The pictures of the Ladycroft dinner are kinda in reverse order and still kinda dark. So look at the bottom ones first then scroll up. I did take about 5 pictures out side. On my camera you can tell (not sure in the picture or not) that Pier 1 is no longer there. Then the two other pictures are of the christmasy lights on the the trees. I don't know if my pictures really show this but (e:ladycroft) looked amazing I also really liked that skull and crossbones shirt and how it looks on you (or would that be how you looked in it). I thought the food was good. I wish I could have gone more the pasta route but my insides would not have allowed that with how I was feeling (sometimes us people with high metabolism get it where it moves a little bit to quick if you know what I mean). That is the same reason why I didn't have any alcohol. But I still had a good time and good food and I hope everyone else did. And (e:ladycroft) thanks for the drop of at the house. On a side note to (e:mrmike) it is funny how you where talking about the snake and the handlers and then it was in the Buffalo News today I forget that news paper news moves kinda slow sometimes (I didn't have time to read the entire article). It was nice to see everyone there also. Even though there where some empty chairs it was nice to see most of them get filled. I just wish my pictures where a little bit better (including pictures of the bar) and that I had more to add to the conversation.





























I don't really have much else to say other then (e:ladycroft) I hope you enjoyed your time here and got to see everyone you wanted to (not sure when you are leaving so you still may have time). I also want to add that I can't wait to see all your pictures once you get time to post them and I wish you a safe and happy trip home it was great to see you again you really are a pretty awesome chick (bad term I know), but you really are.. It was also fun to see a bunch of you other peeps to.

So if you are reading this post I do have part 1 of pictures before this. Not sure how good these pictures will be they all seem kinda dark. But here goes.








































































































I didn't do any writing because I wanted to try and get up all the pictures I got most of them I think. I put up a few of the outside ones because I crashed on a couch. I also couldn't think of any thing that I didn't say in part one Except Thanks to (e:pmt) to hosting the party it was a great time so thanks again.
Oh I did take some other pictures on the way home I think those might go into what ever my next post is about. When I got home I got to sleep and then later watched "The Amp Energy Winter Classic". I watched most of it on NBC but watched the end of the game and the PreGame on CBC. All in all it was a great game. I wish the Sabres would have won But I also like the Penguins also. At least we get 1 point. In terms of NBC and the NHL I don't think it could have been better really. There where some big time plays, it was fun to watch, the game went into overtime and one of the new young stars of the league won the game as the last person in the shoot out. Hope everyone has a great 2008.

So these first 5 pictures are a test to see if they upload off the disk here goes.







Ok I see that five work now I just have to watch where I am and try not to repeat any of them. I warn you some of them are dark and shadowy the flash on my camera I still don't totally get.





















Before I forget I just wanted to say I had a great time and that it was great that (e:ladycroft) came to town and showed up at the party. I had a good time out on the porch and that wasn't what got me into trouble. Somewhere down the line I had a little bit to much of that Rose Champagne or maybe it was the Cranberry Vodka I made not sure. Ok back to some more pictures.

Missing Image ;(

I guess now would be a good time to address the camera. I know there is a lot I have to learn on it and as i said earlier the flash seems kinda strange to me so that is why some pictures are dark. To me it seems like my Olympus was better or maybe I was just used to it. Maybe better isn't the right word maybe user friendly is more the right word. In any event the point I was trying to get to is some pictures here are posed and some are Candids. I hope everyone likes there pictures.





















Some might ask well why post the dark pictures. The thing is that the ones that look dark often when printed look ok and sometimes on line in big form they look good and small or thumbnails they look bad. But I won't really know until the journal is posted. In terms of pictures being in order they are in order as I put them up in groups but then (e:strip) doesn't put them in order my name or anything. I think you still get the general sense of the party.







































Well I guess that is where I will end Part 1. I just wanted to add that I had a good time and I hope everyone else did also. Kinda sucks that I have to go to work in the morning. But I'll be fine once I get there I think.

Saying what Walk Hard was about with out really giving anything away I don't think would work with out showing the preview. It was kinda a spoff of those movies made about real rock stars like Johny Cash. I think most of the stuff was based on that. I thought it was funny. I never really like to say that because everyone has a different sense of what is funny, I thought it was. There where some interesting "Stars" in it that I won't get into and some people who I could tell they where actors I had seen but couldn't think of there names. There where a couple people from SNL who did play there parts well. On a side note yes there was nudity for both the boys and the girls. It was mostly for the guys and I thought maybe the stuff for the girls was thrown in as a joke but who knows. All in all a good comedy movie. I also liked the real end of the movie, and not where you think the movie ends.

Oh yeah Hope everyone has a great New Year and that tonight you have fun and get a little crazy but not so crazy you regret it and hopefully we all shall see each other tonight and that will lead into a great 2008.

So I was going to talk about something but then when I didn't go see the movie I thought I might somewhere I lost what I wanted to talk about, oh yeah it was something to do about how that entire tiger thing in SF smells fishy. Like a tiger gets out and the cops are called, shouldn't a zoo have people to take care of that. So it travels 300 feet to where people are eating. Should a place that sells food be that close to Predatory Animals. If it went towards food then maybe it was Hungry. I don't have the answers but something seems a bit off. Today I was kinda checking to see if their was football on tonight I heard there was a Saturday game. I saw that I think Chanel 2 will have the Patriots game on. So I didn't think much about it other then now I have to flip between that and the Penguins/Sabres game. By the way I wonder if there is a bar that would have both games on, that would be cool. But then On Yahoo I found this article that talks about that in the New York and Boston markets the games can be shown on local channels. I think that is a good move I really do. It could be a fun game to watch. I wonder if I will like the Comenters since I have not seen a NFL network game since people moved around this season. In any event for anyone that likes football and didn't know now you know. Hope everyone has a great rest of the weekend and a great new year and hopefully a lot of us will all see each other on New Years Eve.

Patriots try to complete unbeaten season

By HOWARD ULMAN, AP Sports Writer 2 hours, 27 minutes ago

FOXBOROUGH, Mass. - The Patriots will get help from plenty of fans instead of a video camera when they return to the scene of "Spygate." Those who aren't at the Meadowlands can still watch the final step in New England's bid for an undefeated regular season on the channel of their choice.


Interest in the potential history-making event convinced the league to allow NBC and CBS to simulcast Saturday night's game against the New York Giants nationally. It had been restricted to the NFL Network and local stations in the Boston and New York areas.

Win, and the Patriots become the first team to finish a regular season at 16-0. Lose, and Patriot-haters throughout the country can celebrate in front of their TV sets.

"It will be like the State of the Union address," an unusually cheery Patriots coach Bill Belichick said. "You can flip to every channel and see it."

New England fans who just have to be there can pay exorbitant prices online for tickets. Some are being offered by Giants fans who don't care to attend an event that has no bearing on their team's playoff status.

New York plays a first-round game at the Tampa Bay Buccaneers the following weekend.

"We definitely appreciate the support of the fans. We definitely hear them when we're on the road," Patriots safety Rodney Harrison said. "We always have a lot of support on the road, but at the end of the day the game is won or lost between the lines."

The Giants (10-5) clinched a wild-card berth last Sunday with a win at Buffalo. That improved their road record to 7-1. They're 3-4 at home, where fans - like those selling their tickets for Saturday's game - may not be very supportive.

"That's probably one of the reasons why we are better on the road than we are at home," running back Brandon Jacobs said. "If it is that way and (the Patriots) got more fans, then so be it."

At least one person won't be there the way he was three months ago - the Patriots' video assistant who got caught taping the New York Jets' defensive coaches with a sideline camera in the season opener, costing Belichick and the team $750,000 in fines and a first-round draft pick.

That, too, was at the Meadowlands where the Patriots beat the Jets 38-14.

Now, New England, still without a loss, will end its regular season on the same field in front of cameras the NFL wants to be there.

Then the Patriots get to rest during their bye week. They have home-field advantage throughout the AFC playoffs.

"We're not looking at the playoffs right now and we're not really thinking about being undefeated," linebacker Tedy Bruschi said. "There's a simple way how we got here, and that's focusing on the opponent that we happen to have in front of us. This week we've got a formidable one in the New York Giants."

The Giants lead the NFL in sacks and have the fourth-most productive running game in the league, led by Jacobs.

"He's 270 pounds," said Harrison, who will have to tackle him. "So that's like a Ferrari meeting a Mack truck."

The Patriots would be helped if the Giants play their regulars sparingly, since the outcome of the game has no bearing on their playoff position. Coach Tom Coughlin hasn't said what he'll do.

Belichick said he'll use his players according to what he feels is best for the team.

"This has been a very special season," Tom Brady said. "I'd hate to think that we'd go out there and not put our best out there this week."

The Giants would love to stop New England from being the first team to go undefeated in the regular season since the Miami Dolphins in 1972, who won the Super Bowl to finish at 17-0.

They'd also like to keep Brady from breaking Peyton Manning's single-season record of 49 touchdown passes and Randy Moss from passing Jerry Rice's mark of 22 scoring receptions. Each needs two more to set the records.

"Nobody in the NFL wants to see them go undefeated," defensive end Osi Umenyiora said. "If they do go undefeated, they are going to be known as that team that was just that much better than everybody else. I don't want to see that."

The Patriots need six points to break Minnesota's record of 556 in a season set in 1998 when Moss was a rookie with the Vikings. They've outscored opponents by a record 312 points with a margin of 36.7-15.9 per game. They're tied with Tampa Bay for fewest points allowed, 239.

"The good thing about those records is all those didn't come against us," Giants linebacker Antonio Pierce said. "Those 551 points, those 15 wins, that wasn't against the New York Giants. This is just one game. It isn't our fault the guys before decided to give up all those points."

The Patriots are trying to make history. The Giants want to stop them.

"It would definitely help just knowing that you're playing a good team and having the opportunity to end on a high note," New York quarterback Eli Manning said. "The outcome doesn't ultimately matter, but you still want to go out there and play good football."

It matters to the Patriots and all the fans around the country who will be tuning in.

So what does Belichick think of the widespread TV coverage?

"We're just trying to get ready for the game," he said. "I'm not planning on watching it."

First of all I want to thanks everyone for their Birthday wishes (Christmas ones also). Anyone who is reading this I hope you have a great Christmas. If you do some other Holiday then I hope that is good also.

Since today is Christmas Eve I thought I should go out and see some dark and violent movie. Well you got me I went to see Sweeny Todd and it just so happened to be that way. I think that sometimes around the holidays it is good to see a movie kinda like that. Yes Christmas movies and specials are good, but you also need a break from the season. Beside most dark movies show somehow that being bad isn't a good thing. Or maybe they don't and that is just how we precieve it ourselves. I will admit that I didn't really know the story so I can't say how true it is to that. I did enjoy the story aspect of it. One surprise I will give away is that I didn't know that it was a Musical. I knew that it has been a play before, but didn't know the sing through most of it. I enjoyed that it was a musical, but not sure if that is everyone's cup of tea. Yes it is very dark, violent, no really not that violent just the violence is very bloody and there is a difference. Bloody movies aren't my thing but this one was very good. There was even a love story or is that two love story angles in it. But it wasn't that romantic comedy type so that is good. I won't give away the story other then to say that I like that it doesn't have a "Hollywood" or "Fairy Tale" ending. I will admit that I went in not knowing what to expect and liked what I saw i just wish it was a little bit more but not sure where or what of, so I'm Happy with the movie. I will stop here so I don't give anything else away. Have a great holiday everyone and go out and see a movie.

So in the box below you will see an article from the Buffalo News about the "Ice Bowl". I"ll give my thoughts about it under the box as not to cause anyone who reads it to take my thoughts into account untill after they read it.


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Poster Art USA threatened over trademark infringement
NHL benches 'Ice Bowl' line
By Sharon Linstedt NEWS BUSINESS REPORTER
Updated: 12/23/07 6:47 AM


SAVE EMAIL PRINT POPULAR Digg it del.icio.us + Larger Font Google Yahoo - Smaller Font
The Ice Bowl poster featured a generic hockey player.
The National Hockey League has melted a locally created line of "Ice Bowl" products linked to the New Year's Day Winter Classic outdoor game between the Buffalo Sabres and the Pittsburgh Penguins.

Facing NHL threats of prosecution for trademark infringement, Mark Corsi, owner of Poster Art USA on Elmwood Avenue, has agreed to halt sale and production of his "Ice Bowl" merchandise.

A source familiar with the situation said the NHL started with a "cease and desist" notice, and escalated actions when Corsi continued to sell the homegrown line of posters, T-shirts, hats, gloves and mugs.

NHL representatives did not respond to inquiries about the situation on Friday. Corsi is barred from discussing the situation under terms of the agreement.

In an October interview with The Buffalo News, Corsi explained he came up with the idea for the locally produced items in July on the heels of rumors the Sabres would play an outdoor game in January at Ralph Wilson Stadium.

"It was 90 degrees and everybody was talking about the Ice Bowl," Corsi said. "And nobody was calling it the NHL Winter Classic, it was Ice Bowl, Ice Bowl, Ice Bowl."

After consulting his attorney, the seller of new and vintage posters found "Ice Bowl" was not a registered trademark and quickly filed a federal trademark application. The centerpieces of Corsi's product line were a poster and T-shirt featuring a generic hockey player, dressed in a dark blue jersey, with gold trim, emblazoned with a gold "B."

Corsi said he took care to make sure none of his items bore direct references to the Winter Classic, or trademarked images of the NHL, Buffalo Sabres, or Pittsburgh Penguins.

When the items were unveiled, Sabres Chief Operating Officer Daniel DiPofipredicted Corsi was on thin ice, saying "any reasonable person will recognize he's referring to an NHL event." The Sabres front office declined to comment on icing of the "Ice Bowl" line Friday, calling it a league matter.

Corsi, who saw brisk sales of the "Ice Bowl" line out of his Elmwood Avenue shop and its Web site, opened a kiosk in Amherst's Boulevard Mall in November to keep pace with demand. Brian Calvert, the mall's specialty leasing manager, said the Poster Art kiosk remains open and has switched over to Buffalo-themed posters and other merchandise.

"I know [Corsi] was disappointed about what happened. It's too bad because the Ice Bowl products were really nice, but his regular products are also quite nice and he's doing what he has to do," Calvert said.

While Corsi, an Elmwood Avenue veteran, can't talk about the "Ice Bowl" meltdown, he has found an outlet for "silent protest." An officially licensed poster depicting the Stanley Cup is now hanging upside down in the window of his store at 1055 Elmwood Ave.

As the banned "Ice Bowl" line has evaporated, NHL-sanctioned Winter Classic products are arriving at local stores and the Sabres Shop at HSBC Arena. Jim Laux, of Laux Sporting Goods, said although the official products are expected to sell well, the timing is off a bit.

"It would have been nice to have them in sooner. We won't get the jerseys with the players names sewn on them on the floor until after Christmas," Laux said.

Sabres spokesman Michael Gilbert also said Winter Classic items have been on shelves only a few days but have been hot sellers since their arrival. In addition to the special white Sabres jerseys, the official product lineup includes thermal underwear shirts, hooded sweat shirts, caps and the fuzzy "Fargo Flap Cap."

slinstedt@buffnews.com





[/box]

My take is this. First of all the guy who runs Poster art came out with Ice Bowl Stickers, Hats, Shirts and posters before the NHL could. You have to give the guy credit for that. I still have not seen a single poster, from the NHL. "The Ice Bowl" was never officaly called that. He didn't use any terms that where trade marked like NHL, Sabres, Penguins or even any player names. He even invernted his own uniform. When I hear "Ice Bowl" I think of NFL football games from before my time. What the NHL is trying to say is that "ice bowl" = "Winter Classic". It doesn't and I think they are being greddy. It comes down to the fact that they are a huge comodity and this guy isn't. This has Big Business and the power they have to run over and try to put small ones out of business all over it. I'm not saying if I was in the NHL's position that I would be happy but that doesn't mean you go after the little guy. What things like this do is hurt small business. It also hurts the person who wants to do some thing creative next time cause what if he gets sued. I think that often big business forgets that everyone was a small business at some time. In terms of the name it should be clairifeid that the Winter Classic has two names not one. All the shirts say "Winter Classic" but it is sponsered by AMP energy drink and is also called "The Amp Winter Classic". If you follow the same logic can AMP Tell the NHL that they have to pull all the winter classic stuff and and the AMP Logo to it. Wait that sounds crazzy right well is that really any worse then worse then attacking a guy who breaks no copy right laws. Hey AMP paid good money to have their name on it. I'm still going to watch it cause I like both hockey teams. I just think that it is sad to see that the NHL doesn't have good Business ethics.

I won't know really what these pictures are untill the journal is posted. The reason is this new camera my mine. The Olympus was much more user friendly and the software was better also. You can't tell what the pictures are when they are saved to a disk and I can't find the pictures on my computer it puts them into the kodak software so I had to count out the pictures maybe these are the ones I was looking for. I went with the Family to the Cheesecake Factory and thought it was very good. I had some kind of Fettucini and this Godiva Desert that was very good. The reason is that I will be 35 on Sunday. I don't think I'm going out tonight even though I should. I think I'll watch the sabres game. I know I should go out after but I see myself staying in with my lame self.

Missing Image ;(

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The movie we saw was the new Chipmunks. I thought it was funny and really enjoyed it more then i thought I would. Some of that might be because I'm a Jason Lee fan. Yes I did think they where a touch to much high pitched but it was still a fun movie to see.

Yesterday I saw I Am Legend. I admit I did like it. I don't know if there was a surprise ending or something after the credits that changes everything cause i couldn't stay through the credits. I like that it was sort of a zombie movie with out Zobies and had a good time watching it. That being said I would have liked it if there was more to it. What i mean by that is that if "God didn't do this we did" if that got more into the story and if there was a little more philosphy oh yeah and violence also. All in all a good movie.










I know that doesn't really show all of the place, but it does look pretty cool inside i think. Oh I hope everyone has a great rest of the weekend and a great Holiday and can at least maybe get some time off away from work. Hey unless you like work more then your family in that case I hope you have lots of work to do and stay away from your family. And yes there really are people like this and they do request to work the holiday for that reason, that doesn't mean that there are any (e:peeps) like that but if that is you and that is your thing go for it.

Do to the huge size and that I had to shrink them down and I need to go watch more football I only put up 5 pictures from last nights sabres game. I had a great seat I was in the first row of the 300s right on center ice. If you visit my webshots page you can see almost all of the ones from the game and warm ups. In case you didn't see the news it was a pretty big deal that Kane (plays for the blackhawks) is from Buffalo. Before the game they had this face off with his family on ice that was pretty cool. Kane scored the first goal and I think get the first penality also but not sure about that. In the end the sabres won and got an empty net goal also. I had a great time and it was a fun game to watch. Monday night I'm going to WWE RAW and hoping that my camera problems are over. I just hope that these pictures come out as prints ok but we shall see. I also need to figure out at how many mega pixels I should take pictures at so they will upload here and on webshots. Hope everyone has and continues to have a great weekend.

So for those who have been reading my blog you may notice that I have not had a lot to say. Well some of that is not having anything to say and 2nd is that I have had bad luck with cameras. Yesterday or today was going to be the day that I put up a bunch of Pot Luck pictures. That currently and most likely will never happen. When I got home I took two pictures of my place. Next day I went up to walgreens and followed their instructions at the photo machine and I got an error that said I removed the media, but I did what it said so I tried again and still no luck even with help from someone I know and he said that there was some type of other file or program on the card that was interfearing with getting the pictures. When I put the card in the camera it asks me to format or use a different card. If I format it by, by pictures that aren't backed up, I couldn't even download it onto the computer. So for now I have a new memory card that I'll try out at the sabres game tonight and then try downloading them first and see if that works. I'm wondering if a photo place would have some way to get the pictures off the card and ignore what ever else is on there. I have no idea how anything else could have got on there other then maybe the card got damaged somehow at walgreens.

The pot luck itself was a good time, it really was. I hope someone or multiple people are eating the left overs of the cake I brought, and anything else that is left. All the food was very good that I tried. I really liked the Vegatrian Lasagna I some times don't like it. I admit I'm really don't like the one wine I tried and the wine I had wasn't my thing. I'm not saying it wasn't good wine just not my thing. But I also didn't get to try the stuff that looked just like grape juice. The white stuff was very good and kinda tasted like white grape juice. It was nice to see (e:jason) there. I have not been to the other dinners so I can't compare but it seems like there was a pretty good turnout. Oh when I mentioned (e:jason) I wasn't saying it was good just to see him, there where a bunch of people it was good to see. I just haven't seen him at an event in a long time.