The Story of the Kid with Nothing to Say

An Inconvenient Book

2007-11-20T14:21:00.000-08:00

Buy the book

Frisking Cop Gets Too Frisky

2007-11-03T08:56:00.001-07:00

Frisking Cop Gets Too Frisky - Watch more free videos

I'm Impressed.

2007-10-22T13:04:00.000-07:00

This was very well done, and Funny.

Reid Praises Limbaugh Auction

2007-10-19T10:25:00.001-07:00

Harry Reid praised Rush Limbaugh's efforts to raise money for the families of fallen soldiers and police from the Senate floor today. Never one to miss an opportunity for free publicity, Reid, ironically, who played a central role in this democrat-contrived controversy, is lamely attempting to resuscitate his pitiful reputation. The winner?

read more | digg story

Yes I'm a geek.....

2007-10-05T07:30:00.000-07:00

But once Ashley saw it, she had me make her one too.

It's just too easy to watch TV now. I watch some stuff live when I can, but the I also record (DVR/TIVO) shows on my computer and buy some on iTunes. Then I can watch anything via my AppleTV whenever I want.

Fox's 'House' Being Pulled From iTunes Because of NBC/Apple Dispute

2007-10-02T14:48:00.001-07:00

'House' is being pulled from Apple iTunes, even though the show is on Fox, NBC-Universal Produces it, and as a result of them ending the contract with Apple, 'House' is no more on iTunes. This is just makes me mad, but it is saving me Money. I would much rather have a single place to download things, or hell, multiple places that I can download and watch when I want. The shows I do subscribe to in iTunes work perfectly. I just subscribe, pay and the day after the show I can watch when ever I want, and I have it to watch again if I want, when I want. My EyeTV HD, AppleTv and external Hard drive are getting a lot more use than I thought, but it's also saving me a lot of money. I would much rather just subscribe and download everything I want from a place like iTunes, but I'll live with the extra step.

read more | digg story

SNL Digital Short IRAN September 29 2007

2007-10-02T06:35:00.000-07:00

Duluth, MN to Portage, WI

2007-09-28T14:42:00.000-07:00

I thought this posted awhile ago, but I must have just hit Save instead of post....

Well, I was doing ok on my updates. Then I go 17 days without an update. In that time I've moved into a crappy apartment, moved out of it, then moved into a good one.

At the end of August I started looking for an apartment in the Portage/Pardeeville area. It was hard to find a place that would do short term or month to month. This was important because I didn't know how long I'd be there.

I found a place that looked good, not great, but looked good. They would do month to month, include utilities and let me move in when I wanted. The pictures they sent didn't look too bad, the bedrooms were a little small and it was a very old house that was split into for separate apartments. Well when I go there, there was no lock on the side/main paper thin door (one was being installed as I was unloading my car), and they didn't have the key for the front door. This bothered me a little, but not sweat, a lock was being installed. Then I checked out the bedrooms, strike one, the first bedroom might have fit a twin bed, but nothing else. The second bedroom might have fit a full bed and other stuff, but there was no way to get things in there. The hallway was too small and had two 90 degree turns. Well I guess I could put my bed in the first room and clothes in the other? Then I checked out the small bathroom, not horrible, until I tried the water pressure, Strike Two. There was none, and I mean I turned on the shower and it just dribbled out. Ok that is a problem. Then I was talking to the guy installing the lock about things that need to be checked out/fixed, he told me about the other tenants, strike three, I'm out. I'll just say I know people not paying their rent is something that happens, but when they tell you the cops are going to be involved and you don't think she'll go quietly, what do you think is going to happen?

Now I did think at one point that I was being a little stuck up and spoiled, until I showed the place to Ashley when I went to drop off my key. She agreed, it was not a place she would stay, or want me to stay. So I felt better about my decision.

I ended up finding a Great place, even better than my place in Duluth. I was able to reschedule my furniture deliver and cable installation and get all moved in.

Well I'm all moved in and comfortable now. Sorry this took awhile to post, thought it posted last week. Check out my Flickr page for more pictures, including all of the pictures from Ashley's two weekend visits.

Click Here to see all the pictures of the Apartment

Or here to see all my Pictures (You'll have to get past the Apartment pictures, since they're one of the last things I uploaded.)

6 Years Ago

2007-09-11T06:25:00.000-07:00

6 years ago I was sitting in my Calculus class at the University of Toledo. Little did I know, the world was changing. I walked to the Union after class, to see people gathered around televisions, standing in silence. We saw the 2nd plane crash live.

All circuits were busy on the Verizon network. Everyone was trying to do the same thing as me, call someone and see if they were watching what was happening. As I walked through the Union Tv's were being set up so we could watch what was happening. I had a class in 15min, so I headed to my car and turned on the radio. When I pulled up to the building across campus where my class was, people were pouring out of the building. A friend of mine came up to my car and told me classes were canceled for the rest of the day. I headed home.

I saw the Towers collapse live. I saw the horror, sadness and confusion in the faces and voices of the reporters. I followed as many news sources as I could.

September 11: Chronology of The Attack

I'll never forget the images of the Planes hitting the Towers, The Towers collapsing and the people jumping.

As much as I hope we don't have to go through another attack. I feel that in the next 1-2 years we'll experience something of that magnitude or greater.

Just take a moment to remember today. I don't think I have done enough of that in years past.

Brazilian Waxing Exposed: Let ‘Er Rip

2007-09-11T05:32:00.001-07:00

From the Article: "I'll admit it I found this because I was thinking about getting a Brazilian wax. Yes that’s the extreme one down there. I don’t know about it now. I found this woman’s account of the whole experience. I think I might stick with the bottle of vodka and home wax kit. Would you bend over and spread them for a random person in a salon?"

read more | digg story

RIP Pavarotti

2007-09-06T06:18:00.000-07:00

Thanks to watching Paul Potts on Brittan's Got Talent via YouTube, I started listening to some Opera. It's sad to see a Legend die.

An Open Letter to NBC re: Leaving Apple's iTunes Store

2007-08-31T12:25:00.001-07:00

Two years ago, the idea of paying $2 per episode for a TV show seemed almost crazy, thanks mostly to DVRs, VCRs and file-sharing networks. But the iTunes Store has changed that, and helped to popularize TV shows such as The Office, Battlestar Galactica, and Heroes in the process. Now NBC is threatening to pull out of iTunes. Sound off inside.

read more | digg story

Real posts coming soon, Until Then....

2007-08-31T10:37:00.000-07:00

The Office returns in less than a month!!!

Tries to redeem herself....

2007-08-28T13:55:00.000-07:00

Wow, words can't explain....

2007-08-25T18:09:00.000-07:00

Unique Wedding Proposal

2007-08-21T06:01:00.000-07:00

Here is the link the blog, but below is the video. This is really interesting and unique. I'm still a fan of the way I proposed to Ashley.

I still laugh everytime I watch this.

2007-08-16T08:51:00.000-07:00

Post Secret

2007-08-15T18:25:00.000-07:00

http://postsecret.blogspot.com/

CNN: TOP 20 Questions to ask before you get married

2007-08-09T13:28:00.001-07:00

Question 1: What percentage of our income are we prepared to spend to purchase and maintain our home on a monthly or annual basis?Question 2: Who is responsible for keeping our house and yard cared for and organized? Are we different in our needs for cleanliness and organization?

read more | digg story

This week has been a Cricus, no wait, thats next week.

2007-07-28T07:27:00.001-07:00

It's been a really busy hectic week, but I'm finally caught up on things. I'll admit I haven't been as productive this week because of the fair being right outside my window. I'm a people watcher, and not in the weird kind of way. It was really interesting to watch them put up all the of the rides, although none of it was safe. Wearing shorts, no shirt and flip flops climbing up to the top of the ride with no fall protection just doesn't seem like a good idea to me.

The nice thing about having the fair out here has been the availability of new food choices. Working 12+ hours a day Monday-Saturday can be annoying enough, eating the same stuff everyday only makes it worse. Having a pulled pork sandwich one day and a chopped beef the next was a nice change. I'm going all out and getting a corn dog and something else that is fried today, I'm allowed something good (bad for me) every once in a while.

The only bad thing like I mentioned before is it's really easy to get side tracked and watch all the people walking around. I hope when I'm a parent I won't let my daughter dress like an "easy" 21 year old when she's 11. Some of the outfits these kids are running around in are just nuts. I understand that once they hit 16, get a job and have a car and money they can buy their own clothes, but when the parents are buying the clothes don't they see what they are buying? Ok now I sounds like a old man complaining about "kids these days". I'm 25 I swear.

The fair is over on Sunday and there is a Demo Derby, if I'm not too tired I might come out for it. But with the way I slept, or didn't sleep last night, I will probably be catching up on sleep. Someone was setting off fireworks and talking/yelling outside last night. And I just kept tossing and turning.

Next Saturday the Circus will be here. That will kind of be cool to see a bunch of animals close up. Like the fair, we'll probably get into that for free too, since our field offices are right here on the fair grounds. One of the small benefits I guess.

On a completely different subject, I've started listening to Dave Ramesy via his 1-hr free podcast or I'll try to listen live to the whole 3hrs online when I can. My dad got all of us "Kids" (32, 25, 26) his book and work book "Total Money Makeover" (how to get and live debt free) for Christmas last year, and I read through a little of it, and it made sense, just never did anything with it.

Well I picked it up again, started reading and then started listening to his show. Now I'm
working on getting myself out of debt by the end of the year. Now his plan isn't easy and it's not a get rich quick kind of scheme. It takes work, but the outcome is great. One of his examples is if you get rid of a $500 car payment a month, put that into an average mutual fund and after 30 years you'd have over $1.4 Million, and if you waited 10 more years you'd have over $4.6 Million and thats just from a car payment. His motto is Live like no one else (pay off debt and save money) so Later in life you can live like no one else (No debt, buy whatever you want with cash instead of debt). Some of the stories people call in with are really great and encouraging. I'd recommend checking it out. I should be debt free by the end of the year, hopefully sooner. I've already have a small emergency fund, I'm investing money in a 401k, and next thing is to build up a larger emergency fund, 3-4 months of expenses. I admit I have it a little easier than most, I'm young, don't have much debt, and I have a good paying job, but after hearing some of the stories people call in with, Anyone can do it.

Ok I didn't mean for that to sound like an infomercial, but whatever, Plan seems to be working for me.

Well back to work for me, Fair starts a noon and I know I'll be getting distracted. Oh, Almost forgot, new pictures on Flickr Click here. Till Later...

Cybersquatter Ordered to Return Simpsons Movie Domain Name

2007-07-28T06:00:00.001-07:00

A U.N. agency has ruled that ownership of the domain name thesimpsonsmovie.com must be turned over to Twentieth Century Fox, which owns the rights to the film and the TV series called the Simpsons. It was owned by Keith of the Keith and the Girl Podcast.

read more | digg story

Will It Blend: Bic Lighters

2007-07-28T05:59:00.001-07:00

Some people might say it's not a very smart idea to throw 6 lighters into a blender. Those people would be right.

read more | digg story

I love people that rant without facts.

2007-07-14T11:38:00.000-07:00

I've been reading this blog/site called Perfect Duluth Day for awhile now. Came across it when I was looking up some information on Duluth. And the other day something interesting was posted.

Click here for the post.

It's about the pipeline project that might start around Duluth/Superior and go north to Canada. The post itself was simple and to the point, but the comments is where the fun is. I've been good and haven't gotten involved but someone named John has stirred up some fun.

They started off with some typical posts not in favor of the project, and John set a couple of the facts straight. Thats when the fun started. They posted phrases like

"i don't for one minute think that the environmental restrictions are "beyond belief."
"more lines = more destruction of habitat"
"community taking the bribes "
"put that in your neocon koolade and suck it back"
"filtering water sounds very nice, until you realize that a trout can't swim through it, and neither can much of the other wildlife that generally live in streams"
"they DON'T always use local labor"
"BUT, John, I'm hoping what you're speculating is true and that these contractors DO hire local."

The conversation went- They made a bunch of points without information, John said well this is what really is going on. They then said "Oh yeah, well it could be like this", he would respond with what is really going on, They compared it to Walmart pushing out the mom and pop stores??!?! (This one made me laugh, how can you have a Mom and Pop pipeline company? the pipeline isn't putting anyone out of business) John the stated again what was going on. Then they said "Well ok, We don't want any of this, but if your SPECULATIONS are true, I guess it won't be soo bad" HA

The other one that made me laugh is when he pointed out the all water is filtered and such, they said "well filtering water sounds very nice, until you realize that a trout can't swim through it, and neither can much of the other wildlife that generally live in streams" He did respond and say (my shortened version) "Hey moron, they only filter it till it's done, then the fishes can go back to swimming along" Ok so he was a lot nicer and explained it, but I mean COME ON, do you really think when a pipeline goes through say, a river, that nothing can ever go through that river again?!?

Go read all the comments, they're great. Perfect Duluth Day

Ever Wonder What a Particle Accelerator Looks Like? [pics]

2007-07-14T07:09:00.001-07:00

Aseries of 360-degree, high-resolution shots depicting various parts of the amazing 27-kilometer underground complex (complete with soothingly industrial ambient background soundscapes—you can almost hear the magnets cooling) should keep your mind off doomsday long enough to remember that the LHC is probably a pretty good idea after all

read more | digg story

Ouch!

2007-07-13T13:36:00.000-07:00

Associated Press Photo of a guy getting gored at the Running of the Bulls...ouch!

It's been how long?

2007-07-12T06:48:00.000-07:00

Yeah I know, it's been awhile.

Not much other than work has been going on. Our Disney trip in December is as planned as it can be. Our agent at Dreams Unlimited has been great. I just let him know when and where we wanted to eat, and he did all the work for us. After doing some research online, I've found out how crazy people can get over meal reservations. They really do get up and call when the phones lines open up 180 days out from the vacation, and they book as many meals as they can. That means stuff really books up, especially the nicer restaurants during Holiday seasons.

So now we have a nice sit down restaurant for each day we're there. Some days it's breakfast, others it's dinner, but think most of them are Linner (Lunch/Dinner). We'll get so see the Candlelight Processional and we also book the Fantasmic dinner package. With each of those you book a special meal package that lets you see the show, and you don't have to wait in the LONG lines for them.

I also booked our flight from Detroit to Orlando. I was just browsing flights and was going to order later, but I found a deal that I couldn't pass up. First class round trip, for only $500/person. Yeah I know $500 sounds like a lot, but when Ashley's ticket to come visit me here or my ticked home for coach is around $400, I think its a good deal. And now I don't have to worry about getting tickets or them being all booked up.

I've seen some really good pictures of the view from the Savannah view rooms, where we'll be staying. I knew we'd be able to see the animals from our balcony, but I didn't think we'd be able to see them that close. It's going to be really great to wake up in the morning and look out at that.

Back to work for me, Till Later.....

IPhone: The Musical | New York Times Video

2007-07-05T15:03:00.001-07:00

David Pogue put together a comical musical number about the iPhone.

read more | digg story

Don't fall asleep at a Baseball game.

2007-07-03T13:26:00.000-07:00

iPhone Stress Tests - PC World Video

2007-06-30T09:12:00.003-07:00

Can you scratch it? What happens when you drop it? PC World's Eric Butterfield takes the iPhone through a grueling set of tests to check how the device handles abuse.

read more | digg story

AT&T To Acquire Dobson Communications, Expanded Rural Service Coming

2007-06-30T09:12:00.001-07:00

AT&T has announced a deal to acquire Dobson Communications, which owns Cellular One. I might be able to get an iPhone up here in Superior/Duluth. Ashley thinks I should wait till the holidays, and she's probably right, new stuff normally comes out then anyways. Click the link to read more.

read more | digg story

Going on Vacation....In December.

2007-06-27T08:36:00.000-07:00

Just a quick post. Booked Ashley and my trip to Disney last night. We're going to bed staying at the Animal Kingdom Lodge December 22-30, and spend SEVEN days in the parks. I wasn't going to go for this long, but the week of Christmas is the only week I think I'll be getting off. And since that is the Busiest time of the year, we'll need some extra time in the parks.

I got us a Savannah view room so we'll be able to wake up every morning and see the animals out out of our balcony. The crazy thing is we have to start booking our meal reservations now, because Disney lets you do it 180 days in advance, and people get crazy about it. Lucky us we're using Dreams Unlimited Travel and all I have to do is tell them what we want to do and when and they will book it all for us. I think it's going to work out well, so far the agent working with me/us has been really fast responding to everything.

The positive in all this is that Ashley and I will get over a week together, alone, in Disney. The bad is I don't think we'll get much, if any time together before then. So this trip is really something to look forward to.

Once we have a rough schedule done, with restaurants and everything I'll post it up. Any feedback would be great.

Till Later.....

New Pictures of Zoey

2007-06-24T08:25:00.005-07:00

Zoey playing
Originally uploaded by MattwThorn

Zoey in the Big Pool
Originally uploaded by MattwThorn

In the Tub
Originally uploaded by MattwThorn

Goto my Flickr for more.I think you can just click the pictures, or Click Here

A REAL post!!

2007-06-24T07:42:00.000-07:00

So here it is, a REAL post. Want to know why I have time to do a real post? Well, I'm sitting here at work on a Sunday, and have a few minutes that are not crazy busy. I won't complain the whole post, just here in the beginning. I found out yesterday that some crews were working, and if just some of them were working I wouldn't need to come in. But by the end of the day, everyone was working except for 1 and 1/2 crews. So here I sit, doing yesterday's progress so I can do Sunday's tomorrow. I am looking forward to a nice long nap this afternoon, since I didn't get to sleep in. This post is going to be all over the place probably, so more of a list than a paragraph.

Not much has changed since I last blogged, not sure when the last real post was. Still sitting here in Superior/Duluth, and I think I'll be here awhile.

Ashley came to visit, I posted pictures awhile back, and we had a good time. She might come back at the end of July with my mom. We're currently planning another Disney trip for December, Looks like we're going to go the week of Christmas. I know that's the busiest week, but that might be the only week I get off of work.

The work up here is moving slowly, but it look likes down near Nekoosa is going well.

I moved my office again, we have to get out of the original office trailers so they can start setting up for the fair this summer. Hopefully I'll just be here from now on.

Ashley took some good pictures of Zoey, I'll post them on my Flickr Click here to see them

Ok, back to work, Hopefully I'll be back in bed soon.

Hahahahahahaha

2007-06-19T13:12:00.001-07:00

This is the funniest thing I've seen in a while. I laughed out loud at work.

Squirrel Catapult

Lost is still a long way away...

2007-06-17T10:54:00.001-07:00

I know the new season is a LONG way off, but hopefully this 5min video will help a little. It shows what all was happening during the plan crash.

Are you Lazy? How to Make Laziness Work for You!

2007-06-15T18:20:00.001-07:00

You’re feeling lazy right now, and reading blogs instead of doing what you’re supposed to be doing. That’s OK — we all do that. But let’s look at how to make that laziness work for us, and how to turn lazy into productive.

read more | digg story

Video's From Glenn Beck's An Inconvenient Tour

2007-06-15T08:16:00.000-07:00

I wish I could have seen Glenn Beck's An Inconvenient Tour

Avenue Q Everyone´s a little bit racist

2007-06-14T13:58:00.001-07:00

Just another video. I might just updated on my life soon. Posting stuff like this is just faster. I'll take some time soon. And I like to post stuff, even if it's just for myself, so I can find it later.

Avenue Q - How Did I miss this??

2007-06-13T11:38:00.000-07:00

I don't know why and how I missed this.

Reminder: Don't make your ex-girlfriend angry

2007-06-13T09:35:00.001-07:00

A woman who ripped off her ex-boyfriend's testicle with her bare hands has been sent to prison.

read more | digg story

Mr. Wizard May he R.I.P.

2007-06-13T04:43:00.001-07:00

Mr. Wizard, the man who taught science to millions of geeks when we were kids, died of cancer. Check out http://www.mrwizardstudios.com/index.htm

read more | digg story

27 Confessions Of A Former Circuit City Worker

2007-06-12T04:58:00.001-07:00

"I had worked at Circuit City for quite some time, until recently when I could no longer stand the shady operations of its business. While working at Circuit City I worked in the Media and Technology department. I believe there are a few things that people should know about Circuit City..."

read more | digg story

Roller Coaster Riders Left Hanging (PIC)

2007-06-12T04:57:00.001-07:00

A dozen riders on a roller coaster spent half an hour hanging upside down 150 feet above the ground after a power outage shut down the attraction.

read more | digg story

DSCN2669

2007-06-04T09:23:00.013-07:00

DSCN2669
Originally uploaded by MattwThorn