Flying Solo, Together

Woo. April is here. Bring on the rain showers. Another fantastic week in the books, or I guess in the movies since I seem to watch way more movies than reading of books. Slow reading problems.

In case you missed it. Here are two videos I finished last Tuesday. One a little dancing with Rachel, Squid, & my cousins. The other a lax highlight.

Wednesday April 2nd I had a solid, early day of work, running some spring break camps that started at 7am. Later that evening I headed over to BenU and hoped on a bus with them and headed to Elmhurst for an away game under the lights. Filming the game went well, although entering the fourth quarter the heavens began to drizzle some rain drops down on us, luckily I brought an umbrella to protect my camera.  I am about halfway through the editing process, hopefully the highlight will be out by Thursday. 

After the game, which BenU pulled out, we headed to Chipotle for a team dinner, luckily for me, the camera man was included in this sweet deal. I picked up my usual, steak burrito, black beans, brown rice, corn salsa, mild salsa, a dash of sour cream & lettuce. Deliciousness, especially after having such a long day. But the greateness did not end there... When we were leaving, Chipotle gave us all free chips since they had about 100 extra bags and were just going to throw them out. So I picked up two free bags and ate on the way home & to Rachel's advice, saved the other one for the next day. I crawled into bed and turned on The Fast & the Furious, Paul Walker's finest film. Day over.

 

Thursday the 3rd of April was a busy day of editing videos, including the Trine BenU game seen above, a little chest camera action from a tournament in December, as well as the game I had filmed the previous night. I took a break about midday to go get my oil changed. I make it a habit to walk over to Disc Replay and browse for any movies I may need while I wait for my oil to be changed. I picked up Airplane & the original & only good Saw movie. You can see my entire movie collection by click here! For an afternoon snack, aka my lunch, I used my brilliant mind and created a full tray of nachos, using the Chipotle chips from last night. I topped them with some cheddar cheese, cut up some steak and layered it across the top and put it in the over at 420 degrees, nah only like 300. While this was cooking in the oven, I brewed up some mexican rice and completed my nachos by dumping the rice over the nachos. Mmm, I am quite the chef.

 

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Friday, the start to the weekend! I headed down to Chicago around 4pm. Once arrived, I met Rachel at the train and we walked over to the bar Benchmark for spinach artichoke dip & a couple of drinks. I had a strongbow cider, tasted like apple juice. Oh and I was also wearing black swishy pants, so fancy, but hey can't help my work attire. On our walk back to Rachel's place we stopped at a liquor store and picked up two bottles of wine, one being "Flying Solo". Funny thing about it is, as Rachel put it, we were "flying solo, together!" Once we got back we started to cook up dinner. We made a tasty talapia, another fish filled with cheese, asparagus, & rice dish, not too bad! I had picked up a redbox earlier that day, so we put on American Hustle. I thought the movie was pretty good, but lacked something to make it a great movie. Or I just need to watch it again to really appreciate it, I'm not sure!  We threw on a couple episodes of Workaholics, but somehow before the second one even ended, I was asleep on the couch to the right & Rachel was asleep on the couch we started on. Party animals!

On Saturday morning, I drove back to Lisle to film BenU play Augustana. I picked up some Jewel chicken on the way for lunch. It was a beautiful day out, so filming was much more enjoyable as I didn't freeze! I'll be editing the game this week and hopefully have it done by next week. I headed back to the city and arrived back at Rachel's, who was busy working out while I was gone! We watched a few episodes of Breaking Bad before her brothers came over. Then around 6:30 we headed to a local bar to grab some food, but Brian and Tori were going to be coming over around 7, so I left early and picked up some Jimmy Johns for dinner instead. Club Lulu #16, classic. All the friends came back shortly after, Rachel so kindly brought me 3/4 of the burger she did not eat, so I ate that too! Ahh how am I not super fat? Grant came over later as well and then we all played Cards Against Humanity. Had a drink called Old Brown Dog Ale & thought of Andy Mewbs and the real brown dog, as well as our trip to Georgia back in 2008 (pics below). 

Brian, Grant, & I stayed for a few more drinks while everyone else headed out. We then met them out a little later a bar down the street. Rachel & I took off for home, but of course, had to pick up some McDonalds that was conveniently on the way home. Here is how the order went:

Josh, "Yes, can we have 2 McDoubles & 2 McChickens?"
Guy, "Is that all?"
Rachel, "And one barbecue sauce please!"
Josh, "Ok I guess".

And that is how Saturday night ended.

 
Brown dog loves car rides

Brown dog loves car rides

Trip to Georgia 2008

Trip to Georgia 2008

The real brown dog

The real brown dog

Chilling after John got his teeth knocked out (Story for another day)

Chilling after John got his teeth knocked out (Story for another day)

Swamp Guinea! Where everything is deep fried!

Swamp Guinea! Where everything is deep fried!

3 hot dudes tanning

3 hot dudes tanning

Sunday

Frozen Jack's pizza to start it off while watching some more of season 3 Breaking Bad. I did a little budgeting in my preparation to potentially move out of the parent's house as well. Then I jogged a mile over to Grant's place in Lincoln Park and played some ping pong. I'm a little rusty. Had a hamburger from some polish place maybe? Wasn't sure of the language, but the burger was delicious. I then jogged back to Rachel's place. I need to start working out...

Rachel and I then walked over to the Lincoln Park Zoo. Many of the animals were still inside, but a handful of them were out and looking oh so happy, syke! Zoos are pretty sad places when you are older and understand what is going on as the animals walk in circles, imprisoned and drugged out of their minds.

We got back from the zoo and cooked up some pasta with italian sausage & veggies. We topped it off with a balsamic vinaigrette sauce. Just love cooking up meals with Rach! So fun and so tasty!

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As the night was closing, we wanted to watch a movie, but also had a craving for ice cream. We walked over to Walgreen's and picked up a pint of Ben & Jerry's Half Baked. As we also walked we pondered how crazy it is how walking at 9pm in the city of Chicago seems so much more dangerous than out in the suburbs. It is very interesting how the darkness and night can create such an eerie mood.

As we settled down on the couch with our Half Baked ice cream, we loaded up the movie Turbo. A film about a snail who has always wanted to race and go fast. He ends up being magically induced with some serious speed and then ends up becoming a professional race car driver. I won't ruin the movie for you all, but let's just say it is top notch, provided many laughs, and is even suitable for the kids!

Oh, speaking of kids. These are two hilarious texts I got from my sister about things my cousins Emma & Anna said while at the Art Museum. So funny.

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Pretty awesome weekend. See ya next week!

 

Josh

Movie Marathon

Not too much went down this past week, some of it is still a work in progress, this may also be the first week this year I do not have any pictures to show for, so enjoy reading/watching videos.

On Tuesday March 25th, 2014, I attended a great high school lacrosse game between Neuqua & Naperville Central. This crosstown rivalry went down to the wire with my alma mater taking the one goal win.

Fast forward to Friday March 28th, & I am picking Rachel up from train in Naperville. We then headed over to Gordon Biersch for dinner. We each had a tasty beverage to along with my chicken, mashed potatoes, rice & beans. Rachel had some fish 'n' chips along with some asparagus.

After finishing up dinner, we arrived home to my cousins Emma & Anna who were awaiting our arrival. We watched some home videos for a bit, before conjuring up an idea for a video to shoot. We filmed the video & it came out great!

Emma, Anna, Beth, Rachel, & Josh perform and make a one shot music video for Happy by Pharrell Williams from Despicable Me 2

Before we headed to bed, Emma had a great plan to do a little Sleepers 101 video where we see how Rachel & Beth sleep. Brilliant!

Saturday March 29, Rachel & I woke up around 8 and got in the car to go see a four hour seminar about health. Picked up some helpful tips & great information on some things to eat & not to eat! Afterwards we headed over to Emma & Anna's house for a family party for both of their birthdays. After celebrating with more pizza, we turned on the movie Frozen. It was my first time seeing it, and I thought it was a pretty solid Disney film. After the party, Rachel, Squid, & I headed to Jewel and picked up 3 bottles of liquor at their big half price sale. After getting home, we then played hearts with my parents and Squid. It was my parents & Squid's first time playing, but it was a fun time for everyone, except Squid who lost. Ha! After this it was getting late, but we put on Runner Runner. Rachel & Squid fell asleep, but I stayed up for the whole movie. It was a decent flick, but nothing too special.

Sunday morning we continued our movie marathon trend by loading up Monsters University. I loved the movie Monsters Inc. and this prequel was just as awesome. By far the best movie of the weekend. We followed this up with Harsh Times, a Christian Bale movie where an ex-solider battles with trying to become a cop while struggling with an alcohol addition. Enjoyable, but overall depressing movie. We headed back to Jewel for Rachel to pick up some groceries & then headed to the city. At Rachel's we made a delicious lettuce wraps dinner. During dinner we watched two episodes of Breaking Bad season 3. The show is getting good & hopefully we can finish it by the end of the year?

Monday morning I had to wake up at 5:45 am and drive to work. After a day full of three 2 hour classes Gio & I hopped on over to Crosstown for dinner. I ordered 5 parmesan wings & 5 chili garlic grilled tenders. We also had a dark revolution beer that was delicious. Opening day for baseball, so we watched the White Sox beat up on the Twins as we enjoyed our spicy meal.

That sums up my week, nothing too eventful. But a lot of movies...Here are some other classic films I watched this week: Sunset Blvd & Citizen Kane. Decent old time films.

A couple of video clips to spice up this post

Epic Meal Time makes Epic Pretzels. Yum!

GoPro offices look fun. Creative soccer dribbling video in the GoPro office.

HeliYum beer by Sam Adams. Clever!

A man struggles to control his addiction. Thanks Phil K for the link

Below is a video highlight I just finished up editing from a Benedictine University game on March 16. Hopefully will film a couple of college games this week!

Until Next Week!

Josh

Pizza on Pizza on Pizza on Pizza on Pizza

You may have guessed the theme for this short blog... it is indeed Pizza. 

This past week I had pizza for 5 straight days, but here is the kicker, every day I had a different kind of pizza, so much more impressive.

Let me list them for you:

  1. Wednesday: Little Cesar's pepperoni Pizza at work
  2. Thursday: Domino's pepperoni/sausage pizza at work from my main man Sergio at a Domino's Express, only 1.3 miles down the road, but we were out of their delivery range...so I picked it up and Sergio gave us the hook up. Oh we also got that stuffed cheesy bread.
  3. Friday: Aurelio's spinach/tomato at Rachel's parents in New Lenox
  4. Saturday: Frozen Jack's pepperoni/sausage at Rachel's parents
  5. Sunday: Giordano's deep dish sausage with the fam, welcome home Squid!

And that is how a man like me, is able to eat pizza for 5 straight days. From March 19th to March 23rd I took on the pizza world. Bam. So you probably want to know which was the best pizza? Well too bad, I was so hungry when I ate all of them that they all tasted so delicious it is impossible for me to decipher a winner. You will just have to perform this same test to decide!

 

The rest of my week was a little bit tame compared to recent weeks. Here goes.

Thursday night, the 20th of March, at 1223 about 12 guys from NIU came down for men's league and we were able to play a solid 4 on 4 game with 2 goalies. First time we got men's league going in a while, so hopefully that can continue. The night ended with my getting slashed square in the testicles. As I crawled off the field, I immediately regretted being unprepared equipment wise for this little scrimmage. 

I then arrived home, and made the decision that I needed to finish the highlight of the Adrian lax game I went to a week back. So I pumped out some editing for 4 hours, and finally cut the game to under 10 minutes of highlights around 3:10am. Here is the final product.

After I finished editing this game and watching it, I came to a realization that I really really really wished someone had filmed like this, or I was somehow able to, when I and all of my teammates were playing. This is by far my best highlight and I just love filming lacrosse. Awesome.

My video was also posted in a LaxAllStars article (click to view)

Friday after work, I headed to Rachel's parents for the weekend for her mom's birthday celebration. After we had the pizza Friday night, we rented Inside Llewyn Davis from RedBox. The movie follows life of a struggling folk singer, and had a sad, depressing tone for most of the movie, which I really enjoy in movies for some reason, so I thought the movie was solid. I would recommend this film, especially for those who enjoy folk music, or Justin Timberlake, as he has a cameo in the film and even sings a few songs for the soundtrack! Solid movie, phenomenal soundtrack.

 

Saturday, Rachel's family came over for her mom's birthday and we celebrated with some delicious pulled pork sandwich, macaroni & cheese, and salad. Rachel and I picked out the desserts, which were a big hit, Frosted Sugar Cookies and a Cookies & Cream Pie! Mmmm Pie.

Rachel, her brother Rob, his friend Tom, & I played cards that evening, which was when that frozen pizza was made. We played poker, blackjack, & finally I suggested hearts. We ended up playing a full game of hearts to 100. It made me remember how much I love the game hearts and really enjoy the strategy behind it, even when I lose.

 

Sunday, the 23rd of March marks the day that Beth returned home for Spring Break. After having a few private lessons at work, I arrived home and greeted Beth on her return from school. As a family we then headed over to Giordano's for a traditional welcome home meal for the squid. That night Beth and I watched 3 of ESPN's 30 for 30s in a row. We watched One Night in Vegas, about Tupac & Mike Tyson in 1996. Another about the US Women's 99 World Cup soccer team, Ninety Niners. And finally Four Days in October, about the 2004 Red Sox come back against the Yankees after being down 3 games to 0 in the division final. If you don't already know, I love documentaries and true stories, so watching these 30 for 30s is very enjoyable for me.

Also on Sunday, well Saturday, but I wasn't home, all of my photos I ordered from Shutterfly arrived. I ordered about 15 11x14 photos, mostly of me playing lacrosse. Let's just say I was missing the sport and went on a spending spree with half price prints. I also ordered a free 16x20 of the Chicago Skyline for Beth, & a night shot of Vegas for myself. Check out some of them below.

Monday night, after a small showing at the Master's Open, Beth and I headed to Steak 'n Shake. I picked up a chicken fingers & fries meal, as well as a triple steak burger & fries meal. Topped this off with a Snicker's milkshake and had my most delicious and only meal of the day!

That is all for this week. Next week

Here are a bunch of videos I found to be stunning & breathtaking.

This amazing GoPro video of a grizzly bear (above) reminds me of a similar video I made with some seagulls at the beach in South Haven (below). The grizzly is way sweeter and more impressive however. 

The Thompson trio at Albany are some of the best and most taleneted players to play the game. One word for this, amazing

Timelapse Showreel. Specatcular views.

Iceland Timelapse: Beautiful

Another timelapse from Iceland. Love the landscape.

Thanks for reading! Need to continue to edit videos for this next week and try to knock out some of the things on my to-do list!

Josh