McConnell Family

Max 7 Months Old

2011-02-11T19:01:00.000-08:00

So my little boy is already 7 months old, I can't believe it. My mom says he looks exactly like I did at this age. I have been playing around with a friends DSLR camera and it is really nice to use it to take pictures of him. I am still learning how to use it but I love the quality of pictures it takes and how quickly it takes them.

Berkeley trip

2009-08-23T19:53:00.003-07:00

So today Christie and I thought it might be fun to go to Berkeley and see some of the cool shops. I wanted to see the Volcom shop too! Litle did we know that it was street fair day there and it was also move in day for University of California students there.

So it was pretty busy there today but we still found parking. It was a lot colder there than it is in the east bay. We Just went to a couple shops and I got a cool volcom sweatshirt.

It was a fun little trip. Then we came home and had grilled salmon and halibut with corn on the cob. Yum!!

-- Post From My iPhone

Oakland A's game

2009-08-23T19:53:00.001-07:00

Christie and I got tickets to the oakland A's game last night. They were literally the best seats in the entire place. They were right behind home plate. Row 1. As in no one in front of us except for the players!!

Also we got all the food we could eat! And we ate a lot. Haha. I think I had a lobster sammich, hot wing, peanuts and hefeweizen. It was awesome.

It was christie's first pro baseball game and she had fun. Though she liked looking at the players haha.

Here are some pictures from the game!!

-- Post From My iPhone

Update

2009-08-21T20:15:00.001-07:00

Hey it has been a long time since I have written an update. So much has happened since the last update.

Christie and I have moved to the bay area in california due to me getting a better job with comcast. I am now a senior marketing analyst for them. It is cool and has a lot of good exposure.

The move has been difficult but it has also been something very different. It has also been good because Christie and I both gt new cars!! She got a mustang and I got a family car a ford escape. Haha

Also the biggest news is that we are buying a house!! I could devote an entire post to how difficult house buying is but that is for another time.

We actually ended up with a new construction home and it is in the process of being built.

I will update this blog more often I promise!

-Jesse

-- Post From My iPhone

App Store downloads led by free apps; Games making bank!

2008-07-17T16:47:00.001-07:00

Revealing the bias towards younger users, mobile ad group Medialets has tracked iTunes' App Store and finds that free apps rule the download charts, but that game developers are thriving in the paid world and that some developers should already be successful.

read more | digg story

Doctors reattach teen surfer's arm

2008-07-09T14:47:00.001-07:00

Doctors said Tuesday that they were able to reattach the severed left arm of a 14-year-old surfer struck by an incoming dory boat along Oregon's northern coast.But it may be months before doctors know whether Cole Ortega of Bend will regain use of the arm, which was severed by the boat's propeller just above the elbow and below the biceps.

read more | digg story

Hiking with the wife today

2008-05-28T20:45:00.000-07:00

So last night I went and saw Drill Bit Taylor at northern lights theater in salem. It was ok, Owen Wilson was the one redeeming factor.

This is the bar at northern lights.

Then today I took work off to spend time with my wife. We decide to go hiking at silver creek falls, i needed gas so we stopped here in aumsville.

Here is the view from the top of the first waterfall.

This is the view from the side of the waterfall

Another view, it was amazing how green it was.

Christie and the waterfall.

The stream!

The second waterfall we saw.

Christie in awe behind the waterfall

Cool Wedding Video Slideshow

2008-05-22T14:01:00.001-07:00

This is reallly cool

Obama Draws Record Crowd Of 75,000 In Portland

2008-05-18T21:14:00.001-07:00

Sen. Barack Obama has seen his share of large crowds over the last 15 months, but his campaign said they have not approached the numbers gathered along the waterfront here right now. This is awesome, good job for Oregon for showing strength. Let's hope that the nation can come together behind Obama, I feel that he would make a great president.

read more | digg story

UFC 83

2008-04-21T19:44:00.000-07:00

Christie and I went to a friends house to watch UFC 83; the Georges St. Pierre vs Matt Serra fight. Well this is a friend but also one of Christie's old bosses from when she worked at the furniture store. The guy has a really nice house and loves to host parties, and we just happen to enjoy going to the parties. He had about 40 people or so over for the fight, every time he has one of these it seems like there are more people there.

Christie had to work until 7 so we missed the first couple fights, but here is what I thought of the ones we did see.

Nate Quarry vs. Kalib Starnes:

I was rooting for Nate in this fight. He is from Oregon and trains at the Gym where my Mom works. She has talked to him there before and said he is pretty nice. He actually looked really good in this fight and it looks like he is over his long layoff from fighting. Kalib was just embarassing, he was running from Quarry almost the whole fight. There are some rumors that he was doing this to protest the UFC's treatment of fighters but I don't buy it. I think it might be time for Quarry to really face some top competition. A fight with Jason McDonald could be good.

Travis Lutter vs. Rich Franklin:

Rich Franklin is one of my favorite fighters. He got into some trouble early as Lutter had the top position and almost secured an arm bar on him but Franklin was able to keep his cool and roll out of it. After the first round Lutter looked really gassed, I think the kick to the head definetly had something to do with it. Franklin won and again looked impressive doing so. I think the hardest thing for Franklin right now is he is running out of people to fight at 185. He probably doesn't want to fight Anderson Silva again quite yet. The UFC might need to think about brining in some more competition for him. Quarry would be good if they hadn't already fought though Quarry might be anxious to try and avenge his vicious knockout.

Matt Serra vs. Georges St. Pierre:

This one was a mismatch and everybody knew it. I really like Serra and I like to root for the underdog but I knew Serra didn't have much of a chance. St. Pierre is just at the top of his game right now and he completley underestimated Serra last time around. Pierre controlled the whole fight. It would be fun to see Serra fight Matt Hughes, and I think Serra would stand a chance against him because of his striking. I really don't want to see Serra or Hughes fight St. Pierre again, but Jon Fitch should be a good fight for Pierre. The fight that would be just amazing would be St. Pierre vs. Anderson Silva, that fight would be just incredible.

What did you think of the fights?

My iPhone

2008-04-13T17:21:00.000-07:00

I got an iPhone almost 8 months ago now. I still love the thing as much, if not more than the day I got it. It is really a shame that it gets tagged as being a cell phone. It really is more like a hand held internet device that uses AT&T (or any GSM or wi-fi) network but it also happens to make phone calls.

On the phone front it is the best and easiest to use cell phone I have ever had. I have always had the ability to do conference calling on my cell phone but never used it till the iPhone. It also makes it very simple to manage more than one call coming in at a time, it gives you options of; Answer Call and Hold Current, End Current call and answer, or ignore incoming call and continue current. It makes it very simple, that and the visual voice mail are my favorite features.

I have my phone jailbroken so I can add whatever applications I want to it and also customize the look and feel. Here is a screen shot of my first screen.

On there I have some of the basic features. Maps, weather, calendar, stocks.

The maps feature is actually very useful, I have used it many times to figure out where I am and where I need to go, I used it once going to a Seattle Seahawks game and it got my Mom and I there perfectly.

Chat is an app that I added that lets me connect to AIM.

Contacts just takes the contacts out of the phone section and lets me access them with one button.

Facebook is just a link to the facebook web app, same with the ESPN icon it is just a link to the mobile espn site.

iFlix is one of my favorite apps, it lets me manage my current netflix queue. (a screen shot of that is below)

This is very useful if I am out somewhere and want to add a movie to my netflix queue.

Another cool app that I have started using is the Twinkle app, it allows me to update my twitter status and it posts a location along with the status. A screen shot of that is below.

On the next screen I have some games, like bejewled, and chess and solitaire. I would say I complete at least one game of solitaire a day, i might be addicted.

So to me it really is like a portable computer, I love the thing and I highly recommend it. With the iPhone 2.0 update coming in June I look forward to many more exciting features and can't wait to see what programmers bring to the iPhone.

Beer Can Chicken

2008-04-11T20:54:00.000-07:00

So I decided to make Beer Can Chicken today. It seemed to combine 3 of my favorite things. Chicken, Beer and BBQ. I am still not sure what i think about the combo of the three.

It started off kinda weird. I have never reached inside a chicken to pull out the innards before and that was a little weird. I then dried off the chicken and then rubbed oil all over it. It was awkward, i don't even know the chicken's name and here I am giving it a Swedish massage. I then put salt all over the chicken followed by a pepper scrub. I am really convinced that I could probably sell the same thing at some posh salon in the Pearl District. I then put a spice rub that I had made on it and it was smelling really good and was very messy. I have come to realize that the messier the preparing of the meal the better it will taste in the end.

The weirdest part came when I had to stick the chicken over the beer can, um it was just really awkward, and it looked even funnier. Raw whole chickens just look really really funny. I almost expected it to break out into a dance.

I then put the chicken on the grill standing up straight. It looked like this.

It was actually surprising how well the thing stayed upright, I thought for sure it would tip over and I would have beer all over my grill. (Oh also I used Pabst, only the best beer for beer can chicken).

The biggest problem that I had was the grease from the chicken kept dripping down onto the grill and it would shoot flames up the backside of the chicken. So I was ending up with a very burned chicken. I am not sure how to make it not catch on fire. Eventually it got cooked and I actually finished cooking it in the oven because I could not stop it from catching on fire.

The chicken turned out really moist and tender. It was really good, you couldn't really taste the beer in it, but the spice rub that I put on it was really good. I think I will make it again but I need to figure out how to make it not catch on fire. If you have any ideas please let me know.

Mexico!

2008-04-09T19:27:00.000-07:00

I don't think I ever blogged about the best Christmas present I got this past Christmas so here goes. After a long day of gifts and food Christie and I finally made our way to my Parents house

(Side topic: Being married and doing holidays is one thing that you never think about but is actually a pretty big deal, you are just so used to doing what you do on major holidays and then you get married and everything changes, you have to accomodate two families. It is fun because you get twice the presents and twice the food but it is just something I had never thought about.)

Anyways so we start opening gifts and we got some really cool stuff, some clothes, some video games, and my wife got a bike. But then the last thing we open is a box that has two ornaments in it. The ornaments are two tacky pink flamingo tourists like this

And in there was a note saying that we were going to puerto vallarta for 8 days. Turns out my parents thought we had a rough year. (My Mom lost both her mom and her dad this past year) so they thought a family vacation was in order. So on June 19th Christie and I, my Mom, Dad, two brothers and a sister will all be off to sunny Mexico. The place we are going is called Marival Resorts, in Nuerto Vallart (just north of Puerto Vallarta). My parents got a 3 bedroom suite so we have our own bedroom and bathroom. To top it off the place is an all inclusive too so all the drinks we can drink and all the food we can eat. Should be pretty exciting. I am really looking forward to it.

Well I think that is all for now, this has been a long post.

Ad Wars: McCain Returns Clinton’s ‘3 A.M.’ Phone Call

2008-04-03T11:54:00.001-07:00

Hillary Clinton is bringing back her now-famous “3 a.m.” ad, this time using it to highlight for Pennsylvania voters her readiness in an economic crisis. However McCain has turned the Ad back on Hillary and Obama. McCain points out his differing views on taxes.

read more | digg story

Paper or plastic? You may pay 20 cents either way

2008-04-03T10:10:00.001-07:00

Seattle would impose a 20-cent-per-bag "green fee" and outlaw foam food containers next year under a proposal announced Wednesday. Aiming to persuade Seattleites to ditch disposable bags, the city hopes to send a free reusable bag to every Seattle household, Mayor Greg Nickels said.

read more | digg story

New polls show Obama surge in Pa.

2008-04-02T21:08:00.001-07:00

So a story I submitted to digg totally made the front page!! That is really exciting for me.

The story is about Obama surging in new polls in PA. I am not sure how accurate the poll actually is but hey it shows that with at least some subset of people he is doing better than expected in Pa.

I think I am going to support Obama. Usually the election for me comes down to the lesser of two evils. Hilary I definetly think is evil, she has something very sinister about her and she has been involved in too many scandals and been caught lying one too many times. I also think that it is time for someone besides a Clinton or a Bush to be in the white house. If Clinton were to win we would have gone Bush Sr.(4 years), Bill Clinton (8 years), Bush jr. (8 years) and Hillary Clinton (4 or 8 years) that would make 24 or 28 years of the same group of people being in office.

I don't agree with everything McCain or Obama say but I really like the ideas that Obama has and his views on Racism and I think he is someone that our country can feel good about. I normally would not vote Democrat but I don't think that McCain is a very strong Republican either. I am a little worried about foreign policy but I feel like the presidency is more about who you surround yourself with. Beyond your cabinet I think it is the president's job to be a figurehead for America and to be someone that everyone can look to and be proud of.

Oh well, that is my political rant for the day.

Here is the link to my digg that made the front page. Digg Story

Long Time

2008-03-29T11:18:00.000-07:00

Wow so I haven't posted here in a while. It is always hard to remember to do it. I will try and keep it up more though. Not much is up, just living life, working in Beaverton, living in Salem. It is a long commute but gives me time to unwind during the drive.

I am trying to work on ripping all my dvd's to my computer so I can play them through my xbox 360 but the project is hard. I want to maintain quality and the surround sound but can't seem to get that part to work. Someone would make a lot of money if they could make an easy solution for digital management of a dvd collection.

Well hope all is well.

-Jesse

Crazy Weekend

2007-07-29T21:06:00.001-07:00

So I had a pretty interesting weekend. It started on Friday, I took the day off of work to spend with my Dad and Brothers. We decided to go boating on the Willamette. We have a favorite spot called Hebb Park in Wilsonville. It is a really nice park and a nice stretch of the Willamette. I got to my parents house at about 9:30 and we didnt get into the water until almost noon. But when we pulled into the parking lot at Hebb park we only saw one other Truck and trailer and we didnt see any other boats in sight on the river.

We spent almost the whole afternoon on the river and it was really sunny and a lot of fun. The river was very smooth and the water was warm and I have the sunburn to back it up. At the end of the trip I was riding on an Innertube and battling my brother who was on the other tube. As I went to get back in the boat after about a 45 minute ride I realized that somewhere along the way my wedding ring had fallen off and now rested on the bottom of the Willamette.

I was devastated. The ring really means a lot to me. I know it is just a material possesion and can be easily replaced but, it also holds a lot of memories to me. I remember picking it out a couple weeks before the wedding, I remember Christie sliding it onto my finger during the wedding ceremony, I remember wearing it and being so proud during out honeymoon in Puerto Vallarta (it got really beat up during the trip but it was a good reminder of the trip). I was pretty bummed but I also was really scared to tell Christie because I didnt want her to get mad. Well I told her and she wasnt mad she was sad like I was. We also dont really need to be spending money on a new ring for me right now either. Luckily I have awesome parents who are very loving and they saw how sad i was and my Mom called and said that they would replace it for me! How awesome is that. That is the end of that story, it was really long sorry. Now onto the other events.

WE GOT A HOUSE TO RENT....

We found a house last week that is 3 bedroom 2 bath in Southeast salem, It is a newer home with a big backyard and a 2 car garage. It is a pretty nice house. We looked at it on Thursday evening and applied the next day and then the owners called us on Saturday and let us know that they liked us and we could have the place!!! wooo hoo i am glad we were able to find a house it will be really nice to not be in an apartment anymore. There will be a housewarming party so watch for that. We should start moving in in the next couple of weeks.

Beer Festival

also on saturday Dave showed up at 8am with beer in hand. We went down to the Oregon Brewers festival and it was a lot of fun and we had a lot of really good beer. Dave drank too much (like always) and it was really hot. But it was a lot of fun and we saw a ton of people that we knew. Later that night we drank more and played Guitar Hero.

All in all it was a good weekend (except for losing my ring but it made me appreciate my parents a lot), I hope next weekend isnt nearly as crazy although we do need to start packing.... ugh.....

Housing Anyone? / UFC

2007-07-11T20:56:00.000-07:00

So Christie and I are going to be moving.... again, to Keizer. Christie wants to go back to school and i will just have a long commute. So if anyone knows of anywhere to live in Keizer or knows where to look for rental homes / townhomes please let us know.

Christie and I also went to UFC 73 in sacramento this past weekend. It was really good and a lot of fun. There were 4 or 5 really good fights. It was cool getting to see Tito Ortiz fight even though the fight ended up being a draw. Heath Herring and Big Nog was also cool. We stayed at a really nice hotel in downtown Sacramento. Sacramento was really a lot nicer than i was expecting it to be they have done a lot with the downtown area. It reminded me a lot of the pearl district here in portland.

Work has been going pretty good for me we finally have more help so that is really good, it is freeing me up a little to work on some projects i have had on the backburner for a long time.

Also i am getting really excited for the good sports seasons to start, I cant wait to go to a Blazer game or a Beavers game.

Goodbye Grandma

2007-06-12T21:57:00.000-07:00

My Grandma passed away a couple of weeks ago. It has been very hard for me, she is the first person even kind of close to me to pass away. My Grandparents have been a very big part of my life since my Mom had me at such a young age. They were always there for me and my Grandparents helped me through College and many other times. My Grandpa also is sick so i hope he can make it for a while longer. Below is her Obituary. Take a second to think about those you love and what they mean to you.

Mary L. Bolton

Oct. 9, 1932 â May 26, 2007

Mary Bolton, 74, died Sunday, May 26 at Regent Court in Corvallis after an extended illness.

She was born in Oklahoma City, Okla., to John Thomas and Pearl Weatherford.

She grew up in Grandfield, Okla., and graduated from Grandfield High School in 1950.

She married her high school sweetheart, Floyd E. Bolton, on Dec. 13, 1952 in Grandfield. They had two children: a son, Floyd Jr., in 1956, and a daughter, Kristi, in 1961.

Mary and her husband, who worked in international agricultural development, lived in Ethiopia (1962-1965), Turkey (1969-1973) and Tunisia (1981-1983). During this time they traveled to Europe, the Middle East, Australia and Mexico. They finally settled in Philomath in 1973.

Mary enjoyed bowling, the OSU Folk Club and volunteering at the OSU Thrift Store. Most of all she loved being a wife, mother and grandmother.

She is survived by Floyd, her husband of 54 years; sister Polly Byrns of Lawton, Okla.; son and daughter-in-law Floyd Jr. and Connie of Sacramento, Calif.; daughter and son-in-law Kristi and Jim McConnell of Tualatin; and grandchildren Will Nanof of Sacramento, Jeremy, Jordan and Kenzi McConnell of Tualatin, and Jesse and Christie McConnell of Wilsonville.

A private memorial service will be held in June.

Fans Save Jericho

2007-06-06T21:44:00.001-07:00

It was an unusual display of viewer might since networks usually put ratings ahead of even the most passionate, well-organized fan base. But CBS said the show deserved another chance, while cautioning that it must prove it has wider appeal.

read more | digg story

UFC Owners Buy Pride FC

2007-03-27T10:27:00.001-07:00

The majority owners of Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) have agreed to buy their biggest mixed martial arts rival, Pride Fighting Championships, in a deal that will establish megafights among the outfits' titleholders and possibly attract huge pay-per-view audiences.

read more | digg story

Juan Dixon out, Fred Jones is Blazers Trade for Hometown guy

2007-02-22T10:32:00.001-08:00

Freddie Jones played at a High School in Oregon and then at U of O. Should be a nice addition to a promising team.

read more | digg story

Date the 360, Marry the Wii, Kill the PS3?

2007-02-16T10:47:00.001-08:00

In the current generation console war, who would you marry, date, and kill? Here is what the Motley Fool had to say about the warfare, and why they picked the distribution listed in the title. An interesting opinion piece based on the financial situation for each console.Interesting perspective on the current Next Gen Systems War. I might have to pick up a wii at somepoint but right now I love my 360 and when I play the wii the superiority of the 360 really shines.

read more | digg story

Top 10 Web Tools For College Students

2007-02-15T13:35:00.001-08:00

These are some really cool web tools for college students. I really wish they would have had Google Docs while i was in college, I hated having to email files all over the place. The online power point presenter looks really cool too.

read more | digg story

Vista Performance Shootout: Upgrade Vs. Clean Installation

2007-02-15T13:32:00.001-08:00

Feature: Windows Vista uses an image-based approach to installation, so an upgrade should perform like a clean installation. We put that theory to the test.An interesting result actually, i would have though a clean install would be a lot better. I will be helping my parents upgrade soon so that is good news for them.

read more | digg story

Myspace - the worst major website

2007-02-15T13:22:00.000-08:00

Man I really dont blog enough on here, i need to find a consistent schedule and do it at least once a week. Even though i dont think anyone actually reads my blog. How is this site not 100 times more popular than MySpace? Myspace is by far the worst designed website that is in the mainstream. Easily the worst in the top 10 websites on the net.

Here are the top 10 websites in the U.S.

1.Yahoo!

2.Google

3. Myspace
4. Microsoft Network (MSN)

5. EBay

6. YouTube

7.WikiPedia

8. Thefacebook

9.Craigslist.org

10. Amazon.com

Of those Myspace looks the worst. Craigslist doesnt look amazing but its simplicity is nice and there arent a ton of broken links. Anyone else have any ideas on bad major websites? I know OregonLive.com is pretty awful too

The Prestige - My Review

2006-10-29T17:21:00.000-08:00

IMDB Link http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0482571/

So My Wife and I went Friday night to see "The Prestige". I am a big fan of Christopher Nolan (Memento, Batman Begins) I think his movies are very creative and for the most part are unpredictable. I am also starting to like Christian Bale a lot more, he has had a string of really good roles ( The Machinist, Batman Begins and started his career in Swing Kids). Overall the cast really shines for this movie (Hugh Jackman, Scarlett Johansen, and Michael Caine round out the cast)

"The Prestige" is about two magicians who have a rivalry after an accident on an illusion kills Hugh Jackman's character's wife. The movie is a little hard to follow as it moves around from present day to the magician's pasts. However, the movie is very creative and keeps you engaged many illusions are show and it is very interesting to try and find out how they are done. David Bowie makes a great cameo as the inventor of Tesla technology. I am not going to talk too much about the plot but the movie was a lot of fun even though i was able to predict the ending.

I would give it a 7.5 out of 10.

Going To UFC 65

2006-10-28T18:45:00.000-07:00

So My wife and I got tickets to another UFC fight. We already go to go to UFC 58 in vegas and that was a ton of fun. And now we are going to go to one in sacramento. It should be awesome. I just am not looking forward to driving all the way down there. But on the plus side we are going to hit up In-n-out burger and sonic burger since we dont have them here in oregon.

Beavers Beat USC!!

2006-10-28T18:39:00.000-07:00

ESPN.com - NCF - Recap

Beavers WIN!!!! How cool is this? I cant believe they actually held on and won! Should be a good Civil War this year.

Zillow partners with Yahoo

2006-07-21T14:09:00.000-07:00

Real estate site Zillow.com has partnered with Yahoo Real estate. If you havent used zillow before it is a really cool tool for finding out how much your house is worth and a good way to see what homes are selling for in your area.

read more | digg story

ESPN Chat with UFC Heavyweight Champ Tim Sylvia

2006-07-21T12:58:00.000-07:00

ESPN is finally covering UFC like it should be. Here they have a chat with Tim Sylvia and he gives some good insight on what it is like to be in UFC.

read more | digg story

Ubuntu 6.10 Edgy Eft Knot 1 Released - New Ubuntu Milestones released

2006-07-21T10:58:00.000-07:00

Ubuntu, probably the easiest and most friendly linux distro I have used is already being updated. Check out the new Milestones and screenshots.

read more | digg story

Portland, Or to get city wide Wi-Fi

2006-07-21T09:48:00.000-07:00

Portland is set to become one of the largest cities with free Wi-Fi. The service will be ad supported and is said to give speeds around 1mbps. People can also pay if they dont want the ads and they want higher speeds. The best part is there will be no cost at all to the city or the taxpayers.

read more | digg story

Rosters for NCAA Football 2007

2006-07-21T09:45:00.000-07:00

Looking for rosters for your Xbox, Xbox360 or PS2. This is where you will find them posted later today. These are the best rosters and really make the game a lot more fun when you can see real names rather than just numbers.

read more | digg story

Engagement Pictures

2006-06-05T23:25:00.000-07:00

Here are some of our favorite engagement pictures. We got about 10 that we really liked and these are our top 5. Greg Bae took the pictures and did an awesome job. He is going to take these 5 pictures now and touch them up and make them look even better. Let me know if you would like to see the rest of them! Enjoy!

Break-Up tops X-Men with $38.1 million My Take on the Movie

2006-06-04T16:49:00.000-07:00

I saw "The Break-up" this weekend. It was another just ok movie. There were some things I really liked about it and some things that were really off about it.

I really like that they had real fights in the movie and it dealt with issues that couples actually have to deal with, it was a very relateable movie for the most part. There were a couple scenes that were just way too cheesy or could have been taken out. The thing I didn't like about it was the ending. Although in thinking about it I am not sure how I would have preferred the movie end.

Vince Vaughn is funny and Jennifer is nice to look at. I would give it about a 6 out of 10.

X Men 3 I would have given a 4 or 5 out of 10.

Break-Up tops X-Men with $38.1 million - Movies - MSNBC.com

IMDB Link for The Break-Up

My Beautiful Fiance'

2006-05-31T19:01:00.000-07:00

I got some pictures back from my friend Greg taking engagement photos for Christie and I. I cannot even begin to express how lucky I feel for having a Fiance' and soon a wife that is as beautiful as Christie. I love her so much and she makes me so happy. This is a great picture my only regret is that i look goofy in it.

X-Men: The Last Stand

2006-05-30T19:34:00.000-07:00

Somehow this movie made 120 million over the memorial day weekend. Not really sure how, it wasnt that great of a movie and I didnt think Xmen had that big of a following. If anything that is good for the movie industry, hopefully the rest of the summer movies do well also. I know I am really excited for Superman and the New Pirates of the Carribean and for "The Breakup" this weekend, it isnt getting reviewed well but still looks fun.

Rotten Tomatoes - X-Men: The Last Stand

IMDB Link

First Day at Comcast

2006-05-30T19:21:00.000-07:00

So I had my first day at Comcast today. It was pretty cool, the people there all seemed really nice and friendly. I got up way early to make sure i wasnt late and ended up getting there in no time. So i sat around in the parking lot for a while, i think tommorow i will sleep in a little more. My cube is pretty nice and they gave me a really nice computer, I think i will even get a laptop also. The one complaint i have is that they dont let you use instant messenger and have it blocked so i guess that means no more at work for me. I guess that means i will get a lot more done. I setup my free cable and internet too so that is cool and I am going to get phone service finally. Anyhoo the job was fun and very interesting, I think i am going to really like marketing and comcast.

purevolume™ | Panic! At the Disco

2006-05-28T13:23:00.000-07:00

This is a great band with a very catchy and unique sound. Check them out.

purevolume™ | Panic! At the Disco

Matt Hughes Wins at UFC 60

2006-05-28T12:22:00.000-07:00

My buddy Matt Hughes won again last night beating the legendary Royce Gracie. There wasnt much doubt in my mind that he would win. Royce is great and a pioneer but the sport has changed so much since he fought in it, the athelets are just so much better now it is ridiculous. Also Mike Swick won he again beat the oponenent in under 3 minutes. Check out Swick's Myspace (He has a pretty cool blog and talks about what it is like to prepare for fights)
Swick's MySpace

Picture of me and my fiance with Matt Hughes

Cell Phones Suck

2006-05-28T12:18:00.000-07:00

I have been saying the same thing as this article for the past 3 years. My problem wiht cell phones is they are trying to do everything when really most people only need them to make phone calls. I dont want something that can take pictures, play songs, play games but then cant complete a phone call 25% of the time. I want to have my cell phone as my only phone but cant do this because the thing isnt reliable. I am just astonished that instead of getting phones that just work well they insist on having me watch tv on a 2 inch screen. - That is my rant for the day thanks!

Click Here To read the article in Wired Magazine I am referring to

New Puppy Pictures

2006-05-27T14:32:00.000-07:00

So I realized it had been a while since I had posted any pictures of my puppy and thought now would be a good time to update you. She just turned 1 year old on May 7th. She is a chocolate lab and is very needy always wanting attention (a lot like Christie). Anyways here are some new pictures of her. Look below at the older posts to compare to when we first got her.

New Job

2006-05-27T14:02:00.000-07:00

So I will be starting a new job on Tuesday, that is pretty exciting. I am going to be a marketing analyst at Comcast. They do tons of marketing so there should be quite a bit to analyze. I really think comcast will be good to work for and a pretty decent change from the gloomy environment of Hollywood.

In other news I am getting married on August 19th. I proposed to my fiance on april 24th and she said yes! There has been tons of planning for that but everything is going pretty well just tons to do. Want to see a picture of the ring? Of course you do.

Well that is all for right now. I will try and keep this more up to date and give details of the wedding and of the new job. I love you Christie!

UFC Trip to vegas

2006-03-06T12:42:00.000-08:00

Through Hollywood I got to go see a UFC fight in Vegas. It was so much fun. the Fight was Rich Franklin vs. David Leaseo. There were about 6 other fights too. After the fight Christie and I got to meet a bunch of the fighters and the president of UFC it was great and we got free drinks and food and everything. After the fight we went to the PURE nightclub in Ceasars. Christie also hugged Chuck Liddell and we are going to be on the DVD which should be out in a couple months.

Movie Showdown

2006-01-17T13:37:00.000-08:00

This is an interesting Page, it compares King Kong vs. Narnia vs. Goblet of fire on Box OfficeNarnia Looks like it could overtake Harry Potter, that would be pretty big news.

Saw Star Wars

2005-05-19T19:31:00.000-07:00

So I saw the new Star Wars movie. It is really good. I enjoyed it a lot and think that it really does a lot to tie in the older movies with the newer ones. I dont want to talk too much about it because i dont want to ruin it for anyone. But a lot of things are explained and there are actually some really cool twists even though everyone knows what happens for the most part.

I think if i had to rank the star wars movies I would rank them as follows

1) Empire Strikes Back (episode 5)
2) Star Wars: A New Hope (episode 4)
3) Revenge of the Sith (episode 3)
4) Attack of the Clones (episode 2)
5) Return of the Jedi (episode 6)
6) The Phantom Menace (episode 1)

There is talk of a tv show now to fill in the gap between episode 3 and 4.

OK Enough Star Wars

So I think I want to move but I hate moving. But I am tired of my apartment not having a washer and dryer in it and I wish I had a pool in my complex for the 3 days during the summer when it is sunny enough to use it.

Ok that is it for now.

Movie to see this weekend "Star Wars" (you wont be dissapointed)
CD to buy this weekend "Bright Eyes" - Either of the new ones

Star Wars

2005-05-18T17:56:00.000-07:00

So today was mildly Fun at work. Didnt do anything too exiciting. Everyone at work is all excited to see star wars, as am I. I am going tommorow morning. One of the perks of working at Hollywood is taht we "have" to go see movies. I think this movie should be pretty good.

So my friend that was in spain for a while said that there nobody does their own laundry and I like that idea. I would be up for the idea of dropping off my clothes and then picking them up a day later all folded and nice. I think they do that at laundromats here but it is expensive. As you may have guessed it is laundry time here at the McConnell household.

My movie pick of the week - "Team America: World Police" - It is a little raunchy but all with puppets and incredibly hilarious.