ALL MY FRIENDS SAY
At the end of each year, I like to honor my friends that have blogs by linking back to my favorite story that they wrote this past year. It is just a way to support my friends and let them know I enjoy their work. I hope you take the time to click on the links and read about their lives and their thoughts.
With gas cost going up and down, here are some tips on saving money on fuel.
There is nothing like a good weekend at the ball park.
A good review of what is wrong with Christmas.
Here is an entry of Josh hanging around a big time crowd.
Rick has changed his blog a bit, and right now I can only point to the last entry. So for this year, I guess that will be the one I link to.
Mysterious Critters is always a favorite of mine to read about.
It was a year of ups and downs and chances for the Stephen Family, but here is an entry about some of the pain in the side they had to deal with this year.
He would probably love the outdoors if it was not for all that nature stuff.
Yep, some good advice.
Sometimes kids are just too smart and creative.
OK, I only play fantasy football with him, but I think to think of him as a friend. So here are the three entries/cartoons from his blog that are my favorites of 2008 (because one is so hard to figure out).
Happy New Year! May you new year be much better than the previous!
LikeMIGHT WIN AN OSCAR
It is a tradition of this blog near the end of each year to rank the movies I saw that came out during the year (2008). These are just my thoughts about the movies. If it is different than yours, that is OK. We can have different opinions, really.
Why do I put this list out? Well, no reason really, but I just to do it. It is just a feature of Admirable Thoughts: Writings of Code Monkey.
I would like to thank the Jefferson County Public Libraries where I checked out most of these movies. Without them, I probably would not have wasted hours watching movies because I don’t want to spend the money on them.
- Hancock- Bad Language, but great movie. Nice twist. I really thought it was the best movie of the year.
- Marley & Me- Great dog movie. It was funny, entertaining, thoughtful, and moving. It made me sad about Shelby, but thrilled with Rocket!
- Iron Man- Very Good and fun movie. Can’t believe how good Robert Downy Jr. was. Perfect choice for the role.
- The Dark Knight - Very dark, sadistic, violent, disturbing, enjoyable, and thought provoking movie. Lots of great acting. I think the best actor in the movie for me was Gary Oldman who Gordan. Over all a great film.
- Get Smart- It was true to the old TV show, but was modern at the same time. It was a very surprising movie and it was so much funnier than I figured it would be.
- The Bucket List- A very good and enjoyable Movie
- Expelled- Interesting, thoughtful, and well done
- Kung Fu Panda- I still think the panda was modeled after my friend Stefan which makes it funnier
- Mummy- The Yak yakking in the airplane bag, just classic
- Vantage Point- Pretty good movie, but Jack should have stayed Lost on the island
- Prince Caspian- I enjoyed it (best review of it came from Erin’s blog)
- Indy 4- It was OK and enjoyable…like most of the Indy movies
- House- Not as scary as the book, but pretty good movie
- The Incredible Hulk- Better than the last movie and more like the TV show. Better does not make it great.
- The Pirates Who Do Anything Thing- It was fine
- 21- An OK movie, but kind of predictable
- Drillbit Tayler- Now I know why JFK was shot
- Leatherheads- Brief movements of entertainment
- Jumper- So-so, had potential, but it never came together that well
- Over Her Dead Body- So-so. It really had no where to go with the bad plot. I think I did laughed once, maybe.
- Fool’s Gold- Wow, just bad.
- Cloverfield- Blair Witch meets Godzilla was just a horrible movie. J.J. should have stayed with Jack on the island.
- 88 Minutes- One of the worst movies I ever sat all the way through for. Why, I sat though it, I’m not sure.
I CAN SEE YOU PAINT MY PICTURE
Major Website Update: DECEMBER 2008
It is time for another major personal website update. So, as in the past I will list the new additions to the site here in the blog. They are marked as NEW in the menu.
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TRIP TO WYOMING (Under Trips Menu)
Some time at my parent’s place in Wyoming. -
ROCKIES GAMES 2008 (Under Trip Menu)
Photos of a few games at Colorado Rockies games this year. -
MISSOURI BASEBALL GAMES (Under Trip Menu)
Scott and I’s trip to Major League Stadiums in Missouri. -
MISC 2008 (Under Family Menu)
Various photos of the family from November and December 2008. -
THANKSGIVING (Under Family Menu)
Pictures of our Thanksgiving with the family here in our town. -
MUSIC THAT BUILDS TOUR (Under With Friends Menu)
These are some pictures we took at the Music That Builds Tour in Broomfield, Colorado. -
FCA GOLF TOURNAMENT (Under With Friends Menu)
For the 2nd year in a row, I was part of the Faith Christian Academy Golf Tournament. -
PREVIOUS POLL RESULTS (Under Other Menu)
The last poll did get a lot votes. Good job. People like dogs! -
HOME PAGE (Home Menu)
There is a new quote, anew poll question on the main page. As always, I would love for your voice to be heard, so vote. Also, I change the one photo on the home page to be a slide-show of five. I hope that is cool with everyone.
Also, for those of you who only read the blog entries when a major update of the site comes out, there were 60 new blog entries since the last major site update.
DO YOU KNOW
First, thanks for all who have voted so far in the best blog entry for 2008. Feel free to still vote in the poll.
The surprise contest was a kind of hit with the Monkey Pen last year. Therefore, I figured I would go with what works. So for the second year in a row, The “Admirable Thoughts: Writings of Code Monkey” blog is having another pop quiz.
There will be a prizes for each question.
The prize for Question #1 is a $10 Gift Card To Chipotle.
The prize for Question #2 is a $10 Gift Card To Borders.
The prize for Question #3 will be a $15 Gift Card for iTunes as it is a little harder.
Question 1: – How many videos were used in the blog entries this year?
Question 2: – How many different CDs did I list on the Latest Tunes section on the blog?
Question 3: – List as many book titles as you can that I read in the year 2008.
Some quick Rules:
I will only accept answers from now, December 26, 2008, till midnight (MST) on January 9, 2008.
I will announce the winners in this blog after January 11, 2008.
Email me your guesses for each question. If you don’t know my email address, use the Contact Me page with your answers.
REALLY, TAKE A GUESS. EVEN IF YOU DON’T KNOW, IT CAN’T HURT.
WATCHING AIRPLANES, TAKE OFF AND FLY
I know Daniela from church. She was on the airplane that crashed at DIA on Saturday night.
Click here to read her thoughts about her adventure.
QUESTIONS I CAN’T WAIT TO ASK
With it being near the end of the year, I thought it would be interesting to get some feedback from the Monkey Pen (readers of this blog). So I put together a poll question and I hope you will take some time and vote. Feel free to be a Chicago Voter, vote early and vote often.
Below list together of the list of stories that got the most comments or emails sent to me. I have listed them as links so you can go check them out again. Then you can come back and vote for the one you liked best or a different one by selecting Other. Free feel to leave a comment on why you voted the way you did.
- A FEW DOLLARS IN A COFFEE CAN
- YOU’RE NOT ALONE IN YOUR SHAME AND YOUR SUFFERING
- LIKE A ROCKET SLED ON RAILS
- SET DOWN THERE BETWEEN THE DUCK AND THE LEDBETTER
- BEEN A GOOD DOG, MY BEST FRIEND, RIGHT THROUGH IT ALL
- IT’S THE NAME THAT HELPED TO MAKE YOU STRONG
- IF YOU FAIL ALGEBRA
- DEVIL JUST COME ON BACK IF YOU EVER WANT TO TRY AGAIN
- BABY IT’S COLD OUTSIDE
GOOD OLE ROCKY TOP
Congratulations to Denver Nugget’s Mascot, Rocky.
On December 4, 2008, he was inducted in the Mascot Hall of Fame!
However that is not all. On December 10, 2008, he made his 100th backwards half court basket since 2003. I was there. It was a pleasure to be at such a historical event.
IF AIN’T ONE THING IT’S ANOTHER
Things have been so busy with Thanksgiving, work, life, and complaining about things being crazy that I have been slow updating my blog. So here is a just a few things I have thought about and decided to type down now.
I have taken the Myers Briggs Test basically five times since 1992 for various jobs or for counseling. I have always been an ISTJ with the S indicator been on the border. Well, it said I was INTJ. So maybe I have changed a bit over the years. Here is what it said:
INTJ – The Scientists
The long-range thinking and individualistic type. They are especially good at looking at almost anything and figuring out a way of improving it – often with a highly creative and imaginative touch. They are intellectually curious and daring, but might be physically hesitant to try new things.
The Scientists enjoy theoretical work that allows them to use their strong minds and bold creativity. Since they tend to be so abstract and theoretical in their communication they often have a problem communicating their visions to other people and need to learn patience and use concrete examples. Since they are extremely good at concentrating they often have no trouble working alone.
