Tuesdays with Muerte

Blessings from the day : *Since the owner messed up our reservation, I thought it would be fair to ask for a discount. Instead of paying $15/ rental package I asked him for the discounted price of $12.50. It worked. *Miraculously, the heavy rain stopped just as we got out of our cars and started up again 6 hours later when we returned to them. *We were able to play games both in the wilderness area and on a speedball course. *We didn't lose or damage any equipment. *Not one of the 15 players were seriously injured after 6 hours of rough play! Tips for Success : *If you are carpooling to some where most people have never been before, be sure to wait for the rest of the caravan. *Bring a ton of water and energy snacks, even if you think it's going to rain. *Protective equipment I will bring next time: knee pads for crouching and gloves. For some reason, everyone gets hit in the hands A LOT! *If you shoot and someone sees you, don't stay in that same p...

In the TV show "Pimp My Ride" , host Xzibit reveals each newly pimped-out vehicle with the line "Sup dawg, we heard you like X, so we put a Y in your car so you can Z while you drive". The Internet liked this line, and started creating its own versions; a meme was born. By the time the picture above appeared, the phrase had mutated into "Yo dawg", and the focus of the meme had shifted to the concept of things inside (or on top of) other things — most commonly presented as an image macro , with or without a superimposed image of a smiling Xzibit. The current Yo Dawg formula goes as follows: "Yo dawg, I herd you like X, so we put a Y in your Y so you can Z while you Z". Successful Yo Dawgs can be obvious, tasteless, escalated, and even meta. Many see this picture as the inevitable and ultimate consummation of the Yo Dawg construct. Stay up-to-date at this unofficial site. If you're thinking, "I still don't know what a M...

So, the internet likes meta stuff. Good to know.

Last night, I hiked up the Y for 3 hours and set up my tent in a nice spot that I had previously staked out. The sky was black. The wind gently rustled the trees through the valley. Just as I unrolled my tent, I heard the loudest grunt and stomping not 50 meters away from me (which seemed like only 10 meter). It was an elk nesting for the night. In that moment, I was ready to turn back around and march right down the mountain. Instead, I said a prayer that the Elk would find me invisible. But as an extra precaution, I urinated around the perimeter of my tent. I heard a little bit of animal rustling during the night, but nothing to be concerned over. My sleeping bag was warm--perfect for the price I paid. Ideally, I would have liked more cushion and more room, but, that is not available in backpacking bags. Most of the night was spent listening to the silence. I'd check my watch every half hour, determined to stay in my tent, until 7am. The next morning, I promptly ...

The Miracle of Adobe Photoshop. Too funny not to post.

. Report  by The Onion

A group of my Carriage Cove friends and I just finished watching the Back to the Future trilogy and are now in search of another to continue our Tuesday night movie tradition. My obvious vote is for LOTR! Other contenders include, The Karate Kid trilogy, the first three major releases from Pixar since the 1990's*, three really good westerns ** and anything with Christopher Walken *** in it. * Toy Story, Toy Story II, Monster's Inc. ** High Noon [1952] with Gary Cooper, The Birth of a Nation [1915], Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid [1969] with Paul Newman and Robert Redford. ***Hairspray, Catch Me If You Can, Blast from the Past.

Tomorrow around 1pm, I plan to meet a man about a sleeping bag. This North Face bag was awarded the "2008 Best for the Northwest" from Backpacker Magazine and retails for $189-$199. The best aspect about the bag is that, unlike down, the synthetics keep you warm even when it's wet! I'm buying it new from a pro fisherman named Clint for only $85. My enthusiasm for this purchase has been stunted by the realization that I could have offered less for it. His online ad said, $110 obo. I replied with "will you accept $85." He immediately returned my reply with "that's sounds great!" I should have offered him $70. If you have any tips for me on how I might be able to still talk him down when I meet him, please let me know. I thought of offering him $70 cash or $85 check but that seems dishonest, like I'm going back on our arrangement. Bare in mind, I haven't yet seen the bag and retain the prerogative of calling the whole deal...

I use the term "late" as in you're going to be "late" if you mess with America. It's a threat.

Dang it Andy! I feel for you, bro. You've been training 8 months for this match, even before the French Open, and you blew it in the second set. The worst part about losing is that you were so close to winning. You had control of the entire match until the very end of the 5th set. You broke twice and Federer only broke serve once--when it counted most. I will be sure to watch the 4 hours and 11 minutes of grueling 5-set match tomorrow when it becomes available online: www.ESPN360.com Here are some primary source news reports: The official Wimbledon Website. Andy's Website Follow Andy on Twitter

Alternative post titles: Hey Pimps! Thanks for the Hits! I need a new hobby. Hoe. Pimp. Dissatisfied Customer. We'ze under quota fo da month. Homegirl better pick things up o yo gonna feel the back uh my hand! Thank you, Sir! May I have another?! If I had a nickle for every hit I've had on this site! [I'd have $150.]

The 45-year-old P90X poster "child", Tony Horton, says the same catch phrases over and over again. If you know Tony's voice, you'll particularly appreciate reading these: I hate it, but i love it! This is X for Xtreme, baby! I know it burns. GOOD JOB …So far. Do your best. Forget the rest! Don't forget to breath. Soft landings. Don't bang your joints; this is a low intensity exercise, like Spiderman, like Catman! This workout may be too intense for some of you right now, but that's why we have the pause button. Take a sip of water if you need it, but KEEP MOVING! The important thing is that you keep coming back every day. You gotta keep pressing play, keep pressing play, keep pressing play! Today, I asked myself the question, "Why did the Lord command us in Moroni to meet oft [weekly on the sabbath] to renew our baptismal covenants? Does the promise of the companionship of the Holy Spirit wear off, and therefore need to be ren...

As the smoke and sulfur dissipate on the morning after the day that marked this great nation's independence, I ask the following question: Who was the key figure in bringing freedom and liberty to the people of America? A. William Tell B. Patrick Henry C. Francis Scott Key D. General George Washington E. The Savior of the World, Jesus Christ Although all of these men did play a role in bringing a degree of Independence to America. The answer I was fishing for was E., Jesus Christ. Through his personal ministry to the Americans [3 Nephi 11-30] and his Atoning sacrifice for all mankind, Jesus Christ became the Savior of the children of this great nation. He promised them freedom not only from unjust dominion of foreign powers but from both physical and spiritual death. Book of Mormon Title Page - How has the Lord provided Americans a way to remember Him? "Wherefore, [the Book of Mormon] is an abridgment of the record of the people of Nephi, and also of the...

Having endured a lonely and boring day, Brian Bean cheered me up by agreeing to play a round of NIGHT FRISBEE GOLF with me. We had just walked home from watching the firework show and there were still sporadic BOOMS and POWS still echoing off the buildings (so I figured it would be too bothersome to add some clanging of frisbees to the night's ambiance. We started playing at 11:20pm and finished just before midnight. We even picked up a player after the first hole, Ryan Tripp. We stopped frequently to chat with others along the way. Brian one with 2 over par and Ryan and I were just a couple of shots over him. At the stroke of midnight, we retired to my apartment for Rhodes rolls that had been sitting out since 4pm. The dough had puffed up from half dollar size to the size of a large man's fist. They were delicious! (It was only after I had popped them in the oven that I recalled that it was Fast Sunday this week. Oh well.) That was just what I need to make up f...

Dream I died early on in last night's dream, but strangely, I didn't wake up. My disembodied spirit was not ready to pass on. It took a day to find my way back to my body and then fight to reconnect with it. After regaining consciousness, I discovered that I was never really the same. I found that I no longer had complete control over my three-part (body/mind/spirit) connection. During the rest of the dream, I could see dead people from my past. I felt like I was losing my mind at times, and I was more susceptible to spiritual possession. It was as if my spirit's act of leaving and coming back had stretched out my soul to a point that there was a gap there where I could inadvertently slip out or unwanted spirits could find their way in.  (Brian Bean thinks my idea would serve as a treatment for a great book or movie—I'd call it, Mortal Virginity.)

The 167th Ward vs 211th Ward: This 10 second video summarizes how our ward team faired against the 211th ward team. It was a massacre; we didn't last 3 minutes. You see all those people waiting in line in the background? Yeah, that's the 167th ward. We played two, quick games before realizing that we needed to switch teams up a bit. Teams ended up being pretty even after that. We split teams according to which half of the year they were born in. We also divided by even and odd birthdays. I think everyone really enjoy themselves when all was said and done. Otterpops at the end was a great touch. My personal favorite part of the evening was rocking out to Journey's "Don't Stop Believn'" on the car ride over. That song touches me.

Happy 4th of July from the friends of the 167th Ward, coming to you from the triangular bit of grass at the intersection of University Parkway and Freedom Boulevard. Feel free to click on the picture below to check out the full resolution cuteness of everybody sprawled out on the grass.