Trivia

One of my favorite things in the world is trivia. I know enough random crap from surfing the internet to stop a train. Combine that with a few pitcher of beers, and now you're really talking. Last night, for the first time (surprisingly) I played DJ Trivia at a local establishment, and truth be told, I'm pretty spectacular. From knowing that Teddy Roosevelt was president at the turn of the 20th century to knowing (and being the only person in the bar to know) that the ancient city of Macchu Picchu was located in Peru, it's safe to say my team dominated. I was absolutely not modest about any of it either, celebrating in a hybrid Tiger Woods fist pump/Usain Bolt lightning pose after most questions. My team walked away with that $30 gift card, and we were damn proud of it too. If you happened to be there, sorry that I'm not sorry for my actions. I love winning.

Midnight Madden-ness

I was one of the people at Wal-Mart at midnight last night to buy Madden 13. Call me crazy, but I like it. The game is relatively similar to the previous models, but the intrigue of buying the new version is the new players, and players on new teams (still have to trade T-Jax to the Bills though). I'm not a great video game player, but I enjoy Madden because of the strategy involved. Calling and running plays, and being allowed to see the game much like an NFL QB would (at least as close as a common man can) is very interesting to me the sports fan. Plus, Madden is always released when the interest in football is at the peak, right before the regular season starts. It's almost like they plan it that way.

Restaurant Conundrum

So last night I was eating dinner with some of my friends. We'll call them Phil and Stacy, because I like making up names for people. They probably won't be mentioned for the rest of the story, but I just want you to know that I don't eat alone. Moving forward, I wasn't too hungry, so I simply ordered a root beer float for dinner. It was delicious. It was 1919 Root Beer, which is pretty spectacular. I guzzled down the root beer before I could eat all the ice cream, and I was presented with a dilemma. Do I ask the waitress to top off my glass with root beer, at the risk of incurring an extra expense? Do I simple eat the rest of the ice cream and keep my mouth shut? Or do I order a second root beer float?

Is a refill of rootbeer included with the purchase of a root beer float? It's more expensive than a regular root beer drink, so I'd argue it should be. Yes, I know the cost of ice cream is factored in, but still. I ended up just eating the rest of the ice cream and not causing a scene. But it's been bugging me, not knowing whether or not I missed out on some potentially free root beer. I don't know the protocol, and whether it varies by restaurant, or even if there is a protocol. It's pretty weird to think, so I'm gonna say no.

Unrelated: I could totally go for another root beer float.

Sports Etiquette

There's a great column in SI recently about how to behave at live sporting events. This pertains to concerts as well, and in my opinion, most of what Steve Rushin said should be basic knowledge and common courtesy. The two that really grind my gears are the people that don't stand during the pledge of allegiance as well as people who don't give foul balls to young kids. I want to go up to people that don't stand and asks them if they are sitting down in protest of the military, and if they'd be willing to trade places with our soldiers. And people who fight for foul balls? Seriously. Home runs are one thing, but once someone gets a hold of the ball, give it to the nearest kid. It's the manly thing to do.

Fire Truck Fun

This morning I got a chance to go up in a fire truck and talk to the fire chief of the Onalaska FD, Don Don Dominick, about their charitable cause. It's caused "Fill the Boots" and it goes to raise money for the Muscular Dystrophy Association, a cause near and dear to his heart. Donations can be made August 30 from 3p-7p, August 31 from 3p-7p and September 1 from 9a-12p at the intersection of Main St. and Theatre Road. You won't miss it. There will be gigantic firetrucks there.

The most daring of dare devils

Conceptually, sky diving is simple.

Jump out of airplane; pull ripcord; let parachute do the rest.

Felix Baumgartner wants to make it a little more complicated.

He wants to sky dive from 23 miles in the air!

The story is fascinating, especially the part that says that Baumgartner will hit "supersonic speeds of nearly 700 mph on his way down and, if his eyeballs don't pop and his blood doesn't boil" then he'll likely survive.

The picture to the left is 13 miles in the air. Imagine jumping from 10 miles higher than that.

Apparently the first 40 seconds are the hardest, as he can become disoriented doing two revolutions per second.

Ya think?

Just crazy. Click on the link and read the story. Hope this guy survives.

Amazon Mix-Up

We've all bought stuff online, and there's a certain element of surprise as to what exactly you're going to get. You cant physically see the item you're purchasing, and if you're buying clothes and shoes, it can be a crapshoot to see if they will actually fit. This story, however, is a little different. 

Bravo to the guy for wanting to set up his pregnant wife with a new TV. I can only imagine what went through Seth's mind when he saw the boxes being delivered, and the fact that they did not resemble the shape of a TV had to be alarming. To open the box and find "a Sig Sauer SIG716, a high-caliber, semi-automatic assault weapon capable of mowing down, well, just about anything" had to be terrifying.

And as of this morning, Amazon had "declined to say what the company is doing to remedy the situation."

What can you do? We'll send you the new TV, keep the death machine at no cost?

PANDA WATCH: Washington D.C.

  Panda Watch is in full effect in Washington DC, as the local zoo is anticipating the birth of some new pandas. Mei Xiang is ready to pop out some baby pandas, and it could be one of the last pregnancies in the United States due to the apparent incompetence of the male panda, Tian Tian. The quote about the male panda, in a respected publication like the Washington Post, is absolutely hilarious.

"For his part, Tian Tian, who turns 15 next Monday, has proved to be a clueless breeder with flawed technique. In addition, his genes are not that valuable because his father has sired dozens of offspring in the captive population."

Talk about a slap in the face to old Tian Tian. Not only is his breeding style "clueless" and "flawed" but apparently even if he does manage to get the female pregnancies, his genes aren't even wanted.


Talk about a sad panda.

Loggers

This La Crosse Loggers team is really something special. I've been able to watch the team probably about 10 times this season, and have followed them closely the rest of the time. The line-up that Andy McKay can run out there any given night is just remarkable. Up and down the line-up, different guys can produce any give night. And if you look where GM Chris Goodell is getting this players from, it's not surprising. College baseball powerhouses like UCLA, Cal State Fullerton, Memphis, Arkansas, San Diego State and Princeton are all sending players to La Crosse, Wisconsin, and those guys just won their 50th game of the summer last night. In my opinion, the team has two sure fire future MLB players in Richard Prigatano and Matt Champman, with a handful of other players having the chance to work their way in. I watched online as this resilient group collected hit after hit in the 9th inning last night to come back, take the lead, and put the game away all within the same half inning. Here's hoping the Loggers can take the South Division championship tonight and head to the NWL championship series at the end of this week.

Enemy Colors

Saturday night, I attended a Minnesota Twins game at Target Field. They played the Tampa Bay Rays, and as a fan on neither team, I was conflicted with what to wear. My friends were not keen on the idea of me wearing Milwaukee Brewers gear, so we settled on a compromise of wearing a Packers t-shirt. That was possibly the best idea ever. I got into at least a dozen different conversations throughout the night, with fellow Packers fans wanting to know if I was from Wisconsin, to a intoxicated bride-to-be who couldn't believe that I would wear that shirt into "her" bar. Football season isn't quite fully underway yet, so there wasn't the total amount of hostility that there could have been, but I very much enjoyed my decision to wear the Green Bay shirt. It was absolutely a conversation starter, and got me into a few arguments, but boy, was it entertaining. (And side note on the picture, the only reason I'm wearing a Minnesota Twins helmet is because earlier in the night, it was full of nachos.)