Valkyrie

Well, once again Tom Cruise is another film about the millitary. This time he plays a german officer named Col. Stauffenburg who's main objective is to kill Hitler in the movie Valkyrie. I saw this film and somewhat like it. Cruise is a dead ringer for stauffenburg. If you look at a side by side picture between the real stauffenburg and cruise playing him it's very eerie. The nature scenes are great and the direction that director Bryan singer (X-men director) gives makes you feel like your in the operation yourself. My only two complaints of the film is that in part of the film it doesn't give true story of how stauffneburg lost his eye and his right arm. The other is that cruise doesn't hardly speak much in a german accent. The supporting cast is great you might not even recognize Bill Nighy with all the make up he had to wear as the squid guy in the second Pirates of the Carribean movie. Overall, if you like history and a good suspense thriller you'll probably like Valkyrie. Out of four stars ....I give it 2 and 1/2,

Signed
Tim "too many holiday film" Crippen

Merry Christmas

Check out the Mountain Dew Fleece Pants ......I'm wearing

Kudos to Hyundai

Last week, I receive a recall letter from Hyundai that my electrical wiring harness system needed to be replace. So, since there is no Hyundai dealership in Leavenworth, I went to closest one I could at Shawnee Mission. They not only took care of one recall part but two. The exhaust manifold was under warranty and they replaced that too. Then for the last five months I finally figured out that the reason for my check engine light was coming on. The speed sensor which is connected to the ignition system was pretty close to going out along with timing belt costing me over 600 dollars. I hate to spend the money for it but I always remember the phrase " Pay now and pay a little or pay a lot later." These guys had to keep my car overnight and gave a free rental car for the day. I'll tell you what even with having to part with some money these guys at Shawnee Mission Hyundai were the nicest guys to work with ever. Kudos to everyone from Mike the technician to Toby and Jay the service guys. The car feels like it's brand new even tough it's a 2002.

Signed
Tim "Merry Christmas" Crippen

Somebody dropped the ball

If you were like me this past friday you probably shopping just like millions of other Americans on a day we like to call Black Friday. As morning approach, I headed to Best Buy to be looking for a new tv. I didn't wait too long in line no more than five minutes. I looked at the Dynex 19' as well as the Sharp 22' TV/DVD combo. Both were great, but I decided to get the Sharp 22. I wait in line for about five minutes....they had everybody working the cash register. As, I'm writing my check a portion of my check gets ripped. They put it in the cash register....they said it was declined. I write a second check thinking since the number were portionally ripped off that the computer didn't read the first check. Declined again. Now, I'm getting mad they ask me if I wanted to use my credit card.....I was hesitant at first but decided to go with it. After making my purchase, I went to a local ATM machine just to see what I had in my account and it was more than enough to cover the TV. So, what have learn boys and girls. Well, for one thing somebody dropped the ball on this situation. Either it was my bank or it was something wrong with Best Buy's computer system.

Signed
Tim "AAAArrgh" Crippen

Single guy's guide to surviving thanksgiving

Okay for the first time ever in my life.......i spent thanksgiving alone. Yes, you heard right alone. No friends, family was in ark city, Kansas but I couldn't make since I have to work tomorrow.....it just felt weird. Too start we have to start from yesterday at work.......when I stopped at Topy's popcorn for a bucket of carmel. cinnamon and butter to snack on for the holidays. As I was driving by listening to some classic Bon Jovi, I see there was dude at the Little Ceasar's on shawnee parkway and quivira jammin to a fake cardboard cutout of a guitar advertisement for $5 pizza. I saw this rolled down my window....he heard the Bon Jovi music and he was really started to jam.....That may me laugh all the way to the grocery store. Then I stopped at the price chopper to get a substitute thanksgiving dinner. Hey, if you can make for grandmother's dinner or your parent's house.....I would suggest buying one of those Hungry Man XXL turkey dinner......it's not quite the same but it does the trick. I stayed up late watching movies and you can't go wrong with a holiday classic like "planes, trains, and automobiles." This morning got up watched annual parade....no balloon mishaps, but if you search the internet on the 1957 parade what happen with the popeye balloon you'll probably chuckle at it.

Catch some football as well as watching the plaza lights get turned on. My old roomate text me from California and is now in food coma. Not really, but you know what I mean. Did I survive thanksgiving? Yeah, I did but it really wasn't great as great as I thought it would be when your all alone.

Signed
Tim "I'm thankful for a lot of things" Crippen

Who says you can't get a free lunch

In recent months there sure have been a lot of promotions for a lot free stuff.......first back in October if somebody stole a base during the World Series you can win a free taco......I took advantage of this by hitting to three taco bell stores. Hey, I got free meal out of this. Then on election day Starbuck s coffee gave you free cup of coffee if you show your "I voted" sticker the same went for Chick-fil-A as they would give you their original chicken sandwich. Now, the lastest promotion is from Dr. Pepper. Back in March the bottling company made a statement that if the new Gun's N' Roses album "Chinese Democracy" would dopped by 2008 that everyone can get a free coupon for a 20 oz. Dr. Pepper on their website. Well, yesterday the album went on sell......and as Dr. Pepper president says "the drinks are on us".

Signed
Tim "have a happy thanksgiving" Crippen

Now what

So, the election has come and gone and we've elected a new president Barack Obama. I thought when I came to work that Wednesday morning that I would hear hooping and hollering of joyous celebration. Instead, I got more of the silent and empathy treatment at work. Maybe people were just tired of the election, maybe they were upset that their guy loss or maybe they were happy that their guy had won but was too tired that morning to show enthusiam. Eithier way I say to the new president congratulations "you've got a big job ahead and it's not going to be easy." I didn't vote for Obama or McCain in this election.....I voted for Ron Paul. Now, some people would say you just wasted your vote ......to that which I say No, I didn't because what I'm telling to both of the parties is that neithier one of you giving any real good solutions to fixing the mess....and it's more than just the economy. There is too many unknowns of what is going to be happening in the next few years.......Am I going to have a job? Is my 401K plan going to be a 201K? Is health Insurance still going to be with my employer? Are we going to see a switch in the Supreme Court in idealogy? Are we going to end the war in Iraq and Afghanistan a lot sooner before the job is finished? Just some of the questions that a lot of people are really asking about the new president.

I think with all the problems that we have in this country there is not a problem in this world that God can't solve if we turn our hearts toward him and reject our sinful ways as a country. Now, that may sound simple but at least it is honest.

Signed
Tim "glad the election is over with" Crippen

A clown coming in for an interview

Okay, I know it's halloween and people at our company do dress up and what have you just so they can have fun and maybe win some money prize. But, if your not part of the company and your coming in for an interview perhaps wearing costume before you are going to an interview is not a great idea as well as maybe having a beer in your hand. Well, today a woman who was applying for one of the two maintenance positions was wearing a clown suit. Luckily, my boss has a sense of humor and did the interview as if were a normal day. Now, I don't know if she will get the job, but if she does I will be amazed.

Signed
Tim "clowns are only needed for kids parties and the circus" Crippen

Ch...Ch...Ch...Changes

These last three days has gone through many changes surrounding me. First, let me start about my weekend. I headed off to Pittsburg this weekend to see our beloved Campus Christians House for the very last time for Homecoming week. It will be torn down after this year and made into a parking lot. I have many good memories of the place from ping pong tournaments, to my fishing buddy and I wrestling down on the floor to the praise and worship days on Tuesday Nights. Speaking of my fishing buddy, Dan Decker took a new job in West Plains, Mo as a helicopter mechanic. The football stadium added jungle tron to the South field which is a new video scoreboard (gee, I wonder how much that cost) Then today at work, two of my fellow co-workers in my department decided to quit leaving the maintenance dept with just the two of us. Oh, man making my job duties double. I just wanted to take a deep breath and say "things are going to get better it's just the question of when."

I guess in this year of change.... I shouldn't be surprised of people moving, new jobs, marriage and everything else in between that you realize that things are going to change. It's just a matter of whether you can adapt to it. As I get older it gets harder and harder for me to embrace change. I know I need to but it's not easy. I remember when I was coming home yesterday putting on old Michael W. Smith song that I still like to this day. It's called "Place in this World."
As I listen to lyrics of that song it still has the same effects on my life as it did when I was a teenager. Where I feel the I'm standing still, but the wind is constantly moving. To this day I'm still looking for a reason to find my place in this world. I've always enjoyed that song because it is so true.

Signed
Tim "working on changes" Crippen

An American Carol

If your a fan of the Naked Gun films or your views politically are somewhat conservative then you'll like this hysterical politcal comedy film "An American Carol". Starring Kevin Farley (Chris Farley's brother) as Michael Malone a liberal film director who hates America and wants to abolish the celebration of Fourth of July. He gets visited by his hero JFK in which he tells Malone that he needs to change his views and that he will be visited by three spirits. His first spirit is General George Patton from World War II played by Kelsey Grammer. then he is visted by George Washington and the spirit of death or future is played by country music singer Trace Adkins. This film makes fun of just about everybody Michael Moore, Rosie O' Donnell, the ACLU, TSA, and the muslim terrorists. I can't tell you what happens in the film but you will be laughing in your seats. In this crazy political season it's nice to have film that laughs at the other side.

Signed
Tim " very sad that the bears lost today" Crippen

My favorite time of year

This is probably my favorite time of year the season of fall. With baseball playoffs going, football underway, and politics all aside. It's nice just to walk around a park and see some of the colors starting to change on the trees. I remember as kid when my friend Brad and I would get some of the other teenagers from the church and we would gather leaves to make the biggest leafpile and jump right into it. Although, now as an adult when fall comes I realize that winter is just around the corner Ugh! Since fall has came I have done some things like for the very first time I went to a pig roast. Good eating I might add. Celebrated my Birthday just a few days ago and enjoy my day off in the middle of week. I saw the movie Appaloosa....it's okay but I thought it could've been better. If you like old sphaghetti westerns you might like this one. Help make apple cider with my folks.....all of this done within the last two weeks and we still have two and half months left in fall.

Signed
Tim " just wanted to put a post in October" Crippen

PS Go gorillas and Bears

Knight rider......you got to be kidding me

On my Februray 17th post ......I said that there was a possibility of Knight Rider becoming a TV series.....Well, my dreams or I should say my worst nightmare has come true. I'll admit I am a sucker for the original but this new series we'll be lucky enough if it last eight episodes. TV network executives don't have a new creative mind in their body. The try to bring back last year the Bionic Woman (a remake) and it got cancelled. Then a few years ago they tried to bring back "The fugitive" TV series and what happen "CANCELLED" . Now their trying to bring back another great classic Knight Rider.



First here are some steps for the show to make it a hit again

Bring back the Trans Am....the Ford Mustang is okay but give the car some pizzaz....Heck if you wanted change cars bring back the Pontiac GTO. Then Kitt's powers are another thing. In the original the car went into attack mode a few things change, but it was still the original car only with some turboboost. This car acts like it one of the cars from the Transformers movie....Kitt can change into a truck what??? I know it's the 21st century but be realistic. The producer of this show should know how to built a futuristic car after all he did do the "The fast and the the furious".

Second the voice of Kitt

Val Kilmer has got to go.....brick back William Daniels the original voice of Kitt or give me a voice that is distinctive ....oh let's say like James Earl Jones (just kidding) but you get my drift.

Third mike's girlfriend

Deanna Russo on the show is very good and HOT I might add. I don't know if she is related to Renne Russo but she is part of the reason I watch the new show.

All in all the show is going to have a hard time getting in audience, but who knows maybe this show will break the curse of Classic Television remakes and last for a few seasons. Only time will tell. I leave you with the two reasons I watch the show Deanna Russo and KITT. Enjoy



Signed Tim "the original is still the best" Crippen

I love L.A............N O T

Welcome to a place where dreams come true and things just look so perfect. Either this is heaven or it's southern California (aka Los Angeles). As I got on the plane I was looking forward to seeing so many things whether it was the beach or just time outdoors. I wonder if my suspicions were true about California .......I found out after a week pretty much is true.

Let's start first with day one.......I met up with my old roommate Robb who picked me up at LAX.

We headed to his place in Torrance, CA a fairly nice neighborhood. I was thinking it was going to be a small apt. .....Oh no, this wasn't an apt. it was a business/storage unit. Dusty, dirty and two window units in the roof with bars on it. Honestly, I thought I was staying pretty close to a prison cell. Day two was when it really got interesting because slowly but surely I started seeing the real L.A. A lot of the interstate areas just look so trashy along with a a lot of tagging along the cement sidewalks. Even some of the palm trees are faked because their disguised as cell phone towers. As we traveled along the Pacific Coast Highway or as the locals call it PCH. We pass by the famous beaches of Venice, Santa Monica and ended up in Malibu. Great picturesque scenery of the coast and the mountains that hug it Here's a picture that kind of gives you an idea. (Although this Venice beach you'll get my drift)

Two days later we went to the Tonight show with Jay Leno.....we waited in line for hours but we were able to get into the show and even before we did that we saw the NBC studio tour which is definitely worth seeing before you go to the show. Here's me doing the pointing thing again.

Before the show begins, Jay Leno does a Q & A with the audience and Robb and I got to meet Jay Leno. Somebody on his staff got to take a photo of us right there on the set. It was probably the highlight of the whole vacation To get a picture with a celebrity and nice guy too nonetheless was pretty awesome.

To cap things off we ended up at dodger stadium. Very unique stadium with three different levels. Yes, I did have super dodger dog (all beef). The palm trees around the stadium along with the mountains on one side and the L.A. skyline on the other makes this ballpark really special. Overall, LA. does have nice weather and great beaches and some of the people are friendly. However, the traffic is bad, people drive like maniacs, certain areas are trashy and I felt like I was in old mexico and not the United States. It was great to visit the city and my old roommate, but I doubt if I will ever go back there ever again. It's actually kind of great to come back to the Midwest where I can tell that a man is man and a woman is woman.

Signed

Tim "enjoyed nice weather on vacation" Crippen

PS: I know California is broke, but why do they charge $5.00 just to park at the beach? If you want to go to good restaurant...go to "Duke's" in Malibu for some great clam chowder at $6.50 for a bowl.

Jon Reep and Washington D.C.

It was a great time last time weekend as it started with Barrett and I going to see Jon Reep performing at Standford and sons comedy club. I haven't laugh that hard and cried and the same time in quite a long time. If you don't know who jon Reep is he's probably best known for the Dodge Ram pick up truck and says the phrase "hey, is that a Hemi?" He's kind of mixture of Jeff Foxworthy and Robin Williams. Funny guy!!



The next day.......I headed out to Washington D.C. to see my brother and sister in law. I had a wonderful time out there. We literally hit the town from going to Ruth's Chris Steak House to going to see the monuments at night to going to Washington Nationals baseball game to seeing the Washington Monument......it was just too bad that the time was very short and that we can only do so much in three days.

However, the plane ride going back as well as coming out there were a little bit inconvient. The airline that rhymes with "I felt ya" literally ignore me by not calling my name to check in my baggage. Luckily, it was carry on baggage, but I still had to empty my bag of deoderant spray and gel. Along, with tube of toothpaste. It was eithier me emptying it out or TSA. Other wise I was going to be late for my flight. Even with all the bad things that happen on the airlines...it did give me a perspective as I was heading home. On my flight, back there were some troops from Iraq who were heading home. These men and women were getting shot at every single day. Yet, here I complain about bad service from the airline. As we arrive at the gate we all applauded the men and women who were getting off the flight.

Signed
Tim "hey is that hemi" Crippen

Titanic the musical

No Leo Decaprio or Kate Winslet in this version of Titanic....although it would be funny to see the two of them try to sing a tune while their on deck. In this version of Titanic the main focus is more on the captain of the ship, the architect and the investor. Sure there are side stories like a love story, a wife jealous of being a second class passenger wishing that she was mingling on first class, a man working in the boiler room, etc. There is a lot side notes in this version so at times it might be hard to keep up. Seeing jason bridges perform three different characters is remarkable... He is a fourth in commanding officer and a first and third class passneger. For a community theater production of the show they did a pretty good job of the boat deck. Although, as I was watching last night's version I saw one thing real cheesy....for those who haven't seen it I won't give it away, but it just involves a dining room cart or was it a table. The cast and crew put in a lot of hard work into this from memorizing their lines, to the choregraphy and of course the singing. If there was anything I was disappointed it was that there wasn't as big audience for opening night. Otherwise, good show.

Signed
Tim "iceberg right ahead" Crippen

Women's tour

It was my first time helping out on a tour for my company that rhymes with the island of Malta so to advert being sued. But this wasn't just any tour .....oh no, this was a tour of women and some of them a little bit wild, some hungover and some well words just can't even describe. As the tour rolled through the warehouse.....these women were taking pictures of everything from the owner's offices to the history display of the company. In a way, I didn't really want to do the tour, but toward the end there was a representative who thank me and for the others for coming out on a Sunday and helping out with the tour. She didn't have to say it, but to me that was a great feeling and it just made the rest of tour such a nice time.

Signed
Tim " I'm glad this is over with" Dawg

Mid way Summer films

The dog days of summer are almost here or their already here depending on your perspective. As usual I check out some summer flicks and I give you my point of view on them. Now there are still some more summer films to see, but I'm going with ones that I have seen. First up "Iron Man" what a great comic book film for something new. I'm not a big Robert Downey Jr. but he actually pulls it off playing the title character role. Let's just hope the sequel is just as good. Speed Racer .....I know what the story is about but what happen to this film. Not even the people who brought you "the matrix" could save this film. Prince Caspian the second book of "the chronicles of narnia". Much better than the first one and more characters to enjoy. WALL-E is probably my most surprise pick of the summer. Great film for kids of all ages and there is great love story between two robots. Once again, PIXAR has gotten themselves another hit. Most recently, I have seen "The Dark Knight" and just to see Heath Ledger's performance of The Joker is worth the price of admission. The action is great, the performance's between Christian Bale and Heath Ledger are excellent. Heath should get look at Oscar nomination for his role in this film. If I had one gripe is that when Christian Bale puts on the mask and he talks .....I swear it sounds like he's channeling Clint Eastwood's dirty harry character. That's it for now for the summer flicks.

signed
tim crippen

the 100th Post

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P O S T

Fourth of July Weekend

Well once again we celebrate America's birthday as it turns 232 years old. I get together to see relatives of people I haven't seen since last year or in some cases many years. It was fun stuffing ourselves with good food and seeing the fireworks from us as well as our neighbors just shooting them off. This year's fourth was nice in a sense of how great the weather could have been. No rain, no humidity and very little wind. Wow, I can't remember the last time this holiday was like this, but hey I'll take anything I can get. I still have been enjoying the car since I got it, but I have to vent even more when I read an article this evening. As you know my car is a gas saver however it might get a sticker if I were living in California. There is bill in the California legislature where if it passes....your vehicle will have a sticker of whether it's a pollutant or not. I am not kidding .....so for my elantra it would be environmentally friendly. However, an SUV or a truck would get one of those bad stickers. What are we back in first grade? Hey, here's an idea let's put stickers on politicians who write these laws as if were giving them labels....Here's an example I'm a politician who raises taxes, or I'm liar, I'm a cheat or my personal favorite I will do anything just to get elected.

Signed
Tim " I can't even enjoy the holiday" Crippen

I just had to get this off my chest.

I need to stop watching the liberal news .......otherwise I'm going to just explode. Just the other day I was watching the news and they had a story about how the environment is so bad bacause of global warming that it is now part of national security as matter of govermental concern. What? National Security? Global Warming a threat? Yeah, and the world is going to end in 2012....yada yada....I've heard it all before. These envrinoment geeks need to get a @#$%ing life.....it's people like this that have made gas prices as high as they are. Then if that story wasn't enough......I saw story how a muslim was imprison because he was consipiring to kill American troops in Afghanistan. Him and his partner were planning to kill them after an American sniper shot holes in The Koran. What got me mad was this partner of his wants to be release because his parents are old and that he needs to take care of them. That may be true, but I guarntee you by the time he gets out he'll still hate America and he'll still want to be a part of a suicide bombing. Then he sheds a tear for the reporter of how he was such a bad person.....Give me a break.....I thought I was watching an Oprah Winfrey moment and all of us were just saying can't we just get along. After seeing that story......I decided to take a walk and I felt better about myself.

Signed
Tim "enjoying the freedom's that make America great" Crippen

Car shopping is a nightmare, but it can be fun too.

You know that old Rolling Stones song lyric that goes "you can't always get what you want, but sometimes you get what you need." Well in this case I was able to get both. The process kind of started back in March when I was at the K.C. Auto show. There is a picture on my blog of me inside a 2008 Apple Red Hyundai Elantra. I remember thinking to myself at that time....this looks like a nice car. Well, I did my research looking at Edmunds.com and Consumer Reports on everthing on cars from gas mileage, reliability and what I can afford. I came up with a top 5 list but narrow it down to three. My three choices was the Hyundai Elatra at number one, number two Nissan Altima and number three the Mitsubishi Galant. As the car shopping began June 12th we look at KCK dealership and a private seller. No luck on day one. Day two drove around to six dealerships. One of them in Blue Springs.....I thought I might have a shot at a 2002 Nissan Altima that drove like a dream. The dealer wanted over 10,000 for it .....so I left striking out again. Then earlier this week I saw an ad on craiglslist for a 2003 Toyota Camry for 2950 and had only 44k miles on it. However, I was a little suspicious about the seller since he was living in London, England.......I don't know if it was a scam, but I 'm probably glad that I didn't get the car .

Then on thurday I saw and ad on cars. com and it had one of my cars on my top three list. It was a blueish green and 2002. There was a 127 thousand miles on it and it was in really good condition from the inside and out. I got the car for 3,550 and I thought I got a pretty good deal for the price. No more paying for 80 dollars or more on gas. No more fixing on radiators, fuel pumps or anything else that needs working on. It feels good that I have vehicle that has a radio that works .....oh did I mention it has a CD player too.....Am I excited....well if this post doesn't tell ya....then nothing will.

I should give my truck a little bit of credit it lasted me for over six years. Sure, the finish was peeling off, but that gave it some character. It has gone on some great trips like to OKC to see Billy Graham preach one of his last sermons. It has also gone throughout the entire state of New Mexico. So goodbye old truck we had good memories, but the gas prices at the pump put the death nail in you. So, what I did I trade in for my truck?

A 2002 Hyundai Elantra....Yeeesssssss!!!!

Signed

Tim "thanking god for helping me find this car" Crippen

A Royals legend helps out

You know with players making multi-million dollars and their arrogance shows on the field maybe somebody ought to take a page from former Kansas City Royal Willie Wilson. Last night, I went to see the Willie Wilson classic at Community America Ballpark to benefit The Children's Miracle Network. Sure, their were great former all stars from the MLB like Joe Carter, Lee Smith, Dave "smoke" Stewart and the great Ferguson Jenkins. Then you had the grand slam by Joe Carter in the game. The weather was pretty nice to enjoy a hot dog or two. However, the highlight of the moment came before the game. A 10 year old who had just beaten cancer was going to sing the national anthem. As she sang her heart out she tried to hit those high notes and her voice started to crack. She started to cry, but who was there put his arm around her shoulder. Willie Wilson and he even helped out singing the song with the little girl along with the rest of the crowd at the game. I must admit I was just a bit choked up just like everybody else at the game who felt sorry for the little girl, but she kept on going on and didn't stop. You know sometimes in life we just need that encouragement to keep on going with our lives even if at times we just want to stop.

Signed
Tim "Willie Wilson was class act" Crippen

Memorial Day Weekend wrap up

Okay, this past weekend was a little bit of good and bad. The bad was surprisingly was the barbecue and I'm talking about the Great American Barbecue at the Woodlands. I went with my cousin to hopefully sample all the sauces. Unfortunately, I pulled a Homer Simpson when I found out that sampling sauces only lasted between 10 AM and 4 PM. DOHHH! So, for me this really stunk......I basically pay ten dollars for nothing and I pay extra for the barbecue food that I did eat.....Unbelieveable......oh well you win some and lose some.

Although, going up to Omaha made up for the barbecue. I stayed at the Courtyard by Marriott in downtown Omaha. Name my price on priceline and got it for 60 dollars a night. Normally the place goes for 139 dollars a night. The Lewis and Clark landing (aka the riverwalk) was okay it's not quite San antonio, but it's better that K.C. which has nothing. Here's just a sample photo of the riverwalk.

The Old market was pretty nice.....if you want Italian food. They had so many selections it was hard to choose. Went to the Spaghetti Works resteraunt and had noodles with red and pesto cream sauce combine....yummy. The Old Historic market is a mix between bricktown in Oklahoma city and Old town in Wichita. Nice place for lunch and dinner. I hadn't been to Omaha in so many years, but if you need to go to a place for a weekend with gas prices being so high. I would highly recommend it. Definitely one place everybody should stop is the Henry Doorly Zoo in Omaha. As memorial day came and went.....I did take some time to think about for those who gave their lives who have give us this freedom. So, when enjoy your day off from work or have that barbecue get together with family and friends. Just remember that someone took it in the gut for you to enjoy that freedom.

signed

Tim Crippen

The Nielsen Diary

You know with technology as it is nowadays you would think there would be any easier way to doing TV ratings. Yet for over 50 years as well as the present we as TV consumers still have to write in this little thing we called the Nielsen TV ratings diary.....I was fortunate or unfortunate depending upon how you look at it to be selected to write on what I watch on TV. Well at least this beats being selected for jury duty.





This diary gives you the day and time all you have to do is write in it what you watch on TV whether it would be your favorite program or movie. Just give the channel no. and the station. In fact, I'll even share with you what I watch on Thursday Night.

The reason they do this is to find out what programs are people watching and where should advertisers spend their money. And yes, I did watch the original superman movie.

Signed,

Tim "Happy Mother's Day" Crippen

WTF file

Okay, for those who know me pretty well......I tend to get a bit cynical maybe angry when it comes to two things. When environmentalists claim that there is global warming and the other is when people want to go outside the scriptures to find falsehood in the life and times of Jesus Christ.
This post happens to be in the latter category. The latest of films is a documentary by Bruce Burgess entitled "Bloodline". In this film Bruce explores the possibility of Mary Magdalene and possibility of Jesus went to southern france after the crucifixion and that they may have had kids and blah, blah, blah. Too many if's in this movie if you ask me. The last portion of this film shows one of Burgess friend that goes to the tomb of the women in a shroud. Then collects a hair sample and the only thing they know is that the woman is Middle eastern decent. Thinking that this might be Mary Magdalene.
The filmaker himself doesn't trust the people who are leading this treasure hunt. I on the other hand don't trust the filmaker because this is the same guy who did films on The Bermuda Triangle, Area 51 and that Bigfoot lives in Oklahoma. Give me a break.
Filmakers know where the truth is located at it's in the Bible, but I think some people just want to tend to ignore it. Look, if you really want to watch a film where science and religion collide and that is eye opening. Go see the movie "Expelled: No intelligent design allowed. I would rather pay my money for something more truthful than something they can't even prove.

Signed
Tim " what is this world coming too" Crippen

Remeber when?

If you ever go to Cracker Barrel, Bob evans or any these little country stores. There is always a rack of these little booklets called Remember when...? and in the corner is the certain year. So, being the curious human being that I am I decided to look into my favorite year 1985. I was looking back into it and some things you remember others you want to tend to forget. New Coke was introduced and we all know what happen to that marketing blunder. Gorbachev becomes the Russian president....still don't know if that blotch on his forehead was fake or not. The U.S. owed more money to foreigners than it was owed.....not much has changed there. TWA flight 847 was hijacked, and the rainbow warrior was sunk. If you don't know the story of the rainbow warrior look it up... let's just say the French are involved.

The price of gasoline was 89 cents a gallon, the price of stamp was 20 cents and unemployment was around 7.2 %.....Let's see gasoline is up, the price of the stamp is doubled and unemployment is not too far off from 1985. Not much has changed.

Popular songs at the time were We are the world a benifit concert for famine for African nations. What's love got to do with it by tina Turner and Amadeus was named best picture of the year. The royals won the world series, dabears won the superbowl and the cosby show was the number one television show in the country. There is more about these remeber when booklets but you can pick out your own year recollect your own memories.

Signed
Tim "ready to go to bed" Crippen

Funny baseball promotion

I had read this in KC star this morning and thought it was joke, but it's an actual promotion from the KC T-bones baseball team.
When you’re an independent, minor-league baseball team, you bank heavily on crazy promotions for big crowds.
And the T-Bones likely will score big with their Michael Vick “Welcome to the Neighborhood” promotion scheduled for May 28.
Vick, as you know, is serving a 23-month sentence at the U.S. Penitentiary in nearby Leavenworth after pleading guilty to charges related to a dogfighting ring.
The T-Bones assure us they are not making light of Vick’s crime. In fact, part of the promotion will include an auction of game uniforms to benefit local animal shelters. And there will be animal-shelter pets outside the stadium to be viewed for potential adoption.
But the T-Bones certainly are going to have some fun regarding Vick’s circumstances. For example, those uniforms to be auctioned off? They will include the T-Bones’ game jerseys from that night, which will be the old-style, black-and-white prison stripes. The visiting team, the Gary Southshore RailCats, will wear the orange jumpsuit tops.
“They couldn’t wear the whole jumpsuit,” said T-Bones promotions director Colin Aldrich, “because that would restrict movement.”
The night also will include spotlights and escapee sirens.
“People in Wyandotte County might think they’re hearing tornado sirens,” Aldrich said.
Players will be encouraged to act along and at least enter the field in shackles. Naturally, “Who Let the Dogs Out” will blare from the stadium speakers.
By the way, there were a few more ideas for the night that didn’t quite work out. One was lining the inside of the stadium with barbed wire to resemble a prison yard. Another was to have the players enter the field in a paddy wagon. There was also talk of having some attack dogs rip apart a dummy with a Vick jersey on it.
“Ultimately it became an issue of player and public safety,” Aldrich said, “so some of the ideas had to go.”

Signed
Tim "laughing at this promotion" Crippen

judge for yourself

Is that a naked lady glaring off Vice President's Cheney's sunglasses? you be the judge

Leatherheads & Beating Roy

I will admit that when I go see a movie of a certain type of genre I hope that it lives to certain standard or gets real close. So, when I heard that Leatherheads was a screwball comedy my standard for that type of film is "O' Brother where art Thou." Well, with two oscar winners in it George Clooney and Renee Zellwegger along with the dude from "the office" John K. it gets it within the ballpark or at least the football stadium since this is a football film. It starts in the mid 1920's when college football was in it's hay days and pro football was just getting started. John K character "the bullet" is the top of his college game at Princeton University. Dodge Connelly's (Clooney) team the Duluth Bulldogs along with some of the other teams has folded up and is trying to get the bullet to play for the team. Lexie littleton (Zellwegger) is a Chicago Tribune reporter trying know the story of "the bullet" on how he is a war hero or so it seems. Both Dodge Connelly and "the bullet" our trying to buy the love affection of Lexie.

The beginning of this film is great.....I thought I was listening to music from the movie "The sting" with a lot of piano playing. This was a pretty good football film a step up from "Invincible" which I didn't think was great. With Rick Riley being one of the executive producers of the film....I knew I was going to laugh. There are some interesting cameo's in the film. Look for Randy Newman (another oscar winner) who provides the music for the film as the piano player at the bar. Along with Max Cassella who plays a Lt. in the army. for those who don't know who Max Cassella is he's the one who played Doogie Howser's friend Vinny. Out of four star rating I would give it two and half.

Now, last night I was glad I wasn't on Massachusetts Street in Lawrence, KS as the Jayhawks won to play on to the national championship against Memphis. You know win or lose tomorrrow night. This will be great season for this team, but last night beating Roy williams just made my day.....hahahahahahaha! You can hear the evil laughter from Leavenworth ....hahahahaha.....take that Roy. Enjoy the championship game everybody.

Signed
Tim "I feel like I'm on cloud nine" Crippen

PS: I was sad to hear this morning that Charlton Hesston died......we will miss you Moses.

My apology to KU Fans

Well, this wouldn't be the first time.....I would be wrong on this blog, but I'll keep my word. KU fans...I deeply apologize for not picking your team to the Final Four. I thought they would choke in the regional final.....and they almost did if the Davidson player had made that three point shot. You would be coming home tonight. So, two of my final four picks made it. I'll say Good Luck to you guys in San Antonio in the Final Four. Oh; and one more thing, please beat Roy Williams team for me this Saturday Night.

Today, I also got to try out a new restaurant called Granny's Chicken Ranch right behind Famous Dave's at the Legends. The atmosphere was pretty good if you didn't have the bar it would have been better. Some of the table and chairs were made of cherry oak. It's a family restaurant where everybody pitches in from the owner to the son who is waiter, cousin, mom and few others to make this place unique. I started with a nice house salad along with house vinaigrette which was probably the best thing on the menu. I ordered a chicken fried steak along with some mashed potatoes with the skins on along with some green beans. Every dinner came with a basket of a cinnamon roll and a made from scratch biscuit w/ some whipped honey butter. This place is pretty good if you want to splurge a little. I would definitely come back, but next time I would order something different. I highly recommend a house salad with the house vinaigrette. The cinnamon rolls and biscuits are unlimited as well as side items that came with your dinner. Out of my five star rating....I would give it three out five stars.

Signed,
Tim "I'm full" Crippen

Easter Potpurri

Well, I hope everyone had a great easter......I don't have one particular subject to talk about today so this post is going to a mix bag today.
Let's first talk about politics.....and no I'm not going to talk about the presidential election, I'm more shocked about these politicians and for some reason their getting caught in these sex scandals rings. Whatever happen to being faithful to your wife? We already know about former governor Elliot Spitzer and now we have the latest with the mayor of Detroit. For goodness sake these politicians are definitely getting what they deserve when they use taxpayers money for things like this. Speaking of spitzer...I heard that the woman he was seeing gave him a nickname called client #9. Client #9? You were the former governor of New York who were the other eight guys ahead of you? Okay, I will go to something more interesting.

Have you ever wanted to know what it was like to be a star? Well, now you can a company in Austin, TX will make you star even if it's just for a day. This company will hire a paparazzi, a bodyguard, get you a limo and can put your picture of your night in the town on a fake cover of a magazine. Packages for being a star for a day range from 250-1500. This is pretty good if you want to give people on street a good laugh or a stare. However, if I wanted to hire camera guys just find some friends and relatives with good cameras.

This is probably my favorite story this weekend.....We all have at one time or another ate those little yellow chicks or pink bunnies known as peeps. Well now there is a website for these marshmallow animals called www.peepsshow.com. This site we'll give you the history of the peeps but check out the photo gallery of what art the peeps can make. If that's not enough there is even a website for you lord of the rings fan called www.lordofthepeeps.com The picture of gandalf as peep is pretty cool.

Signed
Tim "loving spring" Crippen

March Maddness II

I've already done March madness one...if you don't know look on March 2007 and it should be there. Picking these games is like trying to pick stocks on the NYSE. You look for winners but most of the time my brackets go usually bust. So, this year I promise myself I'm not going to put KU in the Final four this year. I've been burned by this team in the past and they never seemed to deliver. Chances are that if I don't pick them they'll probably go to the Final Four. Anyway, after studying my brackets along with drinking irish coffee and eating some green cookies, cupcakes and almost anything else that looked green at work. It's time make my annual picks. My Final Four this year is UCLA, Tennessee, Memphis, and Georgetown. Sorry KU fans but I can't go with you two years in row. If they do get to the Final four ....I will greatly apologize on this blog. I do have dark horse for the tournament look out for Michigan St. in the tournament. Oh, could somebody explain to me also why they call it March Maddness. I mean this term could refer to severe weather or people's rage on the road. I also wonder why does it have to be march. Let's have August Maddness....this term would refer to people who are sick of the extreme warm temperatures or the crazyness of parents trying to get their kids enrolled in school. Just a thought.

Signed
Tim "Happy St. Pat's Day" Crippen

The K.C. auto show

This was my first time ever going to the auto show here in town.......I was mostly there to check out cars of what I might want to trade in for my Dodge Ram 1500 pickup truck. This vehicle above is an Hyundai Elantra.....in which I was impress.....good gas mileage and plenty of headroom and definitely one of the vehicles.....I would be interested in trading. This auto show is about eight football fields wide and had every car maker there to answer your questions. They did have some classic cars out there.

Like this Ford 2003 T-bird with a classic look

or this jeep...(I know it's cheesy doing the pointing thing, but this is my blog.)

I was also there to see some of the new concept cars like the smart car which was built by Mercedes, but is tiny and gets great gas mileage or the new car called the Zenn which runs on electric, but is not used for highway purposes. Even having my dad along for the ride was great and he seemed to have a pretty good time. So, I leave you with other pic's from the auto show.

Signed

Tim "the auto show was cool" Crippen

A Sunflower journey

When driving in Kansas; especially western kansas, you'll find the some unique places. one of those places is Mullinville. There has been a man there in town who has created many of these political and unusual wind mill signs that are along the highway in the town. Now, I don't know what his political views are but I think I know what he thinks of Hillary Clinton.

And what he thinks of our Health Care Plan

But before I went into this unique town.......I stop by Greensburg, Kansas. Before May 04, 2007 most people who have heard of greensburg, kansas only knew it as the place where the world's largest hand dug well........now it's more known for a F5 tornado that nearly wiped and entire town,

When I went see it.....I was just amazed of how there was very little left of the trees there....the schools held their classes in mobile trailer units. There was nothing left of the downtown area. Even the gift shop where the hand dug well is located was very little more than a garage shed. I would say that it's going to take about two or three years before Greensburg gets back to normal.

However, the main reason for traveling was for my grandmother's funeral. It was nice to see a lot of my cousins. Most of them were there and it was nice to catch up. Here's a nice picture of all of us cousins.

In fact one of our cousins Johnny Schneider along with his wife Shyla just had a baby boy.....way to go Johnny...the schneider name continues on. Pastor Charles West was one of the preachers at my grandmother's funeral...For those who have been at Shawnee church of the nazarene for awhile......he was the pastor there. Here we stand together as we laugh at a joke.

As for the place that we stayed at...Wow! My grandparents former next door neighbors Charlie and Jimmie Owings just opened their home for us. There were the nicest host you could ever want....the house was about 6000 square foot. Even their dog Maui...the german shepherd even greeted us.

My grandmother was a person who loved to take pictures...even if they were little crooked. Although, if their was one word to describe her it was patience. I happen to see this saying on the church bathroom wall that really describe my grandmother.

"Patience with others is called love, patience with self is called hope and patience with God is called faith." We will miss you grandma from the Schneider, Crippen and Hale families.

Signed

Tim Crippen

Knight Rider Returns

Twenty five years ago.....A man name Michael Knight and a black trans-am came into our living room fighting for truth and justice. That show was Knight Rider and it made David hasslehoff a star. Now, twenty five years later there is Knight Rider movie on TV even as I type this post. At the time when the original show came on seeing talking cars was unheard of.....now, their starting to become standard options for certain cars.
I was a huge fan of the original series......however, this new movie is not living up to the hype. Luckily, it's just a TV movie event, but there is talk about bringing back the TV series next fall. The new movie starts off on who built KITT and that this private security firm is trying to get the hard drive from it's creator. KITT's creator has a daughter who knows about the hard drive sytstem. She as well as Mike Truac (a former army ranger) are the only people he can trust. Mike Truac estranged father is surprise, surprise...Michael Knight (Hasslehoff).
Seeing Hasslehoff was cool......some of the features for KITT were cool liking him morphing into different colors, but I do have some gripes.
First off, bring back the Trans-Am .......to see a Ford shelby GT Mustang is totally not cool. Then KITT's voice....Val Kilmer ......Iceman from Top Gun? Are you kidding me....bring back William Daniels the original voice or if you want to bring a new voice put in Liam Nisson or Sean Connery to add some humor to the show......Could you imagine Sean Connery saying Hello, Mike in a Scottish accent.
Anyway, I hope they don't bring it back to the TV as series, but then again they brought back American Gladiators and it became a hit. I guess what is old is now new again.

Signed
Tim "Knight Rider rules" Crippen

The Doctor will see you now

It seems like every time this year I tend to get sick of something like flu or fever or something else. This year what I have is something not cureable by pill or by medicine. A doctor can help me with my illness, but only time can heal my disease situation it is called heartache. About every other year during Valentine's Day millions of men and women suffer from this tragic disease in which singles have hard time trying to get together. I would normally go see my regular doctor this weekend to get some help, but he is out town this weekend. So, to help my alleviate the symptons......I went the only doctor that was available this weekend. Sure, it was female doctor but she seemed to listen and understand my pain. You can kind of say she's a pioneer ahead of her times even if was just for a moment. Now, normally I don't go see female doctors, but a friend had recommend me her and I thought I would give a shot. What was the name of this female doctor?








I went to see Dr. Quinn Medicine Woman

Aka Jane Seymour

(What? Did you think I was really seeing a real doctor)

Other picture Jane Seymour

Signed

Tim "Happy Valentine's Day " Crippen

The good, the bad, and the ugly

When thinking about a title for this post....for some odd reason the old clint eastwood western movie fits perfectly to describe some of the SuperBowl commerical ads.

First the Good:
Shaquille O'Neal riding a horse and he thinks he's a jockey for Life Water drink.....the best part of this ad the photo finish with the cheesy grin.
Budweiser: rocky music as the dalmation trains a horse
bud light: Breathing Fire
Garmin: Napolean needs a GPS system to find his place of battle ......a much better job from Garmin than last years.
Go Daddy.com: woman hated it, men loved it.....However, FOX did not show the rejected commercial that only airs only on Go daddy's website. Let's just say Danica patrick is hot in the rejected one, but I think the ad was mostly pulled off more for it's tongue and cheek.
But my personal favorite was the Coke commerical with the ballons of Underdog and Stewie from the family guy. their both fighting for the coke and neithier one gets it.........It went to of all people get it was our goood friend Charlie Brown.....nice touch for coke......sometimes I feel like charlie brown and for him to get his justice was great.


The Bad:
The Audi commercial that did a spoof of the scene from the Godfather. I know what they were trying to portray but, it really didn't come through for me.


The Ugly:
Careerbuilder commercial with the Lady's heart jumps out of her bosom and then the heart climbs up to her boss' desk and holds a sign that says I quit. ugh......i'm surprise the lady died..
what a horrible commercial.


signed
tim "go giants" crippen

Social Suppers, the bucket list and a giants fan goes extreme.

It's nice every once in awhile to try out some new adventures and this weekend was no exception. For the first time, I decide to go to social suppers here in Leavenworth and get ingredients to make some meals. If you've never done this I would highly recommend it. Whether it be for parties or just a couples night out....this a place where you can have some fun.

I would like to say thanks to my sister in law Crystal and my brother for getting me a coupon book for Christmas in which I used a coupon for this place. I would like to say thanks also to Terri, Sandy and the rest of the crew at the Leavenworth social suppers who treated me with the utmost respect. I like this place because whether your a season veteran at cooking or just a beginner this place can make cooking fun. The menu is never the same cause it changes every month. I mean one month your having firehouse chilli and the next month you could be having grilled rasberry chicken.

So, today I put on apron (and yes I am wearing and apron) and started making ingredients for Honey garlic pork chops, citrus tarragon chicken and for a dessert since it was free with the coupon Cranberry Apple crisp.

I did buy one meal that was already made that was in the freezer. It was a maple mustard glazed pork roast in which I brought home and started cooking. All I can say is the taste was just impeccable. I especially loved that the fact the carrots were included in the dish which made it even better. The cranberry apple crisp was just as good. To think that you with a little bit help you can make something from ordinary to extraordinary.

Here's picture of the maple mustard glazed pork roast before I dig into it.

If your ever interested in getting your hands in the kitchen, go to http://www.socialsuppers.com/. Where you can find this month's menu and for the nearest store location. Wow, what an awesome place.

The bucket list......I have to say I really like this movie. It's grumpy old men meets the great outdoors. I laughed, I cried and there are some sad moments. Anyway, Morgan Freeman and Jack Nicholson are two cancer patients who only have few months to live after both were admitted to the same room for cancer. Freeman's character writes a bucket list of things he wants to do before he kicks the bucket. Edward Cole (Nicholson) is a multi-millionaire who gives Freeman's character as well as himself and chance to live life to the fullest. There is one scene where Freeman and Nicholson are laughing so hard they both cry. It's when Freeman tells Edward Cole where the orgins of where his favorite drink comes from.......I must admit I was laughing at scene just as the two actors. Three out of four stars for me.

Okay, as we know next weekend is the SuperBowl between the New York Giants and the New England Patriots. The parties, the food, the commercials and of course the game are all well in good. This story however I wasn't laughing about. The man who played Vito on the Sopranos show how much of a Giants fan he is.....There is extreme and there is really extreme. I don't know maybe it's just me but would you do this to your dog to show how loyal to your team.....I let the picture speak for itself.

Signed

Tim "still eating my cranberry apple crisp" Crippen

This made me laugh

I was raeding article on CNN's website on wether or not late night comedy shows are funny again since returning on the air. Well, a couple of people sent their so called top ten list and it made me laugh.
Pat Ames of Mishawaka, Indiana
Top 10 things I've done while the writers are on strike:
10. I've watched about 10 percent of the DVDs I've bought during the last 18 months and hadn't gotten around to.9. I scored over 600,000 on Chuzzle.8. I can recite all of the dialogue in every CSI episode (reruns on Spike).7. I laundered two months' worth of underwear and socks.6. I went to a restaurant, twice, at 8 p.m. instead of 5 p.m.5. I wrote a screenplay.4. I play with the cats.3. I read two novels.2. I got halfway through a year's worth of Newsweek magazines.1. I don't have to stay up until 10 p.m. on Tuesdays to watch House.

Chris Ritsch of Baltimore, MarylandReasons why the U.S. population doesn't care about the writers' Strike:
8. America is too busy losing mortgage payments playing online poker.7. Isn't there some kind of election going on somewhere?6. Because after three years, no one cares why the hell they are on that island in the first place.5. One word: Britney.4. The Internet porn writers are NOT on strike.3. Most Americans can't afford health care, let alone cable TV.2. Local libraries are running a "borrow one, get one free" special this month.1. The Weather Channel rarely shows repeats.

Signed
Tim "still laughing" crippen

Pix from ice skating

After suffering from some bumps and bruises and falling on my keister once......okay twice, I

leave you these lovely pixs.