Officer Krupke, Krup You!

I'm so pissed! After returning from a nice trip back home last weekend, I was greeted with a letter in the mail from San Francisco Traffic Violations Bureau. On my way to SFO airport to go skiing in Vail last month (wow it seems like so much longer ago than that), I was photographed going through a red light. Since a month had passed, I figured they must have just let it slide...well I thought wrong! And I couldn't believe the amount...$400! Ya, to put that in perspective, I flew to NYC and had $100 cash in my pocket for that! Ugh...I felt like I had just been raped (well, not literally, but if money could rape you, I think that's what it'd feel like)...



Another bonus blog question...The title of this blog is a line from which musical?

East meets West!

This was it (a couple weekends ago)...my much awaited weekend to NYC to visit Aaron and B-Black! I caught the red eye from San Fran at 11 PM Wednesday night and landed in Newark at 7 AM. Luckily, I took my benedryl and was able to catch a bit of sleep on the plane. Enjoy my picture blog of NYC!

I gotta see my homeboy Joba Chamberlain pitch an inning at a Yankees game!

Us at Central Park...that place is huge! We got interviewed by the Discovery Channel on a special they're doing on the rainforest. They were pretty impressed with our knowledge...they'll probably be calling us for future specials :)


Time Square at night is a sweet place!


This was our Broadway show of choice (my choice). The biggest regret of the whole trip was that I didn't choose Phantom of the Opera (across the street). The consulation was that our tickets were amazing...8th row in the center!

The sweetest pub ever! It was no surprise that the chugging champion was yours truly :) We were all having a good time until Black took out our old Irish waiter with his drunken elbow!


We lost Aaron's two umbrella's during our night of debauchery, but luckily, I found this sweet one at Grand Central Station!

Ground Zero...


If you squint you can see Lady Liberty! (Aaron, did you know if you use the zoom feature, you can make far away objects look bigger? :)


Damn eagles landing on Aaron's head!


NYC...no place like it

I can't wait to go back! Aaron was a great host, putting up with my indecision about which Broadway show to go to, chosing Xanadu, and then whining that we didn't go to Phantom (I'm sure no one can picture this!) And Black was a trooper for sleeping on the couch so I could have the air mattress (Black sleeping on a couch in his underwear with the TV on...can anyone see this happing? :) With all the changes that happen in life (i.e. friends spread throughout the US)...it's good to see that some things stay the same!

He's heating up...He's on fire!

So I feel a bit arrogant/cocky when I write about my steller sports performances, but I've gotta share my excitement! Last night was my weekly basketball night and I played out of my mind! I was like 12/18 from three point land! I mean, I've never been the guy who people are trying to set picks for to get open, but last night...that was me! Off the dribble, around the screen..."Boom goes the dynamite!" (to quote an amateur sportscaster on UTube last year) I always knew I had it in me...it happened to me once in an AAU basketball game in 7th grade, it's just taken until now for it to resurface! Alright...I'm done now :) BTW, whoever recognized the NBA Jam quote gets a gold star!

BBQ Cook-Off...Californiaized

This weekend was a more fun one than usual. My friend, Steven, hosted a BBQ ribs cook-off. Now I'm a big fan of some good BBQ, so I was pretty excited to take part! I think I've come to like BBQ more since I've moved to California, because there's really not much of it around. So when I run into some good BBQ sauce it's really tantalizing to my taste buds. I chose to use the crock pot with my ribs in order to make them more tender and since it'd take less hassle. I chose beef ribs, knowing that they wouldn't be as tender as pork, but I just couldn't get myself to buy pork over beef :) I used a recipe that my sister gave me from one of her Southern Missoura friends (yes I replaced the "i" with the an "a")...so it's authentic BBQ. I also made my mom's famous corn casserole as a side (between White House Thanksgiving and house dinners, I'm sure most of you have tried it at some point!)

There were 4 judges who judged about 7 different rib dishes. We all were tasting eachother's ribs while the judging was going on...and people were really liking my ribs. I was tasting other people's too and they were pretty good. One thing that concerned me was that mine were the only beef ribs...I began to second guess my snub of the pig. Other people had definitely "Californiaized" their BBQ sauces. "Californiaize" is a phenomenon I've noticed here...people take normal simple food and add California twists to it...for example adding cilantro, citrus flavor, jalepeno, etc. to the BBQ sauce. Even classic dishes like potato salad, coleslaw, and baked beans in restaurants around here have different herbs and spices added to them. Not that it's bad...it's just different!

Well, I didn't end up winning :( But my ribs and corn casserole were very popular! I think if I'd have used pork, and done some Californiazing I may have had a better shot. But I'm gonna stick to my Midwestern roots and stay simple...all you need for good BBQ is KC Masterpiece and liquid smoke! There's no place for cilantro and citrus in my sauce! Either way it was a beautiful sunny afternoon and Steven's parents' house has a nice backyard and pool. Friends, pool, sun, a keg of home brewed ESB, and BBQ...Saturday's don't get much better!

Spring Softball

So I'm on a men's softball team with some friends and we had our first game tonight. I was pretty nervous because I haven't played since college intramurals (who remembers the days of the Radicals dominating UNL?!) (Zach, you probably have a more vivid memory of being dominated BY the Radicals in softball :)) And the last time I played, I think I struck out (even though we almost won the All-U tourney)...so needless to say I was a bit concerned that my California debut could be a bit under par. Well, I must say, tonight this Husker showed up in true Big Red form! I was a perfect 5 for 5 with 2 RBI's with the bat and was a freakin' maniac in outfield! :) I had the best catch I've ever had in my life...it was hit deep over my head, so I was sprinting and caught it Willie Mayes style over my shoulder on a dead sprint with my arm stretch out! It was a thing of beauty....even the other team congratulated me on the catch. My teammate overhead their third base coach say "there's no way he's gonna catch that." Oh ya baby...he did, he did! I'll admit I'm a bit worried now is that I pulled the best game of my life out of my ass and now I have nowhere to go but down from here :) Or maybe my days as a Radical have prepared me now for days of glory as a member of the Jerkstore (our team name). By the way...the Jerk store called, they're all out of you!