RANDOMOCITY :: 07/20/09

What's with all the celebrity deaths in the past month or so? Bea Arthur, David Carradine, Ed McMahon, Farrah Fawcett, Michael Jackson, Billy Mays, Steve McNair, and most recently Walter Cronkite. Maybe it just seems horrible, but I can't recall a time in recent memory when this many people of fame died in such a short span of time.

If you run marathons, chances are, I'm not friends with you.

Ever notice how many words starting with the letter "C" there are related to death or dead bodies? Corpse, carrion, cadaver, carcass, cremation. There's probably more but those are just the ones I could come up with off the top of my head.

As long as we are on wordplay, a tad ironic that the first three letters of the word "funeral" are f,u, and n. Not a whole lotta fun at a funeral is there?

I've been spending entirely too much time leafing through Crate and Barrel catalogs as well as frequenting the Banana Republic at the Kenosha Prime Outlets.

Congrats to Caleb on being named Employee of the Month at his job at Classic Residence by Hyatt in Glendale. He beat out quite a few people and was undoubtedly proud, as was the entire family, that his tremendous work ethic is valued by his peers.

It's entirely possible we have 20 people urban camping in Ohio for the annual Libations and Ribaldry Camping Trip in late August. Not sure where we're all gonna be sleeping, but why sweat the details?

Is it possible to watch any of the Naked Gun movies and not see O.J. Simpson playing Nordberg and ponder what drove him from bumbling cop sidekick to a real life rage-fest?

Team Rubber Biscuit has placed 3rd or better the past 3 weeks at Shillings Thursday night team trivia. Its kinda nice to get paid to drink and eat, as well as exercise your brain with fellow nerds and savants.

Eagle Eye could possibly be the worst movie ever. Next to S.W.A.T. that is. Will would disagree.

For those that have made the annual pilgrimmage to southern California in February for the USA Sevens rugby tournament, I'm sad to report that there has been a venue change. Beginning in 2010, USA Sevens will be held in Las Vegas, purportedly for the next 3 years, which is disappointing, at least in the eyes of yours truly. To see the tournament get bigger and better organized every year, to see the families coming out in large packs, to see the celebration of rugby, it really felt special to be a part of it. I've never been to Vegas, so I really shouldn't judge, but I just don't foresee the positive focus on rugby remaining a guiding light for this tournament any longer. It feels like the group that runs USA Sevens sold out and we're nothing more than a dollar sign now to a tournament lacking a true identity. The actual venue change is from Petco Park in San Diego to UNLV's football stadium in Vegas, and I've already been told that the stadium isn't all that warm or fan friendly. In any event, I will definitely support the tournament at least one last year, and enjoy a weekend (or week) in Vegas, but I'll be really curious to see what happens to attendence this year. Stay tuned.

For those that watch Entourage on HBO Sunday nights, I think we can all agree that episode 2 of the current season certainly got us all excited again to be watching. The season premier was rather ho hum, but week 2 really got things sizzling again!

In less than a year, all indoor places in Wisconsin will be smokefree! Amen and let the countdown begin!

I must say, when I began this fitness adventure 9 months ago, I wasn't sure where it would take me. However, I did know that I wanted to lose some serious weight and get back in shape. I must say, after putting up 300 on the bench today, I've probably never been in better shape in my entire life. I'm sure I've been skinnier in the past, but with eating healthier and working out almost everyday, I don't know that I've actually ever felt this healthy. I guess if there is a moral to this story, it's that eating a little better, and getting to a gym at least a couple times a week can really do wonders. Who ever knew soup, nutragrain bars, water, treadmills, and a squat thrust now and again could do such wonders!

While most people make resolutions at New Years, ones they never intend to keep, I made some mid-year resolutions and they are as follows:

• Reconnect with my inner musical child. Dust off the piano and start really playing again along with possibly taking some guitar lessons.
• Get more involved with photography and see where it can take me. I clearly have a passion for taking pictures and maybe it's time to actually learn how to use a camera.
• Learn how to brew beer. Sheel, Wierek and I jokingly already have created the name of our brewery, the Wheel St. Brewery (you can figure it out). I'd really like to get serious about brewing beer, along with all the nuances and such, and see if we have it in us to create some tasty, frothy ale.

Next year's potential vacations are already giving me goosebumps. Lundquist and I have spitballed around running with the bulls in Pamplona, Spain in July and Sheel mentioned that we would be going to India at some point as well. Even though I have Ireland coming up in 10 days, I almost can't wait for next year's trips!

For those that saw Bruno, the following clip will see even more amusing that it already is. This is the box office message for a theater in Navan, Ireland

For everyone who knows me, you know I lived near Cleveland for a couple years and love that city, even though pretty much no one else does. These movies, while sarcastically insulting, are really rather funny

Check back in a week for another installment of Randomocity.