Category Archives: Willy

Carla, Dawn, Derrick, Fisheye, House, Jay, Jesse, Mom, Naima, Teresa, Willy

The Floor

After years and years of talking about it, I finally removed my carpet from my great room and finished the floor while I was on a vacation. It was a multi-day project that involved several days of just removing furniture and I’m still in the process of putting furniture back in, although some of the furniture has been downsized.

Here are some photos of the process:



Before the process began.


Before the process began.


Before the process began.


Before the process began.


Random picture of my WB Joe!


End of Day 1


End of Day 1


End of Day 1


End of Day 1


End of Day 2


End of Day 2


End of Day 2


End of Day 3


End of Day 3


End of Day 3


End of Day 3


Ready for Finish


Ready for Finish


Ready for Finish


Ready for Finish


Naima, frustrated by the process.


Done


Done


Done

There aren’t pictures of the finished project yet because it isn’t quite finished yet. I need to order new pictures for the walls and Jeff and I are going to be drilling some holes in the wall in the near future. I might post pictures again when it was done, or you might just have to come visit me.

I’d like to thank my amazing floor crew. In particular, Carla and Jesse that helped a ton. Carla came over at midnight to help put on the last coat of finish, which was pretty amazing. But also:

 

  • Derrick
  • Willy
  • Jay
  • Dawn
  • Dawn’s Kevin
  • Teresa

My Mom was also a big help by giving Naima and I a place to crash while the finish dried and the fumes were at their most toxic.

Now that this project is complete (almost), the painting of the house seems so much more doable. Plus, it will require a larger crew. Not that I’m trolling for volunteers…

Andree, Angie, Baier, Basketball, Becky, Bill, Brandon, Dawn, Derrick, Faust, Jason, Jesse, Logan, Lowell, Mark, Micky, Robert, Russell, Shawn Lockner, Willy

Sadness Ensues…

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“When I was a child,
I caught a fleeting glimpse
Out of the corner of my eye,
I turned to look but it was gone,
I cannot put my finger on it now,
The child is grown,
The dream is gone,
I… have become comfortably numb”
-Pink Floyd

It is true, one of the saddest days of the year is upon us. The end of the college basketball season. While it is sad that the college version of the greatest game has ended, there are only 12 long days until Iowa State’s Spring Game. That gives me something to look forward to.

The end of college basketball also means that somebody will be crowned the newest King of the Roudnball Oracles. A person that will reign over the prognostication universe for 1 year. Their opinions held in admiration and their words written down and studied for meaning. Then 1 year from now they will be thrown out in the streets to fend for themselves in what is usually a vain attempt to defend their title. Sometimes, the thought of defending their title is too much and defending champions don’t show back up to try and repeat their glory and double their immortality.

That was the case this year. Lowell Davis didn’t return to defend his kingdom, laid down his scepter, and abdicated his thrown. Don’t think for a second that this was because of some type of cowardice on Lowell’s part. The truth is that he was in Tennessee when the brackets were filled out and he was unable to participate since electricity hasn’t been invented in the Volunteer State yet.

The man that stepped up to accept the responsibility of ruling this kingdom for a year:

 

William McAlpine

 

Mr. McAlpine joined Mark Wolfram as the only other man, woman, or child to hoist the Roundball Oracles Championship Trophy a third time. Which can mean only one thing: the rest of you need to pick up your game next year. We can’t have two people dominating this pool! Their reign of terror must be ended. Hopefully without a dull thud and a head falling into a basket.

Without further adieu, I present the final standings for the 2013 Roundball Oracles NCAA Tournament Pool:

Place Competitor Score Correct Champion Last Year
1. William McAlpine 266 39 Louisville 6th
2. Jason Stensland 253 39 Louisville 8th
3. Jesse Howard 251 40 Louisville 10th
4. Shawn Lockner 247 39 Michigan 21st
5. Jon DeWaard 242 38 Louisville 11th
6. Angie DeWaard 236 36 Louisville 4th
7. Corey Faust 234 38 Indiana 2nd
8. Mark Wolfram 231 36 Indiana 7th
9. Jordan Toot 218 36 Louisville 28th
10. Robert Henning 208 36 Indiana 5th
11. Frank Meiners 206 37 Gonzaga DNP
11. Logan Kahler 206 38 Kansas DNP
13. Sean Clubine 201 37 Miami DNP
14. Derrick Gorshe 200 32 Louisville 12th
15. William Wentworth 199 36 Kansas 15th
16. Jackson Faust 197 35 Gonzaga 14th
17. Toby Sebring 193 34 Kansas 26th
18. Brandon Kahler 189 34 Syracuse 27th
19. Carrie Baier 188 34 Michigan State 20th
20. Jen Ensley-Gorshe 178 34 Indiana 18th
21. Elizabeth Nordeen 176 32 Iowa State DNP
22. Tim Peterson 174 33 Miami 16th
23. Dawn Krause 173 33 Duke 9th
24. Jason Baier 171 33 Miami 3rd
24. Russell Kennerly 171 33 Indiana 22nd
26. Michelle Haupt 170 32 Ohio State DNP
27. Becky Perkovich 166 32 Ohio State 29th
28. Andree Jauhari 165 32 Kansas DNP
29. JJ Baier 163 30 Ohio State DNP
29. Nader Parsaei 163 32 UCLA 13th
31. Michael Augustin 157 32 Indiana 19th
32. Ben Baier 156 26 Butler DNP
33. Your Humble Narrator 139 28 Miami 25th
34. Will Baier 121 14 La Salle DNP


Willy (re)-joins the list of immortals:

Roundball Oracles Champions

  • 2013 – William McAlpine
  • 2012 – Lowell Davis
  • 2011 – Carrie Baier
  • 2010 – Mark Wolfram
  • 2009 – Mark Wolfram
  • 2008 – Mark Wolfram
  • 2007 – Tim Peterson
  • 2006 – William McAlpine
  • 2005 – William McAlpine

I’m already excited for next years tournament.  It is no secret that Iowa State is the rooting team of the grand majority of Oracles, with a few Hawkeye and Kansas fans sprinkled in to mix things up.  Plus a few statistical anomalies, (like a UCLA fan) on top for garnish.  I anticipate Iowa will actually join the tourney field again next year.  Iowa State should have at least  a fighting chance to get back to the dance as well.  We lose a bunch, but some of the recruits coming in are heralded and I wouldn’t bet against Hoiberg going up against a Big 12 that I expect to be down next year.  Plus don’t forget that Michigan will be getting a taste of Hilton Magic next year. 2013-14 should be another great season!  Remember the name Monte Morris.  I’m guessing you will know it very well next year.

Plus, Steve Alford will be choking at an entirely new school next year!  What was UCLA thinking?

I guess some of you are expecting me to defend my dreadful performance in this year’s pool.  I won’t.  The slogan for this year’s pool was: Prophecy, Revelation, Augury, Luck?  Quite frankly 32 people got lucky. I know that my silky smooth jumpshot and my vast array of dribble penetration moves don’t translate into prognostication, but next year, I guarantee you I will finish higher than 33rd. Even if that means I have to limit the pool to 32 combatants.

Angie, Baier, Basketball, Becky, Bill, Brandon, Dawn, Derrick, Faust, Jason, Jen, Jesse, Lowell, Mark, Micky, Nader, Robert, Russell, Shawn Lockner, Teresa, Tim, Toby, Willy

Roundball Oracles – Year 9

March Madness is upon us once again. Which means it is that time of year when I call upon all would-be-basketball-prognosticators to compete in an NCAA tourney bracket pool for the chance at everlasting glory, immortality, and a trophy.

As always, the Roundball Oracles is open to all interested parties, and yes to even uninterested parties as well. Regardless of basketball knowledge or basketball ignorance. Heck, I might even let my dog enter this year. After all, there is a tremendous amount of luck involved in this competition, so there is no reason for you to be intimidated by how well versed I am in the motion offense. You should only be intimidated by me on an actual basketball court. Even though I’ve admittedly lost a step, but I’m spending the offseason getting that step back, but that is an entirely different story…

As always, there is no entrance fee, but pride and my research indicates that pride is a low calorie snack, so swallow it and get in the game.

The champion will be given a trophy. I would normally at this time insert a picture of last year’s champion hoisting last year’s trophy, but I admittedly, still owe him a trophy.

Last year we had a record 29 prognosticators (as of this writing, 9 people have already signed up). I don’t think it would be too crazy to hope to break that record this year.

2012 Final Standings

1. Lowell Davis
2. Corey Faust
3. Jason Baier
4. Angie DeWaard
5. Robert Henning
6. William McAlpine
7. Mark Wolfram
8. Jason Stensland
9. Dawn Krause
10. Jesse Howard
11. Jon DeWaard
12. Derrick Gorshe
13. Nader Parsaei
14. Jackson Faust
15. Bill Wentworth
16. Tim Peterson
17. Mike Donner
18. Jen Ensley-Gorshe
19. Michael Augustin
20. Carrie Baier
21. Shawn Lockner
22. Russell Kennerly
23. Shaun Kirsch
24. Teresa Kahler
25. Your Humble Narrator
26. Toby Sebring
27. Brandon Kahler
28. Jordan Toot
29. Becky Perkovich

Lowell was able to chisel his place amongst the other basketball immortals that have managed to hoist the Roundball Oracles Trophy.*

Past Roundball Oracles Champions

2012 – Lowell Davis
2011 – Carrie Baier
2010 – Mark Wolfram
2009 – Mark Wolfram
2008 – Mark Wolfram
2007 – Tim Peterson
2006 – William McAlpine
2005 – William McAlpine

So the metaphorical ball is now in your court. There are no guidelines for participation. This contest is open to all competitors: men, women, small children and the elderly.

If you are interested and I need the information, you know how to contact me!

Oh… the deadline for filling out your bracket is tip-off of the first game on Thursday morning.

*Technically he has yet to hoist the trophy.

Bill, Black & White, Boone FUMC, Derrick, Evie, Football, Iowa State, Jay, Jen, Jesse, Layla, Micky, Mom, Nader, Naima, Nature, Railroad, Sara, Shawn Lockner, Sheri, Still Life, Teresa, Vest, Willy

Instagram Checkup

Now might be a good time to check in to my Instagram feed.

If you follow me on Instagram, you’ve seen these all before.
If you follow me on Twitter, you’ve seen these all before.
If you follow me on Flickr, you’ve seen many of these before.
If you follow me on Foursquare, you seen a few of these.
If you follow me on Facebook, you’ve see a few of these as well.


Not sure where next week’s Wednesday randomness will take us.

Bill, Brandon, Brog Frog, Derrick, Elainie, Faust, House, Jay, Jen, Jesse, Logan, Monica, Personal Photo Project, Willy

Personal Photo Project of the Week #148



Decoupage Experiment

This fits into a crafty version of the Personal Photo Project.

Even though almost everybody thinks it is a bad idea, except Michelle and Jesse, I’m really considering decoupaging a photo montage onto a wall or two or three in my house. I’m really considering doing the basement stairwell. I’m considering doing this even though I know it will make it more difficult to sell my house some day, but on the other hand, there is a chance I could live in that house the rest of my life. When I retire I could decoupage the entire house. Then when I die it would be one of those tourism oddities. I can almost see the entry in the tourism book now:

No visit to central Iowa would be complete without a stop at True Lone Wolf Manor. Thousandaire recluse, madman, artist, genius (by 2 standard deviations), and undisputed True Lone Wolf Christopher D. Bennett spent his retirement years decoupaging the heck out of his house. It is a must see for lovers of art, crafts, photography, and crazy old people. Head east on Union Street from Story Street…

I still have a little ways to go to master the craft, but my 2nd attempt worked, while my 1st attempt was an unmitigated disaster:




When you examine this work, you shouldn’t look at the design or the pictures so much. I basically stuck my hand into an old box of pictures and selected some that I could live without, but didn’t make me sick to look at and started gluing away. There really isn’t a design. This represents a mixture of glue, old photos, and chaos. When I take to my wall, there will be the outlines of an outline of a plan.

Derrick, Event, Jen, Jesse, Night, Politics, Shannon, Willy

Omega

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Monday night Obama made his last campaign stop ever in the East Village in Des Moines. I attended his first ever campaign stop in Iowa at Hilton Coliseum all the way back in 2007 with Jen and Derrick and maybe Willy. I figured that I should be there for the last. So Jesse and I went down there and got in line with at least 20,000 other people to at least say that “we were there”.

The line to get in was over 8 blocks long and it kept growing after we took our place at the end of it.

When we got in, we were probably 2 blocks from the actual stage and couldn’t actually see the stage, but we could hear everything clearly and there was a giant jumbotron, so we could see everything clearly.

I didn’t take a good camera in, but I did snap a few photos of the event with my camera phone. So, understand that these pictures aren’t all that great.



The Capitol lit up to look impressive on television.


The backside of the rally space, from outside.


A protester.


I love protesters as a general rule. Even when I disagree with them, I still love protesters. Maybe it is because I love making signs and chanting. But these protesters kept chanting: “1 More Day!”. Even if Romney didn’t get pounded on Election Night, he wouldn’t have taken over on November 7th. Work on your rhetoric people! Since this picture is so bad, I don’t know if you’ll be able to make it out, but 1 of my favorite protesters ever is in this picture. She is holding the sign that says “Real Women for Real Change”. I love this kind of rhetoric. When you take a word like “real” and misuse it to insinuate that other women aren’t “real” because they don’t hold your political beliefs or frightening levels of anger.


Another one of my favorite protesters of all-time is in this picture. The other is the woman (presumably not in the ‘real’ demographic) holding the sign that says “Short People for Romney”. What a delightful demographic to identify one’s self with! I also love the guy in the picture that isn’t holding a sign, but a coffee from Starbucks. He strikes me as a guy that doesn’t really support Romney. He just came down because he didn’t have anything to do on a Monday night and his buddy told him that protesting was a great way to meet chicks. Sorry. My apologies. A great way to meet “Real” Women. Incidentally short women too.


A sign outside of Zombie Burger. A chick standing outside Zombie Burger gave us a tip on how to get to the end of the line, that saved us several blocks of walking.


The American flag at the back of the rally event space.


After the speech, we wormed our way up to the stage. Snagged a pretty sweet poster to boot!


Another weak photograph of the stage.


Another…

I actually wanted to run over and see if I could get my picture taken with the protesters, but the line was moving too quickly. Maybe next big protest movement or 2016.

I need to find out what other political movements short people are passionate about. Shannon?