Happy Birthday Becky!!!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY BECKY!!!


Useless Toy News:
I picked up the new Series 7 of the Lego Mini-Figures.  The figure I really wanted was the Black Knight, and I got 2 of them.  I want the Space Soldier too, but didn't get him.  The other figs I got were: the Bride, Stuntman, Tennis Player, and Coplay Rabbit.

Series 7 Lego Mini-Figures.

Signature Dish?

Useless Softball News:
Statically, we should have won tonight, but we lost to the last place team, Lockheed Martin, 21-11.  I don't know what's going on.  We play pretty well verses the good teams, but we breakdown against the weaker teams.  While catching, the umpire even told me that they normally never hit this well and score this many runs.
I hit 3-for-4 tonight: 2 singles and a double.

Lunch today -> Short Ribs with Beans and Tomatoes.
Quickly threw this together when I came home for lunch.

Lunch.

Dinner today -> Short Ribs with Beans and Cold Egg White Noodles.
I think this should be my signature dish.  This combo works so good together.

Possibly My Signature Dish?

Weekend Report: Cleaning

Useless Shopping News:
Susanna and I went to Bed, Bath, and Beyond on Saturday morning.  I wanted to get some gadgets that were on sale.  I got a Sticky Buddy, an Insta-Hang, and a mini-steamer.

New Gadgets.

I tried out the Insta-Hang, and it's OK.  It's hangs pics easily if you use 1 pin.  But when using 2 pins it's hard to see exactly where the pin will be put.  Also the pins can't be re-used in the machine.  I don't recommend it.  Just use a regular push pin.
I'm going to use the Sticky Buddy to clean the window screens (a trick I learned watching an AKB show.).

I spent the rest of Saturday vacuuming and cleaning the house.  I got the basement and 3/4 of the main floor done.  I would have gotten more done if I didn't stop to play Diablo 3 and Tiny Tower every other hour :) 

Useless TV News:
I watched most of the opening of the Olympics on Friday.  The best part was Mr.Bean.  If you haven't seen it, go look for it on YouTube.  I was disappointed by the James Bond part.  I expected something more exciting or a gadget or something.

Food this weekend ->
Went to T&T and got some Sweet n' Sour Pork, Mushroom Bean Curds, and Chow Mein.  The large sweet n' sour pork was on sale.  I should have got 2.  It was really good.

T&T Food.

I also marinated and BBQed some Korean Short Ribs.  Also BBQed a few mushrooms and cooked some beans to go with it.  These short ribs are way better than Costco's, but the meat quality isn't as good.

Korean Short Ribs with Veggies.

7-Player Chaos

Dinner today -> Leftover Flintstone Ribs.
Boiled some fresh corn and microwaved the leftover ribs.

Leftover Ribs.

Useless Gaming News:
We played 7 player Robo-Rally tonight.  We played a quick beginner's map to start.

Beginner Map.

Then we played a tough conveyer belt map.  Everyone had a tough time getting to Flag #1.

Expert Map.

Flintstone Ribs

Lunch today -> Double Vera Burger.
Steve and I went to The Butchery for lunch.  I got a double vera burger and fries.  Each patty is 6oz and there are 2 patties in the double vera.  It was really good.  There was so much meat, I couldn't even make a decent dent in the fries.

Double Vera Burger.

Dinner today -> Flintstone Ribs.
While at The Butchery, I picked up some Texas BBQ Beef Ribs (aka Flintstone Ribs.).  It's a giant rack of 6 beef ribs, pre-marinated with Texas BBQ sauce for only $6.  I cooked it on the BBQ :)

BBQ Flintstone Ribs.

I cooked the ribs a perfect medium.  I made some fresh corn on the cob to go with the ribs.

Ribs and Corn.

Lossing Streak at 1

Useless Softball News:
We lost again tonight.  We lost 29-15.  We gave up two 10 run innings.
I hit 2-for-4, with a single, double, pop out, and a strike out!  I can't believed I struck out!

Lunch today -> Grill Cheese and Mock Chicken Sandwiches.
I got a fresh loaf french bread at lunchtime to make sandwiches.  Slapped on some butter, cheese, and mock chicken and put them in the pan.  They were good.

Lunch.

Dinner today -> Eggs and Bacon.
I put together a breakfast meal for dinner.  Something quick for after the softball game.

Dinner.

Win #3

Useless Softball News:
CMC Strike Fighters finally got win #3 of the regular season.  We beat Rockwell Collins 19-9.  We stopped abit early because of the threat of lightning.
I hit 3-for-4 with 3 singles and a pop fly.
We play Alcatel Tuesday night.

Dinner today -> McDouble and Jello.
I had a leftover McDouble in the fridge from the weekend and some strawberry jello.  I was too lazy to make anything tonight.

Jello and McDouble.

Weekend Report: New BBQ

I finally finished assembling my BBQ.  Jeff and Ben helped me finish it.  It looks pretty good and heats up really fast!  I got it Home Depot for $199, but I saw it on sale Saturday at Walmart for $249.  I saved alot.

New BBQ.

Food this weekend ->
I christened the new BBQ with some short ribs I got from Costco.

Costco Short Ribs.

It's not as good as my Korean Short Ribs, but still good.  I made french beans and rice to go with the ribs.

Short Ribs, French Beans, and Rice.

Steak with mushrooms and instant chicken rice.

Steak, Mushrooms, and Rice.

Ramen with short ribs, red pepper, lettuce, mushrooms, and free-range egg.

Ramen.

Useless Gaming News:
5 player gaming at Anthony's house.
3 rounds of Dominion.  Saboteur was involved alot.

Dominion.

1 tough game of Robo Rally.  Lots of crazy havoc.  Jeff and Derek didn't survive to the end of the game too.

RoboRally.

Useless News:
I finally killed that stupid mosquito in my room.  I got him Saturday night.  It buzzed my ear and I tracked him down on my leg. I finished the mosquito with a flawless victory :)

Happy Birthday Thu!!!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY THU!!!

Mosquito in Room

I'm going pretty good today with having only 4.5 hours sleep.  I went to bed around 2am and had to get up at 6:30am to take the car to the dealership.  I needed an oil change and to get a broken shock coil fixed.  I also didn't get much sleep because there was a mosquito buzzing around in my room.  It buzzed my ear once and I couldn't find it to kill it.  It was so annoying!

Dinner today -> Steak Fajita.
Used up the last of yesterday's steak and veggies to make a couple more wraps.  Pretty good, but not as good as Muccho Burrito... yet :)

Useless Anime News:
I started watching the anime "Sword Art Online".  It only started airing in Japan a couple of weeks ago, but the subbers at evetaku are subbing it within a day of airing.  It's an RPG based anime with a twist.  I'm liking it so far.  The manga suppose to be good too.
AKB0048's last episode of the season airs this Sunday.  It's really good so far, but I read the writer has a recent history of screwing up the endings.  BUT, I also read that she is an AKB fan, so maybe she won't screw it up?

Cheese-less Steak Fajita

Lunch today -> Kanata Noodle House
A few of us made a trip to the Kanata Noodle House for lunch.  I got something different than my usual.  I got #45 Large.  It was Egg Noodles in Chicken Broth with Seafood and BBQ Pork.  Lots of shrimps, big chunks of artificial crab, fish balls, and BBQ Pork. While eating it, it seemed like it was a bottomless bowl of egg noodles.  There was so much of it!

Egg Noodle with Seafood and BBQ Pork.

It was good, but I still like Pho #15 more.

Dinner today -> Cheese-less Steak Fajita.
I cooked up an assembly line to make steak fajitas.  I prepared sliced rib steak, mini-portabella mushrooms, orange pepper slivers, sliced red onion, sliced avocado, diced tomatoes, chopped lettuce, and microwaved instant rice.  I forgot I used up the last of the cheese on the weekend.

Fajita Assembly Line.

These finished wraps were good and big :)

Steak Fajitas.

Steve, are you drooling :p

2 More Losses

Useless Softball News:
Tonight we had back-to-back games verses A-Team.  I think they are 2nd in our division this year, but last year we were evenly matched against them.  It seem like that again this year. 
We lost Game 1, 14-10.  It was close.  If we played a better 1st inning and didn't give up the maximum 10 runs, we could have won.  I hit 2-for-3 with 2 singles, but I got picked off at 3rd trying to distract the throw to 1st.  I distracted him and they got me instead.
We lost the 2nd Game 14-13.  It was so close.  We had 1 bad inning again.  I think I went 3-for-3 with a double and 2 singles.
Denise and Julie were our stars.  Their hitting was deep into the green and catching them off guard.

I think we could have won both games if we had a home-run hitter.  We gave up alot of homers, but we didn't have any homers to match them.  Stefano!  Suck it up and get back in the game :)  We need your power!

Pumpkin Blossoms

Lunch today -> Chip Wagon Fries and Cheeseburger.
I had to go to the bank at lunchtime today, so I dropped by Canadian Tire afterwards to get some Chip Wagon Fries from Glen's.  I got a cheeseburger too.

Chip Wagon Food.

Useless Plant News:
My pumpkin plant is growing really big now and blooming some pumpkin blossoms.  When I took this pic, a bee was gathering nectar from the blossom.

Beginnings of Pumpkin.

Useless Idol News:
At Kashiwagi Yuki's solo live event, it was announced that she will be the next AKB48 member to have a solo debut.  Details here.

Weekend Report: Ring of Fire

Food this weekend ->
I only ate 2 things this weekend.  First I made a big spicy casserole.  It lasted 4 meals.

Spicy Casserole.

I think I made it abit too spicy.  I got "Ring-of-Fire".

Source of "Ring-of-Fire".

The other thing I ate was Pho #15 XL from Kanata Noodle House.  It's so good and filling :)

Pho #15 XL.

Useless M:tG News: 
I got my M13 cards on Friday.

M13.

I got every card I wanted, except for 3 cards:
- the white planeswalker: Ajani, Caller of the Pride,
- the red dragon: Thundermaw Hellkite,
- and the artifact: Sands of Delirium.

Ceiling Fan Done

Useless Project News:
The ceiling fan is complete!  It's got a variable brightness light and a 3 speed fan, all controlled by remote control.

Next project, assemble my new BBQ.

Useless M:tG News:
This Friday is Friday the 13th.  BUT it also the release day of M13.  I'll be getting a couple of boxes.

Useless Idol News:
AKB48 was on Hey!Hey!Hey! Music Champ (Downtown's show) this week.  The performance was pretty good, but Not Yet's performance of "Suika Baby" was better.  I like this song and the members are awesome :)

Microwave Stone Lasagna

Dinner today -> Lasagna.
I made a lasagna using my stone pot in the microwave.  This thing is great.  It makes everything.  I used scooby doos instead of lasagna strips and topped it with breakfast sausages :)

Lasagna.

It was done in 16 minutes in the microwave.  Mmmm cheesy.

Breakfast Sausage and Lasagna.

Useless Transformers News:
I picked up Bot Shots Series 2 at Walmart today: Mirage, Ratchet, Brawl, and clear Bumblee (chase).

Bot Shots Series 2.

 

Since Walkers Feed...

My dad came over to my house to install a new ceiling fan for me.  We put together this ladder setup so it spans across the stairs.

Fan 2/3 Done.

My dad went up and installed the fan like a tight rope walker.  I didn't go up, as elephants don't climb trees :)  My dad almost finished, but the top wouldn't lock in.  He'll finish another day.

Useless TV Info:
I was watching "The Walking Dead" marathon on AMC this past weekend, and a thought occurred to me when I was waiting for a commercial so I can run and take a dump :)  Since walkers feed, do they also poop?  They must, right??  Then, do they just go in their pants??? 

Useless Softball News:
CMC Strike Fighters lost again tonight vs Molson 23-12.  It wasn't as bad as the score states.  Our D was good, its just that the Molson players are all homerun hitters.  So they got alot of single homers.
I hit 2-for-3 with 2 singles and a walk.

Useless Idol News:
July 10 is AKB48's Maeda Atsuko's birthday!  I think she is possibly Gordon's oshimen... :)

Happy Birthday Maeda.

AKB48 was on EXILE's show, and they performed a bunch of songs, including Ponytail to Shushu, Iiwake Maybe, and Heavy Rotation.  I haven't seen Iiwake Maybe performed in ages.

Yuko was so high energy in this show!  Full episode here.  Exile's performance of "Rising Sun" was really cool. 

Weekend Report: Defending Flag #3

Jeff and Linda had a little potluck on Saturday.  I decided to make croquettes.  I've never made it before, but I saw it on a Japanese cooking show, and it looked easy.  For filling I used instant mash potatoes, breakfast sausages (de-cased), and peaches n cream corn kernels.  I mixed and molded them by hand.

Croquette Molds.

I setup my assembly line for deep frying: flour, egg wash, and panko.

Assembly Line.

This is the 1st one after deep frying.  It was crispy and delicious fresh out of the fryer!

Croquette #1.

This is the batch I made for potluck.

Croquettes for Potluck.

Dinner Saturday -> Potluck Food.
Some good stuff at dinner: ribs, potato salad, broccoli, corn, and my croquettes.  The ribs were really good for fall off the bone.  Ben's potatoes were good too.  My croquettes were OK.  They weren't crispy any more :(

Potluck Food.

Dinner Sunday -> Chicken and Tofufa
I cooked more chicken in the stone pot on Sunday.  It was my backup potluck food incase my croquettes didn't work out.  I made it with carrots, red onions, red potatoes, and corn.

Backup Food.

I had tofufa with fruits for dessert.

Tofufa with Fruits.

Useless Gaming News:
We played 5 player Robo Rally after potluck.  It was pretty fun.

In the last game, everyone was going for the flag #3, when I didn't even get flag #1 yet.  So I hung around flag #3 with a "Pressor Gun" (pushes opponents 1 square away) and kept the other players from winning for as long as I could.  It was hilarious :)  I end up only drawing 1 card but had Forward 1, Forward 2, Forward 1, and a Right Turn locked.  Jeff won in the end.

Guarding Flag #3.