nate mcguire

So there are some people in this world that deserve the money that they make.  They work hard, show up for their jobs, and are genuinely smart and good people.  Plaxico Burress is not one of them.  While at a giant-ass club yesterday, probably “pimpin’ some hoes”,  he shot himself in the leg. So not only was he already sidelined from a hamstring injury and unable to play, he goes out, gets drunk, turns off the safety on his gun and shoots himself in the right thigh.  Good job, man.

Burress just recently signed a $35 million, 5 year contract extension for the NY Giants, which seems kind of interesting to me seeing as he was hurt a ton last year and has a pretty bad attitude in general, getting fined in September for $117,500 and suspended a game for skipping practice and not telling anyone he was going to do so.  My job requires an IQ above 35 and I still show up every day.  Seriously dude, its not that hard, just go to practice. In all fairness, at least he or someone else isn’t dead.  This is why stupid people shouldn’t be allowed to have guns.

Two things:

A buddy of mine, who will remain unnamed, started his own blog recently, dealing with lawyer-ish, law, and tax related issues. If you’ll notice I’ve added him to the now even more awesome “Links” category to the right.

Second, he also happened to write about something relevant because approximately two days ago, I started looking to consolidate my student loans.  For those of you that don’t know what student loans are because mommy and daddy love you more than mine did, screw you.  Student loans suck balls because you graduate college and have a massive amount of debt.  YoungLawyer’s article will help you (and me) out through loan consolidation.  Get some knowledge dropped on you here.

The Young Texas Lawyer

gotta love those aggies…

Yeah, I know, you all know what a turducken is by now.  But with Thanksgiving rapidly approaching, I had to say something about this only-in-America creation.  1/2 man, 1/2 bear, 1/2 pig, manbearpig…I mean… turducken is something only our gluttony filled minds could create.

I’ve decided that this is probably the most beautiful culinary creation and probably tastes a little bit like this.  For the uniformed among us, a Turducken is a dish consisting of a partially deboned turkey stuffed with a deboned duck, which is then stuffed with a small deboned chicken. The hole in the chicken and the rest of the gaps are filled with other random crap, like breadcrumbs.

The one downfall of the turducken is that it is only suitable for “braising, roasting, grilling, or barbecuing” and can’t be fried (which is the best way to cook turkey) since the body cavity must be hollow to cook evenly.

Now doesn’t this look delicious?

Yesterday M$ released the new Xbox “experience” update for the 360.  I’ve yet to tool around with it hardcore, but from initial observations, its very uhh…different.  I guess I was a fan of the blades, and seeing as my xbox goes straight to CoD4 on boot up, it wasn’t really an issue.

Obviously the first thing that you’ll notice is the pairing of xbox and netflix.  This is probably the single most important update that they’ve provided, and I’m thinking I may renew my netflix account just to watch the streaming movies.  At 5.99 a month you can get unlimited online access to their movies and a one real movie in the mail at a time. Oh, and its in HD. I’ll mess around with it more tonight/this weekend and fill you in.

So, seeing as the house of cards that is our financial system is collapsing, I thought I would give an update for today.  The Dow closed at around 7500 today, which I was thinking might be the bottom.  Today I’d like to revise my statement and say it could go even lower than 7k.  This crap is going to be around for a while.

The S&P closed down 6.7%, undercutting its low from the 2000-02 bear market during trading today.
Here are the numbers, enjoy:

and for the “more” part:

Texas Tech plays OU this weekend in Norman. This will be the first time that I’m cheering for OU hardcore. I’m looking for a 3-way tie and us on top of the BCS. SOLID.

I don’t know what this means because Mack could keep coaching for forever, but…

“Texas defensive coordinator Will Muschamp has been designated head coach-in-waiting by the university, expected to take over the Longhorns when coach Mack Brown retires.”[via]

I think this guy is a hell of a defensive coach.  I wonder what this means for my horns in the near future.  Hopefully Greg Davis peaces out with Mack, for the love of god.

thanks to tylerjameslee.com for pointing out this tidbit of information.

Just in time for the holidays, here is a really simple DIY gift that everyone can enjoy. Homemade Kahlua.  It’s pretty much one of the most simple things you can do, and if you start now it will be good and ready to drink come christmas/hannukah/new years time.

I have some sitting in my pantry right now from last year, somehow we didn’t drink it, and its pretty delicious after a year of aging.

Ingredients:

2 Cups dry instant coffee
7 Cups white granulated sugar
1 Quart water
1 Quart 80 proof vodka
1 Whole vanilla bean

Steps.

1. Bring the water to a full boil. Remove from heat and add the instant coffee and the sugar.
2. Stir until the sugar and coffee are completely dissolved. Allow to cool. Add vodka and stir.
3. Pour into sealable glass containers, how ever many it takes.
4. Drop one half of the vanilla bean into each container. Seal tightly. (I used some glass bottles with a cork)
5. Age your fresh kahlua by putting it in a cool, dark place and don’t touch it for at least 30 days; and obviously, the longer it sits around, the better.

You can put this on some ice cream, drink it in your coffee, make a white russian, or just get drunk.

So I’m sitting here, hungover, and I cannot stop thinking about food.  Thanksgiving is 2 weeks away and I’m pretty psyched about it, mostly because I get off work and get to eat some tasty deliciousness all day.

My family fries our turkey for the past few years, and I hated turkey until we did.  Some people may call it nontraditional, but I will tell you sir, it is tasty.

In my scouring of teh interwebs I have found a few nontraditional recipes that sound pretty awesome, and potentially heart attack inducing.  Because of my love for you, I will share them.

Disclaimer: I haven’t tried making these yet, so consume at your own risk.

Number 1. Homemade Biscuits

This one is from one of my favorite sites, Serious Eats. You can find the post for it here.  I would post the recipe but the freakin’ thing is like a book for something that looks like it will take about 10-15 minutes.  I made english muffins last year and those were good and easy. Moving on to biscuits.

Number 2. Deep Fried Mash Potato Balls

This is something straight out of my crazy brain, but then I googled it and found a recipe. This one also looks pretty damn easy, and I don’t see how fried fluffy balls of goodness couldn’t be delicious.

Make mashed potatoes into golf-ball or small balls, add cheese(s), as per taste. Freeze for 2 hours, or more.

Make batter from flour, milk, egg and salt. Gently dip mashed potato balls in batter, being careful that all exposed potato is coated with batter.

Deep fry in hot oil/fat until golden-brown. Consume.

Number 3. BACON.

Yeah. I ran out of ideas due to hunger.  Enjoy your weekend and eat heartily.

I have a few requests that I would like you to consider in the coming months, before and after the new president is inaugurated. I will list it in a simple bullet format so you will understand, and although you probably will not listen, I hope you will at least consider these points.

• Please do not bail out the American automakers.  We are already up to our waist in debt as a country, not including the 700 billion+ bailout we’ve already committed to.  There is a reason GM and other automakers are doing poorly: they SUCK at making fuel efficient, high quality cars with good customer service. Yes they employ a lot of people, yes their pension obligations are huge.  But we as an economy do not rely on the automakers. Purge the weak.
• Raise taxes. You say what?! I say that we are running an unsustainable course.  If you want to live in a country that still exists, sometimes you have to suck it up and be logical and fiscally responsible, which we have not done.  If America were a corporation, it would have filed chapter 11 a long time ago.
• Get out of everyone else’s business for a while.  I understand that our role traditionally has been that of protecting the weak, but never has it been so unilateral.  We cannot afford to let our own people lose jobs, starve, and go into more and more debt because we are using billions of tax dollars to finance the multiple military engagements we are in.
• Don’t over-regulate.  This one is going to be especially hard.  We have been under an administration of unprecedented deregulation, and as such the Dems are going to attempt to correct this.  Don’t go too far. Yes, we need to protect people from a-holes making millions by screwing their companies, but don’t go too far.

Thank you for listening to a few of my most immediate concerns Mr. Government.  And for the love of god, now is not a time to be partisan. Now is a time to make smart decisions, influenced by logic rather than emotional appeals.

The End.