Sunday, August 31, 2008

Trivia Update, Weekly Winners


Me and the Grandkids

It's that time again !!
Last week was one of the tightest battles for the top Weekly Points Winner over at Tom's Trivia Challenge but I'll get to that in a minute.

First I'd like to welcome our newest players:
  1. TheIncredible Woody
  2. TrailerParkBarbie
  3. Jekyl
  4. CindyH58
Thanks for playing and hope to see you all playing to win in the coming weeks !

Read on and find out what you can win!!


Last weeks race had the top 3 point getters separated by only 1 Point !!!

Maybe it's the Democratic National Convention that got him stirred up !!


A Big Congrats to:
SHAUN with 111 Points, he's an unabashed Democrat coming to us from the Washington State and author of The Upper Left a blog where he talks about politics and shares his views on the coming Presidential Election.

Shaun is a husband, father, grandpa and Vietnam Vet who has been involved in the Political Process for a long time .
Make sure you go and see his blog, even if you aren't a Democrat!! Congrats again to Shaun and The Upper Left.... read the rest of his Bio.

The Weekly Score Card :

Player Total Points Overall Rank Last weeks Rank
1. Shaun 111 3 3
2. PG 110 2 2
3.Dawtch 109 1 1
4. Sneaky 98 14 18
5. TheVinylVillager 81 7 9

Looking at the scores you can see that Dawtch has a race on her hands and today marks the last day of August.... Will she hold off Shaun and PG for the top spot ? Good to see Sneaky, first time Top Fiver, in the mix at number 4 and The Vinyl Villager, last weeks winner, continues to make the cut.

Congrats to all and thanks for playing !!


What happens when you win here ....

The Top 5 Weekly Point Winners are posted each week at Tom's Hideaway .


If you are a blog owner I will link back to your blog if you take the #1 spot for the week! Those who finish 2nd thru 5th are also posted and if you have submitted a picture of yourself as a child to Tom for the Trivia Player Series I post a link back to your picture.( my email is on the sidebar or link me up with a picture of yourself in the comment area)

If you win the entire month, even finish in the Top 10, you are immortalized forever in the Trivia Players Hall Of Fame on the Trivia Site.. I'm there, come join me!!

Check out the Your Competition and get an idea who you are playing against at the Trivia Players Picture Series

Tuesday, August 26, 2008

It's a Beautiful Day


I did a little fix it job for someone today and since it was an easy fix, and a gorgeous day, I had some time to walk around the neighborhood with the trusty came
ra.

This bee was very busy !!

Flowers were everywhere !!


-


In Full Bloom
!!



The oc
ean view was wonderful.



When I got in the car I saw thi
s little guy sitting on the tool box,


The leaves are falling....
a sure sign that the summer is almost gone.
Autumn, my favorite season in New England, is almost here. I love the warm days and the cool nights.

Have A Great Day

Sunday, August 24, 2008

Trivia Update, Weekly Winners

Hello everyone !!

Happy Sunday !!

Another week has sped by and with the scores this week I HAD to add another stat for the weekly point winner's scoreboard


Last week I mentioned that for the 1st time the top 5 "Point Getters" were also the top 5 "Overall Players" I said:

"Usually we see someone in 11th or 12th making a run at it so I guess everyone under the top 5 players has to step up their game, Me Included !!"

Well come from behind was what our Weekly Winner has done ! All the way from 25th place and the new winner this week with 131 Points ......

FROM THE HILLS OF WEST VIRGINIA...It's.....

The Vinyl Villager !!

To stress what the Villager has done and what really makes him a contender to make a surprising finish for the month is that he has only played 14 out of 23 days for the month of August !! That's 5 fewer days than anyone in the top 20 players.

Nice Job !!

Please take time to follow the link above and visit his web site, also located in the Blogs I like Section in my sidebar.



Player Total Points Overall Rank Last weeks Rank
1. TheVinylVillager 133 9 25
2. dawtch 105 1 2
3.Tom 88 5 9
4. Shaun 86 3 4
5. PG 81 2 1


Congrats the other 5 finishers !! Oh There's me !!

One thing I'd like to mention is there are several players we can't put a face to!! We have 30 Photos in Tom's Trivia Picture Series but several players are not there. I ask for a picture from your childhood, PG Excepted as his were lost, and I will post it along with the others already there !!

Send it to me via email, in my sidebar.

I will not share your email or any information other than your Blog, if you have one, or just the bio you send me along with the photo !!

Have a Great Week everyone

Oh and if you aren't playing in Tom's Trivia Challenge what are you waiting for ??

Sign Up, it's free and will only take up a about a minute of your day !!

Wednesday, August 20, 2008

The Fog

The Northern Maine Coast, foggy morning near Schoodic Point, which is 6 miles east of Bar Harbor and part of the Acadia National Park.


Posted by Picasa

Tuesday, August 19, 2008

Trivia Update, Weekly Winners

A little behind but I'm still here!!

Finally have the weekly winners to announce. I have to say they are looking strangely familiar !!

Congrats goes out PG again !!

He lit up the scoring with 136 points for the week..Nice

Strangely enough the top 5 overall players in Tom's Trivia Challenge are also the Top 5 point getters for the week ending August 14, 2008

That is a first. Usually we see someone in 11th or 12th making a run at it so I guess everyone under the top 5 players has to step up their game, Me Included !!

Here are the top 5 Point Getters for the week:

Player Total Points Overall Rank
1. PG 136 1
2. dawtch 105 2
3. kathlock 97 4
4. Shaun 89 3
5. Operator9 82 5



Monday, August 18, 2008

Sunday, August 17, 2008

Maine Getaway



Posted by Picasa


Isn't Jazzy beautiful !!


Having fun with my Daughter and the Grand Kids this weekend. While the weather hasn't been all that great The kids are looking great and we are sending out the smiles !!






Haven Alexander wanted to ride on G-Tom's back



He kinda makes me look a little thinner !!

Thursday, August 14, 2008

Dodgers Tied for 1st in NL West (Baseball Post)

Strange but in a game where the L.A. Dodgers took a share of first place in their division, Manny, being Manny, hit a 2 run Homer and Nomar Garciaparra hit a walk off home run to seal the victory.

Are we talking Red Sox West here or what ??

Manny has hit 5 home runs in the last 12 games and batting .469 over the past 10. The guy he was traded for is a good 110 points below him in batting average and has already sat out of a game.

The Boston Red Sox beat Texas last night but are still 3 games out of 1st place behind Tampa Bay.

To all my blog readers that aren't baseball fans, please forgive me but there are a few of you that give me crap over my dislike for "The Trade" and now take pleasure in seeing L.A. and Ramirez do well.

Call him a whinner, call him names, "Manny being Manny" was always part of his game and when the Red Sox front office has a contract renewal coming up for a high salaried player I guess Red Sox Fans should just get ready to say goodbye; Roger Clemens, well good riddance to him, Nomar Garciaparra, Pedro Martinez, who will be next?

The Red Sox front office make all these players look like the "Bad Guy" and don't resign them. Nit-Wits!!

And now I am ready to take that abuse....and say GO L.A., GO BLUE !!

Monday, August 11, 2008

Family Get Together

A family Get together yesterday:

What do they do at Tom’s Hideaway for a family get together you ask…???

It all started with…Cheese, Mighty Cheese, and Crackers too !!

Main Course: Chicken Gruyere with Broccoli and a Mushroom Risotto. Fresh Scali bread from the bakery assorted Red and White Wines

Desert !! 3 Home Made Pies (2 Blueberry / 1 Coconut Cream and a cake (Mandarin Orange also Home Made). A Premium New York Cheese Cake, Fresh Strawberries, Bing Cherries, Grapes and a choice of Coffee, Tea and countless other beverages.

Then we played Dominoes and a game of cards - (5 Crowns) - I didn’t win either game much to the amusement of several family members…

Unknown to them I held back from my usual DOMINATING game playing abilities.
Why you might ask…We had guests of course!!

I hold back a lot on Tom's Trivia Challenge too, I just want to be nice and all!!

While this get together could have been caught on film, I was just having too much fun, plus my hands were all sticky from all those luscious deserts.
I do have a picture of the Chicken !!
And MY recipe: Chicken Gruyere

  • 2-3 lbs boneless chicken, sliced thin, pounded into cutlets.

  • 3/4 lb wedge of Gruyere Cheese

  • 3/4 lb smoked Virginia Ham shaved thin

  • 1 cup freshly grated Parmesan Cheese

  • Season Salt or Salt, Pepper to taste

  • 2-3 cups Cornflake Crumbs **

  • 1 Stick Butter melted

  • Toothpicks

First get your chicken cleaned up and ready, take the time to get the (Fat,Gristle,Tendons} out of the meat. Put aside in dish and move to next step

Mix **Cornflake Crumbs and Parmesan cheese in large bowl, Add approx 1/2 tsp pepper and Tsp of salt or seasoned salt and mix ingredients well, put aside and proceed to next step.

Cut Gruyere Cheese into about 3"x 1/2" strips and put aside, get your ham out of package. It's time for the assembly line now.

Lay out cutlets flat, place a couple slices of ham and a strip of cheese on each cutlet and roll them up secure them by using 2 toothpicks so they wont unroll on you.

Now dredge rolled up cutlets in butter, then roll them through cornflake mix, Place in 9"x14" glass baking dish. Drizzle remaining butter over top of cutlets

Bake in pre-heated oven at 425 Degrees F. for 20-30 minutes...they cook fast so check one in 20 minutes so chicken doesn't get dry!!


** You can use bread crumbs or cracker crumbs but cornflake crumbs are the best !!

Serve with Rice and Vegetable Serves 6 People easily


Pick Your Own People and have them bring the desert...


You can find a lot of My Families recipes on my food blog Put A Fork In It
You may find some luscious deserts there !!


I've been neglecting the food blog a bit too much so I'll be getting some new things posted there soon !!


Have a Great Week !!~

Sunday, August 10, 2008

Trivia Update....Sort Of

I'm just getting the Tom's Trivia Statistical Generator up and running this week so please forgive me for not culling the actual Weekly Point Leader out of the field of players this week. Instead, I have used the lazy method. That is: Copy the to ten leaders from the Fun Trivia game itself, post it here, and take a little credit for being in the top 10 !!

It's been a crazy week. I have received calls from players on the West Coast complaining about some of the tests, some players here on the East Coast who whine about not earning as many points as the person ahead of them. I've explained that they should just tough up. Accuracy and Speed are just as important . Stop whining and play the game.



And not to name names but ROSE is complaining on the Shout Box about Steve, the Trivia Chicken who started working around Easter 2007 as a member of the Hideaway Pictures Team. Steve is not a stalker, he's a friendly chicken who promotes a Vegetarian Diet, enjoys trivia , photography and chocolate...and apparently he has his eyes on Rose.

Also Welcome to The Vinyl Villager, out newest player, we love welcoming new players !!

Well I am off to adjust the categories for the week and I will be tracking the top 5 Point Leaders for the next 7 days so tune in for that next Sunday.

Player Total Points
1. dawtch 130
2. gutterguy 129
3. Shaun 123
4. MsTerious 113
5. PG 110
6. TheJackster 102
7. kathlock 97
8. bunny 97
9. Tom 95
10. Operator9 92

Wednesday, August 06, 2008

New PC and Prohibition

Well the technical difficulties have come to an end. I purchased a new PC Tower I found on Craigslist...It's working famously and I am sure it will inspire great things.

As of 3:04 EST I am sitting atop the heap in 1st place at Tom's Trivia Challenge...of course there is a lot of time left in today's game.

Woke up this morning to a cool rainy day. Quite the change from the weather we have been having around here of late. I must admit I do like the cool weather...such a welcome relief to the heat and humidity.


I received the following picture of a poster that was used during Prohibition and I think it would have inspired me to drink more...



What a Happy Bunch

I'd have to slug back several shots of moonshine before I would ever want to kiss one of those gals !!

Tuesday, August 05, 2008

Joke in my EMAIL !!

Golf Balls

A man entered a bus with both of his front pockets full of golf balls & sat down next to a beautiful blonde. The puzzled blonde kept looking at him & his bulging pockets.

Finally, after many such glances from her, he said, 'It's golf balls'.

Nevertheless, the blonde continued to look at him for a very long time, deeply thinking about what he had said.

After several minutes, not being able to contain her curiosity any longer, she asked, 'Does it hurt as much as tennis elbow?'

Monday, August 04, 2008

Last Three Games Bay vs Ramirez

Jason Bay:4 hits 11 at bats 1 HR and 3 RBI's for the Boston Red Sox

Manny Ramirez: 8 hits 13 at bats 2 HR's 5 RBI's For The Los Angelas Dodgers...funny thing is....

The Red Sox are still paying 7 Million Dollars of Manny's Salary.

Saturday, August 02, 2008

Experiencing Technical Difficulties

Today my computer was declared officially DEAD !! What a pain. I will be replacing it soon but until such time I will not be able to post too much,,,,please stay tuned and of course keep up with your Trivia...

In the meantime I have begun reading what the Modern Day Library considers the Top 100 works of fiction.

1st Up is Ulysses by James Joyce. It was originally banned in the U.S.A. it is not a particularly easy read but I am beginning to catch on to his style.

Here is the LIST

What are You Reading??

Friday, August 01, 2008

Triva Update and Good Luck Manny

PG Topped all players for July as I predicted last Sunday...Nice Job Pat!!

Of course the Top 10 make it to the Hall of Fame, a place I've been to but not recently !! It's been 2 straight months I have failed to make the Top 10 and I am out to change things this month !!

So watch out!!


1. PG (459 points, 7 wins)
2. kathlock (425 points, 4 wins)
3. dawtch (367 points, 2 wins)
4. Shaun (346 points, 1 wins)
5. Operator9 (320 points, 0 wins)
6. soy-boy (304 points, 0 wins)
7. Sally (303 points, 2 wins)
8. The_IQ (270 points, 2 wins)
9. sas (265 points, 1 wins)
10. gutterguy (260 points, 1 wins)


The Boston Red Sox traded my FAVORITE PLAYER yesterday !! Manny Ramirez has gone to Los Angelas to play for the Dodgers !! Personally my favorite Manny Moment was this year when he made a running catrch in the outfield and then leaped up and slapped five with a fan, turned around and threw the the ball into 2nd base making a double play. What an arm, What a Bat I will miss him and his Manny Moments!!




Good Luck Manny !!