My Wife the French Fry

This past weekend my wife was asked by a local restaurant if she would be interested in picking up a few hours as a waitress. The restaurant was in dire need of help a few times during the weekend hours, and with a few vacations, Kasey's birthday and Christmas right around the corner - my wife agreed it was in both parties' best interest.

So, on Friday she went in for 'training' which ended up being 'here's a notepad, get to work' sort of training. Friday apparently had a little more customers than they were expecting, so the training was thrown out the door, and she was thrown right into the fire.

She has worked in retail before, so has dealt with customers, but she had never been a waitress or even in the food services. Apparently, however, she is doing wonderfully. I guess there isn't much to it, as long as you aren't spilling things all over the customers - and you make sure they are happy, they 'should' compensate you.

The money will definitely be coming in handy as we head to Disney World at the end of October. And it's always nice to actually have a little spending money in your pocket.

The move, however, means a little less time I get to spend with her - and a little less time she gets to spend with Kasey. It will probably not be a long experience, unless of course she wants it to be, but for now she appears to like it.

She has only been in twice so far, but both times has come home smelling like french fries - and I have to say, it sort of fired me up. Weird, I know.

Anyway, I just want to say that I respect her very much. I tried to get back in with the newspaper I used to write for some extra cash, but it didn't pan out - so she stepped up. She works extremely hard and I admire her for that.

Goodbye, Jason Williams

I was watching ESPNEWS the other night as I always do before falling asleep. For those of you who are not familiar with the programming, there is a small ticker on the bottom of the screen that announces the most important sports news throughout the day, or at least some of the most recent.

Well, like most people, my eyes go back and forth from the actual programming to the ticker, but sometimes I usually miss something.

The other night while I was watching, I could have sworn I saw something pertaining to Jason Williams, who just so happens to be my favorite NBA player.

Knowing that I had missed it, I waited until the news presented itself again - and it did.

To my surprise, my favorite NBA player had decided to retire just 10 years into his playing career.


As of today, no true news has been announced for the reasoning of this retirement. Williams has had a few years in a row where knee injuries has limited his playing time, and perhaps hindered his ability, but he was still a very capable NBA player - and still ahead of most point guards in the league.

The news is rather sudden, as I announced a month or two ago that Williams had signed a new contract with the Los Angeles Clippers, and would be backing up Baron Davis. So it sort of bewilders me that he has decided to call it quits without even heading into training camp.

Williams came into the league in 1998 as the No. 7 draft pick of the Sacramento Kings. Thanks to his street ball-like abilities, Williams became an instant hit with the fans, and with Vlade Divac, Peja Stojakovic and Chris Webber, led a talented Kings team into the playoffs for the first time in awhile.

After three seasons in Sacramento, the Kings gave up on Williams as they thought a player with turnover problems would never be able to lead them to the championship. So, Williams was shipped to Memphis for Mike Bibby.

While a Grizzlie, Williams helped lead a franchise who had never been to the playoffs, nor had a winning season, win over 50 games and make the playoffs. The Grizzlies were swept in both playoff contests, but were finally relevant.

That is until Memphis shipped Williams to the Miami Heat in one of the biggest trades ever. Williams became a member of the Heat along with James Posey and Antoine Walker, who joined Shaquille O'Neal and Dwyane Wade. In that season, Williams would win his first NBA championship.

To this date, the Sacramento Kings nor Mike Bibby have even been to the NBA Finals.

The past few seasons, Williams has been struck with the injury bug and his play had deminished because of it. He was still the eighth best in assist/turnover ratio last season, and even had a 34 point game against Orlando.

Although I hope this retirement is that via Brett Favre or Roger Clemens (meaning he'll be back soon), I am happy I got to see him play. He was very fun to watch, and his maturation as both a person and a player was great to see.

I'll miss you J-Dub.

Happy Birthday, Mr. Skywalker!

A Happy Birthday goes out to the most famous of the Skywalker clan, Luke. Or should I say the man you portrayed him on film, Mark Hamill.

Heroes

I was able to watch the season premiere of Heroes last night, and I was very impressed.

According to many, the show hit a lull last season - and I admit it was definitely not to the ability of season one, but the show was not terrible. It was also affected by the writer's strike and the season was cut short and finished during December.

Well, creator Tim Kring has had a long time to fine-tune his masterpiece, and I think it appears he is heading in the right direction.

Season 3 was entitled Villains which brings our favorite Heroes villain, Sylar to the forefront. It also allows for other villains to be introduced - which a few were in Monday's two-hour premiere. But, this also gives the creators a chance to convert some of our favorite heroes into villains - or perhaps conflicted as to which side they are on.

Monday's episodes were much more fast paced than last season, and it looks to be remaining that way according to Kring. There was a lot going on, but that is to be expected with so many different story lines flowing - all of which will undoubtedly be woven together at the conclusion.

In the episode, many of the original cast members returned: Hiro, Ando, Peter, Nathan, Matt, Mohinder, Claire, Noah, Sylar and Mrs. Petrelli. Last season's newcomers Elle and Maya also returned (and even a small glimpse of Adam Monroe). Missing, however, were Molly (although she was mentioned), Micah, The Haitian and Monica - although they might return in later episodes. Niki is also apparently gone, but has returned in the form of Tracy Strauss.

We were introduced to a few new characters in Monday's episodes, almost all of them being villains. There appears to be at least four on the loose after breaking out of The Companies holding cells. I didn't get all of the names, but from what I could tell one was a flame thrower (much like Pyro from X-Men), one was a Magnetic type villain, another named Jesse and finally one named Knox (but I am unsure of their powers as of now). Each one's was shown, but it escapes me - I remember Jesse being the worst of the bunch however.

Finally, another was introduced on Monday named Daphne Millbrook (above with Hiro), who is apparently the 'Catwoman to Hiro's Batman'. She has supersonic speed, which when stopped by Hiro she actually is walking at normal speed. Her character seems really intriguing and I felt the actress did a nice job - I was very interested. It's still up in the air if she is a villain or not, she appeared to be working for someone else, though.

All-in-all I was very happy with the first, I guess it was two, episodes of Heroes. I have been missing it all of these months since its hiatus. There are so many ways for the show to go this season, but so far things look very promising.

Fringe

I must say, I am pretty excited.

It doesn't happen very often when a television show actually gets me this interested.

First, I must admit that I am a television addict. My wife is already telling me I watch too many shows. But, there is just one problem - I wouldn't know which one to cut.

That being said, I am promising her that I am only going to start watching one new show this season - and that show is Fringe.

The show actually started a few weeks ago, but it wasn't until this weekend that we finally had time to view it - and actually were able to view two episodes.

I was immediately interested in the show due to the fact that it was produced by J.J. Abrams, who also has helmed another of my favorite television shows Lost.

During the first episode, I noticed that this is no Lost. It is a lot more in your face, with a few kind of gross out scenes - especially in the second episode. My wife has watched the first two, and I am hoping she can stick it out - it's much more fun watching a show with someone, especially your wife. But, I do admit that a few of the scenes even had me a little on edge. It is, however, exactly the type of show I love.

Shows like Lost, Heroes and now Fringe barely allow me to predict what is going to happen. It keeps you interested throughout the entire episode, and every part of that episode is important. It's all very psychological - I absolutely love the fact that I need to pay attention and actually think.

Another reason to like the show: the return of Josh Jackson. You may remember Mr. Jackson as Pacey on Dawson's Creek or Charlie Conway in the Mighty Ducks. I must admit, he is an underused talent.

This actually got me thinking, is it odd to anyone else that out of the four main stars of Dawson's Creek it is actually Dawson (James Van Der Beek) who has not become more of a star - although I did love Varsity Blues.

Anyway, if you are a fan of Lost and can take a few grotesque shots an episode, I highly recommend checking out Fringe.

It Returns!

Josh Groban

I, like many of you, do not watch the non-stop awards shows that seem to be one about once every other Sunday. So, I did not see this live - but thought it was hilarious.

I am pretty busy today, but actually have a few things to blog about if I have time - if not, I will have to write them up tomorrow. Enjoy this though.

Voting

Well, it finally happened. After being married to a person who knows politics for three years, and with her for over eight, I have finally registered to vote.

It only took 10 years after I had become eligible mind you.

I, however, do not believe in the system that is given to us for voting. This whole electoral college and super delegates and all that crap - it makes no sense to me.

When you have a vote in almost anything, what makes someone win? The most votes. Well, that is exactly what should happen when voting for a president. Count up each vote that is cast from each person in the entire United States and the winner will be our president. It's that simple.

Politics has never been my thing. Honestly, I just don't care who the leader is. The way the United States is setup, there almost always needs to be a consensus vote for all decisions made. The president, in my opinion, is just the face of the country - he isn't always pulling the strings.

But, as bad as things have gotten these past eight years, I have decided that even though my vote does not count I will be voting for the next American president.

This could also be bad, however. In the past, I have always taken pleasure in being able to bad mouth the president for the terrible job being done in the country. I have been able to do this because I did not vote for that president. Now, if the person I vote for wins, and does a horrible job - well I voted for him.

I write this today because I finally received my form the other night - stating that I am in fact a registered voter. I can't wait to start receiving all of the forms in the mail now from politicians looking for my vote. I have been so jealous of the amount of 'junk' mail my wife has been getting all these years (please note my sarcasm).

I apologize for the lack of blogs this week - I have not had anything come to my mind to write about - and I am still rather busy with school/work. I promise to do my best with better, more interesting blogs in the future.

Bowling

This past weekend our friends from Arizona made a visit to our area and we decided that a group of us would go bowling.

We usually end up bowling about once or twice in a given year, so my skills are not as great as a professional - although I definitely can pretend.

After becoming a parent your life is basically consumed with playing trucks, reading books and watching Elmo videos. So, every once in awhile, it is nice to get out with real adults and interact.

We try to do this at least once every other week, whether with a game night, or this past weekend's bowling extravaganza.

Well, as usual, it was boys against girls (excuse me men against women) and again as usual, the men prevailed in both games. Although in the second game, the closest person I know to a professional bowling did defeat me. I bowled a 115 in my first game, and a gentlemen's 100 in the second.

My wife, God bless her soul, is more of the Wii bowler. Despite her very odd, and sometimes scary delivery while playing Wii, she has pretty much mastered the game and dismantles me basically every time.

Real bowling, however, is not Wii bowling - as most of us have proven.

All in all it was a nice night - and I definitely look forward to our next outing. I absolutely love playing with my son, but every once in a while it's nice to have an adult night.

Entourage

I am not even sure how it happened. For the longest time I never even had any of the HBO or Showtime channels. But, I kept hearing about this hilarious show in HBO - and I so wanted to check it out. It had everything in a show that could keep me entertained.

Well, I finally was able to watch the first season a few years ago - and I was immediately hooked. I became an Entourage fan.

The fifth season (I believe it is the fifth) started last Sunday and already I am immediately into it. My wife always seems to make the comment, "What? It's over already" after every show. And you know what, it's true - you never feel satisfied, you are always wanting more.

The show's dynamic is pretty simple. A young, talented actor makes it big in Hollywood and two of his friends, and step-brother tag along and ride on his coat tails.

Vincent Chase (Adrian Grenier) is the character the show revolves around, although I wouldn't actually call him the star of the show.

Eric Murphy (Kevin Connolly) is Vince's best friend, and as the show has progressed, is now his manager and has a startup managing company. He is basically the brains behind Vince's talent.

Turtle (Jerry Ferrara) is Vince's driver and gopher for the most part. Although he did have a small side job as a rapper's manager.

Johnny Drama (Kevin Dillon) is Vince's step brother, who years before was a star of a television show Viking Quest. At the start he basically relied on Vince to get him back in the game - but now has another hit show Five Towns.

Ari Gold (Jeremy Piven) is Vince's agent. His character is one of the funniest on the show, especially with his one liners and interaction with his assistant Lloyd (Rex Lee).

The premise of the show has shown the ups-and-downs of Chase's film career as he became an overnight success, to an indie favorite, to a huge superhero, to where he is now: a failure.

Thanks to the craptastic Meddellin Vince finds himself on the outside looking in, as he is unable to get an A-list offer from anyone.

It's cool to see the behind-the-scenes struggle for an actor, instead of just the high times. Plus, seeing the rest of the friends have a little success and actually help take care of Vince is a nice reversal. This season is only two episodes in and I am very excited for the outcome.

It will be nice to see Vince plow through this down swing and bring himself back into the mainstream. It's also cool to see the emergence of Eric as a full-fledged manager.

If you haven't seen this show, I suggest checking it out. But make sure to start with season one. I know I would be a little lost without having seen all of the episodes. Some of them are a little less awesome than others, but I guarantee at least a few laugh out loud moments in each episode. Especially with Ari and Lloyd or Turtle and Drama - they all have great chemistry.

LWITM: Con Air

I haven't written anything in two days, and for that I am sorry. My life has been pretty busy, and yet I haven't really had anything to write about. The start of the NFL season has gotten me excited for football - but I didn't want to have yet another NFL blog post, so I wrote nothing instead.

So, I thought I had better write something before the weekend - so here is my fourth installment of the LWITM (Look Who's In That Movie).

Fletch over at Blog Cabins is having himself a Cagefest for Nicolas Cage movies. Fletch doesn't hide his hatred for all things Nic Cage, and I respect that. But, I have no ill feelings of the actor - he doesn't bother me, and yet he doesn't get me running out to see a movie either - so I guess "I nothing him" (extra points for what show that comes from).

So, I have decided to 'gel' with his Cagefest and make my fourth LWITM be about Con Air.

The movie obviously stars Nicolas Cage as Cameron Poe, a military man who is tossed in jail for killing a man while protecting his wife.

The movie's premise is simple, Poe is parrolled and on his way home to see his wife and his daughter - who he has never met. To get there, however, he is tossed on a plane that happens to also be transporting every known badass possible.

So, of course, the plane is taken over by these mad men - and it's up to Poe to be the vigilante in the sky.

The bad boys are as follows:

• John Malkovich: Plays the leader Cyrus Grissom, who is the brains behind taking over of the plane.
  
• Ving Rhames: Plays Nathan Jones, Crissom's second-hand man.
  
• Nick Chinlund: Plays Billy Bedford, the third major criminal on the plane.
  
• Dave Chappelle: Plays Pinball. A druggy, who gets everything started by setting his seat partner on fire and releasing Cyrus.
  
• Danny Trejo: A rapist known as Johnny 23.
  
• M.C. Gainey: Is picked up in Carson City and is known as Swamp Thing. He takes over as the pilot.
  
• Steve Buscemi: Garland Greene, the most feared of all of the inmates, even the other inmates fear him - but seems to be the most well behaved.
  
• Mykelti Williamson: Mike O'Dell, Poe's best friend in prison who goes into diabetic shock when his insulin isn't administered.

Not bad, and that's just the inmates. The movie also has a few of the good guys, including:

• John Cusack: U.S. Marshall Vince Larkin, who is in charge of the plane before it gets taken over - and becomes an ally on the ground for Poe.
• Colm Meaney: DEA Agent Duncan Malloy. Not a total good guy as he ends up getting one of his men shot on board, and gives Grissom a gun in the process.
• Monica Potter: Plays Tricia Poe, Cameron's wife.

Not a bad hall of well-known actors for a movie. Most of these actors have gotten even bigger since Con Air was filmed. Although for the most part I think you could get most of them together in a single movie again. Chappelle, despite having a small part, might be the most difficult to get on - without a large pay raise.

Grade:

Revisit: Starting Times

A few months ago I mentioned how the starting times for professional sporting events has become insane for those of us who live on the East Coast.

This was during the NBA Finals, where games were heading into halftime at 10:30 p.m. on a weekday. I had come up with a sort of plan to accommodate both parties: Move the start times up and both parties can finish the game.

My question posed was simple: Are you more inclined to watch a game that you missed the start of, or watch a game that you have no possible way of seeing the conclusion of?

For many of the major sporting events, this question still rings true. However, something else has come to my attention - that at least for one sport, and for the regular season, almost everyone can be happy.

For the past few seasons, Monday Night Football on ESPN has given us something special. During the first week there are two Monday Night Football games: one features teams located closer to the East Coast, while the second has teams located more towards the West Coast.

Last night, the Green Bay Packers took on the Minnesota Vikings and the game started at 7 p.m. EST. Again, this start time is difficult for the West Coast, but for most of them interested they can still see the most of the game - including the conclusion. The game wrapped up at 10:30 p.m. which is pretty reasonable. As soon as the game concluded, the second game featuring the Denver Broncos and the Oakland Raiders began: another Monday Night Football game, this time for the West Coast.

My question is pretty simple again: Why can't we do this every week?

Most Monday Night Football games begin on or around 9 p.m. to accommodate everyone. And again, for those of us who work in the mornings during the week, we can't finish the game unless we can function on very little sleep.

They (ESPN) already have enough of a crew to put on two Monday Night Football games. And the team of Mike (Greenburg), Mike (Golic) and Mike (Ditka) is pretty impressive calling the game as well. I really don't see the down side here. Each coast gets their own Monday Night game.
The only people who are going to suffer are those on the East Coast who have a rooting interest for a team in the late Monday Night Football game, and stay up to watch it. Or, for the Must-Watch-All-Football Guy, who has to watch anything football on television. Other than that, I don't see anyone complaining about this.

Each week there is at least one game being played on the West Coast. Why not move one of those 1 p.m. Sunday games to Monday night? It's not like everyone is able to watch every game anyway.

It's just one man's opinion. But, I think it's a pretty good one.

Getting the Hang of Things

A few weeks ago I posted a blog about my returning to school to get my master's in elementary education.

In order to get into the program I had to take a handful of undergrad classes, thanks to not taking the right path when I was originally in school (and a few classes I did take not being able to transfer). Anyway, this semester I am taking three classes - two online and one in class.

After the first week, I found myself a little behind. It was more difficult than I had originally anticipated. I wasn't ready for the amount of work being mixed with my actual job, spending time with my family, eating and sleeping.

For instance, the math class that I am taking online requires quite a bit of downloads to actually get through the course. I am unable to do most of the work for this course at home because I use my wife's computer, which I am not allowed to download anything on. So, time is sort of hard to come by.

After falling a bit behind, I worked pretty hard to get caught up - which I did. Then, I think I did something pretty smart - I made myself a due date guide. Basically, I went through each class and put when everything is going to be due. So far, my math class only lets me know what is due in short bursts - so I don't have the entire year mapped out - but for the other two classes I know everything.

And you know what - it is actually working. I find myself ahead in most of my classes now. Which when the time comes, will leave me with more time for some studying.

I have a small thing I am worried about with each class. In English it's the reading in front of the class - I have always hated talking in front of my peers, which is one of the main reasons I am going into elementary education - but, I have gotten a lot better in terms of this over the years, thanks to my job as a journalist. In Science it's the lab reports. I am having such a hard time with the 'Proper Lab Documentation', so I have yet to put anything in the book - but I am going to be taking care of this by the end of the week. And finally, in math it's the midterm and final.

In Science all of my work, including tests is done by myself - I am never worried when it comes to English, but I am a bit apprehensive about the math tests. I have to take them in front of a proctor, with just my calculator. Trying to remember all of these equations is insane - especially since I haven't taken math in like eight years.

But, I am hoping to come out of this unscathed. I look forward to finally getting into the master's program - and in a few short years being an elementary school teacher.

King of the Hill

Well, it's official. We can now proclaim Donovan McNabb the "King of the Hill".

Yesterday, quarterback Daunte Culpepper announced his retirement from the NFL: claiming that no one was interested in giving him a chance at competing for a job.

The problem with Culpepper's accusation is this: he still thinks he is the Culpepper from Minnesota pre-knee injury. Only he isn't. He showed glimpses of coming back from the knee injury in stops with Miami and Oakland the past two seasons, but never over the entire season. This offseason, he was even offered a backup job in Green Bay and tried out for the backup job in Pittsburgh. But, in Culpepper's mind, he is not a backup - so he turned them down.

Anyway, he has announced his retirement from the NFL. So, that leaves just Donovan McNabb as the only active quarterback from 1999's NFL Draft.

Which leads to the question, is the 1999 NFL Draft the worst for quarterbacks?

There were five quarterbacks taken in the first round. Cleveland selected Tim Couch with the No. 1 overall pick. He was followed by Philadelphia taking McNabb at No. 2 and Cincinnati selecting Akili Smith at No. 3. Culpepper went to Minnesota at No. 11 and Cade McNown quickly followed at No. 12 to Chicago.

But you know what? It doesn't stop there.

Other quarterbacks taken in that draft, and there selection number in parenthesis.

• Shaun King - Tampa Bay (50)
• Brock Huard - Seattle (77)
• Joe Germaine - St. Louis (101)
• Aaron Brooks - Green Bay (131)
• Kevin Daft - Tennessee (151)
• Michael Bishop - New England (227)
• Chris Greisen - Arizona (239)
• Scott Covington - Cincinnati (245)

Not one of them is in the NFL as we speak. King and Brooks did have some successful stops in their careers, but both only had success that lasted a year or two.

Compared to the 2000 draft, which was not supposed to be a quarterback deep draft, the 1999 draft still comes up short. In 2000, just one quarterback was taken in the first round - Chad Pennington to the NY Jets.

Others selected in later rounds who have become pretty successful: Chris Redman in the third round and a couple of sixth rounders you may know - Marc Bulger and Tom Brady.

So, here's to you Mr. McNabb. You have proven to be the quarterback diamond of the 1999 draft. It looked rough for you during those injury-prone years, but you have worked yourself back - and you deserve this "King of the Hill" honor.

Congratulations.

Football Returns

I have come to the realization, that despite my adoration for the sport of basketball, football has morphed into my favorite sport to watch.

Perhaps it's because football is only on for a minimal amount of time. One cannot truly miss basketball, because it is only truly gone for three months. Baseball, as most of you know I am not too fond of, is basically never gone. It ends in November and Spring training starts in February.

But football is only around for about five months. It does end in February, but it is usually only one game - the Super Bowl.

Anyway, the National Football League kicks off its season tonight as they have begun to do now in the past few years - with the previous season's Super Bowl champion hosting a game. Thursday games are sometimes pretty annoying, but I feel that this game is worth it. It is a celebration of the new season, as well as a final celebration for the Super Bowl champion.

So, I figured I would run down some of my picks for the season (sort of like I did with baseball, but I care a little more).

Again, these are just my predictions.

Conference Champions
NFC East: Dallas Cowboys
NFC North: Green Bay Packers
NFC West: Arizona Cardinals
NFC South: New Orleans Saints

AFC East: New England Patriots
AFC North: Pittsburgh Steelers
AFC West: San Diego Chargers
AFC South: Indianapolis Colts

Wildcards
NFC: Philadelphia Eagles, Carolina Panthers
AFC: Jacksonville Jaguars, NY Jets

SUPER BOWL
Dallas Cowboys vs. San Diego Chargers

SUPER BOWL WINNER
Dallas Cowboys

Season kicks off tonight with NY Giants hosting Washington Redskins at 7 p.m. EST. Good luck to your team - as long as they aren't playing mine.

Weekend Movies

Over the Labor Day Weekend I was able to check out a couple of movies I had not seen yet.

The first movie we checked out was The Ex, a rather under-the-radar comedy with a pretty large cast.

The movie stars Zach Braff, a favorite of mine thanks to his portrayal of JD on Scrubs, as Tom Reilly, a chef in the big city who is about to have a baby with his wife Sofia (Amanda Peet).

Paul Rudd, in his only scene of the movie, plays Reilly's boss at the restaurant and on the day his wife is about to give birth - Tom is fired.

So, he caves and accepts a job in Sofia's father's ad agency. The big-time ad executive of the office is Chip Sanders (Jason Bateman), who is paralyzed from the waist down. He also had a huge crush on Sofia in high school (or college, can't remember) and apparently still does.

A lot of things start to go wrong for Tom at the office, and in his life, thanks to Chips doing. Although no one else in the family has any clue that Chip appears to be sabotaging Tom at both work and in his personal life.

The movie is pretty decent, but I can see why I didn't hear much about it when it first came out. It's your typical love triangle-type movie - with which the current boyfriend/husband drives himself berserk.

It is a fun watch, however, and the number of different actors you will recognize is pretty large. Charles Grodin and Mia Farrow play Sofia's parents. Donal Logue is the head of the ad agency while Amy Poehler and Fred Armisen both play ad execs who befriend Tom.

Grade:

The second movie of the weekend is one I have been looking forward to all summer long.

I become pretty infatuated with the original, so I was pretty eager to see the sequel - and I finally was able to see Harold & Kumar: Escape From Guantanamo Bay.

We checked out the unrated version, and it was pretty vulgar. A lot of things even I couldn't believe were in the movie, but it was alright. The movie itself does not live up to the potential of the first film - but it still had me laughing a lot.

The movie starts off right where the first one left off, as Harold & Kumar are heading to Amsterdam to find Maria, Harold's new love.

Of course, Kumar screws things up as he brings a bong aboard an airplane, which is mistaken for a bomb and the two get tossed into Guantanamo Bay by a pretty racist security advisor.

The rest of the film follows them as they escape from prison, look to track down a friend to clear their name and also break-up a wedding where Kumar's old flame is getting married to a total 'douche'. All the while getting chased by the racist security advisor.

Neil Patrick Harris returns to play - Neil Patrick Harris. His role was pretty cool, until the final part which I felt was a little unnecessary.

Overall, the movie gave some pretty good laughs. This time around it was Kumar chasing down the girl of his dreams. But, if I had to choose one or the other, the first one wins hands down.

Grade:

Labor Day Weekend

So, the weekend was both productive and somewhat relaxing at the Kano household.

On Friday I went to a bachelor party with both my father-in-law and brother-in-law. It wasn't anything over the top. Just a BBQ and a quick stop at a bar near the end of the night. By the time the end of the night rolled around, however, most parties were pretty much out of it anyway.

As most of you know, I am no longer the drinker, so I pretty much just relaxed and joked around with my father-in-law and a couple of his buddies. Which was pretty fun.

The whole night got me thinking about my own bachelor party, and the last time I got drunk beyond belief. The party started out at the local Elk's Club (I say started, but this is where it also finished for me). A lot of my high school buddies, friends, parents friends, etc. were there to toast away my bachelorhood. I was given a cup when I first walked in, which my 'friends' would not allow to get below the halfway mark before filling it up again. I was also forced to take a shot every 20-30 minutes, I am not sure.

Well, one final shot did me in and my night was over after a couple of reversals. The party was supposed to head downtown, which it did without me. A friend of mine took me to his house to crash. This is where things get a little foggy for me. I thought I had at least made it to 10 p.m., but stories have said that it was more like 9. I also don't remember throwing up in his truck, but I was told that I did. Finally, after stumbling into their house and only recognizing their dog, I woke up on an air mattress, sleeping on a towel and in a pair of shorts. I also don't remember changing into the shorts.

This bachelor party, was a little more tame than mine - not that mine was over the top by any means. The groom-to-be did get sloshed and appeared to be pretty out of it by the time we did make it to the bar. But, at least he made it there.

On Saturday, Erika painted our bedroom. I did help out a little, but painting is not really my fortay - and this was abundantly clear. I did, however, get the walls covered enough that she would only have to do some touchups. The room came out pretty well, and our cracks and nail holes have been fixed.

Sunday was my day to get things done. We were having people over at 2 p.m. for a little get together, so I did a little flight of the bumblebee and managed to get all of the work around the house done before they came up.

We had a pretty good time. Playing games, chatting, having some pizza and of course taking a trip to Gino's for ice cream.I hadn't laughed that hard in a really long time, and it was definitely worth it.

Monday was a pretty lazy day. We had done most of work for the house, so we sort of lounged around and played with Kasey. I took a little time to work on my online courses while Erika took Kasey for a walk. we finished the weekend with dinner with my parents.

I purchased Kasey this bop bag on Sunday, I figured it would be fun for him and his buddy Jack to play with. And it was pretty fun to see them smack it around. Kasey also loves to jump on it, I just hope he doesn't pop it.

Well, that was my weekend - and unfortunately it has come to an end and I am back to the grind.

Did manage to watch a pair of movies, reviews coming soon.