Endless Matt, The Series Trailer

Endless Matt, The Series Trailer

Watching this trailer always makes me excited about the coming season and then I remember that I have already seen the episodes of Matt and the 'silly man' and I begin to lose interest.  I mean, how many times can you watch a clip of a man showering, shaving and insulting his neighbor?  Is 'too many' a number? 

What this series really needs is an excellent writer.  Perhaps I will offer my services to 'Endless' Matt and the 'silly man.'

She

She

In what can only be described as a classic Endless Matt production, Matt shows another method to a pretty great day.  This episode shows Matt waiting around outside his appartment with the express purpose of greeting a pretty girl.  In doing so, Matt effectively cuts out another suiter.  This 'silly man' in a deer print sweat shirt exacts his revenge.  Based on what we see of him in the episode, I'm not sure that Matt isn't doing this 'silly man' a favor in preventing him from having direct social contact with women.  I know that the women are greatful.  Good job Matt.

How to be Neighborly

How to be Neighborly

In his video 'How to be Neighborly' Matt Peterson spends nearly three and a half minutes showing us the steps to prepare to greet his neighbors.  Showering, shaving and picking out an appropriate outfit, no task is too mundane for Matt.  After all his hard work he finally greets his neighbor by telling him that his fly is down. 

Matt is just the kind of juvenile neighbor you expect to find in a college dorm.  I think that he should have stuck with the thermal underwear outfit, then he would have qualified to do this in my neighborhood.

Soda Boom

This video, Soda Boom, uses a visual technique called 'masking' where two videos or layers are spliced together.  In this instance it allows the actor to be in two places in the same video.

I have two questions about the creative license here aside from the masking demo.  First, if you could travel back in time to avoid a negative consequence, wouldn't you make sure to go back far enough?  And if you didn't make it the first time, come on, you have the power of time travel.  Try again until you get it right.  Second, who microwaves a can of soda?

Muir Beach House

I think that most people are like me when I say that I would like to live in a house on the beach.  What could be better?  You have a great view of the ocean, you're always close to the water and your home value is always higher than that of the other saps who live inland. 

As I was sitting on Muir Beach this summer all of these thoughts ran through my head.  Why wasn't this me living in a fantastic house on the beach?  Is it just because I don't want to commute two hours to a town big enough to have jobs that pay well enough to afford a house like this?  Is it because I can't afford this house in the first place?  I even thought that it might be because there are always people who are visiting the beach and having bonfires on the beach.  Who wants a huge bonfire party outside their house on a work night, every worknight?

I have come to the conclusion that the reason why I don't live in a beach house on Muir Beach, or any other beach, is because none of my family live near the beach.  I'm already pushing the limits of living within driving distance by staying in Reno.  So, like everything else about my life that bothers me, it must be someone else's fault.  Come on family, give me a break and move closer to the beach.

Cattail

Between my office and the main road is an open field that has no real business being undeveloped just a block off the freeway in Reno, NV.  It might be an unlikely, unused property but it is really nice to see when I need to look at something farther away than my computer screen.  The cattails in the picture are going to seed later than they might in colder climates but they looked extremely rustic in the creek flowing through the field this morning.

Fremont Street Experience - Las Vegas

I visit Las Vegas several times a year to visit family but it has been a couple of years since I went downtown to the Fremont Street Experience.  This place has certainly changed.  It has been about seven years since I have been to Fremont Street.  Last time it was a little grungy and scary.  None of the street vendors had kiosks and there certainly weren't any zip lines running overhead.  Can you believe it?  Semi-indoor zip lines in downtown Las Vegas!  What will they think of next (seriously, I would not think anything too outlandish after this).

Lake Tahoe

Lake Tahoe is a really beautiful destination.  This picture was taken in the spring of 2011.  You can see how high up in the mountains it is.  There is still snow on the mountains. 
It was surprisingly difficult to find access to any beach around the lake.  All the good places are taken up by rich people's houses.  Go figure.

New York, NY (Las Vegas)

This is a great picture of New York, NY.  The small one in Las Vegas. 
It might be small compared to the real city, but it looked pretty big from across the street at the MGM Grand.  I love how the colors all pop and contrast with each other.  If the real New York (which I have never been to) is as pretty as this, it might really be the greatest city in the world.

Hitachi EX-5500

The Hycroft gold mine near Winnemucca, NV recently put into service a Hitachi EX-5500 hydraulic shovel. The 5500 has a 35 cubic yard bucket and is a very impressive piece of equipment. The Hycroft gold mine is a wholly owned subsidiary of Allied Nevada Gold Corp. Inc. (NYSE ANV).

MGM Lion

The lion at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas is an impressive monument on the strip. I grew up in Vegas so I still remember the old, blocky one. I wonder why they changed it?

Muir Beach, California

We went to Muir Beach, CA over Labor Day weekend 2011.  It was cold and overcast but still a lot of fun.  Someday, we'll be to a warm beach in California.

Reno Bike Trails

One of the things that I have really loved about Reno, Nevada is the abundance of bike trails.  These trails exist in most of the newer neighborhoods and the foothills to the west of town.  The problem with the ones in my neighborhood is that they only exist as paved trails where you can see them from the road.  If you follow this trail more than a couple hundred feet it turns into a single track dirt path.  There's nothing wrong with a single track bike path unless you are towing two kids in a bike trailer and have no space to turn around.  I think that the paths in the Stead neighborhood (my part of town) were just put in to entice people to buy homes.

Chicken Lettuce Wraps - 17 Day Diet Recipe



Chicken Lettuce Wraps

These Chicken Lettuce Wraps are fantastic.  I wasn't sure I could stay on the 17 day diet until my wife made these.  If this is what diet food tastes like sign me up.

Sauce:
    4 tablespoons soy sauce
    2 tablespoons splenda brown sugar
    1 teaspoon rice vinegar
    small amount of water

Filling:
    1 to 2 tablespoons olive oil
    4 chicken breasts, baked and diced
    1 cup water chestnuts, diced
    1 and 1/3 cups mushrooms, diced
    1 to 2 teaspoons garlic, minced
    3 tablespoons onions, diced
    iceberg lettuce leaves

Heat oil in wok, add chestnuts, mushrooms, onions and garlic.  Heat until warm.  Add chicken and stir.  Drizzle sauce over mixture and stir.  Heat thoroughly.  Spoon mixture into lettuce leaves and serve. 

Goose

I thought it was really weird that this goose would land on the ledge outside a coworkers window one day uuntil we saw the hawk flying around the field acress the street.  The ledge must have been a safer place to wait for the hawk to go away.
When I showed this picture to my daughter I happened to have a bandaid on my finger.  Somehow, she got it into her head that the goose had bitten me and that was why I had a bandaid on my finger.  I spent the rest of the night explaining to my three year old that the goose did not, in fact, bite my finger.

Lava Beds National Monument

Skull Cave, Lava Beds National Monument (scouts for scale)

The Lava Beds National Monument in northern California is a great place for camping and hiking.  I went with the scouts over the summer.  The small overhead clearance was not my favorite thing but this cave was more my speed.  It is called 'Skull Cave' for the large numbers of animal bones originally found in the cave.  The bones have been removed but there is still ice in the bottom of the cave.  It is really weird to have it be hot and sunny on the surface and cold and icy just ten minutes away.

Pyrenees Inn Winnemucca, NV

The 'official' company hotel in Winnemucca, Nevada is the Pyrenees.  It is comfortable enough but, wow, look at the decor.  I don't think that they have updated since the 70's.  It's so bad that it's newsworthy.

Storm Clouds

I love when storm clouds roll in in the evening.  On this particular evening in Reno the whole sky was overcast and lowering.  I don't know what it was about the lighting that made the clouds look like this but it can do it more often as far as I am concerned.

Reno Aces Ballpark

As the days get shorter and the darkness creeps in earlier every evening, I can't help but think of the days when sunshine came early and stayed late.  This picture of Reno Aces Ballpark was taken on one of the sunniest days of summer in 2011.  It was a company trip to the ballpark and we had seating in a box (where this picture was taken) and more seats down behind home plate.  I spent most of the game behind home plate ( this was the closest I have ever been to a professional baseball game) and got plenty of sun.  It wasn't the worst sunburn I've ever had, and it didn't peel, but it was an uncomfortable reminder of a fun day in the sun.

Shoe Tree

This shoe tree is located along Red Rock Road to the northeast of Reno, Nevada.  The peculiarity of the shoe tree is enhanced by the fact that there are no other trees in the immediate vicinity.

Utah Airboats

We saw these Airboats (fanboats) in Green River, Utah in March of 2011.  Having a camouflage Airboat is totally a backwoods, hick thing but I'll bet that these guys had a lot of fun.

Beautiful Things

This blog is for all the beautiful things I see in life.