Is this possible? Has hell frozen over? Favre to Vikings?

A sports radio station out of Milwaukee, WSSP, is reporting on its website that the Vikings “already have inquired about signing [Brett] Favre, pending his release from the Packers.” (Technically, the Vikings would have had to call the Packers because Favre is under contract to the team.)

While Minnesota certainly could have interest in Favre the problem is that there is no indication the Packers are going to grant Favre his wish and release him. That means the only option for Favre to get to the Vikings would be via a trade and Packers General Manager Ted Thompson isn’t about to deal the future Hall of Fame quarterback to an arch-rival in the same division.

All of that being said, there are a couple reasons why Favre might want to end up in Minnesota. He remains very close to Vikings offensive coordinator Darrell Bevell, who served as his quarterbacks coach at one point in Green Bay. Favre also would be stepping into a version of the West Coast offense that is very similar to what the Packers ran under former coach Mike Sherman.

This means if the Vikings could get Favre — and, to repeat, that appears to be a huge long shot — they could plug him into the offense very quickly and the fact he missed all of the offseason workouts wouldn’t be that big of deal.

 

My first home away from home.

As I was sitting here in my room the other day, I couldn’t help think about our very first apartment when I first left the nest at the ripe old age of eighteen.  Maybe it has to do with the fact my living area is still fairly sparse, and, well, so was our first apartment.  It was a very small 375 square foot efficiency apartment, at the time it really didn’t seem that bad, but thinking back, it was no bigger than a large walk-in closet.  There were four of us living in this mousetrap, the bed was directly behind the couch, the kitchen sink was a few feet from the bed, and your knees overlapped into the toilet when you used the privy.  But it was cheap, and it was home.  I remember when we had a few guests over, there would be people sleeping on nearly every square inch of floor space, and that’s only a hand full of people mind you.  We had a TV from the 70’s, the VCR was state of the art at the time, and coming from a small town, I had never heard of these strange things called “Dollar Stores”, boy what a godsend those were when your just starting out.  If we would have had garage sale with everything we had in that apartment, including the furniture, we would have made a grand total of about nine bucks, Oh, the glory days.  If I remember correctly, the rent was $375 or so, and split a few ways was almost like living for free, but it felt like allot then, and it was.  I found these old photos in a shoebox, yea, just about how I remember it.

 

Alarm clock from hell?

I came across this very interesting idea for an alarm clock.  If this wouldn’t get you out of bed, not sure what would.  When the alarm goes off, you have three minutes to get your butt up, If you don’t turn it off, this little monster will randomly dial numbers programmed in your mobile phone every few minutes. Who comes up with this stuff?  I must admit, I love the idea!

http://crave.cnet.com/8301-1_105-9983699-1.html

 

My Son! First day with no training wheels

My Son! First day with no training wheels, originally uploaded by Chris Donley.

My son Devin begged me for a week to take the training wheels off his bicycle. As a parent I was hesitant, didn’t want the little guy to get hurt. But we finally got them off, and I told him “be prepared to bleed a little at first”, and he did, but he took it like a trooper. I helped him out for around an hour or so, and he got the hang of it pretty quick, now I can’t keep him off the darn thing. He’s cruising around like a little Lance Armstrong. I’m proud of ya champ!

 

Someday, I will do this!

Up, up and away in lawn chair hoisted by 150 helium balloons — Oregon man heads to Idaho

Riding
a lawn chair supported by 150 helium-filled party balloons, Kent Couch
is trying to fly from central Oregon to Idaho.

BEND, Ore. – Riding a green lawn chair supported by a rainbow array
of more than 150 helium-filled party balloons, Kent Couch took off
Saturday in a third bid to fly from central Oregon all the way to Idaho.

Couch kissed his wife and kids goodbye, and patted their shivering
Chihuahua, Isabella, before his ground crew gave him a push so he could
clear surrounding light poles and a coffee cart.

Then, clutching a big mug of coffee, Couch rose out of the parking
lot of his gas station into the bright blue morning sky, cheered by a
crowd of spectators.

“If I had the time and money and people, I’d do this every weekend,”
Couch said before getting into the chair. “Things just look different
from up there. You’ve moving so slowly. The best thing is the peace,
the serenity.

“You can hear a dog bark at 15,000 feet.”

“He’s crazy,” said his wife, Susan. “It’s never been a dull moment since I married him.”

Couch hoped to ride the prevailing wind to the area of McCall, Idaho, about 230 miles east. He travels at about 20 mph.

Each balloon gives four pounds of lift. The chair was about 400 pounds, and Couch and his parachute 200 more.

“I’d go to 30,000 feet if I didn’t shoot a balloon down periodically,” Couch said.

For that job he carried a Red Ryder BB gun and a blow gun equipped
with steel darts. He also had a pole with a hook for pulling in
balloons, Global Positioning System tracking devices, an altimeter and
a satellite phone.

It was his third flight. In 2006, he had to parachute out after
popping too many balloons. And last year he flew 193 miles to the
sagebrush of northeastern Oregon, short of his goal.

“I’m not stopping till I get out of state,” he said.

Couch had to dump some of the 45 gallons of cherry Kool-Aid he
carried as ballast before he was able to disappear into the distance.
“We wanted some color, and it kind of reminded me of kid days,” he said
of the ballast.

Associated Press

 

Grilling a luxory this holiday weekend?

Grilling was made for these times.

Actually, it was made for all times, but particularly for those with economic struggles. Cooking with fire goes back to the days of the woolly mammoth, but during more recent millennia, the most prevalent meats for grilling were the cheaper ones — the very kind many of us are turning to as food prices soar at a much hotter rate than our incomes.

“Barbecue was originally designed for the disenfranchised,” said Steven Raichlen, author of the recently updated “The Barbecue! Bible” (now in its 10th year). “The ribs and the briskets weren’t going to the masters.”

True, except that these days, once-inexpensive cuts — pork ribs, flank or skirt steak and even the once-lowly Cornish game hen (which a friend invariably calls “game-ish corn hen”) — cost several times as much as they did a decade or so ago.

But there remain plenty of ways to combine frugality, fire and flavor this summer, when vacations-at-home — and entertaining there — have become so prevalent. And just like in the old, cheaper days (not so long ago), the items best suited for grilling are the cheaper cuts.

Take ground beef. The extra-lean stuff is great for concocting some hockey pucks, while the fattier meat, whose grease adds sizzle and smoke to the process, produces spot-on burgers if cooked correctly (and to at least 160 degrees).

Same goes for fowl. Chicken breasts are notoriously ill-suited for grilling: Boneless ones get tough with just a few seconds too much — or too little — cooking, while the bone-in ones have such an odd shape that only a real pro can cook them perfectly throughout. Meanwhile, the more reasonably priced dark meat is a grillmeister’s pal, not to mention a continuation of America’s dubious preferences.

“The great irony is that we send most of the dark meat from our birds to Asia,” said Raichlen. “I love those cuts. I’m a big believer in the fact that any meat that’s next to the bone is inherently more flavorful.”

Star Tribune, Mpls MN

 

So Cool! I love creative Rube Goldberg machines, check this out!

http://www.collegehumor.com/video:1820683

 

McDonalds for your health, why not?

Associated Press

QUINTON, Va. – A Virginia man lost about 80 pounds in six months by eating nearly every meal at McDonald’s. Not Big Macs, french fries and chocolate shakes. Mostly salads, wraps and apple dippers without the caramel sauce.

Chris Coleson tipped the scales at 278 pounds in December. The 5-foot-8 Coleson now weighs 199 pounds and his waist size has dropped from 50 to 36.

The 42-year-old businessman from Quinton says he chose McDonald’s because it’s convenient.

His inspiration came from his two children and from the story of a blind war veteran who rode a tandem bicycle cross-country.

Coleson says his goal is to get back to the 185 pounds he weighed when he married Tricia Summer. Their 10th anniversary is Saturday.

 

Scooby, were are U?

A few people (just a few, you uncaring monsters) have emailed me wondering if I’m dead or something. Not dead. Working very hard, ignoring world. Further bulletins as progress warrants.

 

Great face Devin!

Great face Devin!, originally uploaded by Chris Donley.

So today I just kind of hung out with the kids, went to a movie (Horton see’s a Who!), stopped for dogs and ice cream, and spent a few hours at the park. I captured this great shot with my camera phone. Nothing better than seeing your kids smile.