Hall of Winona...wait that's not right.

So Cass and I decided before leaving for Milwaukee that we would bring our ultimate gear with us and see how we felt on Sunday morning. If we were awake and ready we would make the trip. We were awake and DTB.

We rolled in around 9:30. We had left Milwaukee at 6:00 so we made pretty good time getting there. We got our cleats on grabbed our bags and walked towards our field. The team mostly had their backs to us but when we were within a field someone on the sideline spotted us and the whole team turned, spotted us, and cheered. It was the kind of welcome that I needed and that Cass deserves.

We showed up to find our team losing in a testy game against some Gnarwhal players. Our arrival awakened the beast spirits within each of our teammates souls and we rallied for a two point victory. The next game was against some school in Nebraska which featured a player who my best guess would put at 6'8". Featured in this case would mean he touched the disc on every other throw and we really couldn't do anything to contain him. We ended up losing by two. Our final game was against UW-LaCrosse, a fun group of players we had met and played two years prior. It was a fiery, emotional game for myself (knowing it would be our last of the day/tournament) and we managed to dig deep and pull out a two point victory. Haha pull out.

That previous paragraph doesn't matter. The results of the games didn't decide the weekend for us. Cass and I had a great time and got the emotional boost we needed from the weekend. We didn't regret waking up and making the trip for one second.

The only downside was that I didn't get a chance to see Nate. He was playing open at the main fields and by the time I rolled past I wasn't able to find him (if he was still there).

My eleventh Hallowinona was still awesome and they seem to get better every year. We didn't win this year but I felt more fulfilled at the end of the day on Sunday than I had the previous year. A big thank you to all my teammates.

And Cass made brownies.

Here's my dog sleeping on her back.

It's just a really cute picture.

So this past weekend was Halloween. For the past ten years for me that has meant the Hallowinona ultimate tournament in Winona, MN. That's right. My ultimate career is in the double digits at this point. I've been doing this longer than I've been having sex. Keep in mind that most guys wouldn't be able to last for ten years.

On Tuesday night last week (four days before the tournament) I got a call from my friend David. His father had passed away. I have known David since we were in first grade together and I've known his family for at least that long.

His dad was a genuinely funny guy. He was the kind of person who let you know where you stood and you could tell what mood he was in from across the room. He'll be missed by so many and I hope David and his family are able to remember the joy of his life.

The funeral was on Saturday in Milwaukee. Cass and I decided immediately we would be going. It was good to see so many friends I hadn't seen in forever, and the parlor was packed with people who came to remember Jerry.

A quick story that I probably should have told at the funeral: my dad always got along with Jerry. They would be sure to be chatting and laughing any time they were together. I remember the first time my dad and Jerry met. We drove over to David's house to pick him up for a Brewer game and to stay the night on a weekend. My dad asked Jerry "What time should I bring him home?" Jerry answered "When he's 18 and has a job."

It was great to be there for my friend. Cass and I stayed in Milwaukee on Saturday night and we missed out on Hallowinona this year. Or did we?

Folks

Getting caught up:

Our parents weekend in Door County went smoothly. Much more smoothly than we hoped even. Not that we expected fisticuffs although that may have been entertaining.

We played golf and I played just well enough to give the appearance of competence when necessary. We saw a play, played games, ate a chipper and goulash, and had fun. Both our folks are generally good people and they got along well.

Cass did great and there was actually more baby talk than wedding talk. That was a curveball. Oh, and here's proof that Cass is more beloved than anyone else:

Die with our boots on.

The US Men's National Team clinched a World Cup berth this past weekend with a 3-2 win in Honduras. I, like most Americans, was not able to watch the game due to some asinine broadcasting rules/decisions. Regardless this is great news for a US team on the rise.

The US team turned heads this year by beating Spain in the Confederations Cup Semifinals. This marked the most important victory by the US team in many years. They did it with solid defense and quality shots from their scorers when they needed it.

Unfortunately it didn't mark the turnaround for the team from mediocre to world elite. They still have problems almost every game putting together a sustained attack and stopping world class offense. They look lost at times and really caught a few lucky breaks along the way to South Africa.

All that being said I am very happy and proud of this team. They have a lot of work and really need to settle in on doing their jobs every time in order to advance out of pool play. I believe in them and will be rooting the whole way.

The USMNT have come a long way. It used to be that no matter what we did we wouldn't be able to hang with the world's best. Now if we play our best game we can beat teams that aren't. There are still teams we could never beat on their best day, but forcing everyone else to bring their "A" game is a step in the right direction.

+++++++++++++++++++++

The Chicago Fire are close to wrapping up their season as well. Cass and I had a blast as season ticket holders this year and are considering our options for next year. There are a few things we'd do different like not sit in the supporters section and skip the Beckham game (if he comes back) but overall we enjoyed getting to go to as many games as we did.

The team is in trouble for the playoffs though. They are very thin on the back line due to injuries to some critical members, primarily Tim Ward who is the new favorite player of Cass and I due to his quality hustle and overall play this past year, as well as the loss of Bakary Soumare to France due to him not wanting to be here. Up front our attack has looked weak as well since the loss of Thorrington and Blanco is playing hurt. Getting McBride back is a big boost but hopefully we can get a few of these guys back in form for the postseason run. Otherwise it could be an early exit.

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Arsenal is sitting at fifth in the standings but they have played one fewer game than everyone ahead of them. Most impressively they have scored more goals than any one else in the league. The closest team is Liverpool who is two goals behind with an extra game played.

Arsenal is scoring 3.4 goals per game right now and don't look to be slowing down. They aren't scared to just pour everything at teams and have found the back of the net like no other. Their defensive line is weak but unless teams have goal scorers they aren't going to be able to compete. It's fine to concede two goals if you go out and score six.

Between Fabregas, Vermaelen, Van P, Arshavin teams will have trouble finding stoppers for all of Arsenal's weapons, and that's to say nothing of when the team is healthy and they have Walcott, Bendtner, Gallas, and Rosicky too.

The one thing that sucks is the team's only real enforcer is Nasri and he's been hurt. Regardless if you have spots behind the net at an Arsenal game this year be ready to stand up and cheer.

The more things change...

the worse they get.

A little backstory: those of you who went to UIC probably recognize the image. Busy Burger was a cheap burger joint on Taylor Street. It actually still is but we'll get to that. Everything in there was done on the cheap. The prices were low, the soda was unrecognizable (I don't mean that as a shot at say Mello Yello, I mean I literally have no idea what brand of soda they were serving), it was a little dirty, and they didn't even take credit cards. But most importantly the burgers were awesome. They were thick, juicy and cheap. It may have been all the grease still on the fryer adding flavor but those were delicious burgers.

Rewind to earlier this summer. At some point driving down Taylor Street I looked over and noticed that Busy Burger had done some remodeling. Some serious remodeling. It didn't look like a relic from an era that never really existed, it looked like a college burger shack. "Oh well" I shrugged.

Back to this past weekend. Cass and I had meant to grill burgers to stay in with Fielder but it was raining pretty hard. Since we were both in the mood for a burger and I hadn't had it in a while I suggested we call Busy Burger. I checked online and saw that they delivered. I don't know that they did this before but I know they didn't have their menu online before and I realized that their prices had increased. "Just more updating" I guessed.

We placed our order and it came and I was immediately disappointed. I mean immediately because when I went down to get the order at the door I reached in and grabbed a fry. Instead of the crispy fries I was used to I found soggy skinny mockeries. I was irritated but I wasn't going to let it spoil my night. "No biggie" I accepted.

We toasted the fries in the toaster to crisp them up a bit. As we were waiting we got our meals ready and I noticed that the burgers looked a lot more thin than they used to be. Now instead of a thick juicy patty there were thin ones. I was worried by this point but I held off judgment until I took a bite. "Things have gone horribly wrong" I realized.

The burgers now are thin, charred on the outside and dry on the inside. It is a cheap piece of meat. It was always a cheap piece of meat but it used to be delicious and now it is not, and it cost less before.

We didn't let it ruin our night and to be honest at the time I wasn't all that upset but we just got a new dog and were riding an emotional high at the time. Those burgers were a real buzzkill.

I don't know if they changed owners or what but everything is different now, and not for the better. We won't be going back. We can't go back.

+++++++++++++++++++++++++

An update on Fielder: I pet her for the first time yesterday. She is bonding really well with Cass and seems more spooked by men so we think the mill was run mostly by men. She is still nervous but is calming down to an outrageous degree. The first night she slipped down between the couch and the wall and I had to pick her up out of there. She was so freaked she ran and jumped off of the opposite edge of the couch and landed in the Charlie's water bowl (about a four foot gap). Earlier today Cass was driving her to the vet. Fielder was in the passenger seat. A cop car pulled up next to her at a red light and the cops pointed and were making cute faces. Fielder then decided to try to jump through the windshield (or up on the dash, it doesn't really matter), which she smacked into and fell directly to the floor of the car.

When I got home from working out she was curled up on Cass's lap (today is the first time she has done this). Apparently she had been sleeping on the chair nearby, wrapped up in one of my sweatshirts. Then she looked and seemingly asked to be picked up so Cass did so and Fielder fell asleep immediately. I came in and she woke up but was still very relaxed so I tried petting her and she let me. She was a little startled at first but calmed down and fell asleep while I was scratching her head.

We are very excited by the progress.

What we did today while not finding out we were pregnant.

We have a new member of the Nienow-Hatzfeld family. We proudly present to you Fielder (Princess Fielder Nienow; pictured above with King Charles). She is a 15 lb adorable Shih-Tzu mix.

She comes to us from a puppy mill (via a Rescue Agency) where she was used to breed. She is incredibly timid and scared because the world around her is so new. She is 5 years-old but was in a puppy mill up until a month ago. As a result she is shy and reluctant to let anyone touch her. Seeing how frightened she gets makes me want to punch everyone who has ever worked at a puppy mill in the teeth.

The next few days/weeks/months are going to require a lot of patience and caring in order to establish the trust/love that has been missing her whole life. We can already tell that she will be a very loving dog when she gets the chance.

Thanks to those who gave us kick-ass references.

+++++++++++++++++++++++++

So my Facebook status update read "So there's going to be a new member of the Nienow-Hatzfeld family." Responses:

Dude. Dude! DUDE. -Florida
WHAT DOES THAT MEANNN? -Kichler
Details, man. Details! -Majetich
Please say you're getting a pet monkey:) -Simo
Wow congratulations! I just hope this isn't a trick and its not like a plant or a pet monkey. -Matt Flynn
dudes, answer your phones goddamn! -Suz

I honestly didn't know our phones were off but that was hilarious when I turned my phone on. And screw you Matt. You'd be just as excited as I would be if I got a pet monkey.

Unnecessary Movie Review: Running Scared

I don't remember how this movie even ended up on my Netflix queue. All preliminary information would identify this as something I would not like to watch.

The reality of the situation was that I was pleasantly surprised by the not-that-terribleness of this movie. Paul Walker plays a gang member who is responsible for disposing of the gang's guns after shootings. He actually hides them in his basement. Unfortunately his son's friend witnesses this and uses one of the guns on his stepfather before running away. Walker has to track down the gun and fast before the police get it and connect it to his gang.

That's about it for the story. Rest assured that the story is just about the least essential thing to the movie. Everyone is playing a cardboard cutout of a character, which everyone involved does adequately enough. There are some side routes and minor twists before getting to the end but the reality is that most of these are only decent or worse off for the movie as a whole.

Cinematography is the heart of the film and it is shot amazingly well. Crane shots and slowed down rewinds to different angles of a single scene are common place, as well as shots from the bullet's point of view. The violence is a bit graphic in this film, something I am not a huge fan of in most films, so be prepared for that. The scene sets and lighting are stylized as well, and this reaches ridiculous proportions by the climax of the movie shot in an ultraviolet-lit hockey arena.

If the movie had a better story, some characterization, and anything other than the awful cheap ending that it has I would recommend it outright. As it is, this is a decent action movie that is all style over substance.

Straight up now tell me

Things are happening all the time which take priority. I would have made a note of them but they took priority.

The reality of the situation is that work has been very busy lately so I don't have as much time for internet recreation. Things are easing up now.

A few things to make note of:
- CHC this past weekend was frustrating and then good. We went 1-3 the first day losing to three teams that I could see us beating. Second day we went 3-0. I played my best game in game two of Sunday which we won 16-14. I got a handblock on game point and we then marched it in for the win. Cass got to watch me play on Sunday. That made it even better.

- Moon Dance is coming up. I'm excited.

- Wedding stuff is progressing. It's a slow process that frustrates us both for entirely different reasons.

- Our parents are meeting in a few weeks. That will be quite an update I'm sure.

I did want to construct an internet arrow for a couple of my posts on the baseball blog that I thought appealed to a wide audience instead of strictly baseball fans:

Baseball Movies wherein I rank the top five performances in films based on baseball.

All Rooting Interest Team wherein I name the players that I cheer for reasons other than their talent.

In a rad bit of derring-do my Ultimate team Salvage captured first place in the Cooler B Bracket this past weekend. I really had a lot of fun and I am finding myself enjoying playing with this team much more than I expected. That's not to say that I didn't expect to get along with most of the guys (I do) but that I expected to feel in the dumps after how tryouts went. I really only agreed to play with this team after finding out that I would get to play with Oba, Big Kat, Collins, and Nagel. We have the highest concentration of Buick of any team in Chicago.

I played well and have settled into a handler role on the team fairly well. I don't have to be the best player on the team which is a relief. I also find a lot of pressure taken off by not captaining and just playing while focusing on my game instead of everyone else's. I had a couple stupid drops but I also had a layout D and two sky Ds on hucks, which almost never happens seeing as how I am 5'6".

Winning is always fun and at Cooler you win a cheesecow for winning your bracket. That is literally a block of cheese in the shape of a cow. Victory tastes delicious.

The weekend was made so much better because Cass came with and cheered from the sideline. It's hard for me to focus on playing when every time I do something good on the field I hear "That's my fiancee!!" We stayed with Luke and Katie and were able to hang out a bit even thought they were busy doing home remodeling things. They seemed to really like the pirate ship and sea turtle that we got for them in Topsail.

Fire game this weekend for all non-whiners and crybabies.

Just me?

I can't be the only person who thinks this: anytime I see a direct-to-DVD movie advertised as "Unrated Edition" I think "Wow, they couldn't even get censors to watch this crap."

Cass and I are heading up to Milwaukee for the weekend for an ultimate tourney and to visit with Luke and Katie. We are planning on going to the Brewers game on Friday night too so I have to work on my smack talk.

Fuego Futbol

Cass and I have a bunch of (18) extra tickets to the Fire game for Sun Aug. 23 at 5pm. Tickets are only $10 and we have extra parking passes. First come first serve so make ya voice heard.

The toppest of the sail.

Cass and I had a great weekend in North Carolina with her family. We relaxed, got crushed by waves, found shark's teeth, finished several books, played games, drank, slept in, tossed disc and that about covers it. It was a much needed week off that recharged us both. Expect a picture blog soon from Cass as soon as all the pics are in. Until then though

This is seriously my favorite picture I have ever taken.

Consider the sand blasted.

Sandblast this past weekend was a ton of fun. Cass and I played well and enjoyed ourselves immensely. The Gladiators won the party but at the cost of winning on the second day. Totally worth it.

Oh crap softball...

I just realized that Cass and I have our next four weekends booked solid and our softball season is therefore over. I am really saddened by this.

Why yes, I am aware that I look just like my father.

Cass and I had a great time in Door County. It's always fun when we go up there but it's never consistent. Some trips are packed with things to do while others seem to have endless hours of nothing planned. This one was just perfect in that we had time to relax but also kept busy.

Charlie made his first road trip to visit his friend Aggie, whom he hadn't seen since she came to stay with Cass for a couple weeks. Luke and Katie brought the yippers as well so it was a packed house. Charlie did great. He slept in the car and didn't whine, he got along well with the other dogs and was well behaved, and the highlight of the trip was taking a 3 mile hike through sometimes dense forest paths at the state park with him and Aggie.

We bumped into Jess and Gabe at a country market while we were up there. Such a small world.

What the what

So there's been this insane tent erected at Van Buren and Aberdeen that makes it look like a nobleman is coming to town. We all wondered what it was.

OMGOMGOMGOMGOMGOMGOMGOMGOMGOMGOMG

Go there a peruse the sight a bit until your brain comprehends the information it is processing. And then try to keep your face from melting.

Cass: "This is the closest to live unicorns that we're gonna get."

Golden Boot

I just wanted to take the time to say we had an awesome soccer season. Thanks to those who played and those who came to watch and support. We got better all season and really just went out and had fun which is what soccer is all about.

I also want to say how proud Cass makes me almost all the time. She dominates on the field and led the team in scoring, including a wondergoal from I'm guessing about 25 meters out for a win. She gets MVP with I'm guessing no objection at all.

See most of you this Saturday. Brace yourselves cuz there's no gravity.

Top 5

Top five moments from Homer at the Bat:
5. "I still like him better than Steinbrenner."
4. Mr. Burns's original desired lineup included a player that has been dead for 130 years.
3. Lenny's imagination of Homer with a laser that incinerates his opponents.
2. "Lord Palmerston!" "Pitt the Elder!"
1. The closing credits song.

I am prepared to defend all of these.

Men plan. God laughs.

Our housewarming party is June 20th so plan on a great night of ribaldry and the GIJoe Commando Attack Game.

Prediction is very difficult, especially of the future.

We are in our new place now. Still organizing left to be done but it's feeling like home. We'll post pictures soon.

Lots of stuff has happened but I'm not up for the whole catchup post right now. Now that we're connected I'll just try to stay more on top of things.

We saw Up and both enjoyed it. I thought it had tremendous highs and lows. I'm not sure where it stacks up in the Pixar hierarchy just yet.