A Real Party

A nostalgic trip to a REAL PARTY!

Age of Pirates

As of late I have been playing a PC game entitled Age of Pirates, not so surprising huh? Much has happened to my character so far in the game. A French ship caught me dealing with smugglers and attacked me. I managed to defeat it and take the ship as my own though. It was a Corvette, much better than my previous Luggers, Brig, and Schooner. I had much fun sailing around with that corvette but the French were ticked at me. I had war galleons, ships of the line, and frigates after me. Some how though my crew and I managed to capture a ship of the line and later, a frigate.

These ships have allowed me to have some fun in the Caribbean. I attacked and razed the fort and colony on Tortuga. I would have made it my own colony, but I had no free officer to command it. So I gained a hefty sum of gold by razing it ;)

I have just received a letter of marquee from Holland, so things may get more interesting!

I'll try to take some screen shots for a future post!

The World Without Engineers

I stole these pics from some website a long time ago. I no longer remember the site but who cares. A blog doesn't need to cite references ;)

Smitty

When I play the 'computer' in Madden 06 football (Yes, I am too cheap to by the newer version) as the Carolina Panthers, I like to read the defense. And lately the I've noticed the computer (no matter what team) sneaking one or both safeties forward to either stop the run or blitz my QB. So I have gotten into the habit of audibling to a play-action pass. The safeties are already forward so the fake is even more efective giving me ono on one coverage on the outside. And any die-hard Panthers fan will tell you, "Go to Smitty," in single coverage, racing down the sideline!

Here are a couple of examples of what I have managed to do:


I have also managed to do well running with RB Deshaun Foster when the safeties stay back. Hopefully, a new Offensive Coordinator will help Carolina return to the Super Bowl next year!

Life Long Dream Completed

I am sitting in Dunn Brothers in Rapid City, SD enjoying an Irish Cream Latte and perusing the internet.

... Just kidding! It isn't a life long dream of mine, but it is something I wanted to do sometime and now that I have a laptop I can do it!

Actually, I came to RC today to visit a few stores that I don't get to visit in Pierre. Borders, Scheels, Office Max (cheap ink for my printer), and of course to taste the joys of the Golden Phoenix and Dunn Brothers Coffee!

Also, Pierre in the News:

You may remember that late in November I told you we saw Sydney Palmer of Pierre win her 8-9-year-old girls division of Punt Pass & Kick in the Vikings regional finals at the Metrodome. I hadn't heard she had advanced in PP&K, but there she was on national television Saturday night, and Sydney is the national champion of her age group! She and the other national winners earned their titles at the Superdome in New Orleans before the Saints-Eagles playoff game, and the winners were shown briefly on TV between the third and fourth quarters. Sydney is the daughter of Pierre/Fort Pierre teachers Todd and Jenifer Palmer. Way to go, Sydney!

Walmart... Not Completely Evil...

Today I was browsing my local Walmart's selection of DVDs and I cam across what is probably may favorite old scifi movie ever! I even remember the first time I saw it. Back (in the day) when TNT had MonsterVision. The movie? MYSTERIOUS ISLAND!

This great movie is based on Jules Verne's sequel to 20,000 Leagues Under The Sea (also titled Mysterious Island). The movie may look like a B-movie but take into account that it was made in 1961.
I will even give away a bit of the movie... Cpt Nemo created the large animals to help solve world hunger (my theory was that the animals would kill off the surplus population, not feed it ;) ).

I believe stop motion animation was used for the critters in the film, so either go out and obtain a copy of the film or come on up to Pierre and watch it with me!

of college majors and trends...

From an email I received from the SDSMT Alumni Assoc.:

More students in the South Dakota public university system appeared to be interested in careers in engineering, nursing, and history, according to the latest data on major enrollment trends from the South Dakota Board of Regents. Four bachelor degree-level majors – history, mechanical engineering, nursing, and civil engineering – experienced at least a 15 percent increase in enrollments when data is compared between 2002-03 and 2005-06 for those degree programs with more than 300 majors in the South Dakota system. Two other bachelor-degree majors had at least a 15 percent decrease in enrollments – computer science (25 percent) and elementary education (19 percent). The report also noted that 86 percent of the students in the public university system have a single major, while the remaining 14 percent were seeking two, three, or four different majors, which is consistent with data reported in the last four academic years. For more information about public higher education in South Dakota, please visit www.sdbor.edu.

More Coooking...

As you might have expected, I cooked this weekend. I made pizza, baked cookies, and even made fajitas (no pics).

Pepperoni Pizza (homemade crust)

(Moist) Chocolate Chip Cookies

Some Of My Recent Meals

Breakfast Pizza, this time with a biscuit crust 9much better)

Chicken Strips, mashed potatoes and gravy.

Chicken Enchiladas

Sack-Master

I am a football nut. Most of you already know that. In college, I got into playing Madden football with friends and, initially, I was really good thanks to my football knowledge. But my lack of video game skills allowed others to catch up to me. One thing I could always do well was take control of defensive linemen and break through an offensive line.

I recently was playing Madden on my PC and I managed a new feat for myself... I managed to get 8 sacks with one player (Kris Jenkins) in one game!

New Year's Resolution

Sorry about my brief absence from the blog 'verse, but I have been saving some pictures on my camera to blog about in the coming days.

My friend posted a Year In Review on himself. I don't have a whole lot to say for my own Year in Review, but here is an attempt.

• 2006 began with me deciding to look for a job back in SD and I succeeded by a landing a job in the SDDOT Office of Bridge Design.
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• I some how managed a promotion in the WSDOT for my last 3 months.
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• I managed to enjoy many concerts including, The Clumsy Lovers, Toby Keith, LeAnn Rimes, and Gaelic Storm.
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• Though I did fail at trying to be more outgoing and overcoming shyness.
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• I have to admit though that the last coupe of weeks have showed promise in that department. Last night was the first night in a long time that I actually stayed up until midnight on a New Year's Eve. Well, that and I am feeling far more confident than a year ago. We'll see ;)
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• Towards the end of my time in Washington I had gotten real lazy when it comes to running (or any work out) but since coming back to SD I am running as well as I did in my sophomore year of college.
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• So my New Years resolution is to continue to work at becoming more outgoing.