Feels like Summer

Planting veggies...

We've had a great couple of days for summertime weather. Rowan's been talking about summertime for a few weeks now. I think she may have actually talked it into coming around.

We found out this week we're having a baby boy at the end of September. Rowan is quite excited to be a big sister. I anticipate her being a very big helper when her brother arrives. We don't have a name yet, but we're working on it. Thanks for all the suggestions!

New Horsey named Chocolate

My review of Thor is up on the main page. We really enjoyed our first summer movie of the season. This week, Bridesmaids looks really funny and we can't wait for The Hangover Part II later this month. [IMDb.com]

Sheridan Stables are full for the summer. All 6 stalls have horses in them and things are progressing nicely. We haven't been able to start on the pastures yet due to the wet spring we've had. Might have to stick to the hay field and start the pastures next year. The ground needs to dry up quickly in order for us to do it all this year.

Here's the links I've accumulated since my last blog update.

This week's News Quiz. [Chicago Tribune]

A great story of two family miles apart that connected through the devastating Alabama tornadoes a few weeks back. [Washington Post]

Students with President Bush on 9/11 tell their story of how they remember that day. [Time]

Making sense of organic foods. [Chicago Tribune]

Story of the man who tweeted the raid on Osama's place. He's a pretty good read on Twitter (@ReallyVirtual). [Time & Twitter]

Piggyback ride with Mom during JDRF Walk

The Space Shuttle program is retiring this year. The remaining shuttles will be donated to several places around the country. Amazingly, Houston wasn't one of the places. [NASA & Crunch Gear]

The cleanup from March's earthquake continues in Japan. Here's a great story of people braving the nuclear threat to save a group of dogs. [Japan Times]

Japan Self Defense Forces, their military, has stepped up big time to help find survivors, collect the dead, and begin the rebuilding effort. [Japan Times]

Tsunami warning stones saved one Japanese town, I'm sure more will be made to save others in the future. [New York Times]

Prolific tweeter Andy Carvin (@acarvin) keeps the world updated on the Arab Spring and other happenings around the world. [Washington Post & Twitter & Guardian]

Have a great weekend!

**************************

Oscars

My picks for 32 points
Picture - King's Speech
Actor - Firth
Actress - Portman
Supporting Actor - Bale
Supporting Actress - Leo
Original Screenplay - Inception
Adapted Screenplay - Social Network
Director - Fincher
Animated - Toy Story 3
Art Direction - Inception
Cinematography - King's Speech
Film Editing - King's Speech
Costume - Alice in Wonderland
Score - Social Network
Doc. Feature - Restrepo
Song - Toy Story 3
Visual Effects - Inception
Makeup - Wolfman
Foreign Language - Biutiful
Sound Editing - Inception
Sound Mixing - Inception
Live Action Short - Na Wewe
Animated Short - Day & Night
Doc. Short - Strangers No More

Brooke's Picks for 27 points
Picture - King's Speech
Actor - Firth
Actress - Portman
Supporting Actor - Rush
Supporting Actress - Adams
Original Screenplay - Kids' Are Alright
Adapted Screenplay - Social Network
Director - Hooper
Animated - Toy Story 3
Art Direction - Inception
Cinematography - Black Swan
Film Editing - Social Network
Costume - True Grit
Score - Social Network
Doc. Feature - Exit Through The Gift Shop
Song - Toy Story 3
Visual Effects - Inception
Makeup - Wolfman
Foreign Language - Biutiful
Sound Editing - Inception
Sound Mixing - Social Network
Live Action Short - Na Wewe
Animated Short - Let's Pollute
Doc. Short - Killing in the Name

It's ON!

- Posted via iPhone BlogPress app

Location:Thompson Rd,Fort Wayne,United States

Pitchers and Catchers Report Today!

Rowan style!

Spring must be right around the corner, because the Cubs are starting Spring Training in Arizona! There'll be springlike temps this week in Fort Wayne. 50 degrees on Thursday? We were at -10 last Thursday! Crazy...The winds last night were enough to blow you over, so the weather is changing. [MLB.com]

Happy Valentine's Day!

Last week's News Quiz. [Chicago Tribune]

After last week's Snow Farm story, here's the next progression in a snowpocalypse winter, your roof coming down on you. [New York Times]

Did anyone print out the Popdose Oscar ballot? Anyone studying up for the Oscars on February 27th? Here's a rundown of some of the best short film categories, which are divided into three groups: animated, live action and documentary. [Popdose & New York Times]

Toy Story 3 is up for the big one, Best Picture, and the Best Animated film. Lots of time and work went into the third installment. With 10 Best Picture nominations now, films like Toy Story 3 can get into the discussion for the big prize. [IMDb.com & New York Times]

IU basketball is improving in fits and starts. One great game, winning or losing, followed by a real dud. Easy to forget where IU was just two seasons ago. This story about IU student manager Mike Santa reminds us just how far he and IU have come in less than 3 years. [Inside Indiana]

Twitter humor! Fake Twitter accounts are the best at parody and some seriously funny stuff. I follow a couple of these including Harry Caray's Ghost and Not Steve Jobs. [New York Times]

Square Board will be open in two weeks! The NCAA games will be available for anyone this year as all the games move to cable television. Beginning this year they're also staggering the start times so we can see all the buzzer beaters. [SpydeysWebb NCAA Games & ESPN]

Enjoy this great weather!

Who's this?!?

****************************

Super Bowl Weekend

Snow sliding with dad

It's Super Bowl weekend! We throw the fantasy football party at our place. This will be the first one on the farm. Should be a great turnout and the potluck brings out some very good grub. Now let's just hope we have a great game to watch. My prediction: Packers 31 - Steelers 27.

The holiday on Wednesday went off great. Holiday you say? Yeah, Groundhog Day! It happened to correspond with a huge winter storm that kept us home for a snow day. Very nice. The sleet we got made the snow heavy but the total snowfall was around 10" at the farm. Oh, and Punxsutawney Phil didn't see his shadow, so spring is right around the corner!

Nominations for the Oscars were announced last week. I think seeing The King's Speech was a very good idea! It leads all movie noms with 12 including the big ones for screenplay, director, and best picture. I have the scorecard for the Oscar Game already. You can download and print it off on the Popdose site. I was thinking about collecting $5/entry to make it interesting. Last year it was just Brooke and I with entries, and I came back for the victory because Brooke choose the wrong Supporting Actress winner. Either way we do it, it's a fun game. So if you want to play, print off the scorecard, make your picks and get them to me before Oscar night on Feb. 27th. I'll be including this info on future posts this month. [Oscars.com & IMDb.com & Popdose]

Moon Dough farm at the farm!

Here's a cool study guide link for Oscar nominated films you might not know about. [Huffington Post]

Another prediction study guide for who's looking good to take home the golden guy. [Time]

This week's News Quiz. [Chicago Tribune]

Where does Boston put all their 70+ inches of snow? Snow farms, of course. [New York Times]

Here's 5 Myths of the Super Bowl for this Super Weekend. [Washington Post]

Stay warm!

*************

She's fly like a G6...

Days are longer, but it's getting COLD!

Here we GO!

We'll kick the post off with more sledding pictures from earlier this week. I love the one where Rowan and Gus are all laid back getting pulled toward the parking lot! Too funny and cute. If you missed the video from the blog post on Tuesday, you need to go to the blog online to see videos. Make sure you do that! Heck, make sure you click and read the blog from the web site! Don't be lazy and read it from your inbox...

We can already tell that the days are getting a bit longer. I think sunrise will move into the 7 o'clock hour this weekend. Still means Brooke's doing most her morning work with the sky dark, but it is getting better. Now the temps are another story. We're going to have our coldest night of the season tonight. I think the low is around 0 with wind chills significantly lower. Nice night to stay home with a book...

Speaking of which, I've just cracked into James Swanson's "Bloody Crimes". It's a dual story about Lincoln's body returning to Illinois and the hunt for Jefferson Davis just after the assassination. I really liked Swanson's previous book on Lincoln's assassination titled "Manhunt", so I'm in for round two. [Harper Collins]

Movies! We're getting closer to Oscar time, so we must catch up with some of the contenders. The nominations will be announced next week, but Brooke and I kicked off the viewing with The King's Speech last night at Carmike. What a great movie. Good story and solid acting made it a lot of fun. I really like Geoffrey Rush, and he does a tremendous job. Colin Firth already took home the Golden Globe for his work in this one and I think he's the odds on favorite to win the Oscar for Best Actor. We'll should be checking out True Grit on our next visit, hopefully soon. [IMDb.com]

Poppa and Rowan, GO BEARS!

Big football Sunday coming up! I know I have quite a few Chicago Bear fans that read the blog. It's been a pretty amazing run for the Bears this year, considering most people feel their quarterback Jay Cutler isn't very good. Cutler is a fellow type 1 diabetic, so I've always been partial to him. However, he has an attitude sometimes that's hard to take. I think that's where people turn on him. The Bears/Packers matchup for the NFC Championship is their first playoff meeting in 60 seasons! These two teams have played each other more times than any other matchup, and this time it's for a trip to the Super Bowl. I'm rooting for the Bears, but I think the Packers will win this one 31-21. In the AFC Championship, I just can't root for the mouthy Jets and would have a hard time putting up with them for two weeks before the big game. So let's go Steelers 31-17!

Happy early Birthday to blog reader Paul Till. He turns 30-something or other on Tuesday the 25th. Happy Birthday Tillbilly!

I have quite a few links saved up, so let's hit this week's News Quiz and to get it started. [Chicago Tribune]

Starbucks is turning 40. So along with a larger 31 oz coffee, they are also changing their logo and some of the imaging. Changes can be seen sometime this spring. [Starbucks]

Some movie links to go with our run-up to the Oscars on Feb. 27th. Here's a list of 50 movies you must see before Oscar night. How many have you seen? I don't know who can do the whole list! Here's another list of the biggest flops of 2010. [Hey You Guys! & Box Office Mojo]

Which way to the car?

How long have humans been drinking wine? A dig in Armenia says it's close to 6,000 years! [Washington Post]

And a good follow-up to how long we've been drinking to how good is the advice you've gotten on the effects of drinking? Most of which is probably wrong![Washington Post]

Thinking about spring gets me thinking about golf. If you've always wanted to play the Masters at Augusta National, you can now on the new EA Sports Tiger Woods golf game for 2011. FORE! [Tees2Greens.com]

Here's a great link on how to reuse your old T-shirts. I've always though I'd get a quilt made of mine and I have some good ones. [Huffington Post]

Try to stay warm! Trust me, Spring is coming!

****************

All Saints' Day

Laughing with mom at Matthew's House Halloween party

Great Halloween weekend. I think Rowan has figured out this candy thing, and she really likes it! She was a very cute pirate this year. ARGH! We had fun trick or treating with cousin Harrison and Grandma in their neighborhood.

Rowan the pirate and her M&M's

Saw a movie last week! Brooke and I went to see RED in the theaters. We really enjoyed it. It was a very good time and we were entertained. It's not going to win any awards, but it was a funny escape movie with good, well-known actors. John Malkovich steals about every scene he's in. The movie is based on a graphic novel written by Warren Ellis. Here's a blog entry from Warren regarding the movie. He's a pretty entertaining guy who has a Twitter account you can follow him on. [IMDB.com & Wikipedia & WarrenEllis.com & Twitter]

I know Secretariat is in the theaters, and we'd like to see that one. The holiday movie season will be kicking off soon with Oscar being the ultimate goal for many of these flicks. The third Batman movie has a name, you'll have to wait until the summer of 2012 for it. [IMDb.com & Screen Rant]

Last week's News Quiz. [Chicago Tribune]

Here's a couple of older links (Link 1 and Link 2) about the new Cubs manager, Mike Quade. I think its a decent hire. Like most things, we'll have to wait and see. As all Cub fans know, there's always next year! [Daily Herald & Chicago Sun-Times]

At Trunk or Treat on Friday

Big Brother is online. Got this interesting link from my little brother, Christian. It's a good, enlightening read. Some might say a bit frightening as well. [Wall Street Journal]

Watch out for new speed monitors in a Trans Am or Dodge Truck! Seen any of these yet, Depune? [WRTV]

Swiss completed the world's longest tunnel under the Alps. [BBC News]

Great sport calls. This guy ranks his top 32. It'll take a while to get through them all, but there's some good ones. [Sports Illustrated]

I enjoyed this commentary from David Brooks last week about the new sitcom format compared to how sitcoms were in the past. [New York Times]


November is here! Mowed for the last time this weekend, yay! It was only the 4th time I did the whole lot since we moved in June.

**************************

How's your Summer going? - Friday July 16th

It's been a while since my last update. There's lots of things going on at the new house which has been keeping us busy. I should have a picture update this weekend with the finished barn and stalls. Brooke and her dad are working on that project right now. Brooke's cousins Sydney and Mike are up from Florida to spend the weekend on the farm. Plenty to do!

That's Rowan in her new pool and swimming suit on the front lawn last weekend. She really likes pouring water over her head in the pool. Water Day at daycare is quite an adventure with this little girl! The video at the bottom is Rowan biking around the driveway on her tricycle. She's getting pretty good at it!

Lots of linkage for this post, since it's been so long...

This week's News Quiz...is back! [Chicago Tribune]

It's been a few weeks ago, but the 30th anniversary of the Blues Brothers was this year. [Chicago Tribune]

This is a long one, so make sure you bookmark to finish, but there's a super computer that plays Jeopardy! And it's pretty good at it. Of course, it's an IBM. [NY Times]

I posted on this a while back, but the post office near Wrigley will be named after Steve Goodman. He's the singer/songwriter that wrote the "Go, Cubs, Go" song they sing after wins (which have been few and far between this year). [Chicago Tribune]

Crazy stuff about sunscreens lately. The FDA does not regulate them, so the SPF numbers above 50 are not really that accurate. Now this report about cancer and sunscreens. Whatever you do, be careful in the sun! [AOL]

Hopefully this cup recycle program for Starbucks will go nationwide. So far, it's in Seattle and Chicago. [Chicago Tribune]

Uncle Depune is looking out for us! Sent me this Indiana speed trap link a few weeks back. If you got hit recently, I should have posted this earlier! [SpeedTrap.org]

IU Cancer Center has some tips on grilling and marinading better. [IU News Room]

Tesselation...Subway's got it down! [Chicago Tribune]

Amazing story of a ship's hull they found in the World Trade Center construction zone. [Washington Post]

Interview with Snopes.com creator. Here's a link for the Snopes site in case you haven't been there before. [NY Times]

Stay cool this weekend! I'll be out mowing the front 4 acres. Enjoy Rowan on her bike...

Back after a Break - Friday June 11th

Back to the blog after a bit of a break. Been saving up some good links to post in a bit, so make sure you check them out.

Been living at Chateau de Mom and Dad over the past almost three weeks. Their hospitality has been great and Rowan loves seeing poppa and grandma every morning and evening. But it's time to get the party started at the new place. Found out this afternoon that we are set to close! The papers will be signed on Monday afternoon and we'll be officially moving to the farm. Hopefully we'll have more exciting news on Brooke's horse business to follow, including a boarder...

Went to see Get Him to the Greek last Friday and we really enjoyed it. Laughed out loud several times. The last third of the movie was a little different than the first 2/3's, but I'd recommend it. Definitely worthy of a DVD viewing at home. A few weeks ago, Brooke had a ladies' night out with the girls from Sex and the City 2. It's getting blasted in the reviews, but she and her friends enjoyed it. I think fans of the show would like it. [IMDb.com & Rotten Tomatoes]

The A-Team opens today. Brooke and I were big fans of that show on TV, so we may be checking it out. Doesn't seem to be getting too many positive reviews, but it's not horrible. Brooke informed me last night that the new Tom Cruise/Cameron Diaz flick, Knight and Day, is a must see for her. I sure hope it's good! [IMDb.com & Rotten Tomatoes]

World Cup 2010 starts today in South Africa. USA vs. England tomorrow at 2:30. With the lousy weather forecast, I think I'll be around a TV for this. I've been talking smack with my buddy Simon in London since the pairings came out in February. Here's a good link for following the schedule of games and teams for the next month. [official FIFA site & Marca.com]

On to the links!

This week's News Quiz. [Chicago Tribune]

Customer loyalty cards via cell phone. [NY Times]

Upgrading the GPS System. [Chicago Tribune]

A BP public relations spoof is getting more hits on Twitter than the real BP account. [NY Times]

Raising kids in the new tech world. I'm guilty of this with my iPhone. By the way, new iPhone 4 coming this month! [NY Times & Apple]

Animal odd couples link from Depune. [NY Daily News]

Video of Rowan taking Butsu for a walk the other evening. She did a pretty good job!

Wrigley Bound Tomorrow - Friday May 14th

The packing continues at Beaverbook. We're surrounded by empty and full boxes of stuff in about every room. Less than two weeks to go until we must vacate the premises. Rowan was enjoying breakfast this week with her Learning Apple, yogurt, milk, and her new favorite: chocolate Cheerios.

Poppa Day at Wrigley tomorrow for Cubs/Pirates. This will be our second annual trip with Rowan's poppas (my dad and Brooke's dad). Last year the Cubbies blew a 9th inning lead but won it in the bottom half of the inning. I'd like another win with less drama. Looks like it will be about 10 degrees warmer this year. It was freezing last year! Hope to have photos up next week of the adventure. [Baseball Reference]

D-Day 20 was on Wednesday. It's been 20 years since I discovered I had diabetes mellitus type 1. Let's just say this past Wednesday was a much better day than May 12th, 1990! Onward...

Saw Iron Man 2 last Friday with Travis and his girlfriend. We really enjoyed it and highly recommend seeing it in the theaters. There could have been more action, but they did a good job with a funny script and it moved along nicely for a 2 hour movie. Robin Hood starts tonight and it looks like a good one too. Russell Crowe does good stuff, so that might be in the queue if we weren't busy packing boxes. [IMDb.com]

This week's News Quiz. [Chicago Tribune]

A Tipping Guide for all occasions. [Chicago Tribune]

Renovation of IU Billy Hayes Track could keep the Hoosiers at the top of track and field talent. [Indiana Daily Student]

The 2010-2011 TV schedules are going to be released next week by the Big 4 broadcast companies. One show surprisingly NOT coming back: Law & Order for it's 21st season. It will remain tied with Gunsmoke for the longest running drama in TV history. [NY Times & Wikipedia]

10 poorly planned construction projects, they broke the bank. [How Stuff Works]

Urban wildlife is becoming more and more prevalent. Here's a story about Chicago's efforts to study and understand it. Plan on seeing our fair share of wildlife at the new house. [Chicago Tribune]

Website of the Week is back for Murals Your Way. An interesting take on 'wallpaper'.


Have a great weekend!

************************

Moving on Out: Tuesday May 5th

Welcome to May. It's been a while since the last post, because things have been busy! We're packing up Beaverbrook and moving at the end of the month. Our offer for a 15 acre property in south Fort Wayne was accepted so we're moving forward on Brooke's horse business!

So, lots of packing and organizing going on at home most nights. Working on a 2 box a night packing regiment, at least we're trying that! Tough to get 7 years of stuff packed up, that's for sure. Helps that it's our association garage sale this week, Thursday through Saturday. Come on by for some deals!

To top it all off, it's Iron Man week! Iron Man 2 opens Friday night and we can't decide if we're going opening night or later on in the weekend. I don't think I can wait too long to see it. I've been waiting for #2 since the first one ended! This weekend really kicks off the summer movie season. There's quite a few good ones coming our way over the next few months. [IMDb.com & Chicago Tribune]

One of our favorite shows, the Big Bang Theory. Mining nerds for laughs. [NY Times]

Not that I see a lot of these, but there's a new Benjamin coming out. [Chicago Tribune]

Corn syrup: good, bad? [Chicago Tribune]

Last week's News Quiz. [Chicago Tribune]

Enjoy this fabulous weather, at least Indiana is having some great weather!

*************************

Spring is Good - Friday April 9

Mom, Rowan, and Della at the Orchard Creek

Interesting week for us. We got an offer on our house and accepted it. Next step finalizing things with the sale and then getting a new place where Della can live with us. We all went out to see Della this evening to put a blanket on her for the cold night. Rowan loved the kitties and the horses at the barn. She better, she'll be seeing more of Big D!

Happy Birthday's this past week to cousin Gus and Nana Brenda. Gus turned 2 on Thursday and Nana, 29 on Wednesday!  ; )

Just how did they come up with Hot Tub Time Machine? The movie director and John Cusack have worked together several times in the past and that helps. Only 28 days to Iron Man 2., could it be as big a hit as The Dark Knight? [IMDb.com & Chicago Tribune & LA Times]

News Quiz and more after this jump!

NCAA National Semifinals - Saturday April 3rd

Happy Easter!

Butler and Michigan State tip off in about an hour. Dad's already there in his seats that Uncle Depune procured for him. Great seats right in the front row of section 545. There's going to be a lot of people there tonight! The games tonight in the Squares Pool run $400/each. Nice.

I'm predicting Butler 68 - Michigan State 62. In the other game I'm taking West Virginia 74 - Duke 70. Let's get it on.

We got out to see Hot Tub Time Machine last week and we both really enjoyed it! Quick 100 minutes, very funny parts, solid script from start to finish, great 80's music...good times. The new movie this week is the redo of Clash of the Titans, and it's getting slayed by the critics (31% fresh)! May have to double think that one...34 days until Iron Man 2. [IMDb.com & Rotten Tomatoes]


Opening day for Major League Baseball is Sunday night with Yankees and Red Sox. Cubs begin the season on Monday afternoon in Atlanta vs. the Braves. Got the SpydeysWebb Hardball fantasy baseball league off and running last night. Great group of guys: Depune, Paul, Ben, Matt, Travis, Shlater, Buzz, and myself. Only Cub I have is Geovany Soto.

This week's News Quiz. [Chicago Tribune]

I didn't have many articles for this week, so I'll included them in the next update. Go Dawgs!

Halfway through the Tourney - Friday March 26th

Blog's been redesigned a bit this week. If you get the post from email, I encourage you to click the post title and go to the blog online. I think it's a cleaner look. Rowan's ready for cruising the neighborhood in her new power wheels ATV from Aunt Lynnette. She's not real gung ho about pushing the button and going, but I'm sure she'll get the hang of it.

Lots of big basketball games last night, tonight, and this weekend, the Pools are heating up. Go Butler!

We've been checking out movies with our Netflix subscription. Last week we finally saw Bond's Quantum of Solace. We both liked it but are eager for the next Bond movie when they reset the story and go in a new direction. This movie was a continuation from 2006's Casino Royale. Next week I think we'll hit the multiplex for Hot Tub Time Machine. It's getting good reviews (and another) and the commercials are working me over. A 1980's period piece, how old am I again? [IMDb.com & NY Times & Chicago Tribune]

A Happy Anniversary to my parents on Saturday: 40 Years! Awesome.

Adding something new this week. To shorten the main page of my blog, I'll be adding a jump to the middle of my longer posts. You can catch the rest of the post by clicking the Read More link below. I'm not sure if this will be included on the emails, if so, click it and you'll go the the new and improved web site! From now on these jumps will be detailed as follows: News Quiz and more after the jump...

Spring Time! Friday March 19th

Brooke had a great 31st birthday on Tuesday, so it must mean that Spring is coming! It officially beings tomorrow, even though it's been in the 60's a lot this past couple of weeks. That Rowan at Wings, Etc. this past weekend. Brooke had a free dinner there for her birthday, and all three of us enjoyed it.

NCAA Tournament is in full swing. There will be lots of blog posts on the two games I'm running from SpydeysWebb.com: Square and Bracket Pools. Poppa Hans already has 1/2 his money back. He wins something every year. Must have a knack for picking the hot square...every year.

Cubs opening day is 17 days away. The guy who wrote and sings the "Go, Cubs, Go" song they play after wins, just may get a post office named for him. [Chicago Tribune]

More after the jump...

Tourney Time Shifter - Friday March 12th

What a great week of weather up here! The snow has melted and we reached upper 60's several days this week. Got out for our first walk and grilled out another night. It's nice enough in the morning that Rowan has moved on to jackets instead of coats. That's her one morning with her Monkey Jacket on.

Anyone print off the Popdose Oscar ballot and play along? Brooke and I tied with 28 points each. We did pretty well with the bigger awards, but she made the wrong move on not picking Mo'nique. That one would have clinched it for her. While I enjoyed Avatar when we saw it in December, The Hurt Locker was a very powerful movie. I watched it last Friday night, Brooke did not. I think she wishes she had now that it won Best Picture, but she didn't feel up for a war movie at the time. And it most definitely is a war movie... [IMDb.com]

Movie insiders love the fact that a movie like The Hurt Locker won the biggest prizes at the Academy Awards. [LA Times]

Don't forget to "spring forward" before going to bed Saturday night. Daylight Saving Time begins at 2AM Sunday morning. We lose an hour's worth of sleep and maybe more. [Wikipedia & CBS News]

Might need that hour with the NCAA Tournament Selection Sunday this weekend. The fax machine will be buzzing with brackets next week as the Bracket Pool gets into full swing. The Square Pool sold out on Thursday and we did the drawing for numbers that night. As always, it's going to be a very fun and interesting three weeks. Don't forget to get your bracket to me by noon Thursday March 18th. [Wikipedia]

News Quiz and more after the jump...

Walkin' & Ridin' with Oscar

First walk of the season!

I watched The Hurt Locker on Friday night and we watched Inglorious Basterds this afternoon. We're ready!

Here's my pics for tonights Oscars based on the Popdose.com ballot I linked to on Friday (Brooke's in parentheses if different).

Our picks after the jump...

Pool's Open - Friday March 5th

It's March. Spring can't be far behind. Rowan's ready to try out this backyard. We're learning the many different uses of brush...you  know, tooth or hair.

This month also brings out the March Madness. The Square Pool was opened this week and is filling up quickly. On Selection Sunday the brackets will be released for the Bracket Pool. Hoosier fans can still be a part of the Dance! [SpydeysWebb & College Hoops Net]

Academy Awards are Sunday. Haven't seen many, but we'll be watching the show. I think it'll come down to Avatar and The Hurt Locker for the big ones. Already saw Avatar and watching The Hurt Locker before the show (maybe Inglorious Basterds if we're ambitious) this weekend. The Hurt Locker has some serious war movies to follow if they take Best Picture. [Oscar.com & IMDb.com & SpydeysWebb & LA Times]

If you want to compete in this year's Oscar winners guessing game, then print off the ballot on Popdose's page and play along! [Popdose]

US cleaned up at the XXI Olympic Winter Games in Vancouver. Most medals ever. Here's a rundown of those who got them. [Vancouver Game & Chicago Tribune]

News Quiz and more after the jump...

Super Bowl Weekend Edition

Rowan reading a book with mom this week. Rowan's had a rough week with a cold, but is getting better. It was nice hanging with her the last two mornings. We had fun...

Finally going to get around to playing this game: Super Bowl XLIV (44 for the Roman numeral illiterate)! I've been thinking about my pick for a while now. I've done pretty well so far in the Divisional round 3-1, Championship round 2-0, Pro Bowl 1-0. I'm making strictly moneyline picks, not working with the spread on these! My call for SB44 is Colts 37 - 31. [NFL.com & About.com]

Fort Wayne Fantasy Football League Super Bowl party and awards at our house on Sunday. It's a tradition, and this year I get to keep the trophy for the Fantasy Bowl. I'm going to savor that reception at halftime on Sunday. We then immediately draw for the draft order for next season. Get started right away! Of course draft day is September 3rd, so we have a long wait. [SpydeysWebb.com]

News Quiz and more after the jump...

Saturday January 30th

Didn't have a picture to add on the blog yesterday, so I saved the update for Saturday and took the photo this evening when we were all playing in the basement.

No real football game this weekend, but I'll say the AFC beats the NFC in the Pro Bowl 52-45. Bring on the Super Bowl!

News Quiz and more after the jump...

Friday January 22nd

TGIF. That's Rowan and me watching some Sesame Street this week. She's getting her hair put up in a ponytail at Matthew's House. I think it may be time for a trim...it would be her first. Early Birthday shoutout to Paul 'Tillbilly' Lang...Happy 40th bro! Just kidding, I know you're younger than I...

We're down to the penultimate football weekend with Championships Sunday. I went 3-1 last week in my picks, the Jets messed me up. Now lots are picking the Jets to mess up the Colts. Not me, Colts 27-17. I'm taking the other home team on the NFC side too, Saints over Vikings 38-34. [NFL.com]

Spring Training is just around the corner. Cubs signed up with the Cactus League for the next 25 years this week. They'll remain in Mesa, AZ. To get you going on Cubbie news (I know you're dying for it), you can find the latest Cubbie blogs to follow. I'm partial to Bleed Cubbie Blue, myself. Another article talking about the Cubs letting Maddux do his thing with the team in ST, especially the pitchers. He's got a great track record for helping guys have career years. [Yahoo.com & Chicago Sun-Times]

News Quiz and more after the jump...