Singing Loudly

It's cold here in Texas today!

What's on your Top 5 video games list?
Submitted by mileena.

I'm pretty old school, but I'm correct in my listing...

Marble Madness on the Nintendo
Tetris on the original Game Boy
Sonic the Hedge Hog on the Sega Genesis
Halo on XBox
and, finally, Zelda 2 on the Nintendo.

What's your method for calculating a tip?

At least at a restaurant, I will just double the tax because that comes to about 17% where I live.  If the service was really good,  I will add a little more to that amount.

I went biking with my friend yesterday morning at Boulder Park in Dallas, TX.  I made it to the trails quite a bit earlier than he did, so I went ahead and rode one lap.  Since I'm still new at riding, I'm not able to go as fast as I would like to go.  One lap took me about 2 hours the first time through.  When he went with me it took about 1:40 which is a little better.

Boulder

Boulder was a lot of fun.  They have some nice switchbacks, dips that are fun, and plenty of rocky trails to jar you around a little.  I crashed out a couple times and fell off the front of a bridge.  While flying off the bridge, I managed to keep myself from getting wet but the bike took a little swim.  I think that either sprained my foot or just damaged it a little.  Nothing major but I've got to get the foot healed up.

After the 4 hours of riding, I went on a three mile run to get a little run in.  I decided, before hurting the foot, that I would try to run the 12 hour portion of the Ultracentric race in Grapevine, Texas this coming weekend.  Now I'll have to see if my foot will heal quick enough for that race.

Alright, so I've already done a good amount of biking.  It started, in large part, on Sunday when I hit the trails with my friend.  Within about 20 minutes, I had sprung a flat in my rear tire.  We had to go off the trail and patch it up.  About 15 minutes later, it was clear that there was a little leakage still occurring.  We hit it up with some CO2 and took an emergency exit to the road.  I had to get a slime tube put in.

Today I went to a beginner biker class put on by the place I bought my bike.  It was pretty remedial, but I think that it was important.  We just took the wheels off, flattened the tires, and took out the tubes.  Not difficult but it's things ever rider should be able to do in case they get a flat.

What's your dream career? 
Submitted by Something.

I think it would be owning a successful small business.  I wouldn't want anything big but just something that allows me the time and opportunities to pursue my hobbies and enjoy life.  Besides that, I would love if I could be a professional writer.  Fantastic...

The Onion AV Club recently discussed 15 Lamentably Lost One-Season TV Wonders.  I don't know if I can completely agree or not...

1.  Cop Rock Fox (1990).  I don't remember this one.
2.  Harsh Realm Fox (1990).  Ok, this one was a Chris Carpenter show that followed the unfortunate demise of The X-Files.  Unfortunately, I can't remember very much about this show.
3.  The Dana Carvey Show ABC (1996).  Another one I don't remember.
4.  Now and Again CBS (1999).  I can't remember this one either.
5.  Cupid ABC (1998).  I don't remember this one too well, but I do remember the premise.  It starred Jeremy Piven and was pretty interesting.  The profile says that Rob Thomas (Veronica Mars creator) created this one.
6.  Nothing Sacred ABC (1997).  I can't remember this one.
7.  Profit Fox (1996).  This is another show I do not remember.
8.  Freaks & Geeks NBC (1999).  Ok, this show was awesome.  I recommend that everyone buy or rent the DVDs so that they can see what they are missing.
9.  Undeclared Fox (2001).  This was created by the same people and included many of the same people as in Freaks & Geeks. It's not quite as smooth but it's great.
10.  Stella Comedy Central (2005).  I don't know this one at all.
11.  Firefly Fox (2002).  I have heard so much about this but I have refused to watch.
12.  Police Squad ABC (1992).  I don't know.
13.  Action Fox (1999).  I don't know this one.
14.  TV Fun House Comedy Central (2000).  I don't know much about this besides what was on SNL.
15.  That's My Bush Comedy Central (2001).  I never watched this but I do remember it being on.

After a couple months of hearing my friend talk about mountain biking (yes, I know, I live in Dallas, TX -- there are trails, I promise), I decided to take the plunge and get a bike.

I shopped around for a little while and wanted to get either a Specialized Rockhopper or a Gary Fisher Marlin.  At the end of the day, I bought the 2007 Gary Fisher Marlin in a 19'' frame.  Isn't it pretty?

Marlin_black

Well, after I bought it, I decided that it was time to take it out for a spin.  I went around White Rock Lake which is around ten miles.  I have run essentially the same course numerous times, but this was exhausting for me.  I didn't expect that it would work out such different muscles then you work out when you're running.  It makes sense but I wasn't anticipating it.

Tomorrow I'm going to meet my friend to ride a trail a few times.  I'm pretty excited to have my first bike since I was a child.  It's good to have a different mode of transportation and a new hobby.

This is what I ordered for my lovely mother for her birthday as I know she has a little bit of a sweet tooth. 

Brownies

If you haven't seen this featurette about a wonderful dog, and his very cool owner, named Skidboot, you ought to watch it.  It's a great story and you'll be amazed by both how smart the dog is and how good the owner is with his animals.  Very cool.