Yesterday was a whirlwind, productive, and fun. My buddy Doug stopped in to hang out with Abbe, my kids, and I to have some pizza, beer, and watch a crazy Phillies – Rockies game last night.

I forgot to get all that sleep I was needing so badly last night, so I’m doubly-tired now.

Oh, before I forget, DressLikeAHo is running two specials right now, use coupon code “25clear” for 25% off any closeout or clearance items or use coupon code “10vamp” to get 10% off orders of $40 or more. Get your Halloween costumes now!

• How to Track Hurricane Earl Online
• xkcd : Carriage
• Very very hilarious
• Best of YouTube
• Rube Goldberg Camp 2010
• NSFW A Hunter Shoots A Bear
• Can’t Beat tha… Wait, what?

Small Business/Tech Links…

• Google Wave to Rise Again

Well, I somehow got everything done on my to-do list yesterday. Phils won another one on the road, beating the Pads 3-1 – solid performance from the Flyin’ Hawaiian.  Watched UFC 118 at the end of the night, and I’m not sure I’ve seen an entire night of domaination/near mismatches. Even Florian vs. Maynard was a clinic by Gray – I really thought KenFlo was going to put up a better showing. I was really happy with the Garden State’s own, Frankie Edgar beating B.J. Penn. Couture’s humiliation of James Toney was as expected, I just thought it would have had some drama to it.

Today Abbe and I are due for our long run, this week is only 6 miles, we should do well at this distance.

Here’s me playing the intro to Jeff Buckley‘s Grace…

Here’s me playing Either Way by Wilco…

Movie Reviews…

The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo – this really is a brilliant film. I know everyone expects this hippie to love anything subtitled, but calling this film the “greatest Swedish film ever made” isn’t a joke at all. The acting is incredible and anytime a two and a half hour movie keeps you this tense, that’s a sign of a well-told story. Really excellent.

Moon – talk about great acting… wow. Sam Rockwell is insanely great in this flick. I’m amazed this film only won a lot of smaller industry awards, this is a really significant effort. That said, this concept of losing one’s mind in isolation has absolutely been done before – but this isn’t Castaway set on the moon, it’s great sci-fi. That said, if you thought 2001 was boring and slow, this isn’t your kind of film.

• Hipster Dinosaurs
• Attempts to Fly
• Here’s where I tell Jose Canseco something important

Small Business/Tech Links…

• How to Make Free iTunes Ringtones

Today, I’ve got myself a nice full plate: finish a couple prototype pages for a big project (somewhat unnamed project, but I can tell you I’m working with BLP and Marty on this one), finish ERDs for Knoxville hospitals project, record video for Jeff Buckley‘s Grace intro for Sean’s guitar lesson this week, send out end of the month invoices, record video for Wilco‘s Either Way for Jan’s guitar lesson this week, run to the bank, short bike ride, hopefully watch a little of the Phillies-Padres game this afternoon, and then watch some of Penn vs. Edgar II tonight (Go Frankie!).

Have I ever mentioned how much Yogi loves bananas? Well, here’s proof, Yogi even turned on his eye lasers…

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• Kitty Cent or Hello Fiddy
• Lance Armstrong Wants to Tell Nation Something But Nation Has to Promise to Not Get Mad
• A Better Urinal?

Abbe and I ran our butts off yesterday – 11.2 miles around Cooper River Park! Around mile 9 or so, Abbe was getting really tired. I told her about her cousin Alayna’s facebook update from yesterday. Alayna is fine, but had a low platelets scare and had to go into the hospital on Saturday – she’s fine now and even got to make the movies that same day. If Alayna can be brave and fight, then we can do the same. Abbe and I both stopped complaining about how tired we were and finished strong. I tell myself this very often, I am not training to run a marathon, I’m training to raise money for adults and kids like Alayna.

For anyone who would like to donate toward our goals…

Van’s -> http://pages.teamintraining.org/nj/wdw11/vkapeghian
Abbe’s -> http://pages.teamintraining.org/nj/wdw11/ameckt

Afterwards, Abbe and I had some late lunch/dinner at PJ’s and I spotted some blueberries growing in the parking lot amongst some black-eyed Susans (I think they are at least). We came home, finished watching the Phils beat the Nats and chilled/whimpered about our sore legs the rest of the night away.

I want everyone to check out my friend Chris Hornbeck’s new site – Vegetarian Recipes & Cooking – featuring vegetarian and vegan recipes from 30+ countries. While you’re at it, Like the Facebook Fan Page and follow them on Twitter too! Chris is a ninja of a chef!

• xkcd : I Don’t Want Directions
• Snugarena! – the world is over

Small Business/Tech Links…

• Facebook Questions – Opportunity for Small Businesses?
• Beyond Foursquare :  5 Location Apps for Your Small Business
• Getting Started with HTML5 Video
• 10 Tips for Aspiring Community Managers – thanks BLP
• Do Techies Make Good Leaders? – thanks BLP

Perspective is an insanely powerful set of binoculars some days. Let me tell you what I am thankful for happening yesterday… Abbe and I were hoping to go see a Phillies game with our friends Doug and Tracy, but Abbe was working at Carriage Trade Cheese Shoppe and I’ve taken this new stance on concerts, sporting events, and most anything involving going out and spending money – I’m just not going. Not because I’m a supremely pussy-whipped boyfriend (I am), because it helps me save money and I’d rather spend my little disposable income on activities that include either Abbe or the kids (ideally all of the above). So I told Doug that we couldn’t make it.

Well, Friday came and along with all of the stuff I had to do, Friday had a couple of surprises for me. My little girl decided to transform into a demon – getting her grounded for the day, my trusty Nissan Pathfinder sputtered and died on the way home (luckily, I was able to get it to turnover by throwing it into neutral and starting it – Viv and I made it home!), and the mother of my kids got a bad migraine.

Sounds like a bad day right? Truck is in the shop, grumpy little girl, and the kids’ sleepover with Mom was canceled so she could rest. Well, what happened if I decided to go to the baseball game? The truck very well could have died in traffic in rush hour crossing the bridge. What if the kids were with their Mom and I had to turn around and come pick them up. Imagine the foul moods from either of those situations.

I’m not happy that my truck is in the shop right now and I can sense my checking account tensing up from the inevitable karate chop of a failed discombooberator (one of my Dad’s words) or whatever the hell went wrong. But I’m happy I was home to take care of the kids and when it did break down, I got home safe and avoided a potential towing bill.

And what did we do with our Friday night? A package from New Mexico arrived containing my copy of The Professor and the Madman (which I promptly lent to my friend Susan) and two jars of green chile sauce. Well Viv had her hair done by Abbe while watching some special Big Time Rush show and discovering her love of plumcots, and Bubs did his darndest to stay up with his Dad to watch the Phillies beat the Nats with me… so, yeah it was a good Friday.

• The Rap Map
• Dancing Panda – I guess I have to link to this
• Megan Fox Steals Her Stepson’s Shirts
• Protect Ya Neck – Busker Version – awesome
• F**K YOU – thanks Liz

Small Business/Tech Links…

• Why Social Media Tool Are About to Get Smarter – thanks BLP
• 5 Huge Trends in Social Media