Google Image Search: Word & Picture #41

Here is how this works:
I put in a word into the Google image search.
I post the picture of the first thing that comes back.

Today's Word:
"Dan Heller"

Today's Picture:

Dan Heller is a craw fish eatin', soccer playin', beer drinkin', computer lovin' dude. According to Google, he is a photographer, too. Who knew? Dan Heller knew. That is who.

Daily "Name This Person And Win!"

The first person who names the person in this picture wins a hug from Ben!!!

Rules

Google Image Search: Word & Picture #40

Here is how this works:
I put in a word into the Google image search.
I post the picture of the first thing that comes back.

Today's Word:
"Breakfast at Tiffany's"

Today's Picture:

I have never seen this movie. I want to see this movie. Netflix, here I come.

Daily "Name This Person And Win!"

The first person who names the person in this picture wins a hug from Ben!!!

Rules

Google Image Search: Word & Picture #39

Here is how this works:
I put in a word into the Google image search.
I post the picture of the first thing that comes back.

Today's Word:
"too weird"

Today's Picture:

I don't know much about this cartoon. I like the idea of a sad wookie. I like the idea of that sad wookie coming to America. I like the idea of him driving a huge Lincoln Continental convertible with a missing tooth across America. I like Shelley Winters presenting this idea. I don't know anything weird about this cartoon.

Wait, three people in the backseat and no one in the passenger seat... THAT is weird.

Daily "Name This Person And Win!"

The first person who names the person in this picture wins a hug from Ben!!!

Rules

Google Image Search: Word & Picture #38

Here is how this works:
I put in a word into the Google image search.
I post the picture of the first thing that comes back.

Today's Word:
"dancing old people"

Today's Picture:

After seeing Young @ Heart yesterday, my goal in life is to be able to dance as an old person. I loved that movie.

Daily "Name This Person And Win!"

The first person who names the person in this picture wins a hug from Ben!!!

Rules

Google Word & Image Search #37

Here is how this works:
I put in a word into the Google image search.
I post the picture of the first thing that comes back.

Today's Word:
"Great Movie"

Today's Picture:

I think this is a ride in Orlando. I also think this picture is sideways.

Name This Person & Win!

It is that time again!

Name this person and win a hug from me!


Rules

Young @ Heart & Son of Rambow

I went to see Indiana Jones tonight. There were 2 shows at the Alamo Village (a 7 PM and a 7:05 PM). Both shows were sold-out. Until I typed that last sentence, I did not think how appropriate it was that Indiana Jones sold-out. I am sure it was one of many Indiana Jones sell-outs. I am sure it was one of many George Lucas sell-outs. Congratulations, on your financial success, George Lucas.

Is it just me or does George Lucas look a little bit more like Kenny Rogers every day?

Bullshite! You are becoming his identical twin, George Lucas!


What?! Come on, Kenny Rogers! Are you kidding me?! George Lucas looks just like you! What, am I crazy? Am I out of my mind?

You're right, PugPuggy. I am out of my gourd. Nonetheless, George Lucas looks like Kenny Rogers.

The main difference between George and Kenny: Kenny knew when to hold 'em, knew when to fold 'em, knew when to walk away, knew when to run. He never counted his money, while he's sitting at the table.

So instead of seeing Indiana Jones at the Alamo (my favorite theater in Austin), I saw Young @ Heart at my third favorite movie theater in Austin: the Arbor.

Young @ Heart = one of my favorites. I cried 25 minutes into the movie. I have never done that before. Sometimes, I am a giant pansy. Sometimes, I cry. I wish I did not cry at movies, but that is just who I am. Why did I cry at Young @ Heart? I was thinking about my grandpa in Missouri & how much I miss him. Ask me about my Grandpa Brueggemann sometime, I will tell stories for about 9 hours until you fall asleep... and even then I will nudge you to keep you awake so I can tell you another one. In short: Grandpa Brueggemann is my hero. When I grow up, I want to be him.

This summer, here are my top six movies:
1) Son of Rambo
2) Young @ Heart
3) Big Man Japan (thank you, thank you, Alamo Drafthouse & Tim League)
4) Iron Man
5) Batman - Dark Knight
6) Forgetting Sarah Marshall... I saw it at SXSW, the actors were there, the crowd was hyped... maybe the experience was better than the movie, but I liked it

There are a bunch of movies I have not seen yet (Speed Racer, Indian Jones, The Counterfeiters, Redbelt, Prince Caspian, Harold & Kumar, etc). Does anyone else know of good movies I should see? If so, put them in the comments.

I have not seen Batman yet... nonetheless, I put it in my top 6. I just can't wait to see Heath Ledger as the Joker. I am so psyched for this movie. I loved Batman Begins.

In summary:
George Lucas vaguely resembles Kenny Rogers.
Go see this movie:


And go see this movie:

Working Through the Weekend

I am "on call" this weekend. What does that mean? That means any poor soul who uses my company's software can call me if they have a problem. Scarey, eh?

So this weekend, I will be carrying around a blackberry like a dork. I hate it when people use their phones too much. I will be one of those people this weekend. I am bummed.

But my duty will be done. Everyone in my department has to carry the blackberry for one holiday weekend per year. This is my holiday weekend. Memorial Day. Last year, it was Thanksgiving. Before that: Christmas\New Years. That really sucked. This year, I sacrifice this weekend so I can enjoy Thanksgiving & Christmas.

I had to cancel on some friends this weekend. No short-filmmaking. No camping. No fun.

Just work, work, work.

Don't feel sorry for me. I have a job. Hooray.

In other "uninteresting news of Ben Bartley", I took an allergy medicine last night. I have been drowsy all day. That stuff kills me. I can not take it ever again.

Google Image Search: Word & Picture #
Here is how this works:
I put in a word into the Google image search.
I post the picture of the first thing that comes back.

Today's Word:
"too much"

Today's Picture:

Daily "Name This Person And Win!"

The first person who names the person in this picture wins a hug from Ben!!!

Rules

Google Image Search: Word & Picture #35

Here is how this works:
I put in a word into the Google image search.
I post the picture of the first thing that comes back.

Today's Word:
weird dog

Today's Picture:


Weird, indeed.

Daily "Name This Person And Win!"

The first person who names the person in this picture wins a hug from Ben!!!

Rules

Former Kansas City Royal of the Week

This week's Former Kansas City Royal of the Week: Buddy Biancalana.



Buddy Biancalana played shortstop for the Kansas City Royals from 1982 to 1987. He started every game of the 1985 World Series, playing error free defense.

Buddy Biancalana was most famous for appearing on David Letterman (while Letterman was still doing shows at mid-night). When Pete Rose was chasing Ty Cobb's all-time hit record, several baseball shows were doing a "Pete Rose count-down". Pete Rose had 4,256 career hits. In playful mockery, David Letterman started a "Buddy Biancalana Count-Down", where he would count down the number of hits until Buddy Biancalana broke Ty Cobb's hit record. Biancalana was known more for his defense than his offense. Having only 113 career hits, Biancalana needed over 4,000 more hits to even get close to Cobb.

During his appearance on Letterman, Letterman was teasing Biancalana about how close he was to Ty Cobb. Biancalana said, "I'm closer to Cobb than you are to Carson".

Classic.

Congratuations Buddy Biancalana! You are the Former Kansas City Royal of the Week!!!

Previous Winners
Jamie Quirk
Jorge Orta

Ben and "The Don"

Today, this is what I deserve:

Work.
Work.
Work.

Google Image Search: Word & Picture #34

Here is how this works:
I put in a word into the Google image search.
I post the picture of the first thing that comes back.

Today's Word:
"goofy kid"

Today's Picture:

I love this kid. I love marching bands. Seriously, I love them. If I had a wish: the University of Arizona marching band would march around my block playing happy birthday to me on my birthday. That would be awesome.

When I searched for goofy kid, I was totally expecting this picture to come up:


An interesting point was brought up by Jennifer in the comments section. If you search Google images with quotes or without quotes, you get different images returned. For example, the "Darrell Buchanan" search returned a puzzle. But a search of Darrell Buchanan without quotes returned an old man in a cowboy hat.

In that spirit, I searched "goofy kid" without the quotes. This is what was returned:

I like it, too. Good luck on your first day of school, little man. Don't get your jean shorts dirty.

Daily "Name This Person And Win!"

The first person who names the person in this picture wins a hug from Ben!!!

Rules

Bull Creek with PugPuggy

There are fun things more fun in my life than taking my dog to Bull Creek. Bull Creek is an off-the-leash dog park. There were hundreds of dogs at Bull Creek this weekend. The temperatures rose into the 90s in Austin. Dogs needed to cool off. It was also the weekend of the Great Dane meet-up. So imagine all 15 pounds of PugPuggy next to these HUGE dogs that were more similar to horses than dogs. She got right in there and mixed it up with them. The Great Dane's head is as big as PugPuggy's entire body. It was a sight to see. Nonetheless, PugPuggy had no idea she was small. So when someone threw a ball and all the dogs chased it, PugPuggy was right there in the middle of it all.

We met my friend Jorge. Jorge is the guy from Austin who is working in Australia. He is back in Austin for a couple of weeks during his brother's graduation from UT. We met his friend, Diane. They both brought their dogs... Jake and Sandy.

I wish I had pictures of PugPuggy with the Great Danes. It was hilarious. It looked kinda like this:

Google Image Search: Word & Picture #33

Here is how this works:
I put in a word into the Google image search.
I post the picture of the first thing that comes back.

Today's Word:
"Darrell Buchanan"

Today's Picture:


Darrell Buchanan is chairman of the beer drinking convention. He is my friend in Tucson and a fellow Arizona Wildcat fan. I searched on his name in Google image search and he is a puzzle piece. In fact, he is the missing piece of the puzzle that is the KEY piece of the puzzle. No puzzle is complete without him.

Daily "Name This Person And Win!"

The first person who names the person in this picture wins a hug from Ben!!!

Rules

Google Image Search: Word & Picture #32

Here is how this works:
I put in a word into the Google image search.
I post the picture of the first thing that comes back.

Today's Word:
"ice cold beer"

Today's Picture:

I think that is Thai money in the background of the Thai beer. There is also someone video taping this same beer. Now it is on my blog. This is a very famous beer.

Daily "Name This Person And Win!"

The first person who names the person in this picture wins a hug from Ben!!!

Rules

Movie Trivia - The Shining

"Heeeeeerrrrrreeeeeee's Juanny!"

Stanley Kubrick directed The Shining, starring Jack Nicholson.

The book that Jack was writing contained the one sentence ("All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy") repeated over and over. Stanley Kubrick had each page individually typed.

For the Italian version of the film, Kubrick used the phrase "Il mattino ha l' oro in bocca" ("He who wakes up early meets a golden day").

For the German version, it was "Was Du heute kannst besorgen, das verschiebe nicht auf Morgen" ("Never put off till tomorrow what you can do today").

For the Spanish version, it was "No por mucho madrugar amanece más temprano" ("Although one will rise early, it won't dawn sooner.").

For the French version, it was "Un 'Tiens' vaut mieux que deux 'Tu l'auras'" ("A bird in the hand is worth two in the bush").

Google Image Search: Word & Picture #31

Here is how this works:
I put in a word into the Google image search.
I post the picture of the first thing that comes back.

Today's Word:
"tired"

Today's Picture:

Daily "Name This Person And Win!"

The first person who names the person in this picture wins a hug from Ben!!!

Rules

Friends in Northern California

Northern California houses several of my greatest friends. I got to hang out with a lot of them this past weekend.

Quentin was our next door neighbor when we lived in the apartment at 1200 Elm St in Austin. This is Megan & I with Quentin.

Quentin is a brilliant guru of advertising. Ask him about using my back hair to get ahead in the advertising world (long story).

Suzie is Megan's cousin. Dan is Suzie's husband. I am married to Megan. That makes Dan and I... husbands-of-cousins-in-laws... or something like that. Dan is a firefighter and cabinet store operator in San Jose. Their house was about 10 minutes from our hotel. We ate dinner at Original Joe's in San Jose, across from the (very yellow) Montgomery hotel. Dan told me they were going to move the Montgomery hotel to Texas. I don't understand how or why, but they are going to do it. I hope they put it in my backyard. That would be awesome. Here is a picture of Dan, Suzie, Megan & I.


And this is a picture of Lucca, their dog:

Google Image Search: Word & Picture #30

Here is how this works:
I put in a word into the Google image search.
I post the picture of the first thing that comes back.

Today's Word:
"happy cat"

Today's Picture:

Is that a "happy cat" or a "stoned cat"?

He must be looking at a glowing ball of yarn.

Daily "Name This Person And Win!"

The first person who names the person in this picture wins a hug from Ben!!!

Rules

Small Town of the Week - DeSoto, Kansas!

Congratulations, DeSoto, Kansas! You are the Ben Bartley Small Town of the Week!

How did DeSoto win? I lived in DeSoto from age 3 to age 7. This was my house:


I went to kindergarten at DeSoto Elementary. I think DeSoto Elementary has been renamed.

Founded in 1857, DeSoto was named for the Spanish explorer Hernando de Soto. Several families of settlers first established the town around a steam saw mill on the Kansas River.

I went back to DeSoto when I finished college. I had not been back since I was 7. Hills that looked HUGE when I was 7 now looked tiny. I remember everything as much further & bigger. I remember the walk to kindergarten seemed like miles, when it was actually only blocks.

I wonder what "hill" is currently in my life. Those "hills" that seem huge to me today will probably look tiny 20 years from now. Maybe my "hill" is finishing my first feature film. Maybe my "hill" is children or my mortgage or any number of things in my life I consider "big". But they probably aren't that "big" 20 years from now.

Sometimes I wonder what would have happened to me if I had stayed in DeSoto. I probably would be a Kansas Jayhawk fan. Thank God I moved.

(You heard me, brother-in-law, Gar!)

In Summary: DeSoto is awesome; hills get smaller the farther you are from them; I have a brother-in-law named Gar. Yes, "Gar". And he is a KU fan. Despite that, I still love him.

Google Image Search: Word & Picture #29

Here is how this works:
I put in a word into the Google image search.
I post the picture of the first thing that comes back.

Today's Word:
"Country Crock"

Today's Picture:


Wow. A Country Crock jumping castle. Megan - prepare the backyard. We are going to get one of these. PugPuggy, you & I are going to play in the Country Crock jumping castle. The party will never stop... until we get tired.

Daily "Name This Person And Win!"

The first person who names the person in this picture wins a hug from Ben!!!



Rules

Google Image Search: Word & Picture #28

Here is how this works:
I put in a word into the Google image search.
I post the picture of the first thing that comes back.

Today's Word:
"crazy kids"

Today's Picture:


Sure, society calls this kid "crazy". But, in the future, when we discover that Country Crock opens pores AND exfoliates dead skin, who will call her crazy? Not me. I will say, "Hooray. Hooray for you, skin-care experimenter."

By the way, isn't it amazing how long the name "Country Crock" has been around? I remember thinking it was a horrible name a long, long time ago. Someone could easily put "o' Shit" at the end of this name and make it "Country Crock o' Shit". But no one has done that... that should read, "no one has done that until me".

Wow, this has been a horrible blog entry. Did you really read this entire entry?! I am in awe of your patience. Hot damn, you must be really bored at work.

Daily "Name This Person And Win!"

The first person who names the person in this picture wins a hug from Ben!!!



Rules

Back in Austin

We are home!

Megan & I got back to Austin last night around 5:15 PM. We picked up PugPuggy from our friend Erin and then ate dinner at Trudy's. It was a good night.

I am back at work & trying to stay awake.

This morning we drove to pick-up Megan's car from Roger at Motormania. If you have a VW, you undoubtedly need to get it fixed. I am not sure what is wrong with your VW, but I do not doubt that something is wrong with it.

If you have a VW & you live near Austin, you need to get it fixed at Motormania. Roger at Motormania is the first mechanic who I trust. He earned that trust through a bad experience. The alternator on Megan's VW went out about 4 years ago. I could smell it cooking. Roger replaced it. About 4 weeks later, the alternator went out again. The second time it happened, I was pissed. But Roger replaced the alternator for free, gave us 4 free oil changes and apologized until he was blue in the face. It was not his fault the alternator went bad the second time. Roger did not make the alternator, he just put it in the car. But he made me feel like he was going to take care of me. He made me feel like he was going to fix it. Ever since that experience, we have always taken Megan's VW to him. And we always will.

When we get rid of Megan's car, we are not going to get another VW. The only reason I would buy a VW is so that I could have Roger & the guys at Motormania work on it.

When we drove out to Motormania, we drove down Anderson Mill road from 183 to 620. They finally opened up 2 lanes in each direction. They have been working on that road since I moved to Austin. It is so much better. Nice work, road workers.

Having Fun, But Missing Home

I am still in California. I had a lovely dinner with Susan (Megan's mom), Mary & Del Dees. Mary & Del are like family to Megan & I. Mary is Megan's mom's best friend.

I wish I had brought my camera to take a picture with them, but I am sure they were glad I forgot it. I am a picture-taking machine.

Work is going good out here... nothing exciting to report. There are a bunch of really nice & smart people in the San Jose office.

I am having fun in California, but I am missing Austin.

I know it does, Stevie Ray Vaughn Statue, I know it does.

I really miss PugPuggy.

PugPuggy! That is not very nice!

OK, will do. I will see your "so-ugly-its-cute" face on Sunday night.

Austin, Texas: save some brisket & breakfast tacos for me. I am coming home.

Ben in Ben T-Shirt

I have an obsession: me.

I fucking love me. Seriously, I am great. I would hug me if my arms faced the other way. I should name something after me. Maybe I will poop in the toilet and name my crap "Lil' Ben". Speaking of "Lil' Ben", here is a picture of me when I was 8:

Wow, I love me when I was little.

How in love am I with myself? I wear a T-Shirt of myself. Need proof, check it out:


Yup, that is me wearing a picture of myself.

Holy crap, I am out of my mind.

And I still have that same grin... but less hair.

"Where did I get such a lovely T-Shirt?" bloggers everywhere ask. From this pretty lady:

Yup, my lovely wife Megan made me a T-Shirt of myself. She also made me business cards with this same picture on it.

Megan - thank you for my T-Shirt. I promise not to kiss it while we are in public.