Good Question

To piggyback on Corey's post.

"What do you want to do before you die?"
Travel - Alaska, Scotland, Ireland, Yosemite national park and the rest of our national parks for that matter.
Scuba dive at the great barrier reef in Australia.
Learn to play the Guitar, then smash it into an amplifier like a rock star!
Learn to fly fish and then go to Montana and ... well, fly fish.
Work at Glacier National Park for a summer.
Eat my first Lobster.
Go to Oktoberfest in Germany, drink beer and eat sauerkraut.
Get a tattoo that means something to me.
Canadian fly in fishing trip and catch an uber amount of trophy Walleye and Northerns.

Just to name a few that were on the tip of my tongue.

-MikeyB

What I Am Listening To

Bobby Darin - Wild, Cool & Swingin'

Weber Grilling Recipe

Cedar-Planked Salmon

Dressing:

2 tablespoons fresh lime juice

2 tablespoons rice vinegar

2 tablespoons Dijon mustard

2 tablespoons honey

2 tablespoons minced fresh chives

1 teaspoon kosher salt

1/2 teaspoon granulated garlic

1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

1/4 teaspoon ground cayenne pepper

1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil

1 large salmon fillet [with skin],

2 1/2 to 3 pounds, about 16 inches long

and 3/4 inch thick.

1/2 teaspoon kosher salt

1/4 teaspoon freshly ground pepper

1 untreated cedar plank submerged in water

for at least 1 hour.

1. To make the dressing: In a blender, combine the dressing ingredients except the oil. Mix until well blended. With the blender still running, slowly pour in the oil to make a smooth dressing.

2. Place the salmon on a rimmed baking sheet. Using needle nose pliers, remove and discard any pin bones from the salmon. Season the flesh side of the salmon with the salt and pepper. Pour about half of the dressing over the flesh and use a brush to distribute it evenly.

3. Remove the soaked plank from the water and immediately place it over direct high hear until the edges start to smoke and char, 3 to 10 minutes [watch carefully so it doesn't flame]. Move the plank over indirect high hear and place the salmon, skin side down, on the plank. Grill until the salmon is just slightly pink in the center and brown on the edges, 20 - 25 minutes. Remove the plank and salmon to a heatproof surface. Serve warm with the remaining dressing.

Makes 8 to 10 servings.

-MikeyB

Summer Begins.....NOW!

15 1/2 Hours of daylight today (longest day of the year) as we begin the Summer Solstice. So what are you going to do today?

My plan:
Biked this morning - Beautiful morning with a light breeze. You could still see some of the thunder storms that past by.
Work - Currently doing this. Going to grab some lunch after this post.
Do the Dishes - Mt. Crap Load Of Dishes is about to erupt and I'm the right man for the job to keep the seismic activity down.
Watch some TV - I think there is an Office marathon on NBC tonight.
Walk the Dog - Hopefully another long walk just like last night. Maybe this time she will wear herself out.

-MikeyB

IMDB - Doctor Zhivago (1965)

Doctor Zhivago (1965) - "The Force will be with you, always." And who thought Alec Guinness actually starred in other movies other than Star Wars? Yes Obi-Wan Kenobi is using his force in the movie Doctor Zhivago, but he is not the main character. Omar Sharif is the main character playing Dr. Yuri Zhivago. Isn't Yuri a fun name to say? YUUUUURRRRIII! Yup fun. Basically Yuri got jiggy wit it while he was using his Doc skillz during the Russian Revolution. Lara (Julie Christie), whom Yuri getz jiggy wit, comes in and out of his life during WWI and the Revolution. But get this, Yuri gotz himself a hot piece of ass at his crib but he's a bit of a man whore and has to knock da bootz with Lara. Years later after Yuri and Lara kick the bucket, Obi-Wan is basically searching for his long lost Niece.

The movie is wicked long at 193 minutes. The beginning sucked, middle was good covering Revolution and the end was lame. Also you will see the first time ever filmed crowd surfing.

6 out of 10 stars.

Next up Tengoku to jigoku (1963)

-MikeyB

Heat Wave

I'm with Andy on this one, I hate the heat. Over the past week the thermometer was hitting above 90*, the humidity was stickier than Paris Hilton's bed sheets and I realized I hate hot weather in Minnesota. You can't do a damn thing outside in this kind of hot weather without looking like you just got out of a swimming pool. Plus your grundies stick to your ass and that just isn't how I like to enjoy my days. It's time to bring back the Slip'n'slide by Wham-O! A BBQ & Slip'n'slide, now that's the ticket. Forget your local public pools, they are too crowded and you know little Johnny has pissed in it time & time again. Yeah I don't know where I am going with this post. I just don't like this hot weather.

-MikeyB

Hair, Hair and More Hair

It finally happened, we broke down and bought a Dyson vacuum. With the new carpet and wood floors all we would ever see is cat hair, dog hair & Aimee hair. The little $70 Eureka vacuum we purchased 5 years ago was not making the cut. I vacuumed the upstairs and yack! Just looking at what it picked me up made me want to barf (Not in here, mister! This is a Mercedes!). I do enjoy vacuuming and yelling out in my worst English accent, "Oh wow mummy dearest, it never looses suction!". Wow I feel old, I'm all excited about a frickin' vacuum cleaner. A VACUUM CLEANER!! Pretty soon I'll be jumping for joy over a pair of dentures. To quote the famous Ferris Bueller, "Life moves pretty fast. If you don't stop and look around once in awhile, you could miss it.".

-MikeyB

What I Am Listening To

Johnny Cash - American V: A Hundred Highways

This is my favorite album of the American series. From what I have read on the interweb, Rick Ruben had recorded enough material before Johnny died to release a couple more American albums.

Work

Frick! Work has been busy the last 3 weeks! That is all.

Random Picture

Don't you dare mess with Grandma Spin or she will kick your butt.

The New Boat...

...Coming to a lake near you.

I went over to the Postal Credit Union this morning to get myself a small loan for the boat. While going through some of the data I found out my last loan for my Jeep was under my Dads SSN. Oh shit. Yeah, so my Dad got all of the good credit scores for my loan. This should be a fun one to hash out with the bank. Then the bank said I had a $90 at&t unpaid charge. That's odd since I have never had at&t for any kind of provider of anything. I went to http://www.annualcreditreport.com/ to look at my yearly free credit report and it didn't show up so I'll have to talk to them about that. Either way I was approved and I just need to get the paper work on the boat FedEx'd to me from my grandfather and we are in business. I should be picking up the boat at the end of the month when Aimee & I head up to Oshkosh, WI for the weekend before 4th of July.

Some details on the boat.
1999 Lund Explorer SS model 1650, 16 foot deep V.
1998 60hp Mercury motor. Comes with 4 or 5 seats, Minn Kota trolling motor, fish locator, live well...all the goodies.

Here's a picture of what it should look like.

Happy Birthday Zoey!

The Big 1 Year Old!

Boat For Sale

Yes, Suck My Wake is for sale - $2200.00

1982 Tuffy 14'8" Fiberglass Roustabout Bass Boat with a 1995 25hp Evinrude motor tiller, electric start & trailer. 2 fish finders (front/rear), small live well, storage up front under the deck and some external rod storage holders on the side. Has an Evinrude trolling motor with foot control but it only works on speed high. Has a snap on cover, the boat originally had a 15hp motor so now with the 25hp the cover will not fit over the motor but will fit on the rest of the boat. I just restored this boat 3 years ago with a new floor, carpet & control panel. As of last year it has a new battery and 3 new seats (1 fixed, 2 movable). Great little boat for fishing lakes around the twin cities.

If interested please e-mail me.

Random Picture

The Zoey Monster. Check out that tooth.

-MikeyB

What I Have Been Drinking

Lakefront Cherry Lager - An American style fruit beer made with Wisconsin's Door County cooking cherries and lager yeast. The tartness of the cherry is balanced witht the sweetness from the 2-row barley and the flavoring of Mt. Hood hops.

This lager has a different taste to it. I can taste a little of the sweetness but not much cherry. Tastes like Lake Michigan. I do not think I will be purchasing this brew again.

-MikeyB

What I Am Listening To

The White Stripes - Live From The Joint Las Vegas, Nevada 9-23-03

29 breath taking live tracks from the White Stripes viva Las Vegas. I've been pretty addicted to the White Stripes as of late. They have a new album called Icky Thump being released June 19th and they are going to be touring this summer into the fall. Aimee & I will have to travel to Chicagoland to see them Oct 6th at the Aragon Ballroom. I'm not sure what it is with my attraction to this band but their music is so raw, you can feel the emotions with every lyric and every cord played. Simply two people making some of the most complex music out there right now. From their sound you would think there was a symphony behind them.

Weber Grilling Recipe

Prep Time: 10 minutes
Grilling Time: 6 to 8 minutes

Roquefort Butter
4 tablespoons [1/2 stick] unsalted butter, at room temp
2 ounces [about 1/3 cup] crumbled blue cheese, such as Roquefort (or any other blue cheese will work]
1/4 teaspoon granulated garlic
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

4 New York strip steaks (or any other steaks you prefer. I just used Von Hanson's grill steaks, they just take much longer, 20 minutes, to cook), about 8 ounces each and 1 inch thick.
Extra virgin olive oil or spray
Kosher salt
Freshly ground black pepper
4 Lemon wedges

1.To make the butter: In a small bowl, combine the butter ingredients. With the back of a fork, mash the butter mixture together until evenly distributed.
2.Trim most of the exterior fat from steaks. Allow to stand at room temp for 20-30 minutes before grilling. Lightly brush or spray both sides of the steaks with olive oil and season with salt and pepper to taste. Grill over direct heat until cooked to desired doneness. Remove from grill and let rest for 3-5 minutes. Serve warm with Roquefort butter smeared over the top and lemon wedges served on the side.

The Roquefort butter was really tasty. I would have to give it 4 out of 5 stars!
You can find this recipe and more in Weber's Real Grilling recipe book.