Once you see it, you can't un-see it 3

Do you also see this?

How about like this?


Have you noticed when you're driving away from the sun, your car creates a shadow that looks like Shrek? The side mirrors become the ears and the two people in the front seat become the eyes? hmm... maybe it's just me but once you see it, you can't un-see it.

Chatting it up with the kiddies

We held our Annual Z103/Community Care Easter Egg Hunt over the weekend. I thought it went great - the Easter Bunny showed up a couple minutes late, but it went extremely well. In the meantime, waiting for the Easter Bunny to show up, I grabbed some video talking to the kids around the 8-10 year old paramiter. You'll also see what it looks like to be on the inside of the circle.

Amanda Overmyer - OUT!

Amanda Overrated is officially gone from American Idol. "Why?" do you ask? There are 2 main reasons...
1.) She looks way too much like Candice Cameron America had to let her go.

2.) She wasn't Micheal Johns (who, by the way, will win the whole competition)

My psychic wife

Like most married couples, we're on the same wave length most of the time. She'll say "you know what sounds good?" and I'll say "yeah, Brownstone" then she'll respond back with "How did you know?!"

This statement is nullified based on the fact that Brownstone always sounds good, But just recently we had two fun twists of intuition.

- We were watching Rock of Love 2 and the challenge was to make a music video. One of the songs, Fallen, a song which her and I have never heard before - they listen to a clip for inspiration - about 3 seconds into the clip my wife says "this video would work best in black and white... and maybe have a single rose in color at the end" Sure enough, the team making the music video shot the whole thing in Black and White and, at the end, when the girl got a rose everything went in color... pretty much the same thing.

- Yesterday she calls up saying that we should take our girls to the doctor because they both have wet coughs. They're checked out, nothing too bad, maybe a little drainage... but my wife was pretty certain Lily (our 8 month old) had RSV. Even though the Doctor said it wasn't anything to worry about, she was still insistant on getter her checked for RSV. Fortuantly, our Doctor said that if it would ease her mind she'd test her just to be safe but was pretty sure it was just a cold. The diagnosis? RSV! She turned out Positive for RSV (which is kind of like a polite infant pnemonia... something that Laura (our almost 3 year old) had last year.

Next stop? the gas station for some Lottery tickets!

I'm bringing mullet back

This picture was actually taken several months ago. Last year I was rockin' my blonde, naturally curly hair - but with my receding hairline, the fact that the hair on top of my head refuses to grow longer than a couple inches and the notion that I don't wear a hat all the time, I decided the fun was over and it was time to chop it back to reality... but not before giving myself a sexy mullet.

I don't wear hats too often and I don't have a mullet?! Now I'll never be a country singer.

Super realistic Mario

Someone with way better photoshop skills than I have decided to come up with what Mario might look like in real life... pretty creepy. Click on the picture to see it enlarged (even creepier)

Welcome to scenic Rigby, ID

Decided to take a road trip to the land of 1J Drivers, the birthplace of Television and home of your Rigby Trojans (the school team, anyways). If you've never been to Ribgy, here are a few landmarks for you to discover on your journey.

1J drivers are a myth. We went there and didn't have a problem with any of the drivers at all.

Escargot, my car go, one sixty, swiftly...

We decided to check out Stockman's Restaurant just off of the County Line Road exit - you can't miss'em. Fantastic Steaks (that blackened cajun something or other is the one to get, for sure), but they also had escargot on the menu. I've never tried escargot based on the fact that they've never served it at a fast food place and the fact that it's snails (mostly, the snails part).



My wife decides we should try a new food item once a week so, since it's on the menu, by all means - like roller coasters and airplanes, they'd never have them if they weren't safe.

As it turns out, Escargot isn't that bad at all! Like steamed clams, they taste just like doing a garlic-butter shooter from that Papa John's dipping sauce... which you've done before, right? It has that steamed clam texture so if you're a texture person - maybe not so much for you. The rest of the food at Stockman's was fantastic as well. Any place that has Sweet Potato Fries on the menu has to be alright by me. For dessert, you definitely gotta get the eclairs.

Conversation Heart fried chicken

D - Licious!

'Spy Hunter' Pontiac

This could be the best car commercial of all time... maybe even the best commercial of all time.

she thinks SHE'S the passionate one

Yep, Laura loves Sweet's Ballroom Blitz... and, yep, this song didn't originate from Wayne's World.

BTW: If you remind me that I have power cords that are too easily accessible for small children, I'll remind you that you probably grew up in a house with loose asbestos and lead-based paints.

Ruby River Rocks!

Admittedly, I've never been to Ruby River Steakhouse until tonight. If you have small kids, you know how hard (and sometimes how embarrasing) it is to eat out of the house. Especially when those small kids are 8 months old and almost 3 years old.

We, at work, had visitors from out of town teaching us how to use our new texting service. Thinking about places to eat, Ruby River was brought up and I brought up the notion that I've never been there myself. The original plan for the evening was Autumn and my wife were going to watch America's Next Top Model. I figured 'why not invite my wife... and Autumn... and my kids... and her kids so their table of 2 quickly became a table of 8 (with our 9 month old in the car seat on the floor sleeping).

The Food? Outstanding! I'm all about the appetizers so we got the hot wings and artichoke dip. The hot wings were good... wish they were a little spicier, but still really good. Probably extremely good for people who've always wanted buffalo wings but can never eat'em because they're too spicy. The artichoke dip... My wife and I always use the spinach/artichoke dip from Red Robin at the measuring stick and this was right up there, but in a different way. It was more of a delicious cheesey salsa (like a mango salsa, but minus the mango) - but, like the wings, phenominal in their own right.

I had to get the ribs and steak to try out a little of everything, the yam (I'm not a french fry guy) and the steak soup instead of the salad (as seen in the picture above.) My only complaint is I couldn't eat everything - which is a good thing because now I know what I'm having for lunch tomorrow. My wife got a different kind of steak - she grew up raising cattle so she can tell the difference between steak cuts. My palate doesn't care which part of the body it came from - if it's delicious, it's worth eating. I can't tell you which cut I got and which cut she got but I can say they were both worth it. She did wish, however, they sold hamburgers there, too. I bet those would rock the house.

We don't normally do desserts at restaurants, but they had something called 'THE chocolate chip cookie' which was a cookie baked in a skillet with a scoop of ice cream on top. That one cookie was big enough for 8 of us to share and was soooooo good.

Naturally, if I'm going to a 'steakhouse', I gotta try the steak and it was definitely worth trying. I don't have a "thumbs up" or numerical scale of rating system, but I will say I'll definitely be going there again - hopefully sooner than later.

David Hernandez... OUT!

Ahh, man! I liked David Hernandez. He wasn't my pick to win the whole thang, but he was one of the ones I did enjoy and didn't just fast-forward my DVR through the performance of.

My favorite? It always belongs to the someone who doesn't get talked about much, always the one who just kind of stays consistant, always the one who isn't the 'sure thing'... Michael Johns. He's my pick - now don't let me know, daddio!

Once you see it, you can't un-see it: Part 2

Ever notice this?

Now do you notice it?

Yep, the clouds and the bushes in Super Mario Brothers are the same! Just different colors!

I feel like I've been lied to for the past 20 years...

Thank you Best Buy

Why don't more places around East Idaho, where our population is raising higher than gas prices? Is it because businesses think it's a bad idea and nobody will shop there because of it? I ended up spending $150 at Best Buy just because they have this shopping spot for my pregnant wife and kids... think it's a bad idea now?

My shopping list? digital video camera, Horton Hears a Who DVD (animated, not the new one not even in theaters yet), 2 stuffed dalmations, a Mitch Hedberg CD and a children's songs CD.

My Japanese ringtone

Here, in America, there have only been a handful of TV theme songs that actually made it to radio (the theme to 'Friends' comes to mind), but in Japan almost every TV show's song comes from a hit artist - the equivalent of a Justin Timberlake, Beyonce or Boys like Girls here. Then the song goes on to become a hit.

Much like high school girls don't like wearing the same prom dress, I like having ringtones that nobody else uses. If I'm at Hastings and Low by Flo-Rida ringtone plays, 5 or 6 people check their phone to see if it's there's, but if 'Ikenai Taiyou' by the Japanese pop-rock band 'Orange Range' plays, I know it can't be anyone elses.

Have you heard my ringtone when you were with me at a remote (or Hastings)? Here's the music video for it.

Free online multi-player games from your browser

http://www.instantaction.com/

I just (and when I say 'just', I mean an hour ago) got an email saying that InstantAction, the 3-D multiplayer console-type games on your web browser company, has released a 4 new games you can play online - best of all, it's free so if you're bored at work and are sick solitaire (both in the lame-factor and the 'it's only a one player' factor), you should check'em out.



MarbleBlast Online, Think Tanks, Screw Jumper and (my favorite) Cyclomite are immediately at your disposal. There's a game called Fallen Empire: Legions that looks AMAZING that's coming soon so watch out for that, for sure.

Testing... Testing...

I bought a cheap-o camera - it was on sale, then discounted and figured I needed a new camera anyways so here's my test. Can you guess the cartoon we're watching?

Daylight Savings Time

I stayed up until 4am last night, but it was more like 3am because of Daylight Savings Time. It dawned on me (no pun intended) about all the comments from people over the past years of how they complain about daylight savings time in early spring about loosing that extra hour of sleep...

Daylight Savings Time, both in Spring and in Fall, always fall on a Sunday... Always! There is no extra hour or lost hour because it's on a Sunday where you can sleep in for as long as you want. Unless you have church in the early morning or work on Sunday, it doesn't matter. What did I do with my wasted hour? Nothing. In the Fall when we 'fall back', what will I do with my extra hour? Nothing because, again, there is no extra hour. If anything I'll watch Birdman or whatever obscure cartoons are on that early in the morning.

Once you see it, you can't un-see it

see it?

Now do you see it?

For the rest of your life, you won't be able to look at another FedEx truck, sign, package or logo without seeing that little arrow between the E and the X. If you were wondering, the arrow placement was absolutely intentional.

The Disney Princesses have everything, except...

...all but Sleeping Beauty don't have mothers!

Have you noticed that? Yeah, neither have I. My wife and I were watching 101 Dalmations - I don't know how the topic came up but it did. So, by all means, let's give them a mother from their movie. That way, when we re-watch these films we can say to ourselves "there's your mom... but you'll never know." Yes! These are the things I think about.

Ariel: The Little Mermaid, who had King Tritan (a.k.a. the 'pimpin' of the sea) for a father also had several other little girls. My guess, from several other different sea animals. I'd say her mom is probably Ursula. I know, it's a sick thought but "Never under-estamate the power of Body Language" gross

Belle: Her father was Crazy old Maurice, hmm... crazy old Maurice, hmm... Since he was crazy, he probably wanted someone who was crazy, too. Belle's Mom has got to be the one who sings "I need six eggs" at the opening market scene. She had several other kids with her and Belle, being level headed, it was probably for the best that she went with her Dad to help him as much as she could. I am curious to know why she NEEDED exactly six eggs. A 6 egg omlette? Maybe she's baking two cakes? Lets hope for a straight to DVD release - and then a straight to Disney Vault un-release on what the 6 eggs are for.

Jasmine: Her father's name was 'The Sultan' in the film Aladdin which isn't much to go on. With a careful eye, though, you can see her in the crowd scoping up Arabian Coinage in the Prince Ali song. Eh, you gotta do what you gotta do. If only the Sultan was generous, so generous with the alimony, sister's gotta get her grill fixed! Look at those teeth!

Cinderella: Her real mom died as the story goes which is why she has a step-mother. But her mom, as it turns out, has to be the fairy godmother. Just like all of our moms, she makes everything better and can keep a close eye on her... nevermind the pumpkin carraige, can't you just do the dishes for me one time?

Snow White: Unfortunately, there aren't any other females in this story. The prince, the huntsman, the 7 dwarves and a bunch of animals. Snow White's mom... who knows. It was probably was the old witch that didn't know the apple was poisoned. That's the trouble with alzheimer's.

Sleeping Beauty: Aurora Rose, The only one with a mother that they clearly show... But what fun is that! Instead of her "mom", lets say she was adopted and her real mom was Maleficent. That's predictable enough. She 'may' have been one of the towns folk who was put to sleep, but given the choice, I'd love to have a mom who could turn into a dragon.

And there you have it. Three turned out the villioness was the mom the whole time, but sometimes, in the real world, that's just the way life turns out.

I win! I win!

Yeah! I won a free french fry with my order of onion rings!! I love it when that happens. Even though it probably happens 95% of the time, it's still fun... if I could get some fries cooked like onion ring breading, that'd be the best!

good night nurse... burger king, taco bell, 44oz gas station pepsi... what's wrong with my diet? Oh Yeah! I'm Married so it doesn't matter what I look like anymore! I Win Again!!

And the winner goes to the wife who loves her husband for just the way he is!

Fun waiting for Taco Bell

The picture didn't turn out too well, but I wanted to "make you there" with us. We stopped by the Taco Bell drive-thru on 17th across from Hastings. Taco Bell is notorius for having, what I believe, is one of the quickest taco bells and, since it was late, it was on the way home, it was convenient... all things I appreciate, we made it happen.

The potatoes weren't ready so they kindly asked if I wanted a refund, or wait 2 minutes for the potatoes...

I've gone to other fast food places, the employee greets me as if nothing is wrong... I start ordering food only to have him say "Oh, sorry, we're all out of french fries" Things that could've been brought to my attention when I stepped up to the counter! I guess it's so you'll feel like "well, I already ordered so I'll keep ordering" instead of thinking 'What, No Fries No Business from Me!'. Honestly, there was a place in Yakima that actually said the words, again, after greeting my friend and I as if nothing was wrong "Sorry, we're all out of meat"... Then say it when we pull up!

Not at the East Idaho Taco Bells. They pride them selves on service! They even ask how you are before asking what you'd like... I like that. anyways We don't mind the wait, they ask us to pull around to the front of the store (next to Les Schwab) If this ever happens to you, watch the reflection of the cars that pass by the garage door at Les Schwab. My wife noticed it looks like they're on a roller coaster. You can even add your own dialogue like we did.

... you're right, we need to get out more.

2 things we all do at the soda fountain

and, worse yet, they're things that we couldn't do because they're not important. They're rude, stupid and basically a waste of 5 seconds.

1.) We fill it up with a little ice, then a little more ice, then a little more ice... then we dump out some of the ice because now there's too much ice.

it's not gonna matter - like everytime you get something to drink at the gas station, you'll either chug it before the ice melts or you'll wait too long so it's completely watered down - congratulations, you just spent $1 on pepsi-scented water - even though some of that can be contributed to the old lady in front of you in line trying to decide which scratch ticket to buy as if she was deciding what to name her next child. You don't need to use one of your lifelines, all the same priced tickets have the same odds of winning.

submusing: Have you noticed people who complain about the rich also always buy lottery tickets?

2.) We fill it ALL the way up, let the foam subside (some even stick their finger in it to speed up the process... I'm not a clean freak, but that's just weird). Then it does, then they fill it up again, let the foam subside again... they keep doing this so they can get the maximum amount of drink for their buck.

just that, the average cost of this nectar a buck! One American US Legal Tender Dollar! If you think you're 'stickin it to the man' by maximizing your profits with a fountain beverage by not wasting any of those precious 44 ounces, then good for you. Next time, I'll give you the 8 cents that'll go to waste if you move along so you're not standing in front of the machine like confused patient who can eat legally sugar for the first time deciding what to get for the 12th donut while there are me, two construction worker and 9 of 'Idaho's Finest' doing clean-up crew that only have a few moments of break-time to get something to get'em going the rest of the day... then some dude who has to get the liquid (not the foam) all the way to the brim... only to have it spill over a little after he puts the straw through. I don't care if you're a doctor, a mechanic, a delivery driver... your time is not as valuable as those 2 or 3 spared ounces.

Quick shout-out to Maurices

To test out our new car, we decided to make a road trip to Pocatello. It was a destination that was close enough that it wouldn't cost us a ton in gas just to drive around. (remember those days? when you could just drive around and not worry how much gas it's going to take?) Like when I visit any place, I always gotta go to the mall.

quick joke: "if you've seen one indoor shopping complex, you've seen a mall (you've seen'em all)"

I've always liked the Pine Ridge Mall - maybe it's because they actually have some-what of a food court? I'm not sure... Michele, being pregnant, finds it hard to find cute clothes that are maternity wear. We stopped by Maurices - they were having a Buy 1, get the 2nd for half-price sale... and they actually carry sizes that can act as maternity wear if need be!! And, Best of all, it's right at the front of the store with everything else... not some little rack in the back next to the bathrooms, not underneath a huge embarrasing [PLUS SIZE/MATERNITY] sign hanging from the celing...

have you ever noticed that? Why do they put the plus sizes in the back of stores? Plus sized people (especially pregnant women) don't like to walk all the way in the back... are you saying I need the exercise?

We spent about $100 on cute clothes that my wife can even sinch up after the new baby to make'em fit like normal. So, that being said, Big time shout out to Maurices with two convenient locations in the Grand Teton Mall in Idaho Falls and the Pine Ridge Mall in Pocatello. And, no, they didn't give me any special deal or hook-up to say that... if they did, I'd still have my $100

And, while I'm at it, shout out to my wife for being cute enough to make cute clothing cuter.

a car-cycle built for 5

For the past 7 years, I've been rockin' a 99 Ford Escort. It's a car I was able to afford when I was working part time at a different radio station, it operated much better than my previous car (an 84 chevy citation)... Since when I bought it I was single and didn't have any kids, it definitely got the job done. Fast Forward to present day, married with two kids and one on the way... I have no choice but to give in and get a new ride. Especially one with working A/C, a working power adapter, power windows, power locks and one I don't have to twist my leg akwardly to get in.

I'm a huge sucker for free stuff. It's one of the reasons I got into radio. I take advantage of free coffee mugs I never use, I'll always grab a free pen at the bank, I'll stop by O'Dell's remotes just because I know Bonnie will have cheese sticks... Knowing this and knowing I needed a new car, I saw this commercial (on Z103.fm no less)




Great car deals - and a free Flat Screen TV?! Yo, this is definitely the best time to get a new car. To prologue an already long story, I found a great car at a great deal and thanks to Jeremy for helping me out. His little 'stake-out' operation worked out great. I won't tell you what kind of car I got (you stalker), but I do think you can see it in the commercial above... i just won't tell you which one. Big time shout-out to Wackerli Auto for helping me out!

I was happy to get rid of my 99 Ford Escort, but my wife, being the sentimental one, reminised on all the memories about it... it was the car we went on our first date with (complete with popping one of my bald tired in a town 80 miles away), it was the car we got married in, took both our children home from the hospital in, all the road trips to Seattle - and then SLC and Boise after we moved here... Lots of memories with that little car and I'd be lying if I didn't say I wouldn't miss it.

Now I just need to move out of my apartment...

Animal Sounds

Laura, my almost 3 year old, is learning animal sounds. The fun thing is if she doesn't know what sound an animal makes, she'll make up a sound for what she thinks that animal might make... I gotta show her a picture of a giraffe - who knows what they sound like?

Every morning, we eat a wholesome breakfast of whatever $2 cereal is on sale that week. I also always have to try the new ones. They have a new 'Wild Animal Crunch' which can only be compared to eating a box of Coco Puffs... and the cardboard part of the box, not the cereal itself. Seriously, it's pretty nasty, but it does have pictures of animals on it. In case you wanted to know what a sloth, a toucan and a tiger sound like (as well as the Cookie Crisp wolf), check out the video

Laura: RockStar in the making

I was playing RockBand the other morning just by myself when my 2 year old picked up the drumsticks and decided to play along. Becaused everything she does is cute (not that I'm biased or anything) I grabbed some video of this.

And if you complain about the quality of the video, then you can get me a camera.