I Must Break You

So let's say you are a low life who robs people in their home. Let's say you are even lower of a life and you tie up the woman of the house. Now let's say you look at family pictures while you are at the house and you realize you are in the house of a celebrity bad ass. What do you do? Well, that issue just came up the other day...

From the Daily Mail:

Armed robbers fled after discovering the home they had broken into belonged to 'tough guy' actor Dolph Lundgren.

The masked raiders tied up the star's wife and terrorised her into handing over cash and jewellery by threatening her with knives.

But they cut short their raid on the house near Marbella, Spain, after spotting a family photo of the action star and his children in one of the bedrooms.

Luckily for the gang, Lundgren - most famous for playing Russian boxer Ivan Drago in Rocky IV - was out.

The 6ft 5in karate black belt, once bodyguard to singer Grace Jones, had to save his strength for consoling wife Anette when she phoned him in tears to tell him what had happened.

Police are still hunting the three attackers.

An insider said: 'Things might have turned out very differently if Dolph had been in.

'The criminals fled as soon as they realised the owner of the house they had raided was someone they wouldn't want to come up against in a fight.

'They left Anette pretty traumatized. She's Dolph's angel and anyone who messes with her is messing with him.'

Lundgren, an expert in full contact karate, once injured Sylvester Stallone while filming Rocky IV.

The Hollywood actor was taken to hospital with bruising after being punched in the chest.

The Swede, who turns 52 in November, still has a six-pack from training up to six days a week in his local gym.

He recently took part in a six-round exhibition fight against a Russian wrestler and boxer in Moscow.

The father-of-two, who moved to Marbella from London, has starred in more than 40 films since his breakthrough with Rocky IV and was in the frame for last year's I'm a Celebrity....Get Me Out of Here!'

He also has a master's degree in chemical engineering from the University of Sydney and a genius-level IQ of 160.

He has been married to jewellery designer wife Anette Qviberg for the past 15 years.

Their sunshine home is a stone's throw from Max Clifford's apartment in hills overlooking the Mediterranean in an exclusive residential area called Nueva Andalucia near Marbella.

Other celebrities with homes in the area - including Simon Cowell, Alan Sugar and Antonio Banderas - are thought to have upped security as a precaution.

A source said: 'Police have got very few leads. All three burglars wore balaclavas and they've no real description to go on.

'They're looking at CCTV footage to see if they can advance the inquiry. Dolph's away on business a lot and he's increased security to try to avoid a repeat.

'Anette has even spoken about leaving the area. But Dolph's persuaded her it's a one-off and they should stay put for now.'

I guess they were afraid that he could walk in at any moment and if he did, you would make them bleed their own blood. Imagine having that kind of power that armed robbers flee at the sight of your PICTURE. Man, to be that bad ass. I guess that is why he will be in the upcoming movie, The Expendables, the biggest bad ass movie of all time and a movie that I am looking forward to seeing more than any movie coming out this Summer. Unfortunately, it doesn't come out until the end of this year. What is The Expendables? Tune in tomorrow for awesomeness....

Ask and you shall receive

Well, if you read yesterday's post, this is good news. A few hours from now, my dad will be flying home from Mexico. Although his town is hours from Mexico City, there were signs that people were starting to get sick from the flu in his town and he didn't really think it was worth the risk. I feel really bad for him though as he goes at the same time every year for two weeks and that is the only time he gets to see his parents and the rest of his family. As his parents are getting older and older, it is important that he gets this time with them and it is sad that he has to cut it way short like this. Well, he doesn't HAVE to, but he is doing the safe thing.

It worries me that he will be stuck on a plane with someone potentially sick on the way home. What if he catches something? How long until we know he is safe? How long until I am comfortable being around him? All thins that unfortunately, have to be considered. Scary times. But in the end, I am just relieved he is coming back. If he is to get sick, better he be here than there.

I didn't know until this developed that there was a swine flu scare a couple years before I was born. Here is a couple of commercials that aired on tv during that time:

"... I just don't dig on swine, that's all."

So yeah, this Swine Flu is something else. I know some people are scared shitless while other people I know think it just a myth and completely overblown to the point that they think the government is doing it just to practice their scare tactics. I wouldn't say I am scared shitless, but I am leaning more towards the scared end of the spectrum than the "It is nothing" aspect of it.

One thing that really has me worried is that my Dad just left for Mexico on Friday night for 2 weeks. That is something I am really not cool with and in fact, if given a choice, I would have him get on a plane and come home now. But then I am faced with the other dilemma. Do I greet him at the airport or do I wait a couple of days to make sure he isn't sick. That sickens me to think I would have to wait to see him just in case, but that seems to be the reality of how things are going. Or again, this whole thing could be blown out of proportion.

In totally unrelated news, I have read how you responded to my little survey a couple of posts back and I have decided to start commenting on back on all of my posts. So, starting with my previous posts, all posts will have comments back to you if you comment. My gift to you.

Movie reviews and burger/ice cream updates still coming.....

And we're off!!!!

Here it comes - one of my favorite times of the year? What is it? Summer movie season. This isn't a time for award-winning type films. This is the time for mindless entertainment. In my opinion, the season kicks off Friday with the release of Wolverine:Origins, so here comes my usual movie preview post!

First, I'll start off with the highlights of the movie season. These are NOT all movies I want to see, just movies I think that bring in some bucks.

May 1
Wolverine:Origins - An X-Men prequel with the origin of the character Wolverine. I think you might have got that from the title though.

Battle for Terra - An animated movie with an all start cast. No matter what the plot, these always seem to make some money. This has some sci-fi elements.

The Ghosts of Girlfriends Past - Looks like yet ANOTHER romantic comedy with Matthew McConaughey. This guy seems to own this genre.


May 8
Star Trek - A prequel showing how the Enterprise crew (Kirk, Spock, etc) got started on their adventures


May 15
Angels & Demons - Although the book came before DaVinci code, this is supposed to be a sequel to the movie of the same name. Doesn't really matter. My guess is if you hated the first one, you won't like this. If you enjoyed it, you'll probably like it.


May 21
Terminator Salvation - Christian Bale assumes the role of John Conner and we are now seeing the aftermaths of Judgement Day.


May 22
Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian - Sequel to the Night at the Museum with Ben Stiller interacting with museum folk coming to life again.

Dance Flick - It KILLS me to put this on here because these parody movies all suck ass, but it will probably make some money as there are mindless people out there. Stop making these movies!!!


May 29
Drag Me To Hell - Sam Raimi returns to the genre he started with. A horror movie about a girl with a curse put on here. It looks decent.

Up - Here is all you need to know - it is the next Pixar film. Sold!


June 5
Land of the Lost - Remake where Will Farrell travels back in time and meets dinosaurs. Looks horrible.


June 12
The Taking of Pelham 123 - Action drama where Travolta takes a subway hostage and Denzel is a city worker. Something like that. It looks good though.



June 19
The Proposal - Romantic comedy with Ryan Reynold and Sandra Bullock. No matter what the plot is, I am sure they end up together in the end.

Year One - Jack Black is a cave man. And now he will play one in a movie.


June 24
Transformers:Revenge of the Fallen - Transformers 2. Same cast. Same people making it. Yup, I'm there.


June 26
My Sister's Keeper - I am not sure about the money amount on this, but, I have heard so many good things about this book, I will put it on here just in case all those who read it go out and see it. "A former defense attorney returns to the courtroom to defend herself and her husband when they are sued by their 13 years old daughter for emancipation. The girl was conceived as a genetic match with the hope she could prolong her cancer-ridden sister's life."


July 1
Ice Age 3 - Sequel to the other two of the same name

Public Enemies - Good looking action-thriller directed my Michael Mann and staring Depp as John Dillinger and Bale as the FBI agent trying to capture him. Seems like a winner.


July 10
Bruno - Sasha Baron Cohen brings another one of his quirky characters to the big screen. Sure to be controversial I am sure.


July 15
Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince - 6 film in the series and they keep getting darker and better. Delayed from last November.


July 24
G-Force - Disney cartoon about hamsters that are spies or something.


July 31
Funny People - Judd Apatow film staring Adam Sandler and Seth Rogen = $$$



August 7
GI Joe:Rise of the Cobra - With the success of Transformers, why not a Joe movie too? I agreed...until I saw the trailer. Trying to remain optimistic.


August 21
Inglorious Basterds - Yes, it is spelled like that on purpose. The next Tarantino film about World War II. Sure to be bloody.


August 28
Final Destination:Death Trip 3D - They should have done 3D for the 3rd film, not the 4th. If you don't know what this horror film is about, I am sure you won't be seeing it.

Halloween 2 - Rob Zombie continues his remake of the Michael Myers story.



So, with all that being said, what are my top 5 movies I look forward to seeing this Summer? It is tough, but here is my list in order from 5 to #1. This was really hard..

#5 - Wolverine:Origins - My favorite movie character being this far down the list? That shows you how excited I am about this Summer.

#4 - Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince - I am rereading this right now and getting so excited for this movie.

#3 - Terminator:Salvation - This looks SO good, so perfect in its depiction of how it is after Judgement Day.

#2 - Inglorious Basterds - It is Tarantino. Even before hearing about the plot, that is enough to put my ass in the seat. After seeing the trailer, I was ecstatic.

#1 - Transformers:Revenge of the Fallen - If this is as good as the first one, this is sure to be a winner.

And there you have it. At the end of the Summer, I will rank the movies I saw in order of how I liked them. Enjoy! Go out and stimulate the economy by seeing a movie or 2 or 10.

Out of curiosity...

This is a pretty simple post today, but something I need to know and have been meaning to ask. I always read all the comments that come into my blog. Why wouldn't I? One thing I rarely do is respond back to my comments. I have done it here and there, but rarely do it on a consistent basis. I am thinking of doing it, but I need input. So, these questions won't offend me one way or another, just stuff I need to know that way I know if I SHOULD be doing it.

1. Do you respond back to all comments on YOUR blog? If you don't have a blog of your own, you can just write cheeseburger.

2. How often do you go back and read comments on a post you have already commented on to see if the writer has written back to you?

3. How likely would you go back and check what I wrote back to you if I did start doing this (and again, don't feel obligated to, I just need to know)?

That's about it. Not exciting, but something I want to know. Thursday night I will get some movie reviews or burger updates up. One or the other...

Party on Manuel, Party on Jessica

What an exhausting weekend! It started Friday night with poker night at my house. Yeah, we usually do it on Saturday nights, but as we had Saturday night plans already, we moved it a day, or night rather, early. I figured because it was not the usual day, it would be somewhat smaller, but we still ended up with 15 people so it was a nice surprise. I have also started broadcasting my games on the internet which has been kind of fun too. I'll probably keep doing this. I broadcast on my justintv channel - www.justin.tv/mrmanuel. If you sign up there, you get an email whenever I start broadcasting - useful if you check your email often, not useful at all if you are the kind of person who checks it once a day. So far I have broadcast myself mounting a tv on the wall, playing poker, and playing Rock Band. Good times.

Saturday we woke up early so we could pick up my folks at 8 and go to Picnic Day at our Alma mater, UC Davis. This is the annual open house event that is tons of fun and this year, had an estimated crowd of 100,000 people. I think the highlights of this day was looking at jars of worms taken from animals' bodies (Yech!) and making maggot art (Cool!). What is maggot art? Well, you take a maggot, roll it in paint, and then put him on a piece of paper and have him crawl across your paper. Then, dip him in a new color and repeat the process. There you go - maggot art.

We got home about 4, and left for a triple birthday party at 430. We had a great time eating, drinking, hanging out, talking, watching friends make fools of themselves, etc. We didn't leave until 2 and get to bed until around 230 in the morning. Now, a normal person would sleep in the next day, but Manchester United was on and well, I don't miss their games. So, I was up at 730, a mere 5 hours after I had gone to sleep from a long day of partying.

I guess I could have taken a nap after, but ended up deciding against it as we had to go to my Mom's to celebrate her birthday. We went over, but for the first couple hours, I was a zombie. I perked up when the food came out - surprise, surprise. And like usual visits to my parents' house, I ate WAY too much yummy food. In another big surprise, I was asleep by 930. Still, you can always sleep. You can't always have a kick ass weekend.

Reminiscing

I have been feeling a little nostalgic lately so after I finished working today, I quickly went through some pictures and scanned away. I put them up on Facebook, but since I wanted to blog today and yet, couldn't think of absolutely anything to post about, you get old pictures today. Enjoy...

Jess and I at Great America 5/1996. Almost 5 months after our first date



High School Graduation 6/1996



Hanging out at her Granny and Grandad's house - 1998



College graduation - 6/2001




At a wedding - 5/1998 I think




No clue on the date on this, but looks like around 1998/1999



I'd love if I was this skinny again





My little sis!




This picture sums me up perfectly I think.



This is on my way to go pick up Jess for Senior Ball. That was my Mustang. I miss it.



I could probably still fall asleep like this




My dad holding me



Bobcats - the club team I was on form the age of 5 or 6 to about age 16.


Me and my friends at Homecoming Dance Fall 1995



The guys at Junior Prom - Spring 1995


Good times indeed....

Happy Easter

Hello and Happy Easter to all. Quick post because we are leaving out of town to go to the coast again, although this time it is for a funeral and not for pleasure. I guess all trips can't be for fun, right?

Anyways, I am doing a quick post to show you the Easter basket Jess gave to me this morning. I don't think I ever mentioned it on the blog, but I gave up soda for Lent, quite a task for me. I haven't had a soda since February 24th. For the most part, I was fine. It was only with certain foods, especially pizza, that I really missed it. Although, the last few days have been really hard as I knew the big day was coming. Well, this morning, as I said, Jess got me a great Easter basket and enjoy it I will...

Have a great day everyone!

How I Spend My Wednesday Nights

As many of you know, I am in a video game clan on my Playstation 3. What that basically means is I joined a bunch of guys that have formed a group and play together online all the time. We're called OTD or Older Than Dirt because everyone is 30 and over. We've been together since the end of 2006 and I am so happy these guys have come in to my life as they are a good group of people. I have even met some of them in real life and it was like getting together with old friends. Our main night together is every Wednesday night and I think this video perfectly symbolizes what a typical Wednesday night is like for us. I laughed my ASS off because it is so true...

(Non) Wordless Wednesday #29

I was going to make this a Wordless Wednesday, but I cannot NOT say something (yeah, I know that is a double negative, but you know what I am trying to say)...


First, I saw this in a public restroom at Denny's. That should be enough explanation I am sure. What I do want to know is what was crossed out after the error. Did someone correct it? Did someone from Denny's see the correction and think the original was correct and so they crossed it off? Was it just someone making fun of it? I would love to know. Either way, hilarious...





This was on one of those machines at the store where you bring your memory card and you can print pictures off it. There is so much that could be said about this, and so many ways you could laugh at it if you interpret it the way it was written...


I saw this yesterday on a drive and had to go back today to take a picture. You have to be safe in this day and age so always keep it wrapped...

Food once again

As promised, it is time for another food update. I'll be honest, I don't feel like I have burgers all the time, but when I look at the numbers, I am almost at the point where I am embarrassed about how many burgers I am eating. Oh well, what are you going to do...

This first one is a double quarter pounder with cheese, or what is left of it. I kind of forgot to take a picture at first. Noteworthy is the little bit of bun left at the top compared to how much bun I still have at the bottom. That is how I eat most burgers and this is due to how I hold the burger and bite into it. Jess makes fun of me...

This is a 3x3 from In n Out. I got it on our way home from out Cayucos trip last month.

These are two more turkey burgers from my aunt and uncle's house. They were YUMMY!

This is a burger from Johnny Garlic's, a restaurant owned by Guy Ferri here in town. It was good, but not quite as good as I expected.

Some burger from Wendy's - the Baconator or something.

Another Double Quarter with Cheese from McDonald's

This is that yummy burger again from Red Robin that I had last time. It was excellent once again.

That brings me to...........25. Ouch....

Now on to Jess:

This is a ice cream cone from McDonald's that we got on the way out of Walmart

Kelly #2 and her husband came for dinner a few weeks ago and like the great friends they are, they brought ice cream for Jess for dessert. I didn't complain because I LOVE ice cream cake. Love it, love it!

She also had a slice of ice cream cake the following day, but, well, this is when we remembered to take the picture...

Jess having a bowl of ice cream at my aunt and uncle's house.


An ice cream bar that Jess got on the way home from Cayucos

Mint oreo ice cream treat that she got at Johnny Garlic's. She LOVED this.

Ice cream with goodies at my folks' house.

Wendy's Frosty

Baskin Robbins late night run

Bowl of ice cream at her mom's house - where you can ALWAYS find ice cream.

That brings Jessica to 24 ice cream treats. Only one behind me!

Ch-ch-ch-changes

Yup, I have been bad about blogging lately. Sorry, last couple of weeks it has only been one a week. Just laziness really. I know I'll be better this week. Promise...

Most noteworthy thing around our house is that Jess started a new job today, although you could almost call it an old job. Yes, Jess is returning to the hospital to do labor and delivery again and to deliver babies into the world. She left the pain management clinic, or rather, she was forced. Ever since she came back from suspension, they have been mysteriously cutting her hours and telling her they just didn't have work for her despite the fact that nothing had changed. She went from 5 days a week, to 3, to 2, and the threat of the 2 days of work being turned into half days loomed. One of the main reasons is the doctor who she worked for, left for a another job. She worked well with the doctor and he often stuck up for Jess when issues with her supervisor arose because frankly, he knew Jess was in the right. He protected her. Then, he leaves, a new doctor comes in who really doesn't know Jess and suddenly, they don't need her anymore.

Jess started looking for a new job once this all started, and eventually decided on returning to the hospital. So, she returns to working on weekends and holidays, but also back to only working 3 12 hour shifts a week and earning close to $10 more per hour. I hope she'll be happy.

On a side note, Jess did find out through the grapevine that her sudden drop in hours - yes, it WAS personal. Not much you can do though.

I also don't know if I mentioned it, but I fired my problem client recently. I am sure long time readers have heard me bitch and bitch about one of my clients who gave me nothing but headaches because of her inability to work with me how I needed. Well, finally last month, I decided that the money wasn't worth the headaches and I fired her as a client. A weight was lifted for sure.

Other than that, not much going on. It was a wonderful weekend: I saw a movie I loved, Man U had a wonderful come from behind last minute victory, and I won a big poker tournament at my house. Last year was a tough year for poker, but I am having a pretty good year so far. Let's hope it stays that way. Tomorrow, I think it will be burgers and ice cream update. Have a good one!