Email From My Mother

Hello my darling daughter,

I found this quote from posh dating service ad that was in an airline magazine that I recently perused through.

"Undoubtedly however, if you are an attractive, successful, relatively private and selective individual, you have found that the more you have to offer, the more difficult it seems to find the person who is right for you." (You came to mind immediately.)

Yesterday was our 33rd wedding anniversary. Can you believe that? I asked Dad how he managed to stay married to me for that long?!!!!! He had a big embarrassed grin on his face. I gave him a complete set of all the Three Stooges films for a specific time period, and Dad picked up some frozen berries from Trader Joe's for me.

Keep the faith and keep on going. I love you lots. Mom

Chalk One Up For This Bantamweight

My friend Denver, was supposed to fight in a promotion up in Ogden on Friday night but that show was cancelled due to that fact that none of the other fighters besides Denver and his opponent had their blood tests done. It was disappointing to all of us. I was over at Cam's on Friday night and found out that Denver was offered a fight in the Ultimate Combat Experience. They were going to allow him to use his weigh in results from Thursday night. He won the fight two and a half minutes into the first round by ground and pound. I'm so proud of my pal. This is his start to being at the top of that weight class.
(He's the shorter one in the Sprawl shorts)

I love the takedown at 1:25. We've been working on that a ton in class last week.

FAIL

I know, I know! I'm falling flat on my face with the whole posting every day idea. The weekend was insanely, awesomely busy, but I have some fun posts to share this upcoming week because of it. Thank you for your patience with me and good night.

What Today Was Great For...

Corndogs, Diet Coke, and rhinoceroses (rhinoceroci?).

I left work early because it was WAY too beautiful outside not to, and took my 2 year old nephew to the zoo. I guess the animals were as excited as I was that it was Friday because they were all awake and active and playful. All I ever see them doing is laying on a log with a bored stare. They're all so old and decrepit.

• Denver, one of my teammates at Absolute, is fighting at Teazers in Ogden tomorrow night. He's a Bantamweight (135 lbs) and I can't hardly wait to see the beginnings of his domination in that weight class. I saw him at the gym this morning doing the last of his weight cutting and he looked great. He's confident and ready.


(taken from Denver's Facebook page)

• My abs were really sore last night and I was wondering it felt like someone ran over my mid-section with a motorcycle. And then I remembered the 400 push-ups and sit-ups that we did at the end of our conditioning round the other night after Muay Thai. Yep, that would do it.


• I've been doing morning sessions with Rob and Cam on Tuesdays and Thursdays and they have spent alot of time with me. I've been going in to work early and then leaving for a couple hours to train. On Tuesday, Cam rolled with me the whole time and taught me some of his best go-to submissions from the half man guard. Rob went what felt like a billion rounds with me this morning until I felt sufficiently smashed and exhausted. This is so much fun.
  
• The thought "I need more spandex" was recently on my brain. Yes, I wear little booty shorts and a fitted rash guard under my gi or my fight shorts. It hasn't been doing it's job of keeping me covered though. Quite often my shirt ends up around my armpits when I'm rolling and everything is just all hanging out. It's horribly embarrassing. So a wrestling singlet was purchased. It was sent to Absolute and as I was trying it on in the changing room I hear a chorus of shouts from the front desk telling me to come out and show them. Ha! The show is over guys. I'm keeping it all contained now.

The All Star Dog!

I desperately need to go to bed, so I'll just leave you with this image.
(salivating)...I can't wait for baseball season to start up again.

He's Got Some Moves!

I train at Absolute with Donny "Sleavehead" Raines and not only is he a great fighter but he is a great actor and film producer. Check this out.

Serious talent, I know. That was just an small excerpt from his movie I Know Kung Fu. Check out the full version (it's in two parts) here and here. It's a super fun time!
This is another that I enjoyed from Sleavhead's You Tube collection...

And let's not forget about his MMA highlights. His submissions are awesome! He's pretty sneaky with that armbar...catches me with it all the time.

Don't you wish Donny was your friend? Yeah, I'm the lucky one.

Movie Review - Gentlemen Broncos

My PIC, Ashley, got married and moved to Texas last Spring and left her younger sister, Emily, to fill in for her. If I can't have Ashley, Emily is a GREAT replacement. Emily's birthday was last Thursday and she got tickets to a pre-screening of Gentlemen Broncos, the new Jared Hess film. This is the same writer/director that did Napoleon Dynamite and Nacho Libre. Do you remember seeing Napoleon in the theaters for the first time? Were you thinking what the hell was that? I sure did. Then you saw it a second time because some guys down the street rented the movie and since they were cute you decided to go and then realized that it actually is wicked hilarious and not just because the cute guys thought so. This is the potential that Gentlemen Broncos has. Emily and I walked out of the theater thinking this was the dumbest movie ever to be put into production. On the way home we were making fun of it and started to recall some of the more humorous parts. But the time we got back to her house we were laughing like a couple of crazies. The giggles wouldn't cease. This continued the next day through text messaging. So I think that I would recommend seeing this when it comes to theaters but go with low expectations because it does follow the Hess recipe for success - awkward hero and nerdy cast placed into a ridiculous plot. Enjoy.

There is also a great clip of Jemaine Clement (he's the best part of the movie) in character as Dr. Ronald Chevalier.

Hear Ye, Hear Ye

I recently went out with some friends and it came up that I haven't been posting lately and they seemed rather disappointed. I guess that sometimes you get tired of blogging or start running out interesting ideas to write about, then your blog starts losing any kind of momentum and your fan base disintegrates and no motivation to blog exists. Well, let's see if I can resurrect this blog. I will post a new entry everyday during this new month. I can't promise that it will be interesting but something will be up on this site daily. And I never allow comments anymore because I haven't been reading or commenting on the blogs that I subscribe to and don't want others to feel obligated to comment on mine. It's not that I'm not enjoying your blogs, it's just that my job description has changed a bit and I'm in front of a computer for work much of the day and the last thing that I want to do when I come home is sit at a desk. I do appreciate those of you that keep your blogs going strong and someday I will catch up on your posts. But that's going to have to wait until I get sick or something tragic like that. So hold on to your hats, you're going to get sick of VTS by the end of November, I can promise you that.

Trying To Get My Pearl Jam On

One of my favorite bands EVER, Pearl Jam, is performing at the E Center this Monday night. One of my co-workers, Ben S, and I really, REALLY want to go. Problem is that tickets are $70 and I really can't justify spending that sort of money for one concert. But if I don't go how will Eddie Vedder catch my gaze and suddenly realize that I'm the love of his life and we end up living in eternal bliss? I know, total problem here. So, a local radio station has been promoting this concert and giving away tickets. I have been listening diligently to 94.9 ZROC for the past month. I have called in whenever I hear any Pearl Jam song regardless of whether or not it was an actual giveaway. I have called no less than 300,000,000,000,000 times. And two times last week while driving to work I was caller number 8 when they were looking for caller number 9. So close, yet so far away. I wanted to cry.

So here is what I am proposing...you guys spend all day tomorrow and Monday glued to the radio and win the tickets and I'll go with you! Seriously, I totally would. I'll even buy you dinner. I'm a great date. I promise. Ask anyone.

GAME ON!

Keepitupkeepitup

Last week during Muay Thai I was drilling with Dave Kamarov and toward the end of the last round, when all of my energy was spent, this is what I heard from him the entire last 30 seconds...
keepitupkeepitupkeepitupkeepitupkeepkeepitupitupkeepitupkeepitupkeepitupkeepitupkeepitupkeepitupyoucandoitepitupkeepitupyoucandoityoucandoityoucandoityoucandoityoucandoityoucandoityoucandoityoucandoityoucandoitdon'tquitdon'tquitdon'tquitdon'tquitdon'tquitdon'tquitdon'tquitdon'tquitdon'tquitdon'tquitdon'tquitdon'tquitdon'tquitdon'tquitdon'tquitalmostdonealmostdonealmostdonealmostdonealmostdonealmostdonealmostdonealmostdonealmostdonealmosttherealmosttherealmosttherealmosttherealmosttheredon'tquitonemore. DONE! And now you can go over there and puke.
Thanks, Komi.

Quick Question

Would someone please explain to me why my blog is getting 300 billion hits? Because, to my knowledge, I only have about 6.3 readers that frequent this blog regularly. Why this sudden popularity? Should I be flattered or should I be scared of ridicule and extreme web-mocking?

I Heart Facebook!

I recently received a friend request from someone that I don't know and this was his profile pic.
Friendship confirmed.

The Friday Night Acquisition

Oh, rapture!

Always Sunny AND Freaking Hilarious

I've never been one to be a follower of any TV series, mainly because I haven't owned a TV for the past few years. But I recently came across "It's Always Sunny In Philadelphia" and totally love it. It's so quirky and unlike any other comedy series that I've ever seen. Sometimes I'll be sitting at my desk at work, think of something from the show and bust out laughing. It's got some good stuff.

I Feel Like Hell

I attended this seminar last Saturday.

(picture taken from the Absolute MMA blog)

My entire being is racked with soreness. It hurts to breathe. Anyone with strong drugs, please contact me immediately. Thank you.
What was really cool about this seminar was that I got to see my coach, Rob, in action. He is one awesome display of power. My jaw was on the floor as I watched him perform some really long combinations with intense force.
I walked away from this with a ton more knowledge. There were only 8 or 9 of us from Absolute there. Those from the other gyms outnumbered us. Not so cool. Those that didn't go really missed out on some solid fight information. I'm just telling it like it is.

Holy Hot Dang, Harley Edition

One of my co-workers rides a '76 Harley, Shovelhead hardtail to work occasionally. It is probably the coolest bike that I've ever seen. It always draws a crowd and alot of guys stop to take a look as they exit the lab. This is the view from my office.
Chad, the owner of the bike, and I are going to take a motorcycle certification class together soon. He's been urging me to get mine and he feels guilty that he's been riding bikes for so long (like 20 years) without a motorcycle license.

I know what you're feeling as you look at these pics! It does that for me too.

Paul (my awesome officemate) and I play a game called "Guess the Rider." The motorcycle parking area is right below our office window and we know who owns each motorcycle that is driven to work. When we hear an engine rev up we try to guess who it is without looking out the window. We are really, really good at this game. We have observed these bikes for a while now and know what size engines each has and what kind of noise it makes. There are probably 6 to 10 different motorcycles out there at any given time.

I Approve...

Rent it if you like Guy Ritchie movies.

Some Recent Faves

My parents recently came out for a visit from Massachusetts and we took Liesl to the "This Is The Place" monument park. I love how tender my dad is with little Liesl.
"This is AMAZING! I've never had anything more delicious in my ENTIRE LIFE!"

Liesl and Algy came over soon after Super bit the dust and were confused as to where the fishy was. My brother and I were laughing so hard and kept telling them to look harder. Awful, I know. But what good are kids if you can't have a little fun with them? Finally I had to tell them that he died. Liesl was displeased with the joke.

My favorite picture of us.

I love this pic because I love Emily so much.

This is my co-worker, Quint. There were no more cups in the community cup cupboard so he sits down with this measuring cup and declars that he was consuming exactly 300 mL of water during that lunch period. Hilarious! You had to be there.

Chicken Dinner!

Yeah! My good buddy, Dave Komarov, just won his fight at the Gladiator Challenge in Wendover last Saturday. He managed an armbar in the middle of the first round. He was landing some hard hits the whole round. I'm so surprised that he didn't get a KO.

The weekend prior to the fight we went to the zoo together and it was the best time that I've ever had there. Probably because he is a totally nerd and would get so excited about what he learned of the various animals. The best was how he would point our the size of the animals testicles in relation to their body size. Every single time. Toward the end, I would automatically look there and be amazed before he would make his comment.

Have you ever seen anyone come this close before? His reach is unreal, and he uses it well.

So precious.

Edward also fought in The Gladiator Challenge and won by referee stoppage due to strikes in the second round. It feels good to have some more wins for Team Absolute.
The main event was Jake "The Snake" Paul vs. Lee Doss and it ended quick! This show was called "Retaliate" because JTS and Lee Doss faced off against each other a while ago (JTS won) and it was said from Lee Doss' camp that the fight was called by the ref early. They had another go at it and JTS threw one punch after touching gloves and Lee Doss was rocked. This was seriously seconds after the bell. JTS followed it up with one or two more strikes once Lee was on the ground. That's it, the fight was called. What an ending to the hype that was generated.

I really love coming to these events and the caliber of local fighting is pretty good. You're usually guaranteed a couple of really good fights at these shows. Come next time.