November 12, 2008
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Been working more than usual, and Ruby’s fed up. That girl needs some attention, and I caught this disruption with my web cam as I was working away on my laptop.
October 4, 2008
September 6, 2008
Erin and I have been talking not so seriously about getting a Nintendo Wii. I’ll let you know if that ever happens.
But today, a couple of things have surfaced that got me thinking about my video game past. I haven’t played regularly for the past 8 years or so (since college), and so much has changed. But, prior to that, I spent a lot of time in front of the gaming console.
Today on The Ticket Sportsradio (1310 AM Dallas), Davey was talking about his Intellivision growing up. That was also my entre into the gaming circuit, circa 1982. My big sis would know – I think she drove this X-Mas present idea.
You can see two of our family favorites in this cluster: Snafu and Skiing. I particularly enjoyed some car racing. This was some pretty archaic stuff compared to games now.
Then I got into Nintendo. Like really into it. At my peak in the late 80’s, my elementary school friends and I would play constantly. One of my fondest memories of my dorkdom was competing in the Nintendo Championships in Dallas (I may have blogged about this before…), where I made it to the final seven only to crash my Rad Racer in front of what seemed like thousands of spectators in the auditorium. As I was surfing my Feedreader today, Tech Blog posted a video about the event which brought back memories. You have to check it out – click on the link below and scroll down the page to the video:
http://www.techeblog.com/index.php/tech-gadget/nintendo-world-championship
Then, in college I graduated into the Sega Genesis, mostly because of its awesome hockey game with the unstoppable Chicago Blackhawks and Jeremy Roenick, made famous by this clip from Swingers (be warned: colorful language included)
Later in college, PlayStation was where it was at. We had some mega late-night duels on EA College Football. Good times.
July 31, 2008
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(Texas Mike) Went to the driving range last night with Mike and Rich. I’ve been attempting to play a little more often to get somewhat decent. You probably know the driving range experience is usually no frills. Get a bucket of balls, find a driving mat, and start hitting. If you find some shade you feel pretty lucky.
Well, we decided to see what all the hype was about at Top Golf (www.topgolfusa.com). And it’s pretty cool. They combined the driving range experience with the fun of the bowling alley. Yes, you get a bucket. Yes, you swing the club. But it’s a competition between your friends. Each shot is scored by how accurately you hit those targets (see above). Each player has balls that are coded with your name and automatically tabulate with the computer. Pretty cool. Plus, there’s food and beer and music and mayhem. Not your usual driving range ambiance.
June 26, 2008
We babysat our niece Bree on Saturday. She’s about one and a half. Fed her too. When her mom Julie dropped her off she said (I think?) something about how Bree sometimes likes to use the utensils herself. We took that literally and just let her go for it. See below…
June 24, 2008
Hopefully you’ve been exposed to Dancing Matt before – I’m not sure how you could have missed his quirky viral videos showing his treks across the world over the past few years. This is his most recent video, and thanks to Stride Gum, he gets to keep on trekking. I’m jealous.
May 31, 2008
I need for you to vote for me so I can seal the deal. I know how many silent, noncommenting blog visitors we have, and I’m really really hoping you guys pull through for me.
Visit this site to cast your vote (super easy, no registration required):
April 13, 2008
I just love this time of year. Other than football season, April is a convergence of great competition and special events for many sports I love.
Like the Texas Ranger’s home opener – is there a better reason to ditch work for the afternoon? I’m not the biggest baseball fan, but opening day is an American institution. Mike invited me to his annual tailgate with a couple hundred friends. Beer, dogs, laughs and oh yeah, baseball.
Like the beginning of the hockey playoffs – there is no more intense sport or atmosphere during the playoffs. And my Stars actually look good this year. Lots of promise!
Like NBA basketball playoffs and the Dallas Mavericks. They made it by the skin of their teeth. May not be much happening with this team in May, so I’m going to enjoy it while it lasts.
Let’s see, there’s also The Masters, which finishes up today. The live coverage catches some choice comments from the golfers (close your ears kids) and the gallery (like a Tiger fan yelling “Butt” at a bad shot… strange).
Want more? Well, NASCAR also came through Texas Motor Speedway and The Byron Nelson Golf Tourney is in a couple of weeks. Good times.
April 6, 2008
It’s not just about knowing thyself these days. The information superhighway has put ridiculous (and sometimes relentless) amounts of information at society’s fingertips. Some of it you want known; some you don’t.
I was recently turned on to Google Alerts by Erin through our big idea friend, Jeff. It’s a Google search service that’s not unlike my most favorite feed reeder 2007. It automatically notifies you of activity based upon certain search terms. So naturally, I put a flag on my name, Erin’s name and my business, Ignite Partnership. (website coming soon!) That way when all the accolades and man-I-wish-I-was-him’s get posted in cyberspace, I’ll know. Knowledge is power, people.
Well, I’m not quite there yet. And I may never be, as I’m finding out the Michael and Mike (sorry Mom) Covert’s of the world are making some things happen.
Did you know, Michael Covert has:
Represented some serious health industry interests as a CEO in San Diego…
(Nice balance of venturing into Second Life, but not digging the honesty attack. Watch it Michael, you’ve got a name to protect here.)
Surely by now, even if you don’t alert yourself, you’ve Googled your name. What an adventure! Michael Covert has also:
Met the first family Prez. Bush (during a critical moment following 9/11…)
Directed some movies with Jennifer Tilly including Dirt – still waiting to hit it big. I know the feeling…
It’s important to define yourself on the internet, else someone will for you. So get cracking. My wife Erin and her online contributions are prime examples, keeping her actual adventures at the top of the search list. Doing good things for the Covert name.
Side note for this exercise: My friend Tim once had a great idea for a personalized gift: give someone a Google image T-shirt. Google someone’s name, download a corresponding image, and wah-lah, you have a great iron-on for a one-of-a-kind shirt. (Disclaimer: watch the trademark infringement!)
That was a few years ago. Now I might end up with this beauty referring to a Floridian and fellow Jesuit alumnus:
Go ahead, comment and insert your Covert T-shirt caption. But be careful what you say, I’m also an apparent motorcycle enthusiast from Shreveport and a sword fencing expert to boot.
October 5, 2007
weird shrooms, originally uploaded by espeedy123.
Michael and I recently returned from a few days in Napa Valley. We took a break from debating whether there was more gooseberry or redcurrant in various wines to follow a farm trail. We encountered some odd people along the way.
This stop was at an exotic mushroom farmer. I learned you don’t need a lot of space to grow these. This little hut was about 8 by 12 feet. There’s the farmer on the right explaining to a really interested lady about those oyster shrooms.
This was right before he pulled out a mushroom brick from the back of the shroomhouse. He stuck it up in my face and said if I touched one I might get pregnant. That’s about the time we moved on to the next farm.
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