Russell's Wild and Crazy Adventures

Yeah I know. I'm jumpin on the bandwagon and doing the trendy thing of starting a blog. I figure with all the pictures that I take whenever I do anything, this'd be cool.

8/04/2005

Hikes

The Incline, 1, 2 - Manitou Springs, CO - 1 mi. up, 3+ mi. down - v. difficult
Ormes Peak, pics - Woodland Park, CO - 3+ mi rdtrip, 500+ ft gain - hard
Pikes Peak via the Crags - Divide, CO - 11.3 mi rdtrip, 4100 ft gain - crazy

The Road to Vancouver 2010

Pete's curling 2/7
My beginning 2/10
Incline Weekend (2/17, 2/18, 2/20)
Pete's first incline 3/19
Sprained ankle 4/8

Restaurant Reviews

Colorado Springs, CO
Empire Asian Buffet (Chinese)
Giuseppe's Old Depot (Italian/American)
Manitou Pancake & Steak House (Breakfast)

DC/VA area
NanLa (Downtown Alexandria, Thai)

Seattle, WA
Salty's (Seafood)

My Girls

2/8/06 - Kelly Clarkson
2/20/06 - Tanith Belbin
3/20/06 - Rachel McAdams
4/15/06 - Lucy Liu

Mini-Baseball Stadium Tour

In May 2006, Dragon and I took a mini-baseball stadium tour after he finished his internship in csprings. SO AWESOME. Seriously, the games were incredible, but even better was the time we spent with friends and great people all along the way. What an experience. Thanks to everyone!

The plan
May 25: Departure, Iowa
May 26: Minneapolis
May 27: Chicago
May 28: Plane ride in Kokomo IN, Cincinnati & KLJ's house
May 29: Detroit
May 30: Goodbye Em-Eye, Pittsburgh
May 31: Baltimore
The End

8/03/2005

The Boy Game

History

Rules

The Boy listings (last updated: 10/18/05)

8/02/2005

Music Reviews

Concerts
11/23/05 - Rhett Miller - Joe's Pub - NYC
12/17/05 - Bob Schneider - Bluebird Theater - Denver
1/23/06 - Lifehouse - Paramount Theater - Denver
3/10/06 - Jamie Cullum - Ogden Theatre - Denver

Artists
12/25/05 - The Southland
2/14/06 - Micah P. Hinson

Rules of the Boy Game

Summary

You do not want to be boys with uncool people. If you happen to say the full name of someone famous that is uncool, and within 3 seconds, someone else says the phrase "Your boy!", you are forever associated with that uncool celebrity.

The object of the game is to avoid getting boys. For example, who would want to be boys with Bob Sagat?? Not me!!

To get avoid getting boys, you have to give that person a nickname in between their first and last name. The standard nickname is "timeout". To avoid being boys with Bob Sagat, you should say "Bob timeout Sagat". Any nickname is acceptable, but "timeout" is the generic one that is most common.


So who is boy-quality? Boys can be anybody mildly famous. Here are some examples:

  • Music artists: Ricky Martin, Enrique Iglesias, Josh Groban, pretty much any boy band member
  • TV personalities: Kirk Cameron, Louie Anderson, John Stamos, Evan Marriott (Joe Millionaire)
  • Sports figures: Orenthal James Simpson, Jose Canseco, Rafael Palmeiro
  • Historical/political figures: Newt Gingrich, Dan Quayle, Benedict Arnold, Saddam Hussein
  • Movie stars: Pauley Shore, Stephen Baldwin


  • Obviously, a lot of who is uncool depends on personal preference. As a Mets fan, Mike Piazza would not be a boy for me. However, for someone who hates the Mets (but who does?), Mike Piazza would be an excellent boy to give to them.

    The beauty of the game is setting people up to get boys. In other words, try and trick other people into saying someone's name that is uncool (see example at the end).


    Other rules (flexible and subject to change):

  • Once you get a boy, they are yours until the game resets (meaning, essentially forever).
  • Only one person can have a particular boy.
  • Nicknames don't count as someone's name. For example, OJ Simpson, Pee Wee Herman, Snoop Dogg are not real names. Someone would have to say Orenthal James Simpson, Paul Reubens, or Calvin Broades, if you were give them as boys. That's one of the challenges of it all.
  • Girls can't be boys. (Although there is a movement to change that.)
  • Professional sports figures don't count if they are active and in-season.



  • Setting someone up for a boy

    This is definitely the best part of the game. Getting someone to say the name of a person that they absolutely can't stand, and then seeing a priceless reaction when you say "your boy". Here's an example of how I got one of my boys in Hawaii. It was 5am and we were all sleepy, sitting on a bench waiting for a boat to take us out snorkeling.

    (Somebody made a Spaceballs reference)
    Jed: You know they're coming out with a new Spaceballs movie?
    Pete: Yeah I heard that.
    Jed: Who's going to play Barf? (the late John Candy's character)
    Pete: I dunno. Chris Farley?
    (some laughing)
    Jed: What about that fat guy who hosted Family Feud?
    Pete: Oh yeah...that guy with the annoying voice...
    Me: Louie Anderson?
    Pete & Jed: Your boy!

    The whole thing was an intricate set-up, and Pete and Jed were on the same page the entire time. Needless to say, I was pissed!

    Good luck!! Spread the Boy Game!!

    Book Reviews

    This section could be a real dud, but I'll give it a shot. I don't read many books and I'm pretty slow when I do, so entries will likely be few and far between. I usually go through phases, so maybe this will be a very literary period of my life. Who knows.

    The Historian by Elizabeth Kostova (2005)

    History of the Boy Game

    I was introduced to the Boy Game in January 2005 when my friend, Pete, and two of his friends met me in Hawaii for a little vaca. It didn't quite strike me when they first explained it, but after I got my first boy I was reeled in for sure. I was an easy target for those veteran players, getting two more boys before our week together was up.

    Apparently, the game originated at the University of Buffalo (NY), when one of their buds was talking to his girlfriend and somehow a boy band member's name came up. Somehow, that evolved into what we know now as the Boy Game.

    For pretty much everyone I've introduced it to, the game doesn't really sink in until they get their first. After that, they're hooked (and pissed). The game has been played by people all over the country, including parts of NYC, Colorado Springs, Los Angeles, and Virginia.

    8/01/2005

    Picture of the Week Archive

    Movie Reviews


    Action/Adventure
    Batman Begins (2005; Christian Bale, Katie Holmes, Cillian Murphy, Morgan Freeman)
    The Chronicles of Narnia (2005; Liam Neeson)
    Domino (2005; Keira Knightly, Mickey Rourke, Lucy Liu)
    Kill Bill, Vol. 1 (2003; Uma Thurman, Lucy Liu, Vivica A. Fox)
    Kill Bill, Vol. 2 (2004; Uma Thurman, David Carradine, Michael Madsen)
    Mr. & Mrs. Smith (2005; Angelina Jolie, Brad Pitt, Vince Vaughn)

    Comedy
    Anchorman (2004; Will Ferrell, Christina Applegate, Vince Vaughn, Steve Carell)
    Wedding Crashers (2005; Owen Wilson, Vince Vaughn, Rachel McAdams, Christopher Walken)

    Drama
    A History of Violence (2005; Viggo Mortensen, Maria Bello, Ed Harris)
    Good Night, and Good Luck. (2005; David Strathairn, George Clooney, Jeff Daniels)
    Lords of Dogtown (2005; Heath Ledger, Emile Hirsch)

    Sci-fi
    The Island (2005; Scarlett Johansson, Ewan McGregor)
    War of the Worlds (2005; Tom Cruise)

    Sports
    Glory Road (2005; Josh Lucas)
    The Self-Destruction of the Ultimate Warrior (2005)