The Nellie Spot

Since Allison rarely (bordering dangerously on 'never') blogs, I figure I would write myself a "Happy Birthday, John" blog. So read this from her perspective (let's play pretend)

Here's the reason John should be king for the day:
1) He's sexy & well-dressed
2) He's the best father ever
3) He's the best husband ever
4) He's the best friend ever
5) He likes electronics and upgrading all his electronics occasionally
6) Did I mention that he's sexy and well-dressed?
7) And it's his 28th birthday! YEA!!!!

This was a gay post...but point made.

Ok, so I finally got my remote control I was lusting after previously. I have to admit, I'm pleasantly suprised by how freaking cool and easy this thing is to use! If you've ever spent hours trying to hand-program a remote control (Push Macro Button 1, wait for everything to flash 3 times, then on the other remote, hit the 15 commands it takes to do what you want, then on the new remote, push down the Macro Button 1 and cross your fingers...did I just assign that to the wrong command? Start over), then you need to throw down the investment and get something like the Harmony 659 remote.

I plugged it into my computer via USB (unfortunately only 1.0) and went to the website to tell it what type of devices I have (TV, DVR/Satellite Receiver, DVD player, Xbox, Audio Receiver). It picked the exact model (not just some list of 4 codes that MIGHT work 10% of the features). Then it asked me how things are set up. I got to customize my LCD screen options for each device and activity. Then download the instructions to the remote, and sit down and watch TV without a hitch.

There is a bit of a learning curve on programming via the web application. To get the advanced features of each device, you need to understand the intricacies of your original device's remote. Since it's been a while since I've used the individual remotes for each device, I had to play around with the advanced stuff to get it working.

But now there's no worries on explaining to babysitters how to work the whole system. You hit "Watch TV" and everything turns on and sets itself up. And it handles PVR/DVR functionality which is hard to find on the $15 dollar versions (I tried a few of those previously without much luck).

And a selling point for all you Mac-heads out there, it glows a really pretty blue when you press any button. I know y'all are all about light up thingy's...so that alone should make you go get one! :)

Thanks to Grant idea, I have to be nerdier than my normal self (which is really going into nerdy waters). So today, I join in the blog party by posting my favorite (or most feared) villians from movies (mainly because I don't read comics, movie villians are all I know).

Here's the List:

1) Pennywise the Clown: from Stephen King's "It", this freaking clown scares the crap out of me.

2) Khan: from Star Trek II, this guy was nasty. Anyone who puts a brain-eating worm in your head just isn't a nice guy. Also, that chest-baring leather vest outfit he wears in the movie is pretty scary, too.

3) Keyser Soze: from The Usual Suspects. You don't mess with this guy! He's a mastermind and his intelligence is baffling.

4) Dracula: from Bram Stoker's Dracula. This dude is freaky. The movie was freaky. I don't like him...he makes me nervous.

5) All the ghosts from Poltergeist. I watched this movie when I was 5 (a huge mistake), and I'm still pretty scared of it. Really, just the clown in the boy's bedroom. I mean, WHO LOOKS UNDER THE BED WHEN THE CLOWN ISN'T WHERE IT WAS 2 SECONDS AGO???? Seriously.

I'm a fan of American Idol, and Shauna started the whole "Who do you like in AI?" thing. So, for ease of browsing, I created a post for:

1) Are you a fan of American Idol, and
2) If so, who are you pulling for?


I'll start: I love the show and got hooked on Season 2 (when Ruben / Clay won the title). Last season was OK for me, and this season has changed up a bit, and the talent seems to be fairly diverse. So I'm digging it full-force this season.

If you know me, I'm absolutely HORRIBLE with remembering names (even those I've known for years...which, I guess, just makes me an idiot). Therefore, I can't tell you many of the names of the contestants. However, thanks to hyperlinking and the wonderful world-wide-web (the WWWW), I can know these peoples' names!

Here are my favoritie guy and girl:

Guy: Anthony Federov. This is the kid who overcame a disease in his infancy and thought would never be able to speak, let alone sing. He reminds me a LOT of Clay Aiken, who I like...so I'm pulling for him.

Other notables: Contstantine (cool guy, cool personality, decent voice), Scott Savol (really great voice, no where close to "the look").

Girl: I really don't remember the girls' talent very well. However, the little cheerleader girl, Mikalah, has so much personality that she's just really fun to watch perform.

That's it for me. "Nelson, Out"

We just got Emma the SUV version of the old-school Radio-Flyer wagons from Wal*Mart. It has 2 seats that fold up & down, so it can be a flat bed, or a 2-seater with belt straps. This thing is pretty solid, and can hold up to 200 pounds! (Thankfully, I still qualify as being able to fit in it)
She absolutley loves it, and smiled the whole time (except when I tried to take a picture of her in it.)

Some people from my office went paintballing this afternoon. You gotta love being nailed SQUARE between the eyes! This one scared the living pee out me, but didn't hurt at all. I do have a few shots that are still stinging, though.

We played at Wild World Paintball out in Tontitown, owned by a friend of mine, Ben Clark. I took this picture with my Cingular phone, the Motorola V551. I'm pretty impressed with the image quality from this phone!

Ok, I'm really frustrated. I have scoured the internet for a decent, simple, clean, but with some color skin for my blog. I got tired of the weird-o blue thing with the pulsating radio-wave dealy, so I went to a Blogger-provided template. I'm ok with these...but I like clean and crisp with colors (usually only 2 or 3 colors...not too dramatic).

There are some CRAZY templates out there...lots of Gothic, Anime and celebrity pages out there that are dumb and cater to the 8 year olds in love with Ashley Simpson or the wacky Japanese who want to commit suicide because their boyfreind / girlfrend dumped them. I'm not that depressed or into Anime, so I just want something with simplified colors!!!

I don't know enough about HTML / XHTML to do any of my own customizations and templates. However, due to the fact that I'm obviously the only person in the blogging world that has my skin preference, I may just have to learn how to do it and create my own template.

But I would rather just copy someone else's work. That's just easier. I'm lazy but with high standards....what a crazy volatile setup!

My Sentiments Exactly...

Since college, I have had a fascination with dress socks. But before I get into my plight, let's define the two "camps" on how dress socks should be worn:

Camp 1: An Extention of the Pants
This camp believes that socks should merely match the pants and be a continuation of the pant color.

Camp 2: An Outfit Combiner
This camp believes that socks should (or at least "are allowed to") bring the entire outfit to a closing. For instance, if the shirt is blue and the pants khaki, the socks could be an argile (or simpler) pattern of blue and khaki, thus tying the shirt / pant combination together nicely.

Emma woke up with a fever this morning, so we're skipping church. I'm going to a Mission to Mexico leaders meeting at 12:30, but wanted to spend time with Emma and Allison (neither are feeling well). Emma's not a cuddly girl most of the time. She's a go-getter, except when she's sick. So when she's sick, I like to cuddle with her as much as possible. Here, my 2 sick girls are laying on the couch watching a Baby Einstein video (Baby da Vinci).

I doubt many of you (to define who "you" is, refer to the "Blogs to Live By" section on the lower right) know this yet (as most of you don't appear to be commenters by nature), but Blogger put together a sweet looking "Post a Comment" page. I'm a big fan of it.

Of course, you have to click the little "Post a Comment" (or "Be the First to Comment" link on the fancy-schmancy peoples' blogs) link at the end of a post. Try it sometime!

In fact, you could always comment about what you think of the new comment page by commenting on this post! (novel idea, I know).

I don't know if all parents are like this, or just parents with smaller kids (2 and under), but our outings into the outside world have been few and far between lately. I wouldn't say it's a rut...we really enjoy hanging out at the house with Emma and Belle, watching TV and playing on the floor.

Allison's birthday was yesterday, and she requested dinner and a movie (they warn you against this type of date in college and while courting, but it becomes quite a nice treat post-children). My birthday is at the end of the month, and Valtentine's Day is on Monday. So, we celebtrated all 3 holidays by going to Copeland's and splurging. I have to admit, Copeland's may be my favorite place to eat...ever. I've never had a bad meal or experience there. Last night, we started off with the Spinach & Artichoke Dip (with fried bowtie pasta to dip with...it's amazing). Once we poslished off the entire appitizer, we got a entrees: Allison got crab cakes over pasta with grilled shrimp, and I got the Blackened Prime Rib (by far the best tasting meat I've ever had). As I stared at the remaining 1/3 of my steak trying desperately to make my stomach bigger so I could finish it, Allison made the waitress take it away from me. We ended the meal by sharing a Mudslide.

We then went to Malco Towne Cinema and watched Hitch. This movie is the best movie I've seen in a long time. If you know me, I'm kinda loud...and I was trying very hard not to be the "loud guy" in the movie. But it was really, really funny and I had a hard time controlling my laughter volume. The movie is well-written, good plot, great character development, and extremely funny. It runs the gammit of emotions: funny, serious, emotional, and just downright feel good. It's one of those movies you watch and immediately say "I'm going to own that". So I recommend seeing it. It's not a chic-flick...so guys, it's OK to see it...you'll like it, too.

So here's a toast to birthday dinners, fantastic movies, and to getting out of the house.

Happy Birthday, Allison! I hope you have a wonderful day (Emma, be nice for Mommy!) and enjoy your brunch with the girls. I'm looking forward to celebrating tonight at Copeland's!!!!

Lots of love to you!!!

Recently, Allison and I switched from cable to Dish Networks. We got the dual tuner DVR to go with it (the main reason we switched in the first place).

Since I'm a tech junkie, I have several audio / video devices around the house. And before the DVR, I had a cheap programmable remote to replace the 6 remotes for the individual pieces. However, with the DVR, my remote is outdated and there is nothing I hate doing more than re-programming a remote control. Too hard and takes too long.

My birthday is coming up soon (Feb 28th), so I've asked my family for some cold, hard cash. And with that cash, I will be purchasing this remote control.

This thing is stinking amazing! It plugs into your computer via USB, and takes you to a website. You choose the different components (TV, DVR, DVD, VCR, etc) that are hooked up to your home theater, tell it how things are hooked up (DVD has to have TV set to Input 1). This is all graphical and component specific (so you don't get a generic TV, it's specific to the make and model).

The fact that I don't have to flip between pages in a manual to find the matching code and how to program that code into the new remote is stinking HUGE. If you're intrigued by this remote (like I am), read the review article...it's pretty detailed, but interesting.

Ok...thanks to Grant, I feel I need to state my position on whether I believe Catholics will go to heaven. I do believe that Catholics will go to heaven, though just by being part of the Catholic Church does not achieve heaven. Basically, if you believe that Jesus Christ is God, died for your sins, offers you a righteous standing before God and you continue to believe that way until death, then you will go to heaven. To clarify my statement about the Church: if I join the Catholic Church and don't trust Christ as my Savior, simply being a member of the Church just looks good on the resume I'll turn into Satan at the gates of Hell.

I have 4 main conflicts with the Catholic beliefs, but I've finally come to just leave it all alone since I get so blasted mad at them. But just for kicks and giggles (and to stir up the water, possibly), here are my 4 big "beefs" with the Catholic Church:

1) The Marian Doctrines:
- Mary is the Mother of God: (I'll give my synopsis thoughts at the end)
- Mary is the Mother of All Christians
- Mary was Assumed into Heaven (did not die, just got snatched up)
- Mary Queen of Heaven (the "woman" referred to in Revelation 12:1-6)
- The Immaculate Conception: Mary was born without sin and never sinned
- Mary the Mediatrix: basically that she has a role in redemption. This is still disputed within the Church and not fully accepted to my knowledge
- Perpetual Virginity: she never had sex and remains a virgins eternally.
- The Second Eve: basically that Jesus was the Second Adam, and Mary was the 2nd Eve. Their logic makes sense (Eve was in the garden, too, therefore there MUST be a 2nd Eve!!!), but is not supported by Scripture.

My synopsis: utter bull crap on all points. To me, this is flat out heresy.

2) Doctrine of Justification by Grace & Works: you will need to scroll down about halfway to get the Catholic view of Justification, as the article begins with the "wrong" view (Protestant). Basically, that salvation through faith alone by grace alone is not sufficient for salvation and that works are REQUIRED for salvation. On this point, at the surface level, both parties (Catholics / Protestants) look like they agree: works are a naturally outflowing of the salvation you possess. However, when you look deeper into the Catholic Catechism, you'll see an ever-growing divide between the two doctrines.

3) Purgatory: that's crap through and through. The Scripture tells us we are justified by God and stand unaccused before the Throne of God. If, then, we are required to purify ourselves in Purgatory after death, then God is a liar and our faith is worthless. What a weak God we would serve if Purgatory we true.

4) Transubstantiation: Basically, that during communion, the bread literally becomes the flesh of Christ, and the wine literally becomes the blood of Christ. I'm not so hugely opposed to this one, as they can make a decent argument for the practice. However, it's amazing to me they use the same Bible as we do: haven't they read Hebrews 9???? (specifically chapter 9, emphasis on verses 23-27).

Those are my main disagreements with the Catholic Church. Now, I believe you can see these points as TRUE and still go to heaven (if you have your faith and trust established in Christ). However, these are just things that get in the way of the Christian life.

I'm open to ridicule if one sees fit, but this is the way I (and a few others...roughly everyone not Catholic) interpret the Holy Word of God.

I just purchased Kill Bill Vol 1 and Vol 2 on DVD from Barnes & Noble (Christmas gift card). I saw the movies right after they came out for rent, because I could never find the time (or interested friend) to go see it in the theater. Having seen it the first time: I was shocked by Vol 1, and awed by Vol 2.

Rewatching these movies recently (back to back over the course of the whole weekend), I am reminded again how freaking amazing Quentin Tarantino is as a director! I believe my favorite part of the movies is easily the music...very spaghetti-western with some techno/funk mixed in.

Vol 1 is very, VERY graphic, but yet amazing. Vol 2 can be seen without seeing Vol 1 (but really, you gotta see them both!), and is more plot-line and character development based.

Is it just a "guy thing" to attach yourself to a movie and its characters? I really got into the plot line and emotion created by Bill and the Bride's story. Strange...I can't explain it, but it just drew me in!!

Ok. So what are YOUR thoughts on Kill Bill?

Granddad & Emma 

My parents and grandmother (Dad's mom) came into town on Saturday. We all met over at Amy's house for lunch and to hang out for a bit. Couldn't pass up an opportunity for a family photo!

Ok, I was just commenting on The Steger's blog about something, and realized that I really know about 3 of the 12 blogs in the Blog Ring of Fellowship (or more aptly, The Grove).

So I think we should have a "Meet Your Fellow Blogger" party to meet everyone. Of course, most of you know everyone else since most of you go to The Grove. But since I don't, I think it would be fun to have a gathering of bloggers so we could all meet. Also, it would be handy so that THIS doesn't ever happen again. (sorry Virginia...it's just too funny to let go of quite yet)

So tell me what you think about this party idea. If there's any interest, it will be put together and be a night to remember! (I have glorious visions in my head!)


And Grant, as stated in my comment to Virginia's recent post, you are certainly welcome to come up and join the party if it occurs. We'll make it a point to ignore you for a bit, but will eventually talk to you.