2006, Goals...?

So as I sit here trying to come up with something to blog about, I breezed onto /Todd Holdman's blog and he was talking about his goals for this year. Interesting, having a blog that actually has a purpose. Then I thought maybe that I could instead of just me typing to hear my own thoughts, use this space as a motivation for myself to get somethings done. Wow, could I actually be having an intelligent thought? Nah, it must be all the medications I am taking to get over this cold.

Really, can Tundra Talk serve a purpose? Can Tundra Talk rise above the wrasslin'talk, beer, and Vikings Suck jokes to achive something that few blogs reach? Immortality!!! Who knows, but we can sure give it a try.

Goals, goals, what goals could I have to achieve this year that are not just pipe dreams but actually attainable? I have achieved a lot of my life goals, great family, nice house, finally a good job. But how about the short term.

Well I could go obvious and say lose some weight. I am always shooting to do that. It always seems that I lose weight when I am not trying though. A few years ago I was sitting at 328lbs. Thats right, over three bills. A year later I had lost 60 and was down to 268. Still a bit high. I need to give up Coke, or at least regulare Coke. I have tried about 15 times but it is like trying to give up crack, not that I have tried that, it is tough. So, to say lose weight is a cop out, everyone says that.

How about material goals. I could set my sights on a big purchase this year and save up for it. What do I need? No what do I want? I gots the big screen, see earlier blog if you don't know how I got that. I gots a good car, I gots pretty much what I need. For now...I add that because I know Donna reads this and the next time I see some toy that I need, she could use this blog as evidence and shut me down. I guess you all know that watching less TV will not be on this list anywhere. The NFL in HD is truly a life changing experience. You must find a way to see it. Unless of course it is a Vikings game. Speaking of Big Screen have a look, I am truly blessed. And yes, the stork still does deliver those things.



I could go the home improvement route. I do need to do a few things around here. I need to put a wall up downstairs in the 'moose room'. Oh the 'moose room' is the room by the furnace where the moose head hangs. Basically the only room in the house Donna would let me hang the moose. I need to make it more 'room like' because our spare room will soon be the new baby's room. I need to put new shingles on the garage, new gutters, blah blah blah.

This is just not going to cut it. I need some big time goals. Something that will shake up the world. Something like, single handedly solve the ozone layer thing, or build the perfect bratwurst casarole, or figure out how to impeach Bush all by myself, or find a way to get Funyuns in Canada. That would be a big one, if I could pull it off, Funyuns could change the world if people would just buy into the theory. I just want to have a good list of goals, stick to them, and maybe check two or three of the list.

I still have the 'Guys sports list' of goals to fall back on.

1. Attend a Super Bowl
2. Attend a Grey Cup (done twice)
3. Attend a Wrestlemania (done)
4. Attend a Stanley Cup Final
5. Attend a World Series game
6. Attend a NFL game in every stadium in the league (Kingdome, Arizona, Old Mile High, Lambeau, Soldier Field)

Wow, I never noticed it before but all the stadiums I saw a game in are either gone or have been remodled. Guess I better start that list over.

I don't like the word 'Resolution' because to me that word just means something that you don't do. No one really lives up to your resolutions. I want something that I can actually attain.

Donna always makes me a list when she has some things for me to do. I agree with this method. I always work harder at attaining things when there is actually proof that I did something already by checking it off.

So know I have typed about 200 words and have not come up with one good thing to put on my list of 2006 goals. I suck. So here is my half assed list...in no particular order.

1. Blog more often. I have become lax in this area, need to step it up a notch.

2. Remodel the basement. Moose room is now a moose office.

3. Give up Coke. Not the drug, the drink.

4. Give more to charity. Whether it be time or money.

5. Not hate some certain people so much. To long of a story to go into.

6. Skate more, or Skate period.

7. Work harder to improve my shooting. I can always improve.

8. Clean more. I need to keep this house clean.

9. Find new and more creative things to cook. I can only live on Tater Tot cassarole for so long.

10. Eat out less. I have given up McDonalds now for about 2 years so now I need to give up the rest.

10.1 Okay, lose weight. I am such a cop out.


There you have it, the weakest list of goals out there. The only thing missing is the solve the ozone layer thing. Al Gore is on that one so I think I can go another year or so before I tackle that one.

Have a nice day and get back to work!!!

My tribute to MARTY FREY, "Normal Guy' Legend...

Okay, the picture above probably has you asking some questions. Like, "What the hell is that?" or "Did Chris actually wear a suit to something other than a wedding or an interview?", or "What the hell is a picture from the Golden Globes doing on his blog?". Well I can answer the last one.

Marty Frey, of the LA Freys, attended the Golden Globes, working of course, and sent me some picture from the event. Now don't worry this is not going to be one of those "Who is wearing who?" or anything like that. Marty was there, he had some funny stories and I am going to share them.



This is the first photo he sent me, of course.

"So - I just got done working at the Golden Globes Monday night.. I'm just starting to recover now. I'll have to tell you my Mel Brooks story a little later..

But I shot a bunch of Red Carpet shots while my crew was doing live shots and interviews.. This is my favorite one..

Marty"

I immediately sent a email asking who that was in the picture...

His response...

"The one on the right is me.."

Thanks Marty. Then he piled it on with a bunch of pics from his spot on the red carpet. Here is the email he sent to set the pics up. By the way, Mel Brooks rules...

"So, I'm finally recovered from 2 solid days down in Beverly Hills at the Golden Globe awards... Usually these things aren't all that tough because it's the same shows and media people covering these awards year after year. You come in, set up your area - do the red carpet interviews, live shots for stations around the country, then another camera in the interview room and after the show, you roam around the parties getting shots of elated or pissed off stars as they gulp down free champagne and food. But this year - there are like 500 more media outlets covering the globes and they decide that they are going to enact draconian security measures to restrict access to everything. Needless to say it was a nightmare, before the show even began. But, being the scrounger that I am - and working for the network that is broadcasting the show, I managed to bypass much of the bullshit for me and my crew. Prime red carpet location - center shot in the interview room and unrestricted access at the two major parties in the Beverly Hilton that night. Everything went pretty well - most of the stars arrived late (because they are just THAT important) so you only get to do red carpet interviews for about an hour. We talked to some of the good folks (George Clooney, Peter Jackson, Ang Lee, Adrien Brody) and a lot of the Hollywood jerks just walked by everybody and into the hotel (Russell Crowe, Sylvester Stallone, Larry David). The show went on as usual with some deserving winners (Steve Carrell, George Clooney, Reese Witherspoon) and some less deserving ones (the cast of Desperate Housewives). So the best part happens when we go up to the NBC Universal party after the show. All the other media is lined up on the red carpet and I just bypass them with my crew and head on inside the party. The plan is that you go inside and shoot some NBC execs talking with Globe winners and get a couple of comments from whatever sober stars you can find and then get out in 30 minutes. We did pretty good and got a lot of great interviews (Steve Carrell is hilarious and a nice guy) and then I sent my crew down to the satellite truck with the tape and decided to go downstairs to see how the West Coast live shots were doing... I cut through the back way and went down the 4th floor hallway to get to the main elevator bank - lots of doors were open and people were having some receptions in the rooms before heading to the big parties... As I was walking down the hallway - someone walks out of the room on my right, grabs my arm, spins me around and says "Who am I?"... I looked down and said "Mel Brooks".. He looked over at a 30 something woman who was next to him and said "Tell her!".. So I said "This is Mel Brooks, one of the greatest directors, producers and comedians".. and Mel said to her "I told you!" and walked down the hall to the party.
Weird shit.
Here's some pictures so everyone can laugh at me and how tough my life is..

Marty"









Dude you do have it rough. Standing on a red carpet for hours your feet must ache, I am sure there is no padding underneath. Having to wear a tux for all that time while working, wow, when I go out to work in my grubby jeans and t shirt I really wish I could just wear my favorite tux that I can only wear when I go to the Oscars. Working with people who really don't look like they know what they are doing, I assume the woman in the blue dress is your correspondant, PLUS she really does not have the 'look' for a correspondant. Having to meet and talk to all those really, ugly, and unimportant people on the red carpet. Man, Marty I don't know how you do it every day. You truly are to be commended on how you keep getting up every morning and heading to the grind. To think you gave up a job doing news promos for Heather Hays in Green Bay working for Joel the A-Hole Bernell. You really are a person we ALL should look up to.

He sent me this email today...

"I have an Adrien Brody story too - but it's not nearly as funny... He's just
a regular guy (with a really big nose) and helped us carry camera gear up to
the party... He was telling us a bunch of stories about how pretentious some
of the other stars were during the show...

Marty"

Oh in case you don't know, Marty works for NBC promotions in LA. He worked on the show "The Contender" with Sly stallone among other blockbuster TV shows. If you were to go to LA and stand in line to see Jay Leno, his office, I believe would be along that line and he would be inside making fun of you on the other side of the one way glass. Unless of course he has moved to a better office.

Marty, I salute you. As of of us 'normal' guys. By 'normal' I mean, a guy who likes to tip a few pops, a guy who thinks a fart joke is funny, a guy who is not afraid to paint a letter on his belly for a football game, a guy who thinks Dee Snider is hot, and most of all a guy who came from a small place and is kicking ass in the big place whilst still remaining grounded. Marty, you may be on your way to that prestigious post of 'Normal Guy of the Year". I tell ya, as a guy who was up for the award in 1996 (Johnny H won it that year, bastard, but I don't hold a grudge), you would be a credit to that award. You got my vote pal.

Normalcy is a thing that all of us 'Normal' guys strive to keep alive, much to the shagrin of most of our wives. We are men who could sit and watch all 40 super bowls in a row and not even blink. We are the guys who in the next year or so will sit and watch all six star wars in succession and look for inconsistencys. We like that we can break down a defense and remember every home run hit and in which inning of our favorite team but we can not balance a check book. We are Normal. We don't care that we smell, swear, or eat too much. We like little smokeys when we play poker, no matter how they make us feel the next day. We like the idea of driving 6 hours to see a sporting event and then turning around and driving back only to have to work the next day. We are normal, dammit, and we are proud. Marty Frey has set the standard. Keep them fooled Marty, you are making us proud.

Send Marty an email letting him know how normal he is and how you support him in his cause...



MARTY FREY MY NOMINEE FOR NORMAL GUY OF THE YEAR 2005

Bill Gates is a creep...

Check out the way the 'new' Windows vista is sooooo original. I found this on Rocketboom a guy took the demo of a Microsoft vista and put the voice over over the actual video of a Mac. Basically showing the fact that all this 'new' stuff in vista has existed since 2002 on a MAC. Microsoft and their employees really should be ashamed of themselves. Touting all these features as 'new'. Angie, you better recognize. Tell Bill that he should really try to come up with something new.

CLICK HERE to watch Bill Steal.

CLICK HERE to see part two.

Have a good day.

New year, new BLOG...

Well it is a new year, and I have yet to put up a blog and say Happy New Year. So here it is Happy New Year! I have a lot to get to today so I will not waste any of your time. Oh by the way the pic above is of me and McKenna in front of the Apple Store in Scottsdale Arizona. I love the Apple store. It just gives me warm fuzzies thinking about it. Bill Gates, you suck.



First off McKenna has something to share with all of you. I think you might find this interesting. That is just a picture above, below is the actual video. You must have Quicktime to view the video. Download it by clicking on the link to the right.


CLICK HERE to watch it on a separate page.

That's right, the law has not been changed yet to keep me from procreating so we did. Donna will be having our second child this August. McKenna is voting for another girl and I am voting for anything as long as the kid can run a fade route and bring the Packers another Super Bowl Championship. For all you Viking fans, the Pack have three. How many do you have?

Back to the topic on hand, Donna has wanted another child for a while now but I was just not convinced. After a conversation last year we struck a deal. Donna gets another child, I get a HD big screen TV. I think I got the better in that deal, sex and a TV. The child is scheduled to arrive in August, hopefully the TV will arrive sometime around the Super Bowl. Pelicans still deliver those things don't they? That must be hard to fly carrying a 50 inch Sony.



NEXT: To all you WhiteHot members that attended the reunion this summer, wait no longer. The DVD's are on the way. After a long negotiation with the distributer, we made a deal on the distribution rights for Zimbabwe. You saw what I got out of the deal with Donna for the kid, you can only imagine what I got in this deal. I will be sending them out to you in groups as the postage will be big so I am spreading it out. I hope you like it and make sure you send me your comments as soon as you watch it. Plus I still have a few shirts left. SEND ME AN EMAIL if you need another one.


Mr. Brad Johner(performer) accepting the award for FREE

NEXT: Lots of big things have happened to the collective, including one of our own getting a pretty big award. James Grandy, of the MSU Grandy's, has snagged a SOCAN award. SOCAN is the music licensing entity here in Canada, and it looks as if Mr. Grandy has snagged the SOCAN INTERNATIONAL ACHIEVEMENT AWARD for his song "Free". Nice job James. James is also a vetran of many WhiteHot Productions during college at Minot State University. James lives in Minnesota now, I think. I lost his email, so James if you are reading this
SEND ME AN EMAIL so I can put you back on the list.

Here is an official announcement from the SOCAN website....

BMI composers who received SOCAN Awards included Lauren Christy and Scott Spock of The Matrix for "I'm With You" (Avril Lavigne), James Grandy for "Free" (Brad Johner) and Brett Beavers for "What Was I Thinkin'" (Dierks Bentley). BMI rockers Nickelback received the SOCAN International Achievement Award for bringing international recognition to Canada through their music.

NEXT: I have added a new website for you paruse on the side of my blog. It is the Rick Mercer site. This guy is funny as hell. If you have some time go and watch the video parodies on his site. I know you have time, you are at work.



NEXT: I also am a bit sad today. I was doing a google search the other day, as I do frequently, and I found THIS SITE... Scroll down to the bottom left corner, see anything familiar? An audio tour guides site from Florida has swooped in and stolen the name WhiteHot Productions. 2004 it looks like they registered the name. I feel like someone has gut shot me. I really don't have much to stand on, because I never registered the logo or name, but I feel like it is mine. I have video dating back to 1986 or so with the name on it, but I don't think that means anything. Nick, what do you think? It is my own fault. I would google WhiteHot once a year and would find nothing, until now. Oh well. If you want to send them hate emails go ahead. I will just sit here and cry in my cereal.

NEXT: I will leave you with one more thing. I found THIS SITE on the web the other day. It allows you to pick a point on earth and it will show you where you come out on the other side if you were to start digging from that point. Who hasn't tried to dig to the other side of the earth? Raise your hands. Just me? Okay, I am a loser. Remember, ALWAYS call before you dig.

I am working on a blog about how much it sucks to travel via airplane today. I HATE FLYING. The airlines suck and so does all the security. Wait for it...

NOW GET BACK TO WORK...