Television and Commercial

All right, well tonight I am going to talk a little bit about some current classic television and a current classic commercial. Now I am in no way an expert in either field, but what I am sure is that I know pretty terrific stuff when I see it. With regards to television, for those of you who have not seen Flight of the Conchords, you are missing out on some of the best television around. Take two New Zealanders, Bret and Jemaine, who are not the brightest guys, their kooky manager Murray, an obsessed fan Mel, and you have a pretty hilarious story of a band trying to make it big in New York City. Each episode has a plotline and involves the Conchords performing at least one song. One of my favorites is "If You're Into It." There are a ton of their other songs on Youtube and so browse around a little. Just classic! And if you get a chance, check out the show, you won't be disappointed.
As for my favorite commercial right now, there is nothing better than the Geico Warren Wallace commercials. So funny! There are a couple of them out there so look for them the next time you turn on the tube. The intensity of Warren Wallace is just something you don't see these days! What a badass.....

Congratulations!!

Congratulations are in order for Rick and Colleen Saxen. Rick and Colleen are two good friends from ND and on Friday they welcomed Abigail Vera Saxen to the world. I have Rick and Colleen's blog located on the right side here, but you can also check it out by clicking here (I think they might have to change the title of their blog!). Rick and Colleen are now living in Dayton after a stay in San Fran for a little bit and I am hoping that sometime this fall I will have the chance to visit them and meet little Abbie. Congrats Rick and Colleen!!

What?

Sometimes it is hard for me to come up with a topic for blogging. Tonight I have sat here for about 20 minutes trying to come up with a topic and just nothing is coming to mind. I think a lot of time these posts are just some sort of stream of consciousness, but for some reason tonight I am just not coming up with anything good or fun. Therefore, I think I will just write a few things that have been a part of my life recently. These all are for different reasons, things that have been a part of Drew for the past couple of weeks......TimberTech, St Louis University, Mirai, Wilson tennis shoes, Callaway Gardens, Iceberg Mountain, HD Radio, Tru-Link, BBQ Beef, Euchre, Golf, Harry Potter, Notre Dame, 121 Marketing Resources, Mountain View, Tennis, Guinness, Holy Family, Starbucks, MIA, Molson, Snack Mix, ABCs, Florida, Indiana, Minnesota, New York, Illinois, Ireland, Newborns, Buffalo Joe's, Driving and Family. Wow, that was not as much fun as I thought it would be, but still some insight into me. Next week I promise I will have a good Teaching Thursday post. Feel free to leave any suggestions!!

The ABCs of Drew

Some of my favorite things....

Adidas
Bratwurst
Cubs
Driving
Entourage
Florence
Google
Hot Doug's
Italy
Jeans
Knute Rockne
Lacrosse
Morrissey Hall
Notre Dame
Olympic winter hats
Peanut butter
Quiditch
Running
Scrabble
Tailgating
U2
Vacations
WGN 720
X-men
Yeses
ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ (sleeping)

Congratulations!!

Well this is turning into a pretty normal occurrence here with my blog and so congratulations to Cas and Missy Schneller on the birth of their baby boy this morning. Still waiting for the name confirmation, but good news is that everyone is doing great. Congrats Cas and Missy, awesome for you both and can't wait to meet the little one. For updates, check out the Schneller blog here and it also located on the side as well.

Teaching Thursdays

Bear Grylls is a superstar if ever there was one. So my Teaching Thursday is going to be about teaching everyone about Bear Grylls. And if you learn anything, learn who Bear Grylls is and you will have learned so many things (how to get out of quicksand; how to avoid hypothermia in high altitudes; how to survive in the desert with no water; how to be just an overall survivor). Therefore I will have created multiple Teaching Thursday blogs into one Thursday blog. That is so resourceful, maybe Bear Grylls should take lessons from me! Anyways, Bear is the host of Man vs. Wild which is on the Discovery Channel. On the show, Bear drops in through parachute into different environments and shows the viewer how to survive, what to eat, what to wear, where to sleep, what to drink, etc. You really get a good idea of how difficult the situation can be and how tough it can be to survive on your own. Bear is always on top of his game. Now I know it is a TV show and it is edited, but he is for the most part at ease, and if you have ever seen an interview with him, he has a presence about him that just makes you feel like no matter what the case, things are going to be okay. Some interesting facts on Bear: he started out as a British Special Forces member; he is a black belt in karate; he lives on a boat with his wife and two kids. When he was in the Special Forces, he broke his back in a bad parachuting accident. After an amazing recovery, he became the youngest Brit ever to climb Mount Everest and return alive, and he led a team across the North Atlantic Arctic Ocean in an inflatable boat - another first in the world. He is an adventurer, an explorer, a motivational speaker and just an interesting guy. Learn more about him and I am sure you will be pretty astonished if you are not already!

Harry Potter

All right Muggles, unless you have been living under a rock, you all know what is going to happen tomorrow at midnight. That's right, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows is going to be become available and an end will be put to one of the greatest stories ever told. For those that don't follow Harry Potter, this is the seventh and final book in the series by J.K. Rowling that has not only captivated millions, but also re-energized reading for people of all ages. I was first introduced to Harry Potter when I was teaching school in California back in 2001. One of my 5th graders was a huge fan and let me borrow his book to read. By this time there were already two Harry Potter books out and I had previously thought that the book would not be to my liking. From the minute I opened it, I was hooked and could not put it down. I proceeded to read each and every book in the series and am now eagerly awaiting the release of book # 7. When Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince (book # 6) came out a couple of years ago, I was there at midnight at the Borders ready to get my copy. Pretty crazy for a person my age, but I am happy to admit that I was there and even happier to admit that I was not the oldest person waiting in line that night. The end of an amazing era is upon us and I am hoping that I will be able to finish the book before I hear what some of the final outcomes will be. Because I am a notoriously slow reader, I will need to shield myself from any and all spoilers so I can find out on my own what happens to Harry. There are many varying opinions on what is going to happen and so I thought I would give you a little idea on what I am thinking might go down. Just to lay it out on the line now: I think Harry will not die; I think Snape is good; I think Dumbledore will come back; I think Hermione and Ron end up together; I think Quiditch is a pre-cursor to lacrosse! Okay kidding on that last one. For all you Potter fans out there, enjoy the book and I look forward to us talking about every last page. Just wait for me to finish it first!