I finally made it out to get a new fan the other night.  It is by far the nicest fan I’ve ever had. It features 4 timer settings, 3 speeds, 3 different types of wind (I don’t really understand that part), and of course it oscillates. Part of me wants the temperature to warm back up so I can find out just how good it really is.

Tera and I have really struck out when it has come to movies recently. The first in our string of failure was the movie I Know Who Killed Me. The plot revolves around a girl who is kidnapped and found, but she then thinks she’s somebody else. I won’t ruin it but it’s one of the worst movies I can remember seeing. I would give it an D. Tera actually didn’t hate it so it may be alright for some people. The next dud we came across was Lars and the Real Girl. The movie focused on the main character, Lars, having some serious mental issues and deciding to call a doll his girlfriend. His brother and sister-in-law then attempt to help him until the rest of the town embraces the issue to make Lars more comfortable. Tera hated this movie while I only didn’t like it. I’d probably give it a C-. The last movie, Michael Clayton, had a lot of promise. It seemed painfully boring and didn’t make much sense. We were both tired at the time and were fighting to stay awake so it is possible the movie may have been better if we weren’t falling asleep. Either way, I’d give it a D because it didn’t pull me in at all. I kept asking myself “I don’t know what the ending is going to be and I really don’t care.” Terrible. We turned it around yesterday though by watching The Water Horse: Legend of the Deep. The “Water Horse” was the Loch Ness Monster. The movie followed a boy who discovered the egg of the baby monster and soon became best friends with the hatched creature. It wasn’t anything spectacular but I’d give it a B.

Not too much else has been going on. Andy returns from China next Tuesday night. I complained to him about the 90 degree weather here but he said temperatures had broken 110 for the past few days there. Crazy heat.

Nothing new has been going on lately. I’ve been sick for the last few weeks but that’s been about it. Hopefully it starts to fade soon because it has really started to get annoying.

Weezer’s new album “The Red Album” came out yesterday. From what I’ve listened to so far I’d have to say it’s one of their better recent albums. Considering the fact three years have gone by with nothing new, anything is going to be better than nothing. It’s different but in a good way.

MMA had it’s network television debut on CBS last Saturday featuring Elite XC. The show felt more like WWE than true MMA. I could go on and on about what I didn’t like about it, but it’s better than nothing. If I had paid money for it rather than watching for free I would have been outraged.

Work has been boring lately. There seems to be nothing to do around here besides sit on the internet. As good as that may sound to some, it’s not!

The past week was busier than I thought it would be. One of the other student workers at CNS had some problems and didn’t make it in for most of the week. That led to the front desk being manned by me for about every morning and parts of the afternoons. Not fun.

Tera celebrated her 21st birthday last week. She had to work on her actual birthday which sucked, but we went up to The Funny Bone in Columbus with Mark on Saturday. We left around 1:30 and went to Easton to walk around. At about 5:15 we went in to eat. The food was pretty good but nothing too amazing. 7 managed to roll around and the first comedian came up. We’re pretty sure he’s there all the time and is the usual opener for The Funny Bone. The next guy, Gary Menke, came on and he was hilarious. Probably the best of the three. He finished up and Gerry Dee took over. He was ok. After the show we headed back to Mark’s place and hung out before coming back Sunday morning.

Weezer has a new album on June 3rd which I am very excited for. The new video is definitely one of my all time favorites already due to the vast amount of viral mockery. If you don’t recognize a lot of the scenes then it probably won’t do much for you; however, if most of it is familiar in some shape or form it will be worth watching. Check it out on the media page.

The past weekend was a lot of fun. Tera and I went to Columbus to celebrate my friend Mark getting into Vet School. It was nice to see some people I haven’t seen in a few months. Probably one of the best parties I’ve ever been, too. And surprisingly, there wasn’t a lot of drama.

Sunday is the Super Bowl. As much as I want to pick the Giants to win, I just can’t. My official prediction: Patriots over the Giants 31-17. I hope it’s closer than that. This is certainly a year when I’m expecting to be entertained by the commercials more than the game. There’s been so much hype about the Patriots being 19-0 that I’ve just accepted that it’s probably going to happen.

Duke has now reached a #3 ranking in the polls. As much as I want to believe they’re that good, I’m not quite sure. I would have them in my top 10 but not top 3. The nice thing right now is knowing that they are at least that good. Unlike last year, each game feels a bit more comfortable.

Tera and I watched one of the creepiest movies that I’ve seen in awhile called “Joshua” last night. It was about a family of 3 that just had a new baby girl. The son, who is about 9 years old, starts making strange things happen in order to basically ruin their lives. It was one of those movies that I don’t know if I would recommend even though I kind of liked it. If you’re in the mood to watch a movie that makes you through up your hands in wonder of what the heck you’re seeing, go for it.

Time to get back to homework.

Barry Bonds broke the home run record Tuesday night by hitting number 756 off of Washington Nationals pitcher Mike Bacsik. Bonds immediately looked relieved to know that the chase had finally come to an end. Still, questions remain about whether steroids were involved on his way to the record. It is an argument that may never come to a conclusive end. Following Bonds’ record breaking home run, a video was played on the big screen at AT&T Park from Hank Aaron, who had held the record for 33 years, congratulating Bonds on his achievement. As for those who claim that Bonds cheated his way to the top, Bonds claims that “this record is not tainted at all…at all, period.” Bonds added to the record the next night by hitting number 757.

Coaches hoping to text message their favorite recruits will have to restrain themselves from the temptation. The NCAA’s board of directors decided to let the text messaging ban it approved in April stand, not to be touched again until January’s annual NCAA convention. “The proposals were discussed in April and the board of directors followed the advice of student-athletes that text messaging be eliminated,” Division I vice president David Berst said. “I think even then the board realized there might be a better solution than elimination but we haven’t seen any yet.”

Tera and I saw “The Simpsons Movie” Tuesday night. I didn’t have my hopes up because I wasn’t sure if it would be that good, but it was. The movie definitely lived up to the hype. There were many memorable quotes and it never got boring. I highly recommend checking it out.

After a nasty storm last Wednesday night I decided that I really need to make an image of my tablet sooner than later. The storm screwed up at least one laptop that was on campus at Muskingum and required a complete reinstallation of Windows. I don’t want that to be me. If the site seems to be running slow over the weekend at any time, I’m probably ghosting. Last night was when I wanted to do it but more storms were looming in the distance.

The wait for Barry Bonds to break the home run record will have to wait a few more days as the most controversial man in baseball failed to hit number 756 last night at home in San Franciso. He went 0-3 with a walk against rookie pitcher John Lannan, who didn’t seem afraid to go against Bonds. The crowd was hot all night with flashbulbs going off for every pitch. The pressure continues to build up as history stands one home run away.

Global Software Applications recently released a new screensaver for the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children (NCMEC) that is unlike any other. When activated, the screensaver displays up to date images and information of missing children. Cases both old and new are being shown in hopes that they may be solved. According to Bob O’Brien, executive director at NCMEC, 800,000 children are reported missing each year in the United States. “We’re offering this new tool because we know that photos work. In fact, one in six of the children featured in our photo distribution effort is recovered as a direct result of the photo.” Implementing the milk carton concept into a screensaver is certainly an innovative way to help missing children.

Following my return to Cambridge last weekend, I made sure to purchase the Two-Disc Special Edition 300 dvd’s that came out last Tuesday. I rarely buy any dvd, but 300 was an easy choice. Amazon.com says “The epic graphic novel by Frank Miller (Sin City) assaults the screen with the blood, thunder and awe of its ferocious visual style faithfully recreated in an intense blend of live-action and CGI animation. Retelling the ancient Battle of Thermopylae, it depicts the titanic clash in which King Leonidas (Gerard Butler) and 300 Spartans fought to the death against Xerxes (Rodrigo Santoro) and his massive Persian army. Experience history at swordpoint. And moviemaking with a cutting edge.” One of the most amazing parts of this movie for me is the amount of editing that went into making it appear the way it does. So much of the movie was shot with blue screens and limited sets, yet on the screen it is an entirely different world.

Suspended Tennessee Titan Pacman Jones has found something new to do in his time away from football: professional wrestling. Jones will debut Thursday night on TNA iMPACT! on SpikeTV. Of all the career moves he could have made, this has to be one of the worst. Don’t get me wrong, I personally don’t see anything wrong with wrestling; however, most people will see this move and completely write him off even more. This move shows to me that he doesn’t care anymore. If he truly wanted to return to the NFL he should be far out of the spotlight or be in the spotlight for something positive. By joining a wrestling world that is now being hammered with steroid accusations more than ever, Pacman is inviting more negativity into the wrestling world and his own.

The Media page has finally been updated again so go check it out!

I’ve been incredibly busy since I got back so sorry for the lack of updates. I worked with the new video system at church for Vacation Bible School all of last week which left little time to be at home. After working 9-5 at CNS, I would head home for a minute before making it to church to work from 6-9ish. It was a lot of fun so I’m not complaining.

The new video system is amazing. We have 3 projectors with two in the front and one displaying an image in the back to allow whomever is up front to see. VBS mostly used it to play a DVD with songs and dances on it, although I put together a small PowerPoint slide show for them. For Sunday I set up a full schedule in EasyWorship which is a program for churches with songs and scriptures built in. Everyone seemed impressed and happy with it which was a big relief. Plus there were no major problems for the first day. As long as it continues to go smoothly, I think all of the skeptics will be proven wrong.

This weekend was just as busy. Tera and I watched The Matrix Saturday before going to Zanesville for the night to hang out at Andy’s. Joey, one of my friends that I grew up with while he still lived in Cambridge, stopped by on his way home and stayed for the day on Sunday. I gave him a tour of Muskingum and we went to Salt Fork to hang out.

As fate would have it, all of Muskingum’s new computers and monitors are set to come in today. Fan-freakin-tastic. I really need another vacation.

My vacation went by way too fast. Tera and I left Sunday morning around 8:30 and got back in around 5pm last night. I had a great time and it was a good break. We didn’t get lost too much and traffic wasn’t that terrible.

Soon after I got home I went down to church to work with the new video projection equipment we had installed. It was actually much easier than even I had imagined and I did a lot of quick work for Vacation Bible School that was going on. Everyone there seemed impressed which was good to see. I’m going back down tonight to work on it more so hopefully that goes as well as last night.

The Columbus Destroyers shocked the world yet again last weekend when they defeated the Georgia Force in Atlanta 66-56 to win the AFL National Conference and advance to Arena Bowl XXI. The Destroyers led 41-21 early in the second half and looked to make the game a blowout. But the Force seemed to recover from a shaky first half and rallied to pull within 6 late in the 3rd quarter. After losing their lead in the 4th quarter, it appeared that the clock was about to strike midnight for the Destroyers. But keeping their poise, Columbus didn’t give up and now has a ticket to the Arena Bowl July 29 in New Orleans.

Falcons Quarterback Michael Vick will need to shift his focus away from football and more on what seems to be the new favorite past time for NFL players: legal troubles. After a thorough three month investigation, Vick has been indicted by federal authorities in connection with dog fighting in a home Vick owned in Virginia. While the indictment isn’t proof of Vick’s guilt, it certainly is a tough blow to one the NFL’s most exciting players. NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell has taken no prisoners when it comes to suspensions and player conduct. Cincinnati Bengal’s wide receiver Chris Henry and former Chicago Bears defensive tackle Tank Johnson are each facing an eight game suspension for off the field incidents. Tennessee Titan’s running back Pacman Jones faces a one year suspension for his seemingly constant altercations with authorities. Regardless of what the final outcome is, Michael Vick may be facing a suspension sooner than later.

It’s been a busy week and it’s only going to get busier. I spent most of the week at work and with Tera since she had a few days off. We watched a couple movies, “Candy” and “The Last Mimsy,” which were each really good. A friend had asked me to look at her computer since it had been acting slow lately. I booted it up last night and it took forever just to get into Windows. The problem wasn’t spyware or a virus as I had originally suspected. It appears to have a dying hard drive. I was going to back up the files to my flash drive but noticed that her My Documents folder was nearly 4GB, so I didn’t exactly have the room. Besides all of that I’ve been getting ready to go to Maumee Bay with Tera Sunday-Tuesday. It should be fun as long as we don’t get lost.

David Beckham and his family arrived in Los Angeles last night to move in to their new $22 million, 13,000-square foot villa in Beverly Hills. Beckham will make his debut with the Los Angeles Galaxy in Major League Soccer. Many people are hoping that Beckham’s star power will attract more of a fan base for MLS and soccer in America. While I enjoy European soccer, I still don’t think I will be able to pay much attention to MLS, mostly because it’s still hardly on television. As far as attracting more fans, with teams in only 13 cities, it may still be hard to reach the masses.

I just saw a trailer for the new “Get Smart” movie starring Steve Carell. I can’t wait to see this movie when it comes out. The original 1960’s show with Don Adams was hilarious and I think that Carell will play the part great. With all of the lackluster movies based off prior movies or old television shows, I think this one will be worth it. If you want to check out the trailer, head over to the Media page.

Happy Independence Day everyone. I’m not sure whether or not I’ll go to the fireworks here in Cambridge tonight. The weather does not look promising. Some nasty thunderstorms have blown through Columbus and are heading this way. Maybe they will blow over and the fireworks show can go on.

In additional iPhone rambling, the process of replacing the iPhone battery is laughable. Not only must you pay $6.95 for shipping, but you must also waste $79 on the new battery itself. Apple claims that it will only take 3 days, but that may not always be the case. To make the process even more of a headache, you must back up all of your data because it will be cleared when the battery is replaced. Why must the data be cleared? That makes no sense to me.

Tera and I watched “The Messengers” a few nights ago. It was the standard PG-13 horror movie. Nothing special about it. Many traditional plot lines were used, making it somewhat predictable. Add on to that a few obvious movie errors, and you have a average movie. I wouldn’t recommend it.

Rafael Nadal finally picked up the win against Robin Soderling after a few long days at Wimbledon. Rain was determined to interrupt the match and make it hard on the players. Originally scheduled for Saturday, Nadal and Soderling managed to pick up the victory in 5 sets. After problems such as this, I have to wonder why they don’t have some type of retractable dome. Forcing games to be played over days just isn’t fair.

The rain has begun. Again, everyone have a safe and happy 4th of July!