BigLukeIsAwesome

3 Things we American’s need to be done with

2011-11-23T10:26:00.001-06:00

1. Black Friday Madness

Starting the Christmas Shopping Season at Midnight on Thanksgiving is good for no one. The Bargains and Savings could all be the same at 8am, 9am, 2pm, It’s crazy and the whole camping out for a week to get a $200 Flat-Screen. Where do you work that you can get away with this... Oh wait.. you don’t.

2. Teenage Pop Stars from Canada

As soon as this kid has some pictures snapped of him holding a bong or is stopped for DUI that’ll be the end of that.Besides you're telling me there are no American Teenagers we can put to work as world's biggest Pop Star de Jour

3. Eating Thanksgiving Food at the Thanksgiving Pot-Luck at work

I like Turkey, Gravy, Mashed Potatoes, Dressing all that stuff... but when somebody does a half-assed job to make it for a pot luck, no thanks.. Let’s just do a Mexican themed Pot Luck and have fajitas or something.

The Elixer Green

2011-11-22T11:12:00.001-06:00

The Green Tube, not the Blockie Bottle

I go to Bath & Body Works every couple months to buy cologne and body wash. On arrival I open the doors put my head down and try to mentally block out the rainbow of smells and flavors attacking my nose pallet. I B-line to the right hand side of the store all the way at the back. I act as though I didn’t even hear the girl ask me if I was looking for something for my wife, girl friend or mother as I scurry past, and I grab the same 2 items I buy every time. They are 3rd shelf down from the top, 1 bottle “Blue” cologne and 1 “Green Body Wash” in the blocky bottle. Now, I call them Blue and Green NOT because I couldn’t be bothered to learn some snazzy vaguely descriptive name of the smell contained within. No, of all the things Bath & Body does that are annoying as hell they do this right.

They simply name their Men’s line of stuff the colors of the bottles they come in… It’s so simply it’s genius! No Mango Passion Rendezvous or Chocolate Watermelon Spirit Dance no Winter Star Fruit Peppermint. Just nice and simple White Cologne, Blue Body Wash, Green hand cream and so on. There’s only like 4 or 5 Colors and that’s it. The whole section is literally 2ft by 4ft… of the entire store. So I grab my 2 items and head to the line and the line never moves quickly. Why? Because everyone woman in line seems to have 6 coupons that never work in conjunction with the “buy this many get this many” deal they have going on at that moment. So there is a long discussion with the strangely pleasant cherub faced girls behind the counter. The women begin playing what looks to be a game of chess, as they slide items back and forth on the counter.. “With this coupon you can get 2 of these” slide two bottles in, slides other items back “none of these and 1 more from that self over there”, the counter girls says. Or, “With this coupon you can get 1 of these and with purchase of this bag you can completely fill it with items from that table”. It’s crazy and a bit tiring to watch.

So now after the counter girl has successfully completed 3 games of Body Lotion chess and a couple rounds of hand sanitizer Hokey-Pokey it is now my turn to play the game. I place my 2 items on the counter, 1 bottle Blue Cologne and 1 Green Body Wash in the blocky bottle and the counter girl asks if I have any coupons. I say no, because men are coupon retarded and I simply would like to pay full retail price and leave with the 2 items I have selected no more no less. But for some reason this does not compute with the pleasant cherub faced counter girl. She says “You’re in luck if you’d grab one of the fliers from the front of the store, in it you’ll find a voucher for by 2 get 1 free”. I say no thank you, A. because I’m a man and I’m coupon retarded B. because I have no need for more bottles of smelling products than the 2 I already have. Now when someone tries to give you something free and you simply say “no thank you” that should be the end of it, right? Not at Bath & Body no sir.

Now the counter girl is truly confused and I think maybe a little hurt that I don’t want a bottle of something of equal or lesser value to go along with my 1 bottle Blue Cologne and 1 Green Body Wash in the Blocky Bottle. “Just go grab something from those sections of blue or green shelves, you don’t even need the voucher I’ll just give you the coupon”, she says. No thank you, I say. Now she is truly puzzled. “Something from that table then” as she points. I’m good thanks. “Well if you get one more thing from the Men’s collection, I’ll give you a special coupon for that item”. She’s not giving up. At this point the women in line behind me are beginning to stir and snicker at the fact that I am coupon retarded. So I go grab a different kind of Green Body Wash this time in a tube, not a blocky bottle.

The girl, who is smiling widely. I’m sure feeling like she’s done her good deed for the day, saving me from not taking at least 1 “free” thing from Bath & Body Works. Her eyes even gave off a little sparkle as she rang me up. Telling me how I made a great choice and THAT body wash is the SAME she gets for her husband. She just knows I’m going to love it. She tosses my 3 bottles of smelly stuff in a bag and says “I put a couple coupons in the for next time” and if I call the number on the receipt I could get a free gift. I turn and head out the door a little dizzy from the whole experience. So a few days later I decide to try the new body wash, in the Green Tube, not the blocky bottle. It smelled pretty good in the bottle and long story short it didn’t smell as good on me. I had to marinade in it all day. So the moral of the story is just because it smells good in the bottle doesn’t mean it’s going to smell good on your body all day, and don’t try to leave Bath & Body Works without using one of there coupons it angers them.

My Art Collection

2011-10-23T20:47:00.000-05:00

So my niece has decided that a cornerof my office at home would be a perfect place for her growing collection ofart. This collection has taken a couple of months to build and it’s made up ofabout 20 pieces or so. As you can clearly see, she’s in her ‘Owl’ period. Ithink for an 8 year old some of it’s pretty good and I’m not sure where she’sgetting some of the more advanced artistic concepts. Like using multi-parts tomake a larger picture.

Crossed Palm Trees

2011-10-05T21:32:00.004-05:00

I find myself once again disappointed by the burger joint with the crossed palm trees. The burger is just ok and the fries, well, are just a bit sad. I mean do they intentionally cut them to be less than an inch long, making it impossible to dip them in ketchup? In all fairness though it would be impossible for ANY fast food joint to live up to the hype the In-N-Out Burger gets from it’s fans. But In-N-Out is in Texas now… So we can stop acting like it’s the end all be all of fast food burger joints. The mystique of it not being here is gone now. I know this is going to get some peoples panties in a bunch, and that I’m going to be told that I just don’t know how to order at In-N-Out… To you I say. Fine, take me, show me how to order at In-N-Out… but you’re buyin’.

No Training Wheels

2010-04-03T09:47:00.000-05:00

Went to the school with Natty to ride her bike, This was her first weekend without any training wheels. This is a little video of some pics I took.

Spoon & Bowl

2010-01-22T14:27:00.001-06:00

Spoon & Bowl
Originally uploaded by bigluketx

My Photo has been featured as the photo of the day on http://photopol.us

Cooking with Natalia Episode 1 - Peanut Buttler & Jelly

2010-01-13T10:31:00.000-06:00

Have you ever wanted to learn to make an awesome peanut butter & jelly sandwich? Learn how, The Natalia way!

You'll need

1 - Giant Pot of Peanut Butter
1- Jar of Grape Jelly
2- Slices of White Bread
1- Butter Knife
1- Spoon

Click Here to See it on YouTube in HD

This video was made while Natty & I were playing around ona Monday night, stay tuned for the next episode where Natty will show you the tricks to Deep Frying a Turkey!

The Boy

2009-12-30T10:33:00.000-06:00

To everyone that was looking forward to hearing about my new nephew. On Monday night my sister was taken to the hospital to learn that the baby had past. She was in labor all day Tuesday and delivered the baby around 8:45 Tuesday night. He was a little over 6lbs and about 19 inch. I cannot even begin to express how much it hurts to see my little sister and Pete hurting so badly. We all did get to see him and his sad yet very proud big sister did get to hold his hand to say goodbye to her baby brother before she even got to say hello.

It is all very sad

What's been going on?

2009-12-23T18:23:00.000-06:00

So, I’ve been absent from my blogging duties for the past couple months. Sitting here now it doesn’t feel that I’ve been all that busy at all. But as I take it all in I guess I have. So I’ll sit here on my deck, in shorts two days before Christmas, drink my glass of bourbon and tell you about what I’ve been up to.

When I last left you I had just bought a house. It’s a great house. Built in 1956, lived in and loved by the family who owned it before me for over 40 years. It’s in a quiet neighborhood right in the middle of the city. It’s slowly going from the house I bought to my ‘Home’. I have a fantastic patch of green grass that matches my green fence, a yellow kitchen and a bright red bedspread and 4 birdhouses.

Also since the last update the company that I’ve worked for the past 8+ years was sold. Talk about a shit your pants moment. I’ve just moved into my new house and the owner of the company comes in my office closes the door and tells me that he’s selling the company... FUCK!

That’s about all that went through my head…. FUCK

Although as things went forward with the sale the owner did tell that I took the news better than anyone else had and was the only one that DIDN’T ask what about ME. Maybe I’m just too stupid to know better.

As far as company takeovers go this one was as low impact as possible when it come to the big picture, since the company I worked for distributed the products of the company that took us over. Before we were very closely aligned with the bigger company, now we’re just owned by them. Other than working a lot of long hours to get the systems integration all square a way and up and running perfectly it hasn’t been too bad, yet.

What else…. My sister is due to have her son any day now. Name still not decided. I’ll have to keep you posted on that one.

I’m off to take some pictures… some thing I haven’t been able to do very much lately… Merry Christmas everyone

Big News

2009-09-27T21:38:00.000-05:00

After a long search the offices of BigLukeIsAwesome will be relocating to a new worldwide headquarters. I’m scheduled to close on my house on the 29th of September. It's in Arlington near Fielder & Randol Mill. It's a sweet little house with a nice yard and awesome neighborhood. These are just the first pictures but there will be more soon!
Flickr Set

My First Gallery Show

2009-09-21T22:34:00.001-05:00

My First Gallery Show
Originally uploaded by bigluketx

My first gallery show went better than I could have hoped... I just want to say thanks again to everyone that came out for my show. I had blast.. I'll keep you posted on my next one that will be coming soon.

Tweets, Twitters and Top 5 Lists

2009-08-11T12:12:00.000-05:00

It’s been kind of quiet around the BigLukeIsAwesome offices lately. Getting caught up in the long days of summer makes it tough to sit and blast out a blog post sometimes… and the heat… the oppressive, soul sucking, god damned heat.

More then anything else it’s Twitter. It’s so easy just to fire off a thought or comment that might have become an entire blog post and be satisfied with saying your piece in 140 characters or less.

I like twitter, don’t get me wrong. I enjoy the kind of wordsmithing it takes to convey a complete thought on Twitter. It can be very tricky. But I find it tough even boring to go back and blog about a topic I might have twittered about… I don’t want to be redundant.

The interaction on twitter is just faster… I can see comments right away and that’s the coolest part of all… Because it’s nice to know people are reading your stuff.

Maybe I just need more Ideas for Top 5 Lists, feel free to send’em I’ll do ‘em. If it’s some thing I don’t know about, I’ll just make it up as I go.

My Top 5 Baseball Movies

2009-05-25T23:22:00.000-05:00

Now that Memorial Day has past and summer has 'officially' started its times for a list of my top 5 movies in my favorite genre, the baseball movie. There are lots of movies about America’s Favorite Past Time. It’s tough to narrow it down to just 5…. But here we go.

5. 61* - The Story of Maris and Mantle and the chase for the single season homerun record.

4. Field of Dreams – The guy has voices tell him to build a baseball field in his cornfield so he can play catch with his Dad. I want to go to that field and play catch with my Dad and throw batting practice to Shoeless Joe. First movie on the list starting the all time best baseball movie lead actor.

3. The Sandlot – Every kid growing up had their version of a baseball palace, but not all of them were as cool as the Sandlot. Great movie with the added bonus’ of a great soundtrack and Wendy Peffercorn

2. The Natural – He called his bat ‘Wonder Boy’ and there wasn’t anything Robert Redford couldn’t do on a baseball diamond. This is the movie that gave us "The" Home Run Music.

1. Bull Durham – This movie has it all, great baseball action, great storyline and Susan Sarandon is hot. Crash Davis is the man.

Honorable Mention - The Rookie, Major League, Eight Men Out, League of Their Own (Tom Hanks is so genius in this movie)

Remembering Goofing Off At Work

2009-05-21T21:51:00.000-05:00

I was working at the Office Max Distribution Center... we used to play "tag" with this tape ball. She was a innocent caught in the crossfire. I can remember it like it was yesterday.

One of the guys that was in the "game" was standing about 30 yards away.. facing away from me. I had the tape ball (about the size of a softball) and he was in my sights. I had my laser sights locked on my target and I began a Bret Favre style hail-mary windup.

I bring my arm over and release the ball with the velocity of a patriot missile... I was happy inside knowing that this throw, when it struck my target, was going to destroy all and leave a heck of a welt. Perhaps sting for upwards of 15 minutes... OH THE JOY! I laughed maniacally.

Then... the tape ball I had fired on target with such precision, began to gently drift off course. I don't know if it was a breeze or maybe the simple flapping of butterfly's wings. But whatever it was... my perfectly aimed shot was NOT going to hit it's target. Oh the terror! I mean, I had unfurled a game ending shot and I though it was simply going fly right by my intended target and simply skip across the warehouse floor, and slide to rest under some dirty warehouse shelf. I was crushed.

BUT THEN... out of nowhere. SHE. Gloria! A more fitting name could not have been chosen by Tom Clancy himself. She was there. Stepping blindly and un-knowingly into the line of fire. My shoulder fired rocket of bubble wrap and packing tape, was now flying directly at the side of her head.

Then It Nailed Her.

The expression of fear, terror, shock and anger the likes of which I'd never seen or hope to see again came to her face through now watering eyes. I flurry of Spanish, English and a I think Japanese obscenities flew from her lips and she began to chase me and swat me with a clipboard... I think she put a Mexican voodoo curse on me that day.

Looking back now... I did fire the shot that ended the game, all it took was a innocent caught in the crossfire. We (the ones in the game) were all taken to the office and threatened within an inch of our jobs and all told that the "grab-assing and dick smacking" need to stop... THE WAR WAS OVER and I fired the last shot.

This achievement is on my resume to this very day

Top 5 Jimi Hendrix Covers

2009-05-19T10:33:00.000-05:00

I’ve always liked hearing cover songs. I like hearing peoples takes on the music they love. When it comes to Hendrix his style was so unique at the time and so copied and expanded on as years have past, I think it’s cool to see where these songs go in the hands of extremely capable musicians, like the ones on this list. These are my favorites.

5 All Along The Watchtower – Dave Matthews Band – It’s a cover of a cover, Hendrix covered this Bob Dylan song in 1968, but DMB does a great job with this song on the Live at Red Rocks album, it starts off slow and builds into a big, full, angry sounding version of the song

4 Little Wing – Paul Rodgers & Company – I’m not sure where this recording came from but it features Neal Schon (Journey, Santana) on Guitar, and I’ve always loved Paul Rodgers Voice, you can find it an album called The Hendrix Set

3 Bold As Love – John Mayer – Even though he burst on the music scene as softy pop star John Mayer’s guitar chops can not be denied. He is one hell of a guitar player. He does a hell of a job with my favorite Hendrix tune. Check out the live version on Where the Light Is. Also check out his stuff with the John Mayer Trio

2 Angel – Fiona Apple – I’m not sure where this one came from either. But it’s been on my MP3 play list since I was “barrowing” them from Napster way back in the day. It’s a slow sexy version that Fiona does so well.

1 Little Wing – Stevie Ray Vaughan – This is hands down my favorite song…ever. I’ve listened to at least 36000 and 1 times since the first time I heard. I used to just listen to it over and over. Release on The Sky Is Crying, after the 1990 helicopter crash that took his life. It’s nearly 7 minutes long and goes through the full range of tone and emotions… I love it.

Top 5 Tuesday - Top 5 Val Kilmer Movies

2009-05-12T09:28:00.000-05:00

My top 5 movies that feature Val Kilmer.

5-Top Gun

Classic Movie… Although I think it maybe one of the first chick flicks disguised as a dude movie. How can this ever be considered a chick flick you ask? Think about the whole volleyball scene. Then the whole love story plot line and Maverick loses his best friend Goose… but chick flick or not Val Kilmer is harsh as Lt. Tom 'Iceman' Kazansky

4-Wonderland

A crime movie based on true events, Kilmer plays porn actor John Holmes

3-Heat

This is just a flat out badass cops and robber’s movie. Kilmer is a hardcore thief with a bad gambling problem and smoking hot wife played by smoking hot Ashley Judd

2- Tombstone

Doc Holliday… Kilmer plays a badass in one of the most badass westerns of all time

1- Real Genius

Kilmer play a super-smart genius college kid that gets back at his A-hole professor, who’s selling his genius work to the government as weapon, by filling his house with popcorn. Hi-jinks in sues from start to finish in this movie. Why did I make it my number one, because anytime it’s on I must watch it, no matter what part of the movie I come in at. It makes me happy.

I suggest you watch'em all... This weekend. I know I will.

The Things I Think About When I'm Pooping

2009-04-10T14:23:00.000-05:00

It struck me this morning (whilst sitting on the throne), in 200,000 years of human evolution and technological advancement, that toilet paper and the Bidet are as far as the science of cleaning Ones back side has come. Nearly all other technology has and continues to progress at tremendous rates.

Think of things like the size of your first cellphone. Think of CD's and how cool and new they were not all that long ago... and how they are nearly non-existent these days. Heck go really low tech... Have you seen how many different alternatives and styles they have for the paperclip these days? Yet a squirt of warm water or a wad of tissue paper remains on the cutting edge of human backside care and cleanliness.

Believe it or not as humans we didn't immediately make the jump to soft paper for cleaning our backsides. Throughout the years people have used various items to do the job, things like... your hand, wool, grass, hay, leaves, sand, snow, fruit skins, corn husks and even corn cobs! NO THANKS!

In China at one point it was fashionable to use silk... that might be nice and some other cultures used lace. Toilet paper as we know it today has only been around since 1850's. Some 80 years AFTER the birth of the United States and just a few years before the US Civil War. Until that point people would keep piles of leaves outside their outhouses... Now that's something you DON'T see in the movies

Even stranger is the thought that the Bidet out dates modern toilet paper by nearly 100 years. It was initially a common piece of FURNITURE in the French BEDROOM... dirty Frenchies, as plumbing improved it was moved to the bathroom as a fixture next to the toilet.

Regardless of how you tidy up after doing your business enjoy your quiet time today.

One of my photos featured

2009-03-23T21:15:00.000-05:00

One of my photos is featured on the http://photopol.us/ blog. A blog for Dallas/Ft Worth photographers

What's in my camera bag?

2009-03-12T11:34:00.001-05:00

What's in my camera bag?
Originally uploaded by bigluketx

My Camera bag taking it’s self apart on my bed....

I decided to do a photo of all the stuff in my camera bag and instead of unpacking and snapping a couple pics I decided it’d be more fun if the bag un-packed it’s self. So instead of taking a couple minutes took about 2 hours of photos and editing….

The Inventory

Bag – Lowepro Fastpack 250
Mouse- Logitech V450 Nano Cordless Laser Mouse
Card Reader – Multi Card Reader from Radioshack
Pen – Uni-Ball 207 Blue
Flash – Nikon SB-600 Speedlight
Camera – Nikon D90 dSLR
Lens- Nikon 1.8f 50mm
Lens – Nikon 18-105mm VR
Diffuser – Gary Fong Puffer
Netbook – Acer Aspire One 8.9"

My Top 5 places to grab a burger in DFW

2009-03-10T21:48:00.001-05:00

My Burger
Originally uploaded by bigluketx

5. Central Market – FTW

Central Markets Burgers and Bocks is a nice way to spend a summer night in a family friendly atmosphere. A crew of Chef’s making burgers and a store full of almost anything you could want to go with it. Also they usually have cool music going on patio

4. Angry Dog- Dallas

I’ve always loved Angry Dog good burger heck everything I’ve ever had there is good.

3. Johnny B’s – Southlake

Good Burger in a family owned joint…. Great Fries. Good shakes too... but the one down side they serve their drinks in styrofoam... I don't like styrofoam cups. But the burgers is good enough it makes up for all sins at the soda fountain

2. Dutch’s – FTW

Dutch’s is AWESOME. The bun is perfect; patty is great, always good produce and outstanding fries... So close to being my tops

1. Lee Harvey’s - Dallas

Lee Harvey’s wins by a hair. Dutch’s is that good. The thing that puts Lee Harvey’s over the top for me, they top off all of their burgers with a Jalapeno. The fries and onion rings both are as good or better than anywhere around… but Lee Harvey’s is also one of the coolest dive bars you’re going to find anywhere in the entire country. I just wish they'd start cooking a little earlier, they don't start the grill til 5 and some times it would be nice to chill there have a burger and some beers on a Sunday afternoon,

Tenkiller Trip 2009

2009-03-04T12:55:00.001-06:00

Group 4
Originally uploaded by bigluketx

This just in... the 2009 trip to Tenkiller, OK... has been deemed LEGEN-wait for it-DARY

Click on the photo to see the photo set from the trip.

Really Really Cool

2009-02-02T12:04:00.000-06:00

Lately I've found myself getting sucked into blogs by people that are hyper-creative when it comes to photography, film & music... Not the blogs by people that critic these art forms. But the blogs of the people that actual do this stuff. It's very inspiring and amazing to me, their thought process and inspiration. Things they've learned and even what they do in their down time.

Anyway one of those blogs led me to this and I thought it was pretty cool.

http://wearesleepinggiants.com/

Steelers WIN!!!

2009-02-01T22:47:00.001-06:00

Steelers WIN!!!
Originally uploaded by bigluketx

Steelers win their 6th Superbowl... I was watching and celebrated with my niece Natty

I Rock A Neti Pot

2009-01-13T21:23:00.001-06:00

Neti Pot
Originally uploaded by bigluketx

I’ve always had allergies and for the last week and a half I’ve been sick and it’s not going away. So it’s Neti Pot time… You take this little pot fill it with some warm water a little salt packet, jam it in one side of your nose tilt your head a pour. The magical solution flows in your nose and out the other side… It’s a strange sensation. We’ll see it helps me kick this cold.

A fantastic YouTube Neti Pot Video

Texas Congressman Joe Barton is wasting the country's time

2008-12-10T19:38:00.001-06:00

Dear United States Citizens-

I'm sorry that my Congressman is a fuckup and doesn't have his priorities straight when it comes to what should be truly important and best for our country.

Not sure what I'm talking about? Read the following link

Story of how Joe Barton (Texas Congressman) is wasting the Nation's time

Please see my rant below... this was sent in an e-mail after I read the story myself... it's a little rambling and dis-jointed but I was pretty pissed off and blown away at the amount of balls it would take for a congressman to step out and hoist this up as a problem of national importance. Especially considering the current state our nation and world.

-The E-mail-

There are a about a billion things that congress should be looking into… the BCS system is not one of them.

How about that we have a War on… on 2 fronts for going on 5 years!

How about the fact that the economy is crap and every company under the sun is begging for loans from the government to bail them out, that they have NO intention of paying back.

How about the fact that kids can’t get a decent education in public schools.

How about the fact that not every person in this country can afford to see a doctor when they need to.

How about the fact that New Orleans, Houston and Galveston aren’t put back together yet.

How about congress looks into why its members are wasting money and time thinking about even talking about looking into the BCS

How about they stop giving universities public money to use on sports all together and Joe Barton, Bobby Rush and Michael McCaul have their congressional salaries stripped from them. Let put all that money to better use… maybe give it to families of fallen or injured soldiers… that’s just one thought… or maybe put it towards those same universities researching renewable, clean energy alternatives, or maybe even giving out a few more academic scholarships… that kids from public schools can’t qualify for because they have a god damn sub-par education.

These guys need to get there head out each other’s asses and quit dickin’ around… Yeah Texas got screwed in the BCS… but it’s not cute for a mother fucking elected official from Texas to go around thumping his chest about fixing the BCS on the country’s time or money. Keep your eye on the ball jackass… stick to matters of REAL public/national importance… football is a game.

If you are left with a bad taste in your mouth by this like me, please contact these congressmen and let them know. Better yet next time you're at the polls remember to look for other representation

http://www.joebarton.com/ - TX

http://www.house.gov/mccaul/ - TX

http://www.house.gov/rush/ - IL

Whiskey Tasting

2008-12-08T23:01:00.001-06:00

Tiny Bottles
Originally uploaded by bigluketx

Going on Whiskey tasting is quickly becoming my favorite way to spend a Monday evening. Good drinks, interesting people, good food, good stories, good times and good swag.

Tonight we went to a Bourbon tasting in Ft Worth put on by Majestic Liquors and Wild Turkey at Lambert's. It was a lot of fun.

More Information for your brain

2008-12-06T10:38:00.000-06:00

The human brain is amazing… It can do anything. The human mind is endless, greater in size than the infinite universe. It grows and adapts to anything. I know tons of studies have been done on how much information we (humans) process in the course of a day compared to just a couple decades ago. Information, knowledge truly is power and we crave it… unlike any other creature on the face of the earth. That is what separates us from the apes, not an opposable thumb.

How many times have you sat with the TV on while reading a book or surfing the internet. Some people’s mind craves information so badly they need it just to relax… do you sleep with a TV or radio on? I do. We don’t even need meaningful information… just something going into our mind… Hell as a I sit here typing this my music player is tracking through the tunes on my computer as I keep one eye towards the TV watching ESPN highlights I’ve already seen four times this morning.

And we can process it so quickly… well some people do.

For instance… searching the internet for the “first car accident” you’ll find a couple different accounts. I’m talking about the first car accident in history. One talks about the first fender bender between a car and a horse and buggy, another is an account of a car driving into a wall. So how does this relate to how humans process information? Well I’m sure these accidents happened at speeds under 25 mph and the cars involved were probably the only car around for hundreds of miles.

Compare that to today, a lot of the time a person can drive down a busy city street or freeway with hundreds of other cars generally going faster than the posted speed limit, jamming out to music, reading road signs, street signs and billboards… most of the time talking on a cell phone or sending a TXT message. I’ve done it myself. I mean there are A LOT of split second decisions to be made when driving a car down the road at 70mph. It seems mundane now, but it’s pretty amazing when you look back at how we got here and what we’re capable of.

All that being said…. When I’m looking for an address when I drive, I still turn down the radio.

Son of the Beard

2008-12-04T00:25:00.000-06:00

Last Year was "The Beard"

This Year.... "Son of the Beard"

Damn my hair looks good in this pic

Who is that???

2008-11-19T12:28:00.000-06:00

This past weekend my niece and I were riding to my place and I was asking her things like what color is a tree. She’d say green, and I’d ask what color is my shirt and she’d say orange. We did this for most of the trip and I started running out of things to ask… So I asked what color is Big Bird… she thinks for a second… and I say you know… Big Bird. She says… uh… Who is that?

What the hell man? My niece doesn’t know Big Bird. I’m pained by that… she will be getting a good dosage of Sesame Street starting soon. This is going to make Christmas shopping easy.

Music Jogs the Memory on a Saturday Morning.

2008-11-15T11:09:00.000-06:00

So surfing the web this morning, between dealing with loads of laundry… My Zune player cranked up on the computer just shuffling through the songs and Dick Dale pops on. Since I’m about twenty two inches away from my speakers and I have the volume at about 90 it reminded me about the time I saw him live…. Then I started to think about other shows I’d seen and just some of the things about those shows that really stand out to me in my mind. So let’s do the list… Shall we.

-Dick Dale-

Curtain Club Dallas… This is a small club, about 200 people max… I might be overstating, anyway. At the time Dick Dale is like 100 years old, this was like 10 years ago. I remember the big black X’s on the backs of my hands. Which were washed off quickly so I could buy big Oil Cans of Fosters.

Dick Dale comes out and sets to straight up shredding his Stratocaster surf style…and I swear the amps were turned up to 20. The loudest show ever… not only did my ears bleed a little but my nose, my eyes and I’m pretty sure I suffered some internal trauma do to the volume level at that show.

-Toadies -

If you want to lose weight fast go to any Toadies show in Texas… especially in July, August or September. Doesn’t matter in-door, out-door, big venue, small venue. Anywhere short of a giant refrigerated warehouse and it’s going to be hot. Real HOT, usually about 120 degrees and sticky. Last time I saw the Toadies I lost 93lbs sweated out in the span of about 2 hours.

-Drowning Pool-

Girls Shouldn’t Mosh. Honestly I don’t think that anyone should, but you get to see some crazy stuff when drunk/high young white dudes start listening to that aggressive music. I saw a girl get knocked out cold at Trees.

Ok my playlist has moved on and so has my inspiration… Now I want pancakes. Remember James Brown says "I don't know Karate... But I know Crazy"

Fall is hitting Texas

2008-10-22T21:01:00.000-05:00

Fall is hitting Texas... it's 60 degrees outside I have the windows open and the music playing... I love it. Another symbol of fall.... Corn Dogs at the State Fair of Texas

Deep In the Heart of Texas

2008-10-01T21:39:00.000-05:00

I'm spending the week in Lubbock for work. So I'm doing a lot of catching up on my interneting. So part of my interneting is my blog that has been too long left un-updated.

I'm watching a Food Network show about pizza and it makes me want to go to Chicago. I'm glad I'm going to be going soon.

Art by Natty

2008-09-01T22:18:00.001-05:00

Art by Natty
Originally uploaded by bigluketx

This week was my Niece's first week at kindergarten. One of her projects this week was to draw something she loved. She drew me and her. It's the cutest thing ever. We're at a party.

The Internet has ruined the Olympics for me

2008-08-18T21:16:00.000-05:00

The internet has ruined the Olympics for me and it has nothing to do with how fast information can make it around the world. It doesn’t bother me that news sites and blogs publish the final result of competitions hours before they will be televised to the US in primetime TV.

So how exactly has the internet ruined the Olympics in my opinion… Right now I’m watching the Women’s trampoline competition. These gymnasts are flying at least 15 feet in the air, bouncing and flipping and doing these amazing things… But what am I doing? Bracing myself for them to fly completely off the trampoline or miss a stunt and fall crashing to the mat in disaster. We’ve all seen the thousands of videos floating around on the internet of these kinds of fiascos. Not to say that every video on the internet is of a world class athlete crashing to the ground in a heap of destruction... but I'm watching this stuff tonight and I'm just kinda waiting for the punchline.

Damned Internet, It ruins everything.

Reckless Kelly Is Cool

2008-07-30T19:31:00.001-05:00

Reckless Kelly is cool. I'm really digging their newest album, Bulletproof. It's one of those that I can listen to from start to finish without skipping songs. Also the album cover is kinda crazy looking. If you're into Alt-Country or Country Rock you'll probably like it too.

Also lately I've been into an album called 1861 by Moreland & Arbuckle. This is real deal blues. I don't care for the term nitty gritty... But that's exactly what they are. I found this band, out one night in Dallas with some friends just driving by a bar I'd never been in before but we could hear them from the outside at the stop light. Very cool band. They were just a 3 piece in there kicking ass on a Thursday night. Playing to about a dozen people it was really fun to watch and hear.

I feel super... really.

2008-07-28T22:20:00.001-05:00

Medicine
Originally uploaded by bigluketx

I don’t know if anyone else was like me, but remember taking NyQuil as a kid and how nasty it was… I’m talking Old School NyQuil. The green black licorice flavor before they came out with the so tasty cherry. I would have trouble choking down the tiny cup of syrup. But now after years of practicing on some pretty nasty drinks at the bar… and countless shots of Jagermiester I’m proud to say I can damn near drink half a bottle of NyQuil in one sip. See how far I’ve come. I can now feel it kicking in and need to go night night.

Niagara Falls Is Awesome

2008-07-12T13:09:00.001-05:00

American Falls From The Water
Originally uploaded by bigluketx

It’s really something that you need to see to believe. Just how much water flows down the river and over those falls is amazing. My Niagara Falls Photo Set

I haven't been very inspried lately

2008-05-12T21:51:00.001-05:00

piclens
Originally uploaded by bigluketx

I haven’t been very inspired lately. I don’t have much to say here on the blog and my flickr page has just been snapshots. Any even the snapshots haven’t been coming very regularly lately. But I feel my loyal reader deserves a new update to look at. So I thought I’d talk about something cool I’ve found for flickr.

Piclens is a really cool little toy for looking at flickr. I hear it works with other sites but I haven’t played with it on anything but flickr. It makes flickr look awesome. I really can’t explain how cool it is, you just need to see it. But it’s a little plugin that works with most browsers. Go download it and check it out.

Go check it out at www.piclens.com

Jib Jab Makes Me Laugh

2008-04-03T11:04:00.000-05:00

Don't send a lame eCard.
Try JibJab Sendables!

Gadgets for my Pocket

2008-03-24T19:48:00.001-05:00

Gadgets for my Pocket
Originally uploaded by bigluketx

These days I’m carrying a couple new gadgets. The Sprint Palm Centro smart phone and the first gen Zune 30GB Multi-media player.
First the Centro, I’ve been using this phone for about 3 weeks and the more I use it, the more I like it. I’ve been very happy with it so far. As a phone I’ve had no dead spots, reception issues or dropped calls. As a smart phone I’ve been extremely happy with it, I’m still figuring out how to use each of the little bells and whistles. But I as figure out each one and start to use it I just like it more.
Here are a couple of the high lights.
1. Chat Style Text Log – it keeps texts in a conversations layout so you don’t have to jump back and forth from the inbox to outbox. It makes texting a breeze

2. Sprint Mobile Mail – One place to access all my e-mail when I’m on the move. Right now I have my work account and personal Gmail accounts setup. I’m not sure what the maximum number of accounts you can config on Mobile Mail is but it handles both of these accounts very well.

3. Google Maps- I love this app on any platform I can get it and like it a lot on my previous phone. But on the Centro it’s even better.

The only two low points are battery life could be better, but that’s with any phone. The second is the keyboard is a bit small to keep the phone as whole as small as possible, but really with some use I’ve gotten a lot faster with it and tend not to even notice it now.

Now on to the Zune.
Last week I picked-up a first generation 30GB Zune for $199, not a bad price for a full blown 30GB Multimedia player. So far I’ve been very happy with it. The Zune software is awesome and the player itself plays just about anything. The interface is very easy to pickup and start using right away and things like wireless syncing require almost no setup and just worked…. For a Microsoft product this is frickin’ amazing.
One of the cool things the Zune software does is keep track of plays and shows you stats about artists and songs played. It’s nerdy but I like it! Then once you’ve linked your Zune to a user account it can automatically populate a little web gadget that you can stick on a blog, website, MySpace, Facebook, etc… to share what kind of music you’re listening to with the world.

The BigLukeIsAwsome Score
Centro – 5 Stars for Awesome
Zune – 5 Stars for Awesome

Snow Day In Texas

2008-03-06T20:55:00.001-06:00

Snow Day
Originally uploaded by bigluketx

Here in Dallas we got a down fall of snow today. This was the real deal snow too... not the freezing rain and sleet we usually see... The so called"Wintery Mix".

Playing With The Dogs

2008-02-10T23:26:00.000-06:00

Playing with my dogs... I threw the ball for about an hour... But they were still more interested in the ball then getting a drink.

Observation!

2008-01-31T18:35:00.000-06:00

Has anyone else noticed that one of the greatest American actors of the last 40 years has been quietly absent from the Hollywood landscape. According to IMDB.com Gene Hackman hasn’t been in a movie since Welcome to Mooseport in 2004. I bet you’re surprised, as I was, to find this out.

How can this be, you ask? Trust me I know what you’re saying.

It’s a tough task to give anyone, search through one day of American Cable TV programming and NOT find at least 1 movie that has Gene Hackman involved in it. I’m not sure that it could even be done. I mean the man has at least 1 movie on TV every single day. Now because of this fact it’s easy to see why Eugene Allen Hackman has been gone nearly 4 whole years without anyone noticing. HE’S BEEN HIDING IN PLAIN SIGHT!

You look at the weekend programming on TNT and TBS alone, you’re bound to find at least 2 of his movies any weekend of the year. So that leaves me at this… WHERE HAVE YOU GONE GENE HACKMAN?

Gene please shoot me an e-mail, just wanna make sure everything is ok.

What do you do with your change?

2008-01-29T22:42:00.001-06:00

It's all pocket change
Originally uploaded by bigluketx

What do you do with your pocket change? I bet, if you’re like most people you have some kind of jar, dish, bowl, bottle, bag or bucket you toss it into full of coins that’s not to mention that change in your car. In my car I have change all over the ash tray, glove box, floor, seats and I even have a nifty little coin holder that hides in the center console that’s full and all the loose change floating around in the console its self. I know I’m not alone, I’d bet most anyone has change lying around in this way.

I have an uncle that has a few 5 gallon water bottles FULL of change stashed away in his basement. By his guess he’s got a few thousand dollars in those jugs. Thousands of dollars… doing nothing, except collecting dust. Now I’m not saying there’s anything wrong with it, people have saved money in lots ways, Stuffed in mattresses, shoe boxes, jars and even big ol’ water jugs. But in this case it started out as something simpler than that.

In the case of my uncle I think it started out with a bowl. He’d come home at the end of the day and toss his change in a bowl he keeps on his work bench. When the bowl was full he’d dump into a bigger container. When that container was full he’d dump it into a bigger one until he’d filled up an entire 5 gallon water jug. But it all started with that bowl and no simple way to do anything with it.

So when I think about my bucket of change, my uncle’s water bottles and everyone else that has change lying around it’s got to be millions and millions of dollars just sitting. Why? Well because it’s a pain in that ass to carry change all the time and it’s even a bigger pain in the ass to count it and roll it up to take to the bank for deposit. Now I’m not the first one that’s had this thought which is evident by the existence of companies like CoinStar. Their cool little green kiosk can be generally found in the front of your local grocery store and if not CoinStar then some other reasonable facsimile of it.These companies like CoinStar charge fees to sort and count your spare change, Which a lot of the time is reasonable enough considering what a pain it is to do it the old fashion way.

Now we get to my point in this whole thing. Why in the world do banks just let companies like CoinStar just have this business? Now it seems to me that for the banks to stick a similar automated sorting and counting machine in the lobby for customers to use is a no-brainer. How much money could that open up to spending, who knows. So come on big banks… Bank of America, Wells Fargo, Chase here’s an opportunity. Figure it out… Rolling the coins and marking them with my account for deposit is a real pain in the ass. There's a little common cents for you... haha get it common cents.

2008-01-26T14:42:00.001-06:00

Today I was bringing home groceries and it struck me… I’ve never seen anyone in my building ever bringing in any groceries…. Or anything for that matter, strange. What the hell do these people eat?

11... The New Dozen

2008-01-13T22:21:00.000-06:00

11 Flour Tortillas….??? So I’m looking at this bag of tortillas… why would it be 11? Not 10 or 12 but 11. Maybe because 11 is perfectly divisible by 1... Or is that 11 is what they call a “Baker’s 10”... I don’t know . Ok, I just made that baker’s 10 thing up. I’m thinking that someone ordered the bags wrong and they figured what the hell. Nah…. It couldn’t be that simple. Oh well I’m off to make 11 tacos.

BBQ Chicken Pizza

2008-01-10T18:13:00.001-06:00

BBQ Chicken Pizza
Originally uploaded by bigluketx

Pizza Pizzazz!!!!! I love this thing... I got it a couple years ago for Christmas... Although it is kinda of a silly looking contraption it does make a pretty good pizza.... If you're into doctoring up your pizzas from the freezer you'd love this thing.... This one here is a BBQ Chicken Pizza I threw together on a pre-made crust.

The Day I Turned 29

2008-01-04T16:13:00.001-06:00

The Day I Turned 29
Originally uploaded by bigluketx

Yesterday (Jan 3) was my birthday. I turned 29, I'm sure that was the most interesting thing you've learned today. I haven't blogged in awhile, I've come close a couple times but nothing has really struck me.

I actually kinda of like this picture of myself, generally I don't care to look at myself in photographs. I took it in a rush at about 5 minutes to midnight. Then I rushed to post it to my flickr page so it would be up before January 3rd had passed.

So Happy Birthday to Me, Take a look at the cake my sister made me.

Fun Blog Toy

2007-12-08T10:48:00.001-06:00

I saw this on Paperlilies Blog. It's fun little tool that checks your blogs readability.

I was a little shocked that I got genius readability. I'm not sure how it judges, I don't think I write that well.

Tis the season for a blog post with a list in it.

2007-12-08T10:13:00.000-06:00

So I'm sitting on my couch watching Scrooged and it inspired me to do a list of my favorite Christmas movies. My Mom is a Christmas lady, so the house was always completely decorated and Christmas movies were about the only thing on the TV from Thanksgiving night to New Years Eve.

Now it's time for the list.
My top 5 Christmas Movies

Christmas Vacation
Love Actually
A Christmas Story
Scrooged
The Santa Clause

Honorable Mention - Earnest Save Christmas, White Christmas, Home Alone

Sweet Dreams

2007-11-15T23:57:00.000-06:00

Right now my bed is the happiest place on the planet. The sheets are cool the room is cold I’m sitting in bed…. Blogging. I’m only moments away from sliding all the way under the covers, pulling them up to my chin and sleeping like rock.

I still do something now that I did when I was kid. When I get in bed and the conditions are just right, like tonight, I slide under the covers and do this kind of full body vibrate/shake in excitement. I can’t be the only person in the world that does that…

Well I’m off to bed. Sweet Dreams

What's On My DVR?

2007-10-24T21:06:00.000-05:00

So there you are surfing the web and perusing through all of blogdom and I bet you find yourself wondering. What is on the DVR at the BigLukeIsAwesome home office... Right? That’s what I thought. So you want to know what’s on the DVR.. Which basically amounts to what are my favorite TV shows of the moment, let’s see what makes the list.

How I Met Your Mother - CBS Monday

By far my favorite show. I’ve been watching this show since the first episode, its genius. This show really captures the feeling of being in your late 20’s. It’s easy to see little of my friends in all the characters on this show and it has NPH. (Neil Patrick Harris)

The Office - NBC Thursday

The cast is great!

30 Rock - NBC Thursday

Tina Fey HOT... Alec Baldwin is genius on the show.

Saturday Night Live - NBC Saturday

I think the current cast is as good as it's ever been on the show.

Big Bang Theory - CBS Monday

I'm a geek. Funny Geeks on the show.... I hope this show sticks around

Three Sheets - MojoHD Check Local Listings

A Funny Guy (Zane Lamprey) travels the world drinking with the locals (Hello Dream Job)

Have Fork Will Travel - Food Network Tuesday

Same Funny guy as Three Sheets, Travels the world eating with the locals

MythBusters - Discovery Channel Check Local Listings

Nerd Stuff, Kari Byron.. NICE!!!!

Rules of Engagement - CBS Monday

Puddy is funny on the show

So there you go... That's what's on my DVR.. now I'm going to watch some TV.

I love Oktoberfest!

2007-10-17T22:52:00.001-05:00

A Cup of Cheer
Originally uploaded by bigluketx

Oktoberfest is the best time best time of year, I think. One day I'll have to make a trip to Munich to see the real Oktoberfest.

Kari Byron is HOT!

2007-10-03T21:15:00.001-05:00

Mythubusters is one of my favorite shows and some how the geniuses at Discovery Channel have managed to figured out a way to make sure that it’s on TV any time I want to watch it. If you’ve never seen the show there’s tons of super cool nerdy stuff in the show. Explosions, Experiments, Guns, Cars, Explosions and one of the shows hosts has a sweet "Evil Scientist" mustache.

But by far my favorite part of the show is Kari Byron. The geeky sexy babe-o-matic is not only hot and sexy.. but brainy and hot and sexy..

If you've never seen her check out Kari’s photo shoot at FHMOnline

She's by far the Hottest Myth Busting Babe on TV.

I wonder how many there are????

2007-10-02T21:24:00.000-05:00

Just think about every BAD song there is on the radio. There must be millions and millions of truly horrible songs that A: will never or B: SHOULD never be heard. Right now I'm sitting in a coffee shop and I'm hearing a handful of those songs at this moment. I'm all for art and expression.... but damn it spend some time in YOUR room working your stuff out dude. Just because it's Tuesday doesn't mean that you have to have your new song drop on the world at any unsuspecting open mic night. But, then again I'm still sitting here drinking my Iced Tea.

I'm not a buzz kill.

DMB Show

2007-09-24T20:28:00.001-05:00

Grace is Gone
Originally uploaded by bigluketx

I was at the Dave Matthews Band show here in Dallas this past saturday, it was a pretty good time. My Sister took me she had spare tickets. It was at the Smirnoff Music Complex (Starplex) which is in my opinion is the least intimate place to see live music… I mean this place is my last choice to see any band. But the show was a good time, hung with friends before and after the show. My only real complaint was with the venue.

Check out DMBAlmanac to see the set list