. I watch too much TV.
    
19. I'm 6'3", but I tell people that I'm 6'4".
20. I have played volleyball since I was in 7th grade. I still play as much as I can.
21. I drive a Dodge Durango. I don't really have a dream car, but if I did, the Durango is not it. It works fine, but guzzles gas.
22. I'm a geek. I like computers a lot.
23. I have 2 ipods. One is a 20GB 2nd generation brick, the other is a 512MB shuffle. I love them both in very different ways.
24. I am a music junkie. I wish that I had a running soundtrack to my life, like in the movies...I've even got certain songs picked out. Right now, I would have "Reminder" by the Perishers playing.
25. My iTunes library contains 7,220 songs and the most played song is "Warning Sign" by Coldplay.
26. My favorite style of music is sad, maudlin college piano rock (Ben Folds, Elliot Smith, etc.).
    
27. I like photography...my dream job would be to work for the Associated Press as a photojournalist.
28. I like golf. I'm not very good at it. I have a penchant for losing golf balls. Last time I golfed, I lost 8.
29. If I could, I would eat cheeseburgers every day for the rest of my life. That and Pizza Shack (Lamoni, IA).
30. The most recent vacation that I went on was to Santa Fe, New Mexico with Alli for our 5-year anniversary.
31. I am very particular about a couple of household chores. I prefer to load the dishwasher myself because I think that I can optimize the number of dishes in the washer better than most people. I also prefer to do my own laundry because I am very particular about how my stuff is folded.
32. I like my Playstation 2. I don't buy many games, but I enjoy mostly sports games like Madden and Tiger Woods Golf.
    
33. I am, predictably, somewhat enamored by this recent poker craze.
34. I have been to 8 countries outside the United States. So far, England is my favorite.
35. My dad travels a lot more. In fact, he's going to be in Korea in 2 weeks. Some times, he goes to places I can't even pronounce.
36. My brother lives with us and has since February. Prior to that, Alli's sister lived with us. In the 5 years we've been married, we have lived by ourselves for about 1.5 of them.
37. I think that the new Black Pepper Jack Doritos are GENIUS.
38. I have an English friend at work named Phil who I love listening to, but mostly because he can say words like "bollocks" and "wanker" and "tosser" and it sounds funny. When I say them, it just sounds weird.
39. Almost all of the friends that I grew up with live in this area. We still hang out. Not many people can say that they have friends that they still hang out with that they have known since they were 5.
40. I have a large tattoo that surrounds my right calf of a volleyball and a tribal design that spells the word "PERSEVERE". I have the design of my second tattoo and am ready to get it on my back.
41. I have no less than 10 e-mail addresses to my name. (Thanks, Gmail!)
42. I consider myself a decent web designer.
    
43. I have never had a broken bone, but I have had stitches in my leg and have had a cyst removed.
44. I cannot stand when people drive during the day with their lights on.
45. My favorite books of all-time are The Catcher in the Rye, The Lords of Discipline, and High Fidelity.
46. I am typing this blog post at a desk that I hate. I am determined to build my own desk in my oddly-shaped office and paint it red.
47. If someone gave me an hour-long shopping spree at any store I wanted, I'd probably go to either Best Buy or the Apple Store.
48. I can't stand Summer. It's too hot. I'm all about Winter. Give me football, chili and a sweater and I'm good to go. Spring and Fall are OK, but Winter rules all. It might have something to do with my birthday being in December, but I think I would still much prefer the colder months.
49. One of the reasons that we live in the Midwest is that I love the change of the seasons.
50. I cannot draw.
51. Or run.
    
52. Or sing.
53. I can act a little. I was the star of my middle school's production of "Up the Down Staircase".
54. I'm a decent public speaker. I was selected by my high school classmates to give a speech on Class Day. It was pretty good (I think).
55. My favorite smell is barbecue.
56. My favorite candle smell from Yankee Candle is "Buttercream". It smells like frosting.
    
57. I only get sick about once a year. This has been true my whole life. My parents rewarded my good health by giving me one "mental health day" each semester when I was growing up.
58. My legs are considerably shorter in proportion to my torso. My wife is a foot shorter than I am and has the same inseam.
59. If I had cosmetic surgery, the only thing I would have done is that I would have my back lasered.
60. States I have not been to: Washington, Oregon, Montana, Idaho, North Dakota, Wisconsin, New Hampshire, Maine, Vermont, Rhode Island, Delaware, West Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Mississippi, Arkansas, Alaska, Hawaii. That's 17 states!
61. My favorite web site is IMDb.com.
62. I should have gone to bed an hour ago.