Holy S*** White Chicken Chili

Did you catch that the first time? Wow, white f***ing chicken chili...so good. Thick, a little spicy, with a whole lot of good flavor. That aside, I'm pretty pumped about this weeks offerings, especially Wednesday, but I'll just save that for a surprise. It will not take over the top spot on the list of "Best Weeks of Soup," but it could sneak into second with a solid showing on Tuesday and Thursday, usually the off days of the week for soup. I have to avoid over hyping this week though, other wise I'll end up feeling like I did so many other times before, due to failed hype. For example, driving back to Appletown yesterday, I got to listen to the second half of the Kansas - Davidson game. I had been so over hyped on Stephen (pronounced Steff-in, not stee-vin, or steff-on, or any other ludicrous pronunciation that was attributed to his normal name) Curry, that when he missed like two or three straight three pointers in the final two minutes I was shocked. From what I had been told by every commentator in the country since the first round, this kid wasn't supposed to miss. So when the final seconds came, and Davidson was down by two, with a chance to win or tie, and the shot didn't come to Curry, and was missed by Richards, I was deflated to say the least. I had spent the hour in the car expected the great to happen, and in the end, nothing. This is not to say that Davidson isn't really flippin' good, because they are, I mean they played amazing man-to-man defense, they had three dudes just draining three's when Curry wasn't shooting, and on top of all that, they did have Curry. But I was so hyped up by the media, that I was just expecting them to win, so when they didn't, I was disappointed.

Other things that have been over-hyped include:

5. Superman Returns

4. Electricity

3. The Pursuit of Happiness

2. The Second Coming

1. Ferbies

Were you not supposedly able to train a Ferby to say things, or do the dishes or something. I feel as if no one ever achieved this goal. All I remember is sitting with my friend's Ferby and repeatedly saying "shit" to it, trying to make the thing swear. What a load of crap those things were, along with Tickle-Me Elmo, just shows the waste of money and research to create things like that from the early 00s (using 00s for the 2000s looks bad ass, by the way, how pumped are you to soon be living in the 20s again...can we please try to bring back the three-piece suit, and just a "roaring" attitude towards life like the original roaring 20s). For the record, I hate Ferbies.

The Brewers-Cubs game just officially got delayed by rain. Seriously, Chicago would have rain today. I hate Chicago.

To show how stupid I am at five in the morning, I'll tell you a story. As is common with weekends when I go to Milwaukee to hang out with people, not just play video games with them on Xbox Live, I didn't get a chance to go to the Rec Center and swim on Saturday morning as my training schedule prescribed. This is mainly because of the lazy douche bags of the Marquette Recreational Sports Department, who don't open the Rec Center until eleven in the morning. Honestly, I would think Saturday would be the one day where you could open a little early...some people like to be productive on Saturdays. However, that is neither here nor there with this story. So whenever this happens, I will got swimming on Monday morning, and then run at night after work, when I was supposed to only run. This is what happened this morning. The process of getting everything together for the morning swim is very difficult mainly because it is five in the morning, and I am generally "disoriented." I eventually get to work, go swim (1250 m, for those of you keeping score...which would bring the overall score to Life 13440 Mike 7), take a shower, engage in an awkward conversation with my supervisor while I am still naked, and get dressed. This is where my stupidity at five in the morning shows its ugly head. I realize that I did not bring a dress shirt with me this morning. I wanted to scoff and laugh at myself, but those personal sound effects are not to be encouraged with a room full of naked men, as they could be misinterpreted. So I had to drive back to my apartment, get a shirt, and feel like a moron. This however does not live up to the time I bought microwave dinners while not owning an actual microwave. I claim faulty packaging because they have nothing saying "Microwave required."

I just listened to the the new Panic! At the Disco album, and while the first two tracks have a modern day Sgt. Peppers feel to them, the rest of the album is kind of ho-hum and slow, failing to live up to the debut. Also, they sound too much like Fall Out Boy in the lyrics department. It is a definitive step in another direction from the debut, they add a lot of new instruments like horns, harmonicas, and strings. Enjoyable, but not addictive like Fever.

Daily LOL Cat:

Bangor Clam Chowder

Seriously people, Lent is over, we can stop the seafood soups on friday...Don't get me wrong I love clam chowder, but I'm a little sick of it every friday for the last forty days and forty nights. Just give me a little tomato basil, or white chicken chili...come on.
a

Breaking News: I bought jeans for the first time in probably six years yesterday, and actually wore them to work (casual fridays). I will also cuff them James Dean style, so deal with it.

a

I put up at new header...I'll probably be making new ones every week, and then rotating them around once I get a couple. I thought the last one was hilarious, but this one has a perfect reference to one of the greatest things I have randomly found drawn in an Onion left at Roches. Any Harry Potter fan should appreciate this. And if you are not a Harry Potter fan, maybe you should be, especially because of her: See Pictured. BUT...clean thoughts only, since she is under age, and according to Ben, he is going to marry her, so hands off.

a

a

Well, I don't have much of anything today, I threw in all my marbles with Joba, but it should be mentioned that it was a sadder day at work than usual because it was Lindsey's last day. She is off to work with the gibberish talking people in Indiana, but it is for the better because she gets to get out of this "lovely" company. She will be missed, and I especially will miss her since I now have no one to talk to or just waste time with while at work. My Subway consumption will level off to "seldom," which will be nice, but I will no longer get the joy of seeing the American-Eagle club (a group of Appleton high school girls that wear the exact same pair of American-eagle pants to subway every Friday...it is hilarious). Well, thanks for the fun times Lindsey, I'll miss having you around.

a

Daily LOL Cat:

MLB Player of the Week: Week 1

The staff here at the blog has decided that we will write a post every Friday about our pick for the MLB player of the week. The player of the week will not only be judged on his playing ability and performance that week, but also his general attitude and demeanor towards other people. Some of the chosen players may be our attitude towards life that week.

As many of you know, I bleed Milwaukee blue and Boston red through and through; however, this week, I'm bleeding the pin stripes of Yankees' pitcher Joba Chamberlain. Not only does Joba have some of the nastiest pitches in the majors, but he boasted a sub 0.500 ERA in twenty-four innings. Here is his complete line from last season:
a

2007: W 2 L 0 S 1 HLD 8 ERA 0.38 IP 24 K 34 WHIP 0.75
a

He got that line last year with a fast ball that consistently clocks in at 100 or 99 miles per hour, and a sick snapping slider at 87 mph. On top of those two pitches, he has added a new change up to his arsenal that has been freezing batters all spring. Now, a lot of other pitchers in the majors have pitches just like that, so what makes Joba so special? He is the youngest, calmest, cold blooded, bull dog in the majors. He steps on the mound and knows that he is going to strike you out. Granted he has the benefit of not having to face the likes of Rodriguez, Jeter, and Cano, but when the Red Sox came to town, Joba said, with no words, "I'm not scared of you, get the f*** out of my house," to Kevin Youkilis with two straight pitches at the head. Call me insane, but I love this kind of stuff in baseball, especially if it knocks my previously humbly cursed Red Sox off their new high horse. Now don't get me wrong, I would love to see Joba come to Miller Park and clean house for the Brewers, but for now, I don't care who he plays for, I'm Joba's biggest fan.
a

The man reason Joba is the player of the week is because of what he has done off the field, because it shows that he knows when to turn the bulldog on and off, or at least stay inside the yard. Joba was raised in Lincoln, Nebraska, and bleed Cornhuskers Red. He was raised in poverty by he single father, who is paralyzed on his left side from polio and worked as a counselor at the Nebraska State Penitentiary. When Joba was seventeen years old, after graduating from high school he didn't go to college but worked in the Lincoln City Maintenance to help his dad pay the bills. To put this in perspective that was four years ago...Eventually Joba attended a State college and later transferred to Nebraska to play baseball for the Huskers. in 2005 he posted a 10-2 with a 2.81 ERA, with five double digit SO games, to help the Huskers win their first ever College of World Series win. In 2006, he was drafted 41st by the Yankees, and entered their farm system in the beginning of the 2007 season. He sped through the farm system and was promoted to pitch his first game in the majors of August 7, 2007 against the Blue Jays. He struck out his first batter, and went on to pitch two scoreless innings and striking out one more. Maintenance man to star major league pitcher in four years...that's amazing. What's more amazing is his humility. During ESPN's annual weekend soiree at Disney Land, Joba showed his true colors in the what he did and said. Watch the video.

a

Joba Brings a Family Together

a

I should mention that I am a proud fantasy owner of Joba, and am happy to have his demeanor of the humble bulldog on my team.

Beef Barley

AHHHHHH....Best Buy sucks. So there are positives and negatives to this story. As you may know, my xbox had broken, i filed a replacement claim with best buy, they sent me a gift card...it was blank. So they lady in the store, who was extremely nice and helpful, said they will reissue a card to you in the next seven to ten business days. la-di-frickin da, so I wait seven business days, and I don't hear anything from Best Buy...so this morning I decided to call the replacement plan help line. I explain to Irene what has happened and she says, "Have you tried using the card again?"...to which I respond, "um no, it is empty, that would be pointless." Then she hits me with this gem, "I agree Mr. Bergemann (pronounced barge-men), pointless indeed...well our records show that we replaced the original funds on the card last week, so you should be able to use it once again." surprised, I respond, "Sweet, but was anyone going to tell me about this?" Irene: "You will most likely receive a letter in the next three to four weeks informing you of the re-issued funds." See pictured face. Don't get me wrong, I am elated to have my money back, but that three to four weeks jazz Irene was laying down was a lot different than the seven to ten business day song the best buy manager was singing. Lets look at the information Best Buy has on me, and the cost to communicate with me in those manners:

1. email - fast...friendly...flippin' easy...and free....




2. phone - fast...most likely awkward initial ten seconds...probably not free




3. snail mail - slow...annoying...old-school...at least 41 or more cents....

Although, I shouldn't complain because I have my xbox and I am happy. This makes me think of a classic moment from Philip DeFranco talking about customer service...check it out below.

That isn't the video I was looking for, there was one where he was talking about xbox live customer support, it was hilarious...it appears that it has disappeared off you tube.

I got nothing...

Daily LOL Cat:

Chicken Dumpling

Not really that pumped about the Chicken Dumpling today...it is usually mediocre at best. Plus it is hard to follow up a solid Monday-Tuesday line-up of Texas Chili and Wisconsin Cheddar Broccoli. But I think I'll manage, because there is nothing that a little diced onion and crushed saltine can't fix.

"At home drawing pictures of mountain tops with him on top, lemon yellow sun, arms raised in a V, dead lay in pools of maroon below....King Jeremy the Wicked ruled his world"

Why didn't anyone inform me before that Pearl Jam is awesome....I'm blaming my brother for this one.

If I had to make a new gamertag I would definitely make King Mike the Wicked...I think that screams, "I will pwn you" much more than P Blue Ribbon does...that gives off more of a, "It is amazing that I'm killing you because I'm most likely drunk..." kind of message.

a

For any of you with your head buried in the ground, the regular season of baseball started yesterday, in Japan. It has been a treat to be able to wake up at five or six am and find beautiful professional baseball being played in HD. Granted I made the mistake of not putting Mark Ellis (Oakland) in at second base for my fantasy team, costing me a nice little line of 3 AB 1 H 1 R 1HR...it was still nice to see baseball. Unfortunately Jon Lester (Boston) got shelled for four runs today in four innings with the sox losing to split the two game Japan series. Once again the Boston Globe looks foolish of after they started pre-ordering their new recount of the red sox 2008 season entitled "162-0".... those writers need to get over themselves.

In the category of "Things I'm Looking Forward To," I will be attending a pre-season exhibition baseball game of the Brewers vs. Kansas City on Saturday afternoon. Not only do we get to experience baseball once again inside the basilica of Milwaukee baseball that is Miller Park, but we will also get to enjoy said baseball game for the low price of ten dollars, sitting in the first deck about seven rows from being able to reach out and touch Billy Hall or Alex Gordon, depending on who is on the field. Although I must say it is going to be slightly awkward to being going to a Brewers game when it is possibly cold out. This is the only real problem I have with global warming. The later and later spring and summer show up, the worse for baseball, because eventually, they are going to have to move the start of the season back a couple of weeks. This would ultimately ruin the phrase, "October classic," or Derek Jeter would seem less important with the title of "Mr. October," when the post-season actually would occur in November...Honestly, I can't really wait two more weeks or anything like that for the baseball to start. Additionally, the longer we have to wait for pro baseball to start, the later into the spring/summer we have to wait to start Saturday morning baseball. I have no problem with global warming on a whole...i don't care, it would be actually nice to have a birthday on a 70 degree day in December eventually, but just leave baseball alone.

Baseball as a whole is a far greater entity to the happiness of millions of Americans, than sunshine. Scientists have made the mistake of associating the common depression of people during the winter months to the lack of sunshine, when in all reality it is merely the fact that they lives are absent of the smell of an open fire on a grill, the pop of a sharp double into the gap, the feel of a dirty leather ball, the sight of a freezing 12 to 6 curve, the thrill of a bases loaded, top of nine, 2 outs, 3-2 strikeout for the save, and the triumph of walk-off home run. Some people may not understand the obsession with baseball, or why people spend hours looking over spring training lines to determine their own sleeper power house or young stud pitcher. But baseball is by far the most accessible sport in America. Fantasy baseball allows us to live the dream, to control our own destiny; because many fantasy owners actually feel that they possess some control over how a player will play, or that they have the prophetic wisdom to predict a break out year and broker a lopsided trade. I don't care what you say, but basketball, football, even soccer, have nothing on baseball. Win or lose, clean or dirty, juiced or purebred, it doesn't matter, baseball is pure. It will always be a game between two teams of nine players, under direction of a manager, played on an enclosed field in accordance with the rules, under jurisdiction of one or more umpires, with glory standing only sixty feet - six inches away. Baseball is spring, summer, and fall; baseball is America.

For the record, that brings the list of "Things That Are America," to 1) Brett Favre 2) Baseball

Daily LOL Cat:

Wisconsin Cheddar and Broccoli

That's right kids, be jealous. While you were all out celebrating Jesus rising from the dead for the supposed 2000-ish time, I was out dominating Easter. How did I dominate Easter you ask? By winning the traditional family Easter egg fight. Not only did I have the prophetic foresight to write "Winner" on my egg prior to the battle royal, but I laid the unmerciful smack down on anyone that got in my way. Here is how the traditional family Easter egg fight works: Two people take a hard boiled egg, hold it in the hand, so the pointy end is sticking out. The line up their eggs to each other, and on the count of three hit the eggs together. For some odd reason, only one egg survives to collision unscathed. The unbroken egg goes on to the next round. Here is how the tourney broke down.

First Round:

Dad vs. Me- Winner: Me

Mom vs. Steve - Winner: Steve

Mark vs. Grandma - Winner: Mark

Denis vs. Grandpa - Winner: Grandpa

Second Round:

Me vs. Grandpa - Winner: Me ... that's right, I showed no mercy to even my own grandpa

Mark vs. Steve - Winner: Steve ... this was a disappointment, the all Bergemann final was lost since my brother didn't posses the power I did.

Finals:

Me vs. Steve - Winner: Me ... there was no contest, I came, I saw, I conquered

I'm currently trying to work out a promotion to show off my new egg sponsor. There will probably be a autograph signing at your local grocery store's egg isle in the next few months.

In other news, some douche bag stole my tolietries out of my locker at work. I hope they enjoy my loufa, or as I found out today, the inbreeds at Wal-mart call them shower puffs. I've vented about how ludacris this situation is so much in the last 24 hours that I'm not going to do it here, it is old news now. I'm just going to be so irked when they magically re-appear in like three days, leaving me with duplicates of everything...just plain annoying.

In other news: Ben made it...check out perezhilton.com....

Daily Lol cat:

Manhattan Clam Chowder

Good morning. I have spent the majority of the morning cursing the existence of the Omega Data Acquisition system. This thing sucks. Not only does it come with the most obscure manual, which i have reason to believe was put together by a team of dyslexic hippos, but when i'm trying to sense temperature, it only will read voltage. Seriously. In frustration I ate an entire sleeve of thin mints...that weighs in at around 6 bucks in calories...yay...

I haven't heard from best buy, I'm calling this afternoon to bust some heads in. I mean they have my email address, but no, that is impossible for them.

I am continuing my journey down memory lane by listening extensively to The Smashing Pumpkins and Pearl Jam. The 90s were good.

if you anything about how to find patents for salt-triggerable polymers, please let me know.

yesterday was a good day. Marquette finally won a first round game in the tourney for the first time since 2003 when we went to the final four...maybe a repeat this year if we can beat Stanford...i could see us ending up facing Mich. St. because they will most likely hand Memphis a loss, and I could see us getting some confidence and beating Texas as well. A lot of things have to go right, but hey...it could happen. I mean if Pitt is the trendy pick for winning the entire tourney, and Marquette destroyed Pitt earlier...who says we can't do it again. Also, the one thing i hate about Wisconsin is the badgers. I watched their game last night, and i was so frickin bored...they are just not that good. I can see why all their games are so low scoring, they simply lull their opponents to sleep with their slow tedious play... I hate Wisconsin basketball, and especially Bo Ryan....if I have to hear one more ESPN commentator say that Bo Ryan is a genius and all that crap...makes me want to jump off a cliff. It makes you realize how all sports commentators on ESPN are just talking heads that say ridiculous things. Speaking of which, Dick Vitale needs to just stop talking....if anyone remembers Vitale tore Bruce Pearl up saying that he ruined his career by reporting bad recruitment actions awhile before he coached UWM, but now that Pearl has a good team in Tenn. Vitale can't stop preaching about how awesome Pearl is...he is so annoying....and now he is a spokesperson for Hooters. Way to go Vitale.

I'm definitely looking forward to a night of video games, and college basketball...although besides the davidson/gonzaga game, i have no real interest in any of the games. Maybe i'll just finish Rainbow Six: Vegas. I've been feeling the urge to get some achievement points. I played last night for awhile, and it was fun. Finally got to kill this terrorist leader I have been chasing so far...turns out that she isn't the main person...but she is dead, so the mission is a success so far.

Jealous?

self explanatory...[view from the love sac]

before the new pretty black xbox arrived....

Turkey and Wild Rice

Um...I don't know how you start a blog. But I'm currently bored at work, and have been for at least the last week. There seems to be no respite in sight, or at least until next week when I get to do some monotonous testing (it will be glorious)...it might involve electricity, heat, and possible fire...three things that would cause them, if they knew my past, to rethink being so eager to have me do this test. Although I seem to be the only person around here that actually enjoys monotonous work. Our building is being redone (mainly the directors office's are getting upgraded), and when I walk around I am actually envious of the workers that get to paint walls, install lighting fixtures and wire ethernet plugs. I would love to do that. Everyone else just seems to sit at their desks like lemmings doing whatever people with things to do actually do...I wouldn't know.


I have decided that this blog will consist of a couple things. First, random stories of what I experience through out the day that needs to be saved for historical reference. Second, what soup is being served that day, since that is possibly the most exciting thing I get to experience at work. Third, it will serve as a training log for me as I attempt a triathlon, or as my dad would say a "try"althon. Fourth, a daily lol cat picture, because I find them hilarious. Fifth, any exciting or interesting things I may run across while surfing the internet. Maybe I'll spice it up with a word of the day or something weird, I haven't decided. Lastly, it will serve the purpose of letting people know how awesome my life is in Appleton...this is going to be one boring ride.



Best Buy's latest and greatest

SO my 360 died about two weeks ago....see picture.

Thankfully, I had purchased a replacement plan with best buy when I originally bought it. This saved me the trouble of having to send it to Microsoft which would take 3-4 weeks. So I call the number provided with the replacement plan...dude takes all my info, tells me I'll receive an email in 24 hrs with a shipping label. "cool," i thought, "i'll be out an xbox for a week at best..."

48 hrs pass, I have no email in my possession. Finally, I go onto the best buy website and check my replacement profile...the dude spelled michael as "micheal" in my email address...i was irritated but not upset. called got everything straightened out...sent the thing in later that day. About a week goes by and i haven't heard anything from best buy....nothing. So being eager to get a new xbox, i call to query on the process. The lady says...we received your package about 4 days ago, but the gift card hasn't been sent out yet....4 days to send a gift card....seriously. EVENTUALLY i get the gift card on Monday after work...I am so pumped to get my xbox and play on my new hdtv freshly out of the box the day before. I go to best buy, grab an xbox, and a Ethernet hub, mildly and awkwardly jog to the check out...hand over my gift card with 419 dollars on it...it doesn't work.... .... .... what.... .... manager comes over (she was really nice, without her i would have murdered someone) and tells me, "this is blank..." "ah...what!? no way, i just got that like twenty minutes ago..." SO we go and call the people...after about thirty minutes of talking...they come to this conclusion...we will look into it and get back to you in the next 7 to 10 business days.....seriously... with the 4 days it will most likely take to actually ship the new gift card, I'm looking at 14 business days, that is almost 3 weeks....pure awesome. being the money bags that i am, i just threw down my own money for the stuff, and will return in the billion weeks it takes to get the new gift card and return the stuff, and just repurchase it with the gift card. i would just really like to be done with this process...it was pretty painless, but it is just annoying to have it unfinished....


in other news... playing video games in high definition is amazing....pretty much doing anything in high definition is amazing.

Training:
Swim: 1000 m (x2 250 free- 2 min rest) [A.M.]
Bike: 45 min [P.M]
Run: ---

Daily LOL Cat: