Happy New Year

Our last post of 2010! Happy New Year to all!!!!

Our year started with recession, but has become brighter!

We hope everything is better in the upcoming year than the last for all!

M&H

Detroit Lions vs. Miami Dolphins 1st Half Quick Snap

Currently watching the first half on DVR. It appears the Dolphins have been lucky with putting the Lions in terrible field positions which has allowed them to return punts to very favorable portions of the field.

The other thing I have noticed is that the Lion tight ends have had the ability to sneak behind the opposing linebackers with nice 10+ yard gains. Including the Pettigrew touchdown.

The Dolphin touchdown to end the first half was pure luck, the throw to Bess from Henne was thrown short. It was then tipped by a Lion which then fell 3 yards behind to Bess for the touchdown. Ty Hill of the Lions had both hands on the ball, but did not capture it, as it moved beyond his hands to the sneaky Bess.

This game was pure luck the Dolphins were leading at halftime.

Another Detroit Lion Streak...Outside Cold Temp in Nov/Dec

I was thinking, you know it has been an absolute misery to root for the Detroit Lions for the past 10 years. Then I thought, when was the last time the Lions actually won a road game in November or December where the location is a typical cold temperature city .

I created a spreadsheet with all the scores for the past 10 miserable years and guess what.....no win in Nov or Dec in a cold temp city!

So we go back to the year 2000. Nov 17, 2000, At Meadowlands Stadium in New Jersey, the Lions beat the Jets 10-7. A few weeks earlier they also beat the NY Giants in New Jersey for a double dose of NY road wins.

What about other cold weather cities not NY based teams? Well....we gotta go wayyy back....

Well in 1997, The Lions beat the Vikings at the Metrodome (INDOORS), but that was not outside! So we gotta go back!....

1995! NOVEMBER 19, 1995 At Chicago vs. the Bears! 24-17 WIN!

Hard to believe!

M

Happy Holidays!

Happy Holidays all Friends and Family!

We wish we could make it back to the homeland but due to scheduling and work commitments we won't be able to make it back. Although we hope to see everyone in 2011 at some point!

Ho Ho Ho!

M&H

Mice Caught

Instead of using the Hockey Puck style mouse trap, we bought 2 L shaped Boot traps. Those suckers really worked, caught 2 mousers! No more mouse sounds in the FanCave. Big Win. Sorry Mice.

Mutant Mice

I set up two mouse traps earlier in the week. I heard the mouse up there, figuring it was trapped. Today I go to throw out the traps, and they, the mouse or mice ate the plastic from the inside out to escape! These mice are mutant mice, and I can only imagine they are one part Arnold and one part James Bond.

I will not stop until these mice are caught!

Yellville, Arkansas: Red Raven Inn Bed and Breakfast

A few weeks ago we headed down to Arkansas for a weekend in the Ozark National Forest. We stayed at this Bed and Breakfast for a couple nights. It was really nice, and very close to the Buffalo River and National Forest. One of the cool things was that they had a full fridge on the main floor that had beverages and snacks available for guests outside of the normal breakfast. The Buffalo River is one of the great 'float' rivers in Arkansas , and this would be optimum location for those types of trips in the future. The home owner was very nice and made a great breakfast.

M&H

Back to the Future 25th Anniversary Release AMC Theaters

This weekend, AMC Theaters rereleased Back to the Future as part of the 25th Anniversary of the Film. There were only 1 showing on Saturday and one upcoming on Monday. Two Delorean owners brought out their automobiles for show in front of the theater. They gave away a special edition poster away and I put it in a frame for display in our Fancave-Mancave. I was lucky enough to win the Trilogy on Blu-Ray! Totally Awesome. I wish AMC would do more re-releasing of films on the big screen. Some of my ideas for other films would be:

Jurassic Park

BTTF2&3

Gladiator

Braveheart

Saving Private Ryan

Scarface

Some of these films would be great due to the sound and battles sequences on the big screen.

Great work AMC & Universal on the work!

Breakfast: Paula Deen's Hash Brown Quiche

So I decided that I would attempt new recipes, I'd do the cooking and H would do the cleaning. Roles Reversed!

For Breakfast, the chosen dish is Paula Deen's Hash Brown Quiche.

Now this sounds pretty difficult, Quiche, like some foreign word. Ok, quiche is foreign, but eggs and hashbrowns are not foreign. If we do anything right in this part of the country, it is Hash browns and eggs.

Now I bought the Hash Browns and Ham already prepared, so if you ruin this part of the recipe, there is no help.

Check out the details::

www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/paula-deen/hash-brown-quiche-recipe/index.html

She uses 1 cup of Half and Half in the Video, but in the recipe it says 1/2 cup. PAULA!!!?!?!

Milwaukee Food

Some type of Sausage/Weiner, Jerky and a Huge Pretzel and Cheese Spread

Milwaukee Weekend Trip

This was taken from our Hotel room at the W. It was a very nice room, but extremely loud. I would not recommend staying there on a weekend, maybe a weekday is quieter. The DJ in the courtyard from separate wedding did not help things, they turned off their music at 11, but still..we bought a hotel room not a ticket to a concert. (We went on this trip last month.)

Taken at a Bar, I think the name was Knights Bar.

The building says Famous Sausage or something similar, the german influence on the town is everywhere.
Taken from the riverwalk of a bridge/river.

This was taken infront of a the Celtic bars labeled "The Trinity", 3 irish bars all within 120 feet. I would assume they are owned and operated by the same group.

Lions Lose Again...

It is a Miracle. The Lions did not have to watch Brett Favre celebrate his 500th Touchdown Pass. Well onward to Green Bay, where the Lions haven't won since 94? Who knows, these guys just plain lose when it comes to the road.

Stafford please come back! Best please come back!

LIONS EAGLES< LOSS< ARRRGGG!!!!

LIONS! WHAT THE HEY!

Going for it on 4th Down, in Field Goal Range, when Down by 11?!?!?! PLAYOFFS?!?!!!!

KICK THE FIELD GOAL!

Ending Result: Philadelphia 35, Detroit 32

DIFFERENCE: A FIELD GOAL!!!

SCHWARTZZZZZZZ!!!!

Shaun Hill, Detroit Lions QB vs. Eagles

Game is not over yet, but I have yet to see this guy throw to his second option. It is either, throw to first option or run or get crushed in the backfield. Not good, I may want to see Drew Stanton get a chance with the first team if he cannot get it together.

M

MSU Thriller in Overtime!!

It has been over 12 hours since I witnessed one of the best finishes to a NCAA football game ever. Notre Dame played a overtime thriller at Michigan State last night. Fast forward to overtime, the Fighting Irish won the toss in overtime and choose to take the ball first against the Spartans.

My belief is in overtime, on the road, you must take the ball last. But the Head Coach of the Irish, Kelly wanted to put the pressure on the Spartans at the end of the game, and it turned out to foil the Irish. The Irish got stopped that lead to a successful field goal. MSU after 3 terrible plays which included a sack of (6 yards-if memory serves right) to set up a game-tying field goal. The field goal would of been a 40 something long kick.

I sat in the Fan Cave, saying "He is going to miss this kick"

A huge pressure kick, the play was called in for a fake. The holder, a former QB in High School threw a perfect pass to a Tight End who galloped to the end zone.

IT was the biggest call that Mike Dantonio might of ever made which might of saved his season and possible job. I write this as Dantonio has entered this 4th season at MSU with a 22-17 record with 3 Bowl Game Losses! Certainly lackluster, Spartans strive to have their football program march out from mediocre days of Coach L. Smith. They want to be on the same level of Penn State, Ohio State and Michigan, as national powers. I don't know if they will get to that point, but this game certainly helps Dantonio towards that goal, and creates major buzz that will carry throughout this season. That play, will be huge with the media, locally for recruits and possibly nationally. I am projecting that play will win a ESPY award for Best Play. Mark it down!!

Let's hope victory for MSU will continue towards great things.

Revised:**COLLEGEFOOTBALLTALK reports Coach Dantonio suffers HeartAttack, we hope he is recovering!!!!

http://collegefootballtalk.nbcsports.com/2010/09/19/report-mark-dantonio-suffers-heart-attack/

Hail to the Victors..

Michigan leading UMASS 42-24 with 9 minutes remaining.

The passing defense must be a major concern with the Michigan coaching staff, so far they haven't been very impressive.

Also, UMASS has some of the worse uniforms and helmet in D1 football, it appears they got the leftover designs from Maryland. Yuck

The "Bush" Tax Cuts

So there has been huge buzz about the expiring "Bush" tax cuts. Democrats want to keep the expiration with adding cuts for the non-rich under 250K. While the Republicans want to push for those tax cuts to continue. Republicans also want to keep tax cuts for those especially whom create jobs, while most the buzz lately is a separate Small Business Tax Relief bill (which just passed the senate with 61 votes), which would help depreciate cost on expenses of property acquired or services, relief for other areas which are mind numbing to write as it is to read.

Does this bill equate the "Bush" tax cuts for small businesses, and makes it okay for the tax cuts to expire? Gosh, I would hope not, reading the points didn't seem that grand of an idea, granted I don't own a small business nor have a business degree (but neither do a majority of congress).

The AP reports that a family making 50K per year, will pay 2900 (14.5%) more dollars in taxes. So much for "Bush's" tax cuts for the rich? I don't see "Bush" paying those taxes, those are yours, mine, and your neighbors as Dave Ramsey says.

Also, have you ever seen a poor person employ people? Yeah, me neither.

Also, so tired of people and media that rail on Former President Bush for ruining the Economy. The Economy started to stall out when the republicans lost congress in 2006. Also my thought on the brilliant idea of possibly passing Cap and Trade is that the economy will run off the proverbial cliff and the dow jones industrial average will drop to 5500.

News Related Linkage:

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/39218869/ns/business-personal_finance/

http://www.journalofaccountancy.com/Web/20103340.htm

Pistons 2004 Finals Game 5

People love to rip on how ugly the Pistons Championship for being downright ugly-no offense basketball. But after watching Game 5 tonight on NBATV, the Pistons outscored the Lakers 90 to 65 with 8 minutes left in the 4th Quarter. They took their foot off the accelerator and could of scored 125 if needed in that game.

Next Rehabilitation Project: Credenza

Check out this Credenza we bought last week on the cheap. It is from the 60's and made out of solid wood. We really enjoy the TV series Mad Men, so we call it our Mad Men Credenza. It will be great to put food and snacks on it during a party in the fancave! It is funny to look up prices online of new Credenza's and compare to what we spent. Some go for 400 or more bucks, while we spent 10 percent of that at 40 dollars to rescue this piece.

We believe we can rehab it back to life. The idea is to stain it the same color as the card table.

There is one piece of thin wood that is missing, but the previous owners were planning on fixing it. They gave us the wood they were expecting to fix it with, so now it is just up to us on doing it!

The hardware that is currently on the credenza looks pretty decent. As of right now we are going to keep but may remove the lock on the sliding portion and replace with basic button knob.

Card Table Project Complete

Here is the finished product! You can see the difference between the last post and this post. This color matches most of the wood furniture we have in the FanCave.

I think it turned out pretty good!

The table top ended up with 4 layer coats of polyurethane, thanks to 2 mosquito's getting stuck on it during coat 3, so I had to remove the bugs and then re-coat.

Overall it took 7 days, from purchase, to sanding, coloring the wood, to the polyurethane application.

Not too shabby for a 70 dollar initial cost of the table and 30 bucks worth of refinishing supplies!

Total Cost: $100.00

Another Project: Card Table

So I bought a card table this weekend-used "aftermarket" which was pretty cheaply anyway. I think it maybe 10 to 20 percent of the new price for the table. Big Score. Brand new these multi tables go for 500 to 700 bucks easy.

The Top of the Table top (wood) flips over and has green card felt and cup holders for 6 people. If that portion is removed, the inside has a table top a bumper pool set is inside the table. The purchase deal included balls and 2 pool sticks with wall holder. Double Score.

The plan is to move the table into the ManCave or FanCave.

After purchasing on saturday, we decided that it needed to be refurnished. We sanded it down this morning and have been applying coats of stain to it in the garage. So far it is about half way done. We purchased a few more supplies from home depot and it should be done by midweek. We are finishing the table with a very deep dark stain that is the same stain as the crafting table that is being worked on in the garage concurrently. Once the stain is done, it will be coated with a glossy finish to match our other FanCave furniture.

See some of the photos below:

Projects, Today and Beyond

This weekend is basically a push to finish our most recent household projects. You can tell that the lil guy is pretty pooped already, see him on the couch above?

-In our basement we have installed all the floor and about 75% of the trim that covers the floor along the walls.

-Completing sanding and staining of sewing desk.

On deck:

-The half bathroom in the basement needs to have the following done: Mirror Removed, Walls Painted, Bathroom Vanity repainted or refinished, Replace Sink Faucet, Install new bathroom fixtures, install new mirror.

When the winter sets in:

-The dining room needs to have the following done: wood trim sanded and repainted (repair from flaking paint and dog scratches), carpet to be removed and install tile or new carpet.

-The kitchen needs to have a back splash added and removal and replacement of tabletops. This would include a new sink and faucet. Possibly paying some expert to refinish our cabinets.

-The stairs needs to have the wooden dowels replaced leading up from the main floor to iron spindles. The dogs have had a tendency to chew up the ones leading upward, leaving a ugly sight.

The Unknown:

-The backyard hasn't had much work on since the end of May (basically since the heat has moved into town). Today it should be the first cooler day (92F), maybe we will have some time before it snows to get some more earthwork done back there before football season starts. If not, it will have to wait until Spring.

The Long-Term items:

-We need to start replacing our windows to a double/triple pane system, get cost estimates to replace our roof, replace our oldest appliances, repair wood rot areas around our garage door, and replace our garage doors. The backyard will also need the fence to be replaced.

I am pretty afraid to guess what the total prices of all those fixes will cost.

It would be nice to get some camping done in Sept or Oct with the woofers, but we won't dare think of it until it cools down.

By then it will be November and December, Thanksgiving, Christmas, holiday corporate parties and time for the new year! Then we will have to start all over again with our 2011 project goals list.

My new motto/phrase/mantra when it comes to project is :"Let's make the theoretical into a reality"

Celtic Bunk

There was an article written for CNNSI by Dan Shaughnessy

He wrote: The C's were forced to start Rasheed Wallace at center in Game 7, and he got manhandled under the basket by the Lakers

I think I believe this statement is a bit absurd. I watched that final game and thought Rasheed played a good game, not great defensively. Rasheed took a major stand in the paint from a bull rushing Kobe that hit the lane and practically gave Rasheed the proverbial haymaker to the face. So for Dan S. to say he got manhandled is total bunk. Granted Shaughnessy was most likely at the game vs. myself watching it on television, but using the word 'manhandled' is a little too grandiose.

I think this is more about sour grapes for a hometown columnist against Rasheed Wallace.

Celebration Dinner

We took off for the a restaurant in the clouds, and the building rotated.

Here are some photos:

KC Strip:

Stuffed Rainbow Trout:

More Base-Cave Photos

Basement-Cave Floor Improved

The project started last saturday and currently we have some minor work to complete. We replaced the carpet over 780+ square feet to a vinyl blonde maple finish. The color of the vinyl makes the mancave not appear so gloomy. We have some other plans for the cave in the next few months, hopefully we can update when they take place.

Enjoy,

M&H

Tigers trade for 3B

Tigers sent a minor leaguer to in-division rival, Cleveland for third baseman, Johnny Peralta. This will help in the short term as Brandon Inge will out on the DL. Tigers lost again tonight, can't say things look to bright at the moment. But the Tigers are within 5 games of the division lead and have 2 months of ball left, many games versus division opponents. If they make a couple more deals, my hopes may bounce upwards, but currently feeling is slightly positively indifferent.

M

Detroit Tigers, sealed and delivered..

I am declaring the season over. Let's look that the Tigers have started the second half of the season on 5 going to 6 straight losses. The Pitching hasn't matched the hitting so far. And do night after 6 innings, zero runs against the Rangers. You know the Tigers were hammering the Rangers at home the last 2 seasons...how things have turned.

Look at the bottom part of the lineup tonight...not exactly a veteran lineup reading for a pennant push...

Raburn, Avila, Kelly, Worth

Are the Tigers going to be Buyers or Sellers at the upcoming trade deadline?

The score differential for the year for the Tigers is (-4), they are the only team above .500

with a negative differential, outside of the Angels.

Christmas in July!

Just kidding. Usually those furniture or car salesman will ploy with such acts, here at the woofers we are trying to handle 110 degree heat index. We strive for the days of 20 degrees and snow sometimes!

Former British Open Winners

http://www.weiunderpar.com/post/somebody-get-john-daly-a-beer

John Daly in the middle of the picture, his sports jacket is impressive.

Check out Tiger's eyes!

Happy Birthday America

Lake of the Ozarks III

This is the best I could do when the boat was moving on the waves. It turned out pretty good, but you can see a double building on the right hand side.

4th of July Photos II