I’ve had a lot of fun updating this blog since I started it nearly three years ago, but the time has come (at least, for now) to move on.
I started this blog back in January 2007 after returning from my first ever trip to CES. As lame as it sounds, that trip literally changed my life and ultimately the direction I wanted to take it. I met some amazing people during and shortly after that trip that showed me anything was possible and I could make one of my dreams a reality.
This blog has been online and active for 2 1/2 years which is an eternity in the blogsphere. So why am I deciding to end it now?
The first reason is time, or lack of. I don’t seem to have as much free time as I did when I started this adventure. I have since moved backed closer to all of my friends and have taken on additional review opportunities online. This gives me less time to devote to the blog, which needs a lot of attention and dedication to be successful. Not only do you have to update your blog frequently, it is also important that you read other blogs and comment there as well. Stuff like this helps to drive traffic to your own site.
In what seems to make very little sense, now that I have moved closer to my friends, I tend to do less “exciting” things and thus, there really isn’t as much interesting stuff for me to post here. Blog posts used to come naturally and I always had something to talk about or an opinion to voice, but that doesn’t seem to be the case anymore. I guess you can say I got boring!
When I started this site, social networking was still relatively new. Now that Twitter and Facebook have changed the way we communicate and share information online, I can simply share my experiences through these mediums instead. Feel free to follow me on Twitter or add me as a friend on Facebook and I will do the same.
I still have a lot of things I want to accomplish and unfortunately this blog is at the bottom of the list. I toyed with the idea of monetizing this blog and changing its focus or even starting a new niche blog altogether, but as I have said in the past, that just didn’t feel right. There are a lot of things about blog marketing and such that I would have to research beforehand and again, I don’t have the time for that right now.
For now, however, I am just going to keep on keeping on and doing the things I love. I still love photography and will continue to post pictures on Facebook and Flickr. I’m still a big Dave Ramsey fan and hard at working paying off all of my old debt. Heck, I might even change my outlook on being single LOL.
All kidding aside, I want to thank everyone who has stopped by, read a post and commented on something here. I am certain the site wouldn’t have lasted this long had it not been for the reader participation during some of the blog’s more active times. I will be leaving the site online as I feel there are some valuable posts that others could learn from.
Last night Adam, Kiwi, Lexie and I went to the Collective Soul concert at Snowden Grove. They were originally scheduled to play last year but ended up canceling for some reason.
This was the first time I had been to the amphitheater and honestly I kinda expected it to be a little larger. We arrived just as Green River Ordinance was wrapping up their set. Surprisingly enough, Collective Soul went on before Gavin DeGraw. I would have guessed CS to be a larger draw than DeGraw, but I guess not. It ended up being for the better, as we all came to see Collective Soul anyway which meant less waiting and we got to leave early!
We found some pretty decent seats on the main concourse level, so nothing to complain about there. The seats directly in front of us were box seats and nobody claimed them, which meant there wasn’t a bunch of people blocking our view. I recorded a couple of my favorite songs which are posted below.
Overall their set was really good. There was maybe 1-2 songs that I wish they had played but other than that, it was very enjoyable. The lead singer Ed really puts some effort into his stage presence which can seem a bit odd at times lol. It was definitely worth the ticket price to see one of my favorite band play some of my favorite songs!
Each 4th of July, it seems we always end up watching a fireworks display somewhere. In 2007 and 2008 we ended up in downtown Memphis. This year, Adam, Kiwi and myself decided to try the Olive Branch City Park. It is much closer than downtown Memphis, much nicer, less crowded and has virtually no crime. It was rumored that the city spent 30 grand on the show, so it was expected to be entertaining.
We got to the park plenty early and found a nice spot to view the display. Seeing as I love photography, I was pretty excited to get some good photos, but that didn’t really happen. The park staff decided to leave the street lights on, so fail there. Also, it was pretty windy so 99% of the over 200 pictures I snapped turned out blurry and unusable. I managed to get a small handful that turned out semi-decent which I have posted below. You can click each photo for a larger version.
You would think that my fireworks pics would progressively get better over the years with experience but that hasn’t been the case. My 2007 set is by far the best and my favorite.
Either way, I had fun at the park and look forward to trying again next year.
After months of being out of commission (one of this friend’s drove it into a telephone pole), Adam’s Montero is finally alive and running again. Adam did some pretty extensive body work a while back but never got around to fixing the engine until this past week. Somehow the only thing busted was the radiator, which is a pretty simple fix.
He was having some issues with the transmission but it just turned out that it was very flow on fluid. 3.5 quarts later and everything was golden. Below is a short video of the test run.
As you can see, it still isn’t quiet street legal just yet so it may be a bit before he can take it down to the woods for some fun. A front bumper, windshield, tags and insurance are all needed. A temporary bumper and windshield should be somewhat easy to come by at a junk yard and the other things are just a matter of money. Some big boy tires would also help to get through the mud but what he has now should be enough to at least make it to the sand bar.
… although the title of this post SHOULD have been “Tunica Sand Bar Riding”.
Keith owns a ton of land in Tunica near the casinos. This was to be the perfect spot to take the go karts on their maiden voyage, but things didn’t go as planned (when do they ever?).
We initially planned to hit the sand bar on the banks of the Mississippi River, but a virtual swamp of mud and water was blocking the truck so we couldn’t get there. This, of course, after a fallen tree had to be removed without the aid of a chainsaw. We ended up hanging out in an open area then went back to the mud / water hole for some more fun. Below are some photos from Adam riding through the mud with his 4-wheeler (click the photo for a larger size).
Below is a short video that Matt recorded. I thought we had a lot more footage recorded but it seemed nobody could figure out how to operate the camera. Technology fail.
As mentioned earlier, the main purpose of the trip was to test out the two go karts. Keith was even brave enough to back his into the mud hole a few times…
And a video below…
Keith and Matt made a nice course to race on, but just as I was getting set up to record some video, disaster struck.
At the end of the video, you can see Keith stopped moving. This was because his entire steering assembly broke at the welds. Sad boosh.
His kart has since been fixed and we are hoping to take another trip down to the woods in a week or so.
A few weeks ago, Keith and Matt got the crazy idea that they wanted to build go karts. Matt already had most of the tools necessary for the build, but having never welded before, it was certainly going to be an interesting project.
The plan was for Matt to build his first as the prototype then they would likely have all of the kinks worked out when it came time to build Keith’s kart.
Here we have the frame already assembled and on jack stands.
These are some pretty decent welds for being a total n00b.
Matt drilling some holes for the back axle mounts.
LOL, yes that is a school desk. He found an old desk and hacked off the seat and welded it in place. No point in spending money for a seat if you can find one for free.
And finally, the finished product! Well sort of, it still needs a floor pan but that should be coming in the next week or so.
The steering shaft and support bars are hacked pieces from old bicycles and the “wheel” consists of two vertically-mounted handle bars. It might look funny, but it works!
The motor is only 6.5 HP but as you can see in the video below, it’s pretty quick. This wasn’t full throttle either.
Besides the floor pan, Matt is going to add a torque converter which will give it a lot more pep off the line. As is, its a little slow until the clutch locks and full power is put down. Either way, it’s pretty sweet and very cool for a built-from-scratch project.
Work started on Keith’s kart today and hopefully should be finished Saturday. The frame was built today and it’s already looking awesome!
Memphis plays host to the World Championship Barbecue Cooking Contest each year as part of Memphis in May. The event itself spans three days and is open to the public, but none of the teams are allowed to sell barbecue (health concerns I’d imagine). So, the only point in going is if you know someone with a tent.
All hope is not lost, however, as last year’s championship team Natural Born Grillers has a restaurant here in Southaven. I just recently heard about it and decided to give it a try yesterday with Keith, Airica, Matt and Laura. I was so impressed that I went back again tonight with Josh, Adam and Kiwi for round 2.
Since there were three of us (Kiwi showed up later), we decided to try the BBQ Lovers Feast which consists of a full rack of ribs, 1/2 pounds of pulled pork, three wings and four side items (barbecue beans, cole slaw, potato salad and french fries). The meal was supposed to come with chicken legs or something but they were out and gave us more pulled pork instead, but I think they short-changed us there because what we got in the package was certainly not 1/2 pound.
Either way, the food was really good. I used the extra pulled port to make a nice sandwich with sweet and spicy sauce. The meat was extremely tender and absolutely delicious. The ribs were also good, although the ones Keith had the night before were a bit better I believe. Potato salad is hit-or-miss but thankfully I really liked their offering.
I’m not entirely sure I would order the group meal again as it seems you could get more for your money buying separate meals, but it was nice to get a sampling of everything. Individual meals only come with a single main course and two side items. After tax and tip, each of us chipped in $15 which isn’t too bad for some world class barbecue! I will certainly be going back here again as it is closer and better than Cork’s IMO.
But seriously, everyone has been to the movies enough to know that you should turn off your cell phone before the film starts and not talk the entire time. The fact that messages like this are still even displayed is pretty lame, but maybe people just can’t read?
Two of my more recent trips to the local theater were pretty much ruined by dumb ass people. The first was a few months ago when Josh and I went to check out a movie (I can’t even remember which it was because I was so pissed). The show starts and there are a few people behind us just talking it up… not even whispering, just flat out talking in their normal voice, acting a fool. This goes on for several minutes before someone asks them to be quiet. They just laugh it off and carry on, before more people get involved. Josh even spoke up once.
Eventually someone decided to go report them to the manager, which didn’t seem to do much good. After a bit, however, a security guard came into the theater and of course everyone shuts up. Not wanting them to get away, Josh blurts out, asking them to please be quiet or leave. This was enough to trigger the security guard to come up and investigate. Thankfully, they shut up from that point on and I believe they even left the movie before it was over.
Fast-forward to today, when Keith, Airica, Matt and myself went to check out the new Wolverine movie. The theater wasn’t too crowded so I had high hopes for an enjoyable time. NOPE, no such luck.
Not even two minutes into the movie, the guy behind Matt gets a phone call and answers it. WTF! He turned around and asked the guy “did you really just answer that?”. The guy just keeps talking so Matt asks if he is going to hang up and the guy just stares at him. Matt gets mad and is like “hang up the f*ing phone” to which the guy replies something like “I’ll hang you up”. Matt then says he wishes he would, but the guy never does anything. Then some lady a few seats down from the guy pipes up and is all like “You don’t need to be talking like that in front of my children” - or something along those lines. Matt then has words with her too. Then she says something about how the guy on the phone “wasn’t even that loud” and he was being louder than him. At this point I’m bracing for a riot lol.
Things quiet down after this but there was another idiot near the front row that would open his phone every 20 minutes or so which was really bright and distracting. Disaster.
Should Matt have been so vulgar? Probably not. Am I glad he said something? Yes.
This crap happens all the time at our local theater and 99% of the time, people are too scared to stand up and say anything. So, it just goes on and on. Pretty much all of my friends hate going to the movies because of this and I know we aren’t alone.
I don’t really know what can be done, but the theater staff should at least try to limit this kind of activity. It’s sad when the thought of having someone monitor the crowd for behavior is appealing.
Have you ever had a less-than-pleasant experience at the movie theater?
One of my goals in life is to go somewhere with white sandy beaches and clear (or blue?) waters and just relax. Maybe the Caribbean, Bermuda, Jamaica or Mexico. I’ve always found these places to be extremely beautiful in pictures and on TV and have always wanted to see it in person, but it never seemed like a reality because nobody I know would want to go.
So, about a week ago, Keith, Josh and myself were out eating and we somehow got on the topic of cruises. None of us have been on one, but I have heard a lot of good things about them through Kiwi, as her family takes cruises pretty often. Again, something that sounds like fun, but I never saw myself doing because I didn’t figure anyone I knew would be interested. But strangely enough, both Keith and Josh were all about it. This has potential.
I’ve done some research the past few days and it really seems like an awesome idea. Prices aren’t too bad for a 5-7 day cruise to most anywhere in the Gulf of Mexico. I’d expect to spend around $700-800 for a week’s trip, which includes everything on the boat except alcohol. Yes, unlimited food - I’m sold!
If you have never been on a cruise, basically you sail out of your port at 4pm, are out at sea for a day or two then spend the next few days visiting different ports. Some of the more popular ports include Beliz, The Bahamas, Grand Cayman, Cozumel and the Cayman Islands. While at each port, there are several different activities to choose from. Everything from touring the city/island, riding in a submarine, scuba diving, snorkeling, kayaking, riding dune buggies, etc. Each of these activities is an additional fee, however. But then again, you could just tour the city on your own, check out some shops, restaurants or just chill on the boat and do your own thing.
We really haven’t done much more than talk about it at this point, but early indications are that we will be doing it sometime in the summer of next year. It’s still too early to tell, but there could be anywhere from 4-8 of us going… maybe more lol.
Have any of you been on a cruise before? If so, could you share your experience and perhaps offer up some tips for a first timer?
Josh and I have been planning a Holiday LAN party for a few weeks. It’s been two years since our last LAN party so we were certainly overdue for one.
If you don’t already know, a LAN party is where you and your friends gather, bring your PC or gaming consoles, link them together and play games together! Our past parties have always been PC based but we decided to change it up and try an Xbox 360 LAN this time.
I prefer PC gaming, as it is much easier for me to control using a mouse and keyboard rather than a controller, but either way, each system has its pros and cons. Setup time with a console is virtually plug-and-play, while there is installation and long update / patch waits with PC games. Also, consoles are much easier to transport, but there are a few negatives with consoles. First, you need multiple consoles and televisions, as well as multiple controllers and games. Josh went above and beyond this time and made sure we had plenty of everything for a successful LAN.
As you can see, we had plenty of games to keep us busy both days.
Adam brought over his PS3 and connected it to his 24″ LCD screen. He is the only person that has a PS3 among the group so unfortunately, he was playing alone.
Here we have Left 4 Dead ready to go on one of the big screens.
Some Left 4 Dead split-screen gaming action.
More Left 4 Dead on another TV in the living room.
We also tried Stuntman: Ignition. I really liked this game but I don’t think Keith and Airica did too much.
Lunch time on day 2 and we decided on a Krystal Steamer Pack!
Mmmm delicious!
Winner! hah
Watched some of The Dark Knight while eating.
As evening approached, some bad weather moved into the area. Luckily there were no power outages to disrupt our gaming.
Some of the other snacks and food we had.
We finished the night off with UFC 92 which was one of the better UFC events this year. Notable victories include Quinton “Rampage” Jackson’s first round knockout of Wanderlei Silva and Rashad Evans capturing the light-heavyweight title from Forrest Griffin via 3rd round TKO stoppage.
Overall, a very successful post-Christmas LAN party. I was unsure if I would like doing consoles instead of PCs but I think it worked out much better. Not having to spend hours waiting for PC games to install and update was a huge plus. Now we just have to work on getting everyone a 360 system and copies of good LAN games
Big thanks to Josh for hosting this event and all of the hassle he went through to get it running smoothly; it totally rocked!
