TC:LV 5 remain

• Brandon: Kevin Gillespie, Michael Voltaggio and Jen Carroll
• Sarah:  Kevin Gillespie, Michael Voltaggio, Bryan Voltaggio
• Kim: Kevin Gillespie, Michael Voltaggio and Jen Carroll
• Bob: Kevin Gillespie, Michael Isabella and Jen Carroll
• Kate: Kevin Gillespie, Ash Fulk, Mattin Noblia
• Jen: Kevin Gillespie, Eli Kirschstein and Jen Carroll
• Steve: Jen Carroll, Bryan Voltaggio, Ron Duprat
• Katie: Jen Carroll, Bryan Voltaggio, Michael Voltaggio

Since the last post, we’ve added two more people to our Pick ‘Em List, Steve and Katie; both of which didn’t go with the clear favorite (Beardie).  We’ve also had a few people lose a choice or two.  The competition is finally almost clear of all the unTop Chef chefs and it will start to get a little interesting here on out.  How long can Robin really keep Carla-ing?

• Brandon:  Kevin Gillespie, Michael Voltaggio and Jen Carroll
• Kim:  Kevin Gillespie, Michael Voltaggio and Jen Carroll
• Bob:  Kevin Gillespie, Michael Isabella and Jen Carroll
• Kate:  Kevin Gillespie, Ash Fulk, Mattin Noblia
• Jen:  Kevin Gillespie, Eli Kirschstein and Jen Carroll
• Steve:  Jen Carroll, Bryan Voltaggio, Ron Duprat
• Katie:  Jen Carroll, Bryan Voltaggio, Michael Voltaggio

My money is still on Beardie

What else is going on besides TC: LV?  Lets see, bowling has started.  I am only torturing myself this year with one league instead of 2, which appears to be working as I’m about ten pins over my average for last season.  Of course, its only been six weeks or so and I’m already ready to be done with it, only 26 more weeks.

V0lleyball is over for the year, thank god.  We decided to hang it up for the year and not play the fall league after going an abysmal 1 and 29 during the summer session.  That’s awful.

The Cardinals decided not to show up for the playoffs.  The Blues are back and playing decently, if we could only stave off the injuries, we’d have a shot at a good season.

We’re coming up on that time of the year again when the best rock show of all time returns to the Pageant.  If anybody would like to join us for El Monstero, we’ll be going on the 19th this year.  General admission again, which means we’ll be lining up by noon, maybe earlier this year.

Farmaid was fun and marked the 3rd time in as many years that I was able to see Dave twice during the summer.  This time it was just Dave and Tim and they had an amazing set.

This past weekend, Sarah and I drove to Columbia for the Mizzou homecoming.  No we didn’t go to the game, just to tailgate.  We started around 10am and wrapped it shortly after 7pm.  There was plenty of food, booze, and beer pong and we a pretty good time.  I got to meet a lot of Sarah’s Phi Mu sisters and by the end of the day, I was pretty chicked out.  Made it home in time to catch the end of Bob’s Testicle Festival and recharged my man batteries, as Sarah likes to say.

Ok well thats a start.  I’ll see about updating this more.  I lead a busy life these days.  At least I’m not the most outdated blogger of the group and my posts dont just consist of my twitter updates.

Top Chef Update

One of my top 3 has fallen but honestly, he was number 3 on the list.  Stephanie and Richard continue to do well.  Andrew got the boot last night which sucks because he was good but just kind of annoying.  But hey, there are rules for a reason and they should be taken for grainted.  haha, that was so Bob.

New Job

After 4+ years in the Call Center, I will be taking my analytical skills to a new group.  As of May 27th, I am transferring to our Online Banking group based in Clayton.  This is a lateral move although I will be going from a Senior Systems specialist to a Business Analyst.   Its a good move though.  I was burnt out and needed a change.  Also, I was at a stopping point as far as “climbing the latter” is concerned.  I have just one more week of current duties.

Vacation

Last week I was finally able to get in some vacation time.  I didn’t go anywhere but it was still a good vacation.  I got to relax and have a good time.  My friend Becky was able to come visit STL for the first time so for a few days, I was playing tour guide, which is always fun.  We went to a Cubs/Cards game (shes bad luck), had dinner on the loop, saw Iron Man at the Moolah Theatre, went to Six Flags (again, shes bad luck),  Celebrated Cinco de Mayo, introduced her to Culpepppers, went on the Brewery Tour, went to the Arch, had lunch at Crown Candy Kitchen, had custard at Ted Drews, did some bowling, and visited the zoo (although it poured on us and we were forced to buy penguin umbrellas and people laughed at me but I don’t care cause Im really just a kid at heart).  Pics to come, mabye, you saw how long it took me to post.

2008 St Louis Brewers Heritage Festival

AKA – Brewfest.  After having a great time in 2007 we decided to do it again this year.  $30 gets you unlimited tasting of nearly 60 brews, a tasting glass, and a book that you can rate the beers as you tasted.  This year, however, the weather was not as great as last.  It pretty much rained not stop from thursday to sunday and the grounds were a mess.  With the main area of tables unprotected from the storms, everbody crowded under the beer tents to stay dry, which made it pretty difficult to navigate from beer to beer.  We gave up early this year in favor of dry places, late-night appetizers, more beer and Big Buck Hunter.  We like to kill things now.

Bowling

Both of my leagues have have ended, thankfully.  Jen edged me out in the Bet for the second half.  Being the league secretary wasn’t really all it was cracked up to be and although it paid $55 a week, which covers the cost of both leagues, it was probably my first and last year in that role.  It also appears at this time that I will not return to either Olivette Lanes or Brunswick Lanes St Peters, as each team appears to be moving to new houses.

Volleyball

Eager Beavers are back on the court and off to a great start.  I believe we are currently 6 and 3 and tied for first place with the team we beat twice last week.  We have a really solid group this year with a couple new girls who fit in well to the team.

Start of the  Concert Season

Wednesday night was the Radiohead concert at the amphitheatre, which kicked off the concert season for most of us.  The seats were dead center, the weather was perferct, the band was alive.  I’m not the biggest Radiohead fan but know enough and thought i would enjoy the show.  To me, the show was good.  Full of energy, wide-array of songs, great crowd.  To Bob, the show was incredible.

Shows on the horizon

• Wilco tonight at the Pageant
• Dave Matthews Band at Busch Stadium
• The Raconteurs at the Pageant
• Dave matthews Band at the Gorge in Seattle

I also wouldn’t mind seeing Matisyahu or Modest Mouse if anybody is interested in going.

Well, I think I’ve touched on everything.  Remember to Rock out with your cock out.  hang out with your wang out. 

Andrew won the bet, beating me for the third time at the beginning of the second half.  So, I was to shave my head and my goatee but was able to keep the eye brows.  The bet was to be paid at the end of the season in May but was delayed for various reasons.

Well, last night I made good on that bet, letting him shave my head, sideburns, and goatee.  Bob was nice enough to record the process and take some pictures, all of which will be up sometime next week.  But, here is a sneak preview:

So, since I’ve been a lazy ass on my posting, let me inform you on what’s been going on.

Both of my bowling leagues are over.  My Thursday night team finished 4th overall and I finished with a 190 average.  My Sunday night team finished pretty close to last.  However, I finished with a 204 average, which is good enough for 1st place in the guys’ division.  I also had 2nd high series and 4th high game.  From both leagues, I won a total of $400 in prize money, so that’s good.  That’s going towards the new TV.

Last weekend was the 1st annual St. Louis Brewfest held in Forest Park.  50 different beers from a group of St. Louis based breweries.  We didn’t make it through all 50 beers but I think we did pretty well overall.  In about 3.5 hours, we sampled close to 30 or 35 different beers.  The commemorative glass that gave out held 3 to 4 ounces of beer.  So that’s somewhere between 90 and 105 ounces of beer.  They also gave each taster a beer catalogue to keep track of what you drank.  We used it to keep track of what we liked.  However, I left mine on the table.  Overall, it was a pretty good time and worth the $25 ticket.  I’m sure I’ll be going to the 2nd annual……  Pictures from STL Brewfest

The Eager Beavers still reside in 1st place, even after two weeks of 1 win/2 losses.  It’s a good thing we started the season 6 and 0.  Tonight we go against the Ferocious Cougars, who only have a record of 4 and 5 on the season.  I think it will go either way.  They won two games against Hit it and Forget it, who won two games against us, albeit they were close games.  But they also lost two games against Players gone wild who we swept in week 1.  The game is early, the weather is great, and the EB’s are looking to rebound.  My prediction, EB’s 2 – FC’s 1.

Also, this weekend, half of the EB’s will be playing on a team in a Beer Bash.  A beer bash is a volleyball tournament sponsored by STL Volleyball.  For $30 a player, its all you can drink and eat while playing at least 8 games of volleyball.  Its suppose to be a beautiful weekend, so it should be a good time.  And Yes!  I promise that I will not try and pick any fights this time.
oh.  and.  5 days until 26.  I’m closer to 30 than I am to 20.  Oy Vey!

 Also, brandonduke.com(NO SHOES ON THE CARPET!), is a featured blog for the Riverfront Times.  I’m not sure how they found me, but they did.

I also put my two weeks resignation notice into my second job, last day is the 14th, just in time to be off for St. Pattys Day.  I am definately looking forward to it after missing out on Mardi Gras and since last year was a blast.  Drinking starts in the early morning and goes until the late night.  Feel free to join us.

As for the Wii.  It’s pretty Wiicked.  I’m descent at bowling, dominated at tennis, and sucked at golf.  My shoulder hurts from all the game play.  How sad is that.  I managed to hurt myself playing a damn video game.  Of course, that pales in comparison to Jennifer Strange, a mother of three trying to win a Wii by consuming large amounts of water without using the restroom.  The contest, Hold Your Wee for a Wii, was being conducted by a radio station in California.  Jennifer Strange died of water intoxication, R.I.P.

Tonight is the Chili Peppers featuring Gnarls Barkley concert.  I will be sitting in the ninth row with my brother, courtesy of the point.  Hopefully, sometime today, our power will come back or I will have to try and find my tickets in the dark.  This is the third time since the summer storms that we have lost power for more than a day.  I understand that there are some conditions that AmerenUE cannot control but this shit is ridiculous.  Time to increase the funds in your tree-trimming budget.

So let’s see, what else has been going oin lately.  Christmas, of course.  New clothes, household goods, cologne and money.  I think I did pretty well.  I bought a gift for myself this year.   A new Dell XPS, loaded with a core 2 duo 2.4, bunch of ram, a kick ass video and sound card, and 20.1″ widescreeen monitor.  I like it.

We also had our first of hopefully many Poker Challenges.  The stakes were raised and payouts bigger then the normal game we used to play.  Out of 7 guys this time, I finished third, David in second, and Adam (my brother) took home the top spot.  Good times all around.

For the past week, I have been on vacation from Commerce.  It wasn’t really much of a vacation since I ended working 35 hours at the second job.  I did however get to do some enjoyable things.  Like having lunch and visiting my favorite shops on Mainstreet St. Charles.  Or spending the afternoon overlooking the valley at the winery.  And taking another tour of the brewery (tried some organing beer called Stone Mills, not too bad).

Last Saturday, Matt and Julie were married at a delightful ceremony followed by a reception catered by Bandana’s BBQ.  How frickin’ awesome is that.  I had the most important role of the wedding (or so they kept telling me), the usher.  Man I look good in a tux.  I will try to get some of the pictures up soon.

The Beavers are having their best season with a 9 and 12 record with two weeks remaining.  My prediction is that we will win two games this week and one game the final week, finishing with a 12 and 15 record.  Both bowling teams are doing well and I am leading the Sunday night league in average with a 211.

There you go, a quick update.  Now your day can be complete.  Oh, and go Cards.