Memorial Day Weekend!

Get your grills out, boats out, cars out and coolers out because it's going to be a sunny 3 day weekend!

Most people just think of Memorial Day as a 3 day weekend in which they get off work but actually Memorial Day historically signified the day that U.S. individuals recognized those who fought, and more importantly, those who died in the Civil War. Although it began as a tribute only to those who fought in the Civil War, it is now considered a day of observance to recognize soldiers who have fought in all U.S. wars.



The actual date of remembrance has varied over time; the VA has record of past days of observance on April 25th, May 5th, and May 30th. Since the 1970s, Memorial Day has been observed on the last day in May. Furthermore, since the year 2000, U.S. citizens have been asked to pause for one minute of silence at 3 p.m. on Memorial Day, to commemorate all who died as they served the United States; this minute of silence is called the National Moment of Remembrance. Make sure to take the time to remember those who fought and gave their lives so we have the freedom to do what ever we want on weekends like this.

Jeep, Philadelphia and Gettysburg

Well I bought the Jeep and had to use some of my sky miles to fly to Newark NJ to pick it up and drive home. Below is a picture with the top off. I was only home for about an hour until the top came off.


After I picked up my Jeep I drove to Philadelphia to do a little sight seeing on my way home. A while back the food network had this special about two places in Philly that both claim to make the best Philly cheese steaks. They are located right across the road from each other so naturally I had to go check it out and try one. Below are pictures of both places.




I decided to go to Pat's and try their Philly cheese steak. I wasn't hungry enough to try both and Pat's had more seating. That is how I made the decision on which one to try. It was really good.


After I ate I went to the historical district to see the Liberty bell, National Constitution Center, United States Mint and several other buildings. Below are a few pictures of these buildings and others. It was nice and sunny that day but the temp was 92 degrees.










After I was done sight seeing in Philly I drove to Gettysburg to do a little more sight seeing on my way home. I have already been to Gettysburg but it was in 8th grade and I was not mature enough care about anything except chasing girls and getting into trouble. (I'm much more mature now, even though I'm still chasing girls and getting into trouble)

Below are several pictures of Gettysburg monuments and battle fields. There is a 24 mile tour that you can drive. There are so many stops it takes about 3-4 hours.









I decided to get a nice dinner in Gettysburg. I ate at a place called Gettysburg Eddie. It had the small town appeal going on. Evidently the it was named after a major league pitcher from Gettysburg called Edward Plank. He must have been pretty good because he was a world series MVP, a hall of famer and according to the quote on the wall from Ty Cobb "the best pitcher I have ever seen".

I did a little more sight seeing the next day and found a few monuments dedicated to the Ohio infantry


I then left Gettysburg and drove to Nic's place in Columbus. I took the smaller roads through the mountains. It was pretty scenic and a lot of fun in the Jeep.



After about an hour and a half of driving all of a sudden I saw the welcome to West Virginia sign. I wasn't planning on going through West Virginia so I about crap my pants when I saw this sign because I thought I was driving the wrong way. I pulled over and looked at the map and realized that the top tip of West Virginia is between Pennsylvania and Ohio. So I was right on track. Maybe I should have paid attention in Geography class instead of screwing off because I though I would never need to know this stuff.

Like I said earlier on Sunday when I got back the top came off right away. Aaron took this picture of his bike and my jeep.

We went wakeboarding in a pond Sunday afternoon. The water was a little cold but not too bad. Below is a picture of me pulling Jesse.


If you are interested there are a lot more pictures of my trip in the "Josh's Pictures" link to the right.

A whole lot of nothing

I don't have anything exciting to write about this week. Tomorrow I am taking the day off of work. I'm flying to Newark to pick up my new Jeep and drive it back. I'm not sure what I am going to do on the way back. I'm thinking about doing a little sight seeing in Philadelphia and Gettysburg on the way. I might just make a weekend out of it. I'm just going to "wing it" and see what happens. If I have an internet connection I'll publish a few posts during the trip.

Rubicon

I think I just bought this Jeep today. We'll see if my bid go through...

Traveling...

I just found out I will be traveling to Switzerland and Germany in June for work.

Myself along with two coworkers are flying out of Newark, New Jersey to Geneva, Switzerland on Saturday June 5th. While in Switzerland I have to buy a real Swiss Army Knife, Swiss Cheese, and a Red Bull. I think Jase needs a Swiss army knife too. He will be two in a couple months, he really needs to start cutting stuff(don't tell Julie)



From there we will be traveling by train Sunday and Monday through Switzerland and Germany to a city in Germany called Leipzeg.
I imagine the train ride will be very scenic through part of the Alps, Switzerland and Germany.

We will be spending three days in Leipzeg attending a Fire Truck and Emergency Vehicle show. Then we will take another train up to Berlin. We plan on doing a little sight seeing and seeing the Berlin wall. I need to buy a real cuckoo clock. That is the only Germany touristy thing I haven't bought yet.

We fly out of Berlin Friday morning and arrive back home Friday evening.

I was worried that this trip was going to conflict with the Famous Fort Recovery Jubilee but luckily it does not.

I really need to practice up on my German. Its been over two years since I've been there. The only thing I can remember is how to order a beer. That's probably enough to get by though. After a couple beers who really cares anyways?

I should have a bunch of pics and a lot to write about while I'm there and when I get back. Keep in touch.

Quotes from The Office by Michael Scott

I'm like Superman and the people who work here are like the citizens of Gotham City.

My point is... my point is, a penis - when seen in the right context - is the most wonderful sight for a woman. But in the wrong context it is like a monster movie.

No, no, I need two men on this. That's what she said. No time! But she did. NO TIME!

Yeah I went hunting once. Shot the deer in the leg. Had to kill it with a shovel. Took about an hour. Why do you ask?

I am a victim of a hate crime. Stanley knows what I'm talking about.

Bros before hoes. Why? Because your bros are always there for you. They got your back after your ho rips your heart out for no good reason. And you were nothing but great to your ho, and you told her that she was the only ho for you. And then suddenly... she's not yo' ho no mo'.



In my opinion the third date is traditionally the one where you have sex. Does Holly feel that way? I don't know. I will probably find out tonight. If she starts having sex with me I'll know for sure.

When I discovered YouTube, I didn't work for five days. I did nothing. I viewed cookie monster sings chocolate rain about 1,000 times.



When I said that I was king of forwards, you got to understand that I don't come up with this stuff. I just forward it along. You wouldn't arrest a guy who was just passing drugs from one guy to another.

I know it's illegal in Pennsylvania, but it's for charity, and I consider myself a great philanderer

It's a bridal shower for guys. A guy shower. An hour-long shower with guys.

Moore and Johnson are both coming back!

I plan on watching them play in the final four next year!

This video of Johnson is awesome.

BTFU

Jimmy Clausen (aka Pickles)

Being drafted in the second round after being projected to be a top 10 pick is not the worst thing to happen to Jimmy Clausen

Nice marketing ND and OSU

I saw this video a few days back. Evidently some marketing genius at Notre Dame decided to make a movie to promote ND. I would really like to thank the person who thought of this. It is a web hit for all the wrong reasons. Practically every school that dislikes ND is posting this where ever possible because it is so bad. It reminds me of a bad 80's rock video. Way to go ND. A true moment in excellence! They should probably go back to talking about their storied football program from 40 years ago, as if anybody cares...


Evidently Ohio State decided to follow suit an make their own brilliant marketing video. This has to be the "whitest" video ever. Not only do they dance to Journey (white mans crack) but they copied an episode of Glee (yes Glee the TV show about a drama club). If I had gaydar it would definitely be going off at the beginning of this video.



Congrats to both school in their tradition in excellence. By making complete fools out of yourselves you have brought joy to people around the world!

Should we stay or should we go?

Two and a half days until Etwaun Moore and Jajuan Johnson have to decide to hire an agent for the NBA draft or withdraw from the draft and return to Purdue for their senior season. It’s been a long wait for Purdue fans everywhere. I’m so anxious I put a countdown on my blog a while back. Below are my honest thoughts on both players. I may be a little bias though

Etwaun Moore:
He is damn good. He has been Purdue’s leading scorer since time he arrived at Purdue. I think he is sometimes overlooked because of Johnson and Hummel. He quietly scores 18 points a game and dishes out 3-5 assists and a couple rebounds. I think he is good enough to go to the NBA right now but I don’t think he will. He has pretty much admitted that he is testing the draft to prepare him for the future but plans to return for his senior year. I give Etwaun a 90% chance of returning.

Jajuan Johnson:
This guy has gotten better by leaps and bounds each year at Purdue. I think the main reason he gets as much attention as he does and the main reason he is leaning towards the draft is because of his potential. He gets better and better each year. I think the NBA scouts see this. The issue with him is his size though. He is 6’10” but a very skinny 6’10”. In the NBA he will not be able to play in the paint like college. He will be dominated by guys weighing 50-60 more pounds than him. He has a GREAT mid range shot and is developing his long range shooting. Even outside of the paint in the NBA he would have to face guys his height or taller that had 30 pounds on him. I think he is leaning towards the NBA and wants to go to the NBA because of the talk of reduced contracts for rookies next year and seeing what happened to his teammate Robbie Hummel last year. Why not get in when money is better? If he was projected to be a first round pick I would consider him gone. He is projected to go somewhere is the second round which makes the decision a little more difficult. I give him a 45% chance of returning.

The good news if Johnson goes is that we do have a sophomore, a red shirt freshman and a true freshman that should be ready to come in and make an impact down low. They will not replace Johnson but they are good. Some other good news if he leaves is that it will open up a scholarship for Donnie Hale. Hale is forward who scored 1,236 points in high school and led New Albany to a 90-9 record and three sectional titles. He averaged 18 points and eight rebounds as a senior. He signed with Purdue and is even willing to go to prep school for a year if a scholarship doesn’t open up. That is a great commitment from a guy that could go to many other schools.

Happy Cinco de Mayo!

I don’t really know much about Cinco de Mayo except that is the fifth of May, a Mexican holiday and a day to drink lots of alcohol so I decided to do a little research.

Most people (including myself) think that Cinco de Mayo is Mexico's Independence Day, the most important national patriotic holiday in Mexico. We that is incorrect, Mexico’s independence day is actually September 16th.

Cinco de Mayo is a voluntarily observed holiday that commemorates the Mexican army's unlikely victory over French forces at the Battle of Puebla on May 5, 1862.

This battle was significant in that the 4,000 Mexican soldiers were greatly outnumbered by the well-equipped French army of 8,000 that had not been defeated for almost 50 years. It is celebrated primarily in the state of Puebla and in the United States.

I also wondered why we celebrate it so much in the US but then I started thinking that we celebrate St. Patrick's Day, Oktoberfest, and the somewhat the Chinese New Year in the US so why not celebrate any holiday that requires large amounts of alcohol!

All this talk about Mexico makes me think about illegal immigration. In late April, Arizona passed bill authorizing police officers to stop suspected illegal immigrants and demand proof of citizenship. Evidently this is controversial and created a large uproar.

I don’t see what the big deal is. If you are driving a car and a cop pulls you over you are required to have your drivers license on you to show the officer. So if you are in a country you are not born in shouldn’t you have documentation showing that you are permitted to be there? I truly don’t see the big deal. I hope other states follow along.

2010 Kentucky Derby

I ended up going to the Derby this past weekend. It was absolutely crazy. The weather wasn't too bad but it rained all night before the Derby and a couple times during the day. There are 13 races throughout the day. The first one starts at 10:30am. We got there about 10am. The infield was not too bad at this time. There was a lot of water but the grass was pretty good yet. Nic and I walked around for a while checking out everything going on. The Budweiser horses were in the infield. They are huge up close.



Turn 3 and 4 in the infield is where the parties are at. It is wild. The pictures below of were of people dancing in front of a DJ. These pictures were took around noon. There Derby race isn't until 6:30pm. Were these people are dancing was ankle deep in mud by the time the Derby started. There were also people sliding in the mud and people covered from head to toe in mud!


Porta potty racing went on all day long. Before it was too muddy the police were coming out into the infield tackling and arresting people that were porta potty racing. But after it got so muddy the police didn't even come out into the muddy areas. The races went on all afternoon. I have no idea why anybody would want to do this. They were getting hit with beer cans and even chairs. There were several guys bleeding from their faces. I asked Nic why anybody would want to go up there because they know they are going to get hit by beer cans and chairs. He pointd at Johan, which if you know him it pretty much explains itself!

The pictured below are of the twin spires at the Derby. This is the back side of the spires. They are a national landmark so they can not be changed. The spires are the top of the original grandstand. Since they can not be changed the grandstands on both sides of them have been expanded several stories higher than the spires.

Below shows the front side of the grandstand. You can see one of the spires. To the right where the red arrow is where we watched the derby. Jason and Ted got us access to the roof of the grandstands. It was a great view. The people below us paid thousands for their seats and we had just as good of a view for free!

Below is a video I took of the view from the roof of the grandstand.


The pictures below are of the Derby race. The sun actually came our for this race

After the Derby we went back to the hotel to get cleaned up. We then headed down to fourth street live for the rest of the night. Below is a movie of fourth street when we arrived.

That is all I have for the rest of the night. My phone decided to lock up so I couldn't take any more picture or movies. The bars do not close in Louisville on derby night so we were there for a while. I think it was around 4:30 when we got to bed! Nic and I purchased our first beer at 11:45am and made it until 4:30 that night. It was a long day to say the least!