Fuzzy Couch

The blog what speaks for Guido, Troy, Ryan, Brett and Matt

Guido Strotheide | Troy Lowe | Ryan Seggelke | Brett Thomson | Matt Janet

Sunday, October 31, 2004

Happy Halloween

Posted by Troy @ 7:19 PM

This morning we thought we were running late for church. Turns out we forgot to adjust our time ("fall back"), so we were an hour early! So we decided to go to Barnes and Noble to kill some time, and then head back for the 10:30 service (Rather than join the 9:00 service half-an-hour late).

At B&N I looked through some of the Java and Photoshop books, that was fun. But as we were getting back into the car, my lip started hurting really bad. I think I accidentally hit the stitches with my tongue or something because I could feel the floss-like texture. It was so painful, and I felt nauseous. I decided I needed to eat something (Thinking perhaps the nausea was caused by the medication I took an hour previously... maybe I didn't have enough food to absorb it).

So I went home and made a sandwich, my wife went on to church. After eating, I noticed the floss like texture was gone... I think the stitches came out or something. It feels a lot better since.

So... Toys R Us was running a buy 2 get 1 free sale on Video Games last week. Friday we received "Paper Mario" and "Tales of Symphonia" but "Pikmin 2" is still on is way. I watched Jantina play Paper Mario in the afternoon, it is a really good game!

Saturday, October 30, 2004

Patriotic duty

Posted by Troy @ 8:09 PM

The wife and I got up early and went to the polls! In Florida we have early voting :)
I wish I hadn't waited until Saturday, though. There were a lot of people there! We had to wait in line for 2 1/2 hours! At least it was a beautiful day out, though we did get a little hot toward the end of the wait.

Voting took place at the library. As the line wrapped around the building, it passed the book drop-off slot. The slot had a metal drawer that opened, allowing books to be toppled into the interior of the building for off-hours returns. We quickly noticed that the air conditioning from inside was leaking out of this drawer, and by propping it open were able to get a refreshing burst of cool air.

After voting we went to P.F. Chang's for lunch and took a look around the mall for a while (Apple store, EB Games, the usual).

Friday, October 29, 2004

Hello, moto

Posted by Troy @ 7:55 PM

Jantina and I received our new cell phones today! We signed up for a new sharable minute national plan with ATT Wireless (now Cingular!). I was previously on a TDMA plan, and didn't use nearly all of my minutes. So with the new GSM plan, I just need to pay like $10/month for my wife's line and we can share the minutes! Woo-hoo!

We picked out the Motorola v600 (refurbished models are FREE) because it is supported by iSync. Now we can manage all of our contacts on the computer and have our phones up-to-date! (We have Ti-books, if you have the newer Al-book, keep in mind that the Motorola use iSync through USB, not bluetooth.)

Tuesday, October 26, 2004

Goodbye, little old man

Posted by guido @ 7:50 PM

My buddy Zipper died Monday afternoon. He was 17 1/2.

HIS DOGSTER PAGE hasn't been updated yet, but we'll get to it sometime. He got really sick and really weak over the weekend. Mom told me tonight about the whole ordeal. Of course we all knew it would be his time anytime, but it's still tough. He was part of our family for so long. And he was a good little guy. Love ya, Nip.

Where the wild things live

Posted by guido @ 3:09 PM

Trick-or-treating in Jacksonville and South Jacksonville until 9 p.m. Children must stay within a five-block radius of their home. -- A five-block radius of their home?! What the? ... I, for one, plan to card.

Monday, October 25, 2004

Small world

Posted by guido @ 7:09 PM

We've been trying to get caught up on TV shows we like and have taped. Just watched the most recent episode of "Smallville" and it featured BART ALLEN - the grandson of Barry Allen (aka Flash No. 2) - and better known as Kid Flash (and Impulse before that).

We've also been catching up on "Jack & Bobby" and "Desperate Housewives" and trying to stay current on "Law & Order," "Law & Order: CI," Law & Order: SVU," "Everwood," "Veronica Mars," "Lost," "Gilmore Girls," "Without A Trace," Joan of Arcadia."

Bagged leaves today. Number of bags used: 16. Number of trees that leaves came from to fill said bags: One.

Sunday, October 24, 2004

Delete

Posted by guido @ 7:18 PM

Somebody told me a rumor: EMI might be holding another CD delete sale Nov. 18-19 from 8 a.m. - 8 p.m. and Nov. 20 from 7 a.m. - 12 p.m. A non-perishable food item is required for admission. Same building as usual.

Blog mention

Posted by guido @ 1:05 AM

This is from several months agao, but I didn't realize I got a mention from L.P. in her/their blog.

-L.P.
05.11.04
Jacksonville, IL

I already saw a post on the message board from Guido - thanks dude.

LINK HERE but you gotta scroll down to the 5/11/04 entry. And the post she's talking about is OVER HERE. The one with the picture. :)

Saturday, October 23, 2004

My block likes to party all the time

Posted by guido @ 5:50 PM

Julie and I went to the block party that some neighbors put together earlier this week. I guess the turnout wasn't what they had hoped, but I thought it was pretty good. Got to meet some of our neighbors, at least. I'm pretty shy, so I've probably only talked to one neighbor or two in the four years we've lived where we are now.

When we introduced ourselves, a couple different people said "Oh, you're the ones with the two nice dogs." ... "Eh. That's what you think, huh?," we said. They haven't actually met Bindi, it seems.

Watched "Supersize Me" last night. Pretty entertaining. When it wasn't going overboard, it made some good arguments.

Finally found time to watch the first two episodes of "The Secret Lives of Desperate Housewives" today. Seems good.

Hoping to take 10+ people to the Harvest Moon ultimate tournament halloween weekend. What's the best way to get everyone there? Right now we're hoping we can fit everyone and gear into my Escort and Jim's van. We're hoping it doesn't rain that weekend, because we're camping Friday and Saturday night. Wish us luck.

Update [11:30 p.m.]: We got our official bid approved for the tournament. Woo!

Down in the mouth

Posted by Troy @ 12:40 PM

I must be turning into an old man... here I will tell you a medical story featuring bodily fluids.

So, in addition to the main saliva glands under your tongue and in neck, there are lots of little tiny ones all over the interior of your mouth.

Apparently I bit one of those (inside front of mouth, below lower lip) and it was producing saliva, but saliva was trapped under the skin. So this made a bubble that was really annoying. It felt like a small marble. I broke it a couple times and the clear sticky liquid came out, but it always came back.

I had it for about a year. It was annoying, I told my doctor about it, and she sent me to an oral surgeon last week. But because I needed a pre-med, the surgery was scheduled for this week (Friday). So I went there at 2:00 yesterday, they numbed my mouth, and cut it out to have it sent off to be analyzed. (to make sure it is just this gland thing and nothing more serious) Apparently it is pretty common, but they wanted to make sure.

I've been taking pain medicine and can't drive while on it etc. It hurts to smile or laugh, but I can talk better today than yesterday. I started to pass out during surgery, and the doctor noticed, he's like " Oh no, he's passing out" and the nurses all jumped in, reclined me way back so blood would flow to my head, put oxygen on me, a heart rate monitor, and started taking my blood pressure for the rest of the procedure.

Thursday, October 21, 2004

Update on octopus

Posted by Matt @ 6:26 PM

I did it again

Competition for house sale

Posted by Matt @ 6:16 PM

So a new listing came on today for a house in the exact same price range as ours. It has better woodwork, more original windows, better lot, better garage, better street. We're hosed. Anyone want a house in St. Paul?

I had a documeterama last weekend. "Supersize Me", "Farenheight 911" and more PBS than you can shake a stick at. As a result I will never at at McDonalds again and, well I'm a liberal anyhow so no change there.

I accomplished half of my Christmas shopping in 1 day. Thank you Amazon.com.

Scouts from Troops past

Posted by guido @ 9:50 AM

At the L.P. CONCERT last night, I ran into Tom and Brian, two of the Scouts that were in my troop when Josh and I were Ass. Scoutmasters for a semester. We grabbed some coffee and did a little catching up.

Also at the concert I saw Tim Sorrill, Bre, Jessi, Eric Roach, J.D., Stan Robinson, and Peter Scott, who got to play with the band on a cover of Radiohead's "Creep."

Tuesday, October 19, 2004

The 'iter' to Fayetteville

Posted by guido @ 12:18 PM

This episode of "Crossfire" with John Stewart is interesting. LINK HERE. You have to skip down to where Stewart comes on, by the way.

HARVEST MOON tornament is coming up soon. Looks as though we are taking 6-10 people down to Arkansas for it. Still trying to decide on a team name. Help.

Monday, October 18, 2004

Happy Birthday Jantina!

Posted by Troy @ 8:54 AM

Today is Jantina's 30th Birthday! We celebrated all weekend. On Saturday, Jamie and Scott threw her a party at their place where all of our friends were able to wish her well! I took her out for dinner last night to the Coral Reef after I gave her a pink sapphire ring with diamonds (she loves it)!

On Friday, Christopher was selected to be an Ambassador for Walt Disney World! I was able to attend the ceremony on Friday, and it was super exciting. Because he had a fancy ball to go to on Friday night to celebrate his victory, we didn't have normal Home Team. Instead, we decided to go out to dinner at Seasons 52, which is now on our list of favorite restaurants.

Playing Kingdom Under Fire: Crusaders this week on XBOX Live. It is a cool real time strategy game (few and far between on consoles, yet one of my favorite genres).

Name that team

Posted by guido @ 12:11 AM

Some Ultimate team name ideas:
--
Ill.-icit Behavior
Ill. Legitimate
Ill.usion
Disc Drive
The Disc-ciples
Spin Cycle
Ill. Effects
Terminally Ill.
Critically Ill.
Ill. Will
Ill. Skills
Detasslers
Manamana
--
Slipped Disc
Huck and Jive
Disc-y Business
Laser Disc
Moon Unit
Yellow No. 5
Gnip Gnop
The Grandees
Jimjam
The Collywobbles
Spasm
Mugqump
Party Boobytrap
The Weaping Nipples
--
We're in Central Ill., combined Jacksonville and Springfield, by the way.

Saturday, October 16, 2004

Andrew Tillman killed

Posted by guido @ 6:08 PM

Here is A STORY about Matthew Tillman's 18-year-old brother who died in a pickup crash this week. HERE is the obit, too. The Courier's story is HERE. Matthew is a friend of Troy's who worked for him back in the AbeLink days.

In other Lincoln news from the week before, there was a big fire at Lincoln College. There's a story and photo HERE. I was in town that day, but I didn't see the smoke. It was probably too dark. The TV news said something about being able to see the smoke from their office in Springfield.

Thursday, October 14, 2004

Visitor from afar

Posted by guido @ 12:44 PM

My friend Andreas from Germany walked into the room here at work yesterday morning and says "Hi." I find it's usually odd when someone you imagine is really far away shows up unannounced. I'm not really sure why. Anyway, we should be going to Leo's for lunch soon. I'd miss Leo's, too.

Tuesday, October 12, 2004

Local concert news

Posted by guido @ 8:03 AM

I heard about this last week sometime. Mid-West Family Broadcasting’s is planning the opening of The Warehouse, a new concert/events venue in Springfield, and that's good news for the local concert scene. It has promised to bring hard rock and singer-songwriter shows here. It would be nice to see The Warehouse see other genres, too.

Got a forwarded and invite to Josh (formerly Smith)'s party on the Oct. 17. I'd like to go if I don't already have something planned that day.

ABE ON PARADE !

My grandma told me, Monday, that my aunt and uncle Bill and Carol are building a new house in Morton. We went to visit grandma Strotheide on Monday and brought up some lunch from my favorite Chinese place, The Grand Cafe in Bloomington.

The famed Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library is set to open with a modest ceremony 1:30 p.m. Thursday.

The three-story library is part of a $150 million project that also will include the Lincoln presidential museum, a visitors center, a park and a parking garage. The museum still is under construction and is supposed to open next spring. The library is the new home of the Illinois State Historical Library and its 12 million items, including more than 45,000 Lincoln-related artifacts.

The library is on Jefferson Street between Sixth and Seventh streets. The regular hours: 9 a.m. - 4:30 p.m. Mondays, Tuesdays and Fridays; 9 a.m. - 8:30 p.m. Wednesdays, and 9 a.m. - 3 p.m. on Saturdays; and closed on Sundays.

The idea of WAKING UP DURING SURGERY is enough to give me nightmares and just generally freaks me out. There's a story about it in USA TODAY too.

Saturday, October 09, 2004

Jacques Derrida dead at 74

Posted by guido @ 3:09 PM

Jacques Derrida died Saturday. He was 74. He was known as the father of deconstructionism, a branch of critical thought or analysis developed in the late 1960s.

Derrida focused his work on language, showing that it has multiple layers and thus multiple meanings or interpretations, challenging the notion that speech is a direct form of communication or even that the author of a text is the author of its meaning. Deconstructionists like Derrida explored the means of liberating the written word from the structures of language, opening limitless textual interpretations.

Friday, October 08, 2004

IPA awards

Posted by guido @ 4:20 PM

My department and the newsroom got awards today at the annual Illinois Press Association shindig in Springfield. First place in "newspaper design" and third place in "general exellence" were a couple of them.

Thursday, October 07, 2004

Victory

Posted by guido @ 8:14 AM

THE JUNIOR VARSITY, a local band, was signed to a independent Chicago label, Victory Records. Nice.

Wednesday, October 06, 2004

Sweat laden, Pizza eating

Posted by Troy @ 6:05 AM

I'm still in Philadelphia. This gig is just to "be available," a kind of security blanket for the customer. I was bored out of my mind, so I was able to convince my boss to spring for some online training courses. They've helped keep my mind busy through the day.

I went for a physical a couple weeks ago. My doctor said I needed to work out 30 minutes a day and that I have high cholesterol. So I've been using the hotel's gym this week, using the treadmill and skiing machines. Its not bad. They even have little TV's mounted to them so I can watch "The Simpsons" while I sweat.

Our electric bill at the new place is double that of our previous place! I bought one of those programmable electronic thermostats ($35 at Home Depot) and our friends installed it for us :) The package says I can save as much as 30%!

We ate at California Pizza Kitchen for dinner Saturday to celebrate our friends' awesome auditions (they got all of the call-backs, and are in the final selection). They are trying out for parts in Japan, so I'm excited with anticipation of visiting them once they're over there!

Another friend of ours just reported that he is now in the top 10 for selection as a Disney Ambassador (a very prestigious position). He was excited to have made it to the previous round (top 20), so this is amazing! I'm confident that he'll make it as one of the three they select this year.

Timeless

Posted by guido @ 12:28 AM

Julie tried calling when she remembered that she forgot to set my alarm this morning. Of course, the phone is no where near the bedroom, so I didn't hear it ring. I got to work a couple hours late, but skipped lunch.

Added a movie we watched Sunday night to the movie list.

We're severely running out of light on Ultimate nights, lately. It was dark by 7 tonight. We did have 7-on-7 for a while, though. That was nice. I wish I could find a field with lights so we could keep playing.

Finished "Six Feet Under" season two tonight. Now on to these TV shows we've been taping and not watching.

Maybe it's harvest sturring up alergens, but I've been not breathing too well, snoring more than usual, not getting very good sleep, getting sinus headaches, etc. I might have had a cold, too. I'm not sure.

Star Wars DVDs came today. Biker Scout figure from Troy came yesterday. Picked up a couple OTC figures (Lobot and Snow Trooper) and three Unleashed figures (Aalya, Tuskan Raider, Bossk) yesterday. I returned the overpriced vintage-esque 12" Stormtrooper, too.

Monday, October 04, 2004

10-4 good buddy

Posted by guido @ 8:29 PM

Happy fifth anniversary to Julie and me. We also bought our house on this date, three years ago today. We thought about getting ourselves a Tivo, but we resisted -- for now.

We kinda splurged on an area rug while we were out. It was on sale.

We're trying Sam's Club out for a year to see if we find enough to make it worthwhile. We got a couple things, but not too much. I noticed the price on the 256MB XD memory card was about the same price as the 128MB one we got (on sale, even) right before Ryan's wedding. Shoot. -- I saw Travis, Kathleen and Virgil while we were at Sam's tonight, too.

Just started the last disc of "Six Feet Under" season two. Now we're going to have to wait almost a whole year for the next season.

Utini snatched my tub of guacamole this afternoon. You can't leave food out around him. I knew that, but I forgot it was out. What a pill.

Sunday, October 03, 2004

Pansies for the pansy

Posted by guido @ 5:40 PM

We had the company picnic today. Ate prime rib. Won a planter of pansies. Played bingo for a little while.

We had a major technical malfunction at work last night. We weren't able to print the paper on our press as a result. We had to break out "Plan B," which we've never had to use before, to my knowledge. Thusly, the newspaper was really, really late this morning -- I think ours showed up around 10 a.m. Plus, since the paper wasn't printed on our press, the toning on all the color photos was way off. What a great way to kick off "Customer Service Week," eh?

Saturday, October 02, 2004

What powers?

Posted by guido @ 10:52 PM

My coworker says stuff like "The Powers That Be push the panic button far too fast" and I have no idea what he's talking about. I have almost no context. A little, but not much. He does this to me all the time. He also likes to say "gigawatts" instead of "gigahertz" and expects me to know what he's talking about.

Illinois 24/7 show

Posted by guido @ 4:12 PM

"Illinois 24/7" photography exhibit opening, 5-7 p.m. today at MacMurray College’s Applebee Gallery in Jacksonville, IL. Features photos by Steve Warmowski, Clay Stalter, Guido Strotheide, Kevin German, and T.J. Salsman. I'm heading over there now.

Update 6:50 p.m.: Keith Bradbury had me sign his "ILLINOIS 24/7 BOOK" at the show. Hehe.

Here's people in front of my photos Saturday at the opening reception.

My photos in the show.

This morning, Julie and I got up semi-early and headed to a garage sale that sounded interesting. OK, it said they had "Star Wars articles." I don't know why they chose the word "articles" over, say, "items," but I digress. They didn't really seem to have any, at least by the time I got there.

But the deal I did find was a Gore-tex waterproof-shell jacket by THE NORTH FACE which seem to cost about $200-$250 when new. And it was marked $7.50. I paid $4. Sweet. I showed Kevin German at the afore-mentioned show and he said something like "No Way!"

If would be really nice if I actually went skiing this winter. I hope I do.

Friday, October 01, 2004

Thai off?

Posted by guido @ 7:59 AM

Went to Taste of Thai after Ultimate and got a couple dishes that I usually like, but they both tasted a lot different than usual. Couldn't put my finger on it, but we added a little hot sauce and everything was much better. The Pad Thai had a lot more vegies in it, which was nice, but the sauce wasn't as good. We had some leftovers and they are clearly smelling up the fridge today, I noticed this morning.

We tried playing by the lights of the soccer stadium last night and it seemed to be slightly workable. Shadows are bad, but we think we might be able to nudge the field over or play on the field on the other side of the stadium. It seems to have fewer trees blocking the light.

That federal marriage amendment I mentioned the other day failed in a vote in the U.S. House yesterday.

The House voted 227-186 in favor of H.J.Res. 106, the so-called "Marriage Protection Amendment," but that fell short of the two-thirds necessary to pass a constitutional amendment. The amendment, which is being heavily promoted by Religious Right organizations, would limit marriage to one man and one woman and is designed to outlaw same-sex marriages.

Some religious traditions perform same-sex unions, and some do not. It's wrong for the government to favor the religious rituals of the majority over those of the minority. A wide array of religious organizations opposes the amendment. More than two dozen faith groups sent a letter to House members, urging them to reject the amendment. Among the signers were:

The Alliance of Baptists; the American Friends Service Committee (Quaker); the American Jewish Committee; the Episcopal Church, USA; the Loretto Women's Network (Catholic Order); the Lutheran Office for Governmental Affairs of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America; the National Sikh Center; the Metropolitan Community Churches; the Office of the General Minister and President, Christian Church (Disciples of Christ); the Union for Reform Judaism; the Unitarian Universalist Association of Congregations and the United Church of Christ Justice & Witness Ministries.

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other credits

Green pattern by Travis Beckham. Pink and blue patterns by (now defunct) Pixel Adventures.

LCHS song

"Lincoln, Lincoln, we are proud of you. Lincoln, Lincoln, we will e'er be true. Following the bright Golden Rule, we get things done without much ado. We're happy, we're snappy when we send our call. Lend your voices one and all. If dear old Abe were here I know just what he'd do; He'd say Lincoln, we're proud of you!"

Jacksonville, IL, 62650

Lincoln, IL, 62656