Wall of Fame Part 3

Dear diary,

You should say dear blog. Thad and Amanda held me up by my feet, not upside-down, but that would have been cool too. Check out ALL the pictures on the wall, you too could have your place on the wall; real estate is going quickly, however. Get your stake-out-your-place on. Is it hot yet?

That's enough group collaboration. Harrison will type whatever anyone says. Sheesh!

This is an opportunity for all former Butterknife Estates residents to submit an 8x10 inch black and white photo. Please follow the examples of those who have gone before. We have four photographs out of a possible twelve. Space is limited, so ACT NOW!

Here is our layout.And here is a closeup. Widdershins from top: Willie Gillespie, Matt Gillespie, Steve Gillespie...those Gillespies (except one).This is Coach's picture and his witticism: "There's no can't in TEAM!"And this is how we nailed them all up.For a virtual tour of our stairwell, open this link in Internet Explorer. Also, see Part 1 and Part 2.

We Will Be Self Sustaining

I have been destroying the back yard for two days now. Why? Because I'm starting what I hope will be one of the better things to happen to this house: a garden! Thanks to lack of maintenance in the past, these "garden beds" have proven to be quite some adversaries. However, it's hot, so I'm taking a break now, and I've managed to whip up this fancy little picture of what should be expected from now on. It's...mostly to scale. I also have planting boxes with parsley and oregano growing. Let's hope everything turns out decently.

No More Butterknife Squalor!

History in the hygiene of BkE friends and residents was made today with the arrival of an all-new robotic vacuum. That is correct, BkE now sports a Roomba! For those who are not familiar with the concept of Roomba, it is a near-sentient, self-charging, automated vacuum. It slips under couchs and into tight places with ease. With its sweeping and dust collection abilities, BkE will be cleaner than ever before. That's right, choose Roomba for all your vacuuming needs! Well, in any case, we have, and we shall soon reap the benefits of having a cleaner, happier BkE. Not just because of the direct vacuuming effects of the Roomba, but also because we'll have to keep the house uncluttered from now on to use it.

As of my knowledge right now, this particular Roomba remains unnamed. In order for it to not be picked on by Sanora, Amelie, Charlestonbury and Molly, it needs a name. A name that speaks for its amazing abilities and profound importance at BkE.

On a more unfortunate note, Thad's projectoritis has been acting up recently. It seems that our donations only helped send it into remission. Let us strive together to rid Thad of this unseemly disease once and for all!

Estates Upgrade: HD Cable with DVR

Over the past few months, residents and guests to the BkE have enjoyed the use of a DVR system. This system much enhanced Lost parties and lowered tolerances for commercials. That DVR, however, was lost after a time and once again, TV watchers were forced to endure commercials and watching programs on the hour which they started. How primitive! That all came to an end once woot carried, for one day only, a Pinnacle PCTV HD card, hailing the beginning of the end. To utilize such a card, requires a desktop computer of stout proportions. That computer was found to be available within the family and thus, the hardware was acrued.

We're still getting the hang of it all and there seems to be better software out there as well. The HD channels look very good and the hard drive allows for about 16 hours of HD recording. With the extra monitor that is suspiciously labelled, 'Budge,' the computer behind the projector is a full blown control console. And now, we wait.
Lost: Jan 21
The Office: Jan 15
Heroes: Feb 2
Pushing Daisies: TBA

Hall of Fame

Many heroes have passed through the trials at BkE and we, the current residents of the Butterknife Estates, want to honor those privileged few who have passed through fire, flame and slum-lordships. After all, a house isn't a home until there are some family pictures, and we are all family!(and not just in the literal sense for some of us)

So calling all heroes, from the legend days of the BkE up to the present, we need your picture! It will be placed on the wall in the bare space above the stairs where all visitors can look in awe to those who were once among us. You have already passed past your residency here but your memory will always linger when your Kodachrome, Photogravure or Daguerreotype graces our space above the stairs.

Cupolas Away!

The residents of Butterknife Estates, being Aggies, engineers and having a cupola on top of the garage, decided it was best to light it up with an A much like Old Main. Well, that's the plan anyway. It has been mentioned for a least a year now and it is high time, now that we have this blog, that we did something about it! Rope lights seem the way to go but we just need to find some, preferably in the not-online shopping area. That way we don't pay for shipping. The best deals are the 150 foot rolls but that seems a bit excessive. Only 11 feet is needed for one side of the cupola.

So help out today and save Thad from the raging disease, normalicy, the horror of living in a house with no peculiar landmark! We appreciate all donations toward the surround-sound-systemia research fund and the wiirryhea cure foundation (a condition wherein one suffers from poor hand-eye coordination and spoons inevitably end up in eyes). Your help can free Thad from these crippling disorders and so many others at Butterknife Estates.

Wii tu, Bruté

A battle brews within the walls of Butterknife Estates. A war of words that stretches from BkE alumni to current residents threatens to tear asunder the foundation of this infamous House of Heroes. The spears and arrows of heated debate tear through the air like...well...really...big...pointy...spears and arrows.

Okay here's the gist: Thad really wants a Wii but has no money, Coach (former BkE resident) wants access to a Wii and has no money, Bret vehemetly does not want a Wii, Jared (myself) has money (well...some) and moments where he wants a Wii terribly but others when he doesn't want it at all, Matt hasn't - as of yet - associated himself with either side of the debate, and Ben's getting married so his opinion doesn't matter. What's an off-and-on gamer to do?!?

The Nintendo Wii follows the controversial gaming formula that gamers today don't want cutting edge graphics and complex control schemes...it instead tries to focus on a fun/interactive experience. Well..."controversial" as it may be, it seems to be paying off for Nintendo; as of June 2008 the Wii had sold approximately 10 million more units worldwide than the XBox360 and 15 million more than the Playstation 3.

Is it just hype? Does the system have any long-term value? Would it be a fun purchase for 2 weeks then become a dust collector? Plus every little periferal and game is that much more $$.

I have it on good authority that our local Best Buy is getting in a shipment of Wii's this coming Tuesday...pipe up before then to (possibly) influence the decision making process!!

Latest Upgrade (Besides the Blog)

Welcome to Butterknife Estates Blog (that's BkEB)! Seeing as I wanted to write about the new surround sound system in my blog, I realized we were overdue on having a blog about the house and its goings-on. So sit down, relax and feel at home just as you would at Butterknife Estates.

Many severals know by now about the upgraded sound system as it exists now in our basement along with the projector, stadium seating and theater lighting. On Saturday, our trip to DI brought with it a receiver, three speakers and a subwoofer. Oh yeah, and lamps from Shopko for the upstairs. But the surround sound is pretty great. There was a kick-off showing on Saturday of Serenity (or I watched it at least) and Beetlejuice. Our house is now THX certified! We ought to get a plaque to prove it.