Have you ever...

OK, this was on Nicole's blog, and I felt like doing it. You have to boldface all of the items you've actually done. Items in parentheses are my own take on them.
01. Bought everyone in the bar a drink
02. Swam with wild dolphins
03. Climbed a mountain
04. Taken a Ferrari for a test drive
05. Been inside the Great Pyramid
06. Held a tarantula
07. Taken a candlelit bath with someone
08. Said “I love you” and meant it
09. Hugged a tree
10. Bungee jumped
11. Visited Paris
12. Watched a lightning storm at sea
13. Stayed up all night long and saw the sun rise
14. Seen the Northern Lights
15. Gone to a huge sports game
16. Walked the stairs to the top of the leaning Tower of Pisa
17. Grown and eaten your own vegetables
18. Touched an iceberg
19. Slept under the stars
20. Changed a baby’s diaper
21. Taken a trip in a hot air balloon
22. Watched a meteor shower
23. Gotten drunk on champagne
24. Given more than you can afford to charity
25. Looked up at the night sky through a telescope
26. Had an uncontrollable giggling fit at the worst possible moment
27. Had a food fight
28. Bet on a winning horse
29. Asked out a stranger
30. Had a snowball fight
31. Screamed as loudly as you possibly can
32. Held a lamb
33. Seen a total eclipse
34. Ridden a roller coaster
35. Hit a home run
36. Danced like a fool and not cared who was looking
37. Adopted an accent for an entire day
38. Actually felt happy about your life, even for just a moment
39. Had two hard drives for your computer
40. Visited all 50 states
41. Taken care of someone who was drunk
42. Had/Have amazing friends
43. Danced with a stranger in a foreign country
44. Watched whales
45. Stolen a sign
46. Backpacked in Europe
47. Taken a road-trip
48. Gone rock climbing
49. Midnight walk on the beach
50. Gone sky diving
51. Visited Ireland
52. Been heartbroken longer than you were actually in love
53. In a restaurant, sat at a stranger’s table and had a meal with them
54. Visited Japan
55. Milked a cow
56. Alphabetized your cds
57. Pretended to be a superhero
58. Sung karaoke
59. Lounged around in bed all day
60. Played touch football
61. Gone scuba diving
62. Kissed in the rain
63. Played in the mud
64. Played in the rain
65. Gone to a drive-in theater
66. Visited the Great Wall of China
67. Started a business
68. Fallen in love and not had your heart broken
69. Toured ancient sites
70. Taken a martial arts class
71. Played D&D for more than 6 hours straight
72. Gotten married
73. Been in a movie (I was on the crashing plane in Superman Returns)
74. Crashed a party
75. Gotten divorced
76. Gone without food for 5 days
77. Made cookies from scratch
78. Won first prize in a costume contest
79. Ridden a gondola in Venice
80. Gotten a tattoo
81. Rafted the Snake River
82. Been on television news programs as an “expert”
83. Gotten flowers for no reason
84. Performed on stage
85. Been to Las Vegas
86. Recorded music
87. Eaten shark
88. Kissed on the first date
89. Gone to Thailand
90. Bought a house
91. Been in a combat zone
92. Buried one/both of your parents
93. Been on a cruise ship
94. Spoken more than one language fluently
95. Performed in a Rocky Horror Picture Show
96. Raised children
97. Followed your favorite band/singer on tour
98. Passed out cold
99. Taken an exotic bicycle tour in a foreign country
100. Picked up and moved to another city to just start over
101. Walked the Golden Gate Bridge
102. Sang loudly in the car, and didn’t stop when you knew someone was looking
103. Had plastic surgery
104. Survived an accident that you shouldn’t have survived
105. Wrote articles for a large publication (under the pseudonym Hunter S. Thompson)
106. Lost over 100 pounds
107. Held someone while they were having a flashback
108. Piloted an airplane
109. Touched a stingray
110. Broken someone’s heart
111. Helped an animal give birth (my dog)
112. Won money on a TV game show
113. Broken a bone
114. Gone on an African photo safari
115. Had a facial part pierced other than your ears
116. Fired a rifle, shotgun, or pistol
117. Eaten mushrooms that were gathered in the wild
118. Ridden a horse
119. Had major surgery (it involved number 104)
120. Had a snake as a pet
121. Hiked to the bottom of the Grand Canyon
122. Slept for more than 30 hours over the course of 48 hours
123. Visited more foreign countries than U.S. states
124. Visited all 7 continents
125. Taken a canoe trip that lasted more than 2 days
126. Eaten kangaroo meat
127. Eaten sushi
128. Had your picture in the newspaper
129. Changed someone’s mind about something you care deeply about
130. Gone back to school
131. Parasailed
132. Touched a cockroach
133. Eaten fried green tomatoes
134. Read “The Iliad”
135. Selected one “important” author who you missed in school, and read
136. Killed and prepared an animal for eating
137. Skipped all your school reunions
138. Communicated with someone without sharing a common spoken language
139. Been elected to public office (mayor)
140. Written your own computer language
141. Thought to yourself that you’re living your dream
142. Had to put someone you love into hospice care
143. Built your own PC from parts
144. Sold your own artwork to someone who didn’t know you
145. Had a booth at a street fair
146. Dyed your hair (blue)
147. Been a DJ
148. Shaved your head
149. Caused a car accident
150. Saved someone’s life (it involved numbers 119, 104,and 91)

Edoc Laundry

Edoc Laundry is something called an Alternate-Reality Game (ARG). In these games, players must solve puzzles, visit websites, and sometimes answer cryptic telephon calls. Edoc Laundry (backwards for "code") ingeniously blends cool shirts with this idea. Here is an example.

In this shirt, you turn in inside out to find the phrase: "Nothing to Hide". Underneath it are drips of paint matching the ones on the shirt, except they spell out "Nothing to Hide". Using this key you spell out the message on the shirt itself: CALL ME A PATRIOT. Go to Edoc's website, find the hidden link, and enter in this code. This will give you a video clip; the next clue in a mystery involving murder and a band called Poor Richard. Minus the Da Vinci Code-style sleuthing, the shirts come in cool colors, are well made and pretty hip. The one drawback is that they run a little small, so be warned.

And yes, Sonia, I know you have no interest in this whatsoever.

El Patro, Banner, and Poll makes three!

We got a poll in da house! There will be a new one every week, so start voting! Also.... instead of a blog description, I have a banner courtesy of Sloganizer. It has a new slogan for Tijuana Tortilla every 30 seconds. Now that's efficiency! If you don't like the style, let me know and I'll change it. El Patro, signing off.

Back by popular demand

I've gotten a lot of e-mails asking for more Red vs. Blue, so here is episodes 2-5. Here's the first one too in case you missed it.

The Last Stand

So I saw it today. I don't see why critics are giving a bad rap. I think it's a good movie, with only some corny dialogue and this extremely gay dude.

Other than that it's excellent. The movie begins with the future Magneto and the not-yet-wheelchair-bound Professor Charles Xavier interviewing young Jean Grey. They invite her to bea student at "Xavier's School for Gifted Youngsters", the boarding school where mutantslearn to use their powers. It then cuts ten years later to Mr. Gay up there trying to saw his wings off. It then goes on to reveal a "cure" for mutation. Magneto and his Brotherhood are against it, as are the X-Men. Only Magneto wants to kill people and blow up stuff to make his point. Also, Jean Grey is reborn as The Phoenix, her dual-personality ten times more powerful as her old self. Obviously she cannot control it, and ends up killing Cyclops and a few others. I can't really say any more without putting a big SPOILER ALERT!!! on top, so you have to see it yourself now!

A momentous occasion

I, El Patro, author of Tijuana Tortilla, have just celebrated his 1000th visitor.

GO ME!!!!!!

It's that time of year again.....

Tara has just published her June calendar. Here it is, hot off the press:
1. Morgan Freeman's and Oscar the Grouch's Birthday
2. Bring in Bagels for the Office Day
3. Cliff Appreciation Day
4. Angeline Jolie's Birthday
5. Paper and Pen Day (Write blog entries on paper, scan and post them) I can't do this one because I don't have a scanner.
6. "The Omen" (reborn in theatres today - 6/6/06)
7. First Day Ice Cream Was Sold in the U.S. (June 7, 1786)
8. Stub Your Toe Day
9. Metal Mania Day
10. National Yo-Yo Day/Tara Lipinski's Birthday (born this day in 1982)
11. Gene Wilder's Birthday (born this day in 1935)/Full Moon
12. List More Simple Pleasures Day
13. Insult Intolerance Day (aka Tell Someone to "Screw off" Day)
14. Trekking day (Walk to Work Day) /Flag Day
15. Bring an Insect to Work Day
16. Pretend You're 80 Day, Capt Georg Von Trapp Appreciation Day
17. Martyn Appreciation Day
18. Don't Use Your Computer Day/Father's Day
19. Favorite Artist(s) Day.
20. Geography Day (Where in the world would you like to live and why)
21. Bridge Day/First Day of Summah!
22. Your Favorite Channel Day (TV, radio, cable, satellite whatever)
23. Sweets Day
24. Treat Yourself Day (20 dollar/pound limit)
25. El Patro's Birthday
26. Deer in the Headlights Day
27. Nachos and Cheese Day
28. Fine Wine Day
29. Nephew and Niece Appreciation Day
30. Useless Trivia Day/Superman's Birthday

The 50 Greatest Cinema Heroes and Villains of all time

Heroes
Atticus Finch (To Kill A Mockingbird, as played by Gregory Peck)
Indiana Jones (Raiders of the Lost Ark, as played by Harrison Ford)
James Bond (Dr. No, as played by Sean Connery)
Rick Blaine (Casablanca, as played by Humphrey Bogart)
Will Kane (High Noon, as played by Gary Cooper)
Clarice Starling (The Silence of the Lambs, as played by Jodie Foster)
Rocky Balboa (Rocky, as played by Sylvester Stallone)
Ellen Ripley (Aliens, as played by Sigourney Weaver)
George Bailey (It's a Wonderful Life, as played by James Stewart)
T. E. Lawrence (Lawrence of Arabia, as played by Peter O'Toole)
Jefferson Smith (Mr. Smith Goes to Washington, as played by James Stewart)
Tom Joad (The Grapes of Wrath, as played by Henry Fonda)
Oskar Schindler (Schindler's List, as played by Liam Neeson)
Han Solo (Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope, as played by Harrison Ford)
Norma Rae Webster (Norma Rae, as played by Sally Field)
Shane (Shane, as played by Alan Ladd)
Harry Callahan (Dirty Harry, as played by Clint Eastwood)
Robin Hood (The Adventures of Robin Hood, as played by Errol Flynn)
Virgil Tibbs (In the Heat of the Night, as played by Sidney Poitier)
Butch & Sundance (Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, as played by Paul Newman & Robert Redford)
Mahatma Gandhi (Gandhi, as played by Ben Kingsley)
Spartacus (Spartacus, as played by Kirk Douglas)
Terry Malloy (On the Waterfront, as played by Marlon Brando)
Thelma Dickerson & Louise Sawyer (Thelma and Louise, as played by Geena Davis & Susan Sarandon)
Lou Gehrig (The Pride of the Yankees, as played by Gary Cooper)
Superman (Superman, as played by Christopher Reeve)
Bob Woodward & Carl Bernstein (All the President's Men, as played by Robert Redford & Dustin Hoffman)
Juror #8 (12 Angry Men, as played by Henry Fonda)
General George Patton (Patton, as played by George C. Scott)
Luke Jackson (Cool Hand Luke, as played by Paul Newman)
Erin Brockovich (Erin Brockovich, as played by Julia Roberts)
Philip Marlowe (The Big Sleep, as played by Humphrey Bogart)
Marge Gunderson (Fargo, as played by Frances McDormand)
Tarzan (Tarzan the Ape Man, as played by Johnny Weissmuller)
Alvin York (Sergeant York, as played by Gary Cooper)
Rooster Cogburn (True Grit, as played by John Wayne)
Obi-Wan Kenobi (Star Wars, as played by Alec Guiness)
The Tramp (City Lights, as played by Charlie Chaplin)
Lassie (Lassie Come Home, as played by Pal)
Frank Serpico (Serpico, as played by Al Pacino)
Charles Edward Chipping (Goodbye, Mr. Chips, as played by Robert Donat)
Father Edward J. Flanagan (Boys Town, as played by Spencer Tracy)
Moses (The Ten Commandments, as played by Charlton Heston)
Jimmy "Popeye" Doyle (The French Connection, as played by Gene Hackman)
Zorro (The Mark of Zorro, as played by Tyrone Power)
Batman (Batman, as played by Michael Keaton)
Karen Silkwood (Silkwood, as played by Meryl Streep)
The Terminator (Terminator 2: Judgment Day, as played by Arnold Schwarzenegger)
Andrew Beckett (Philadelphia, as played by Tom Hanks)
Maximus Decimus Meridius (Gladiator, as played by Russell Crowe)
Villains
Hannibal Lecter (The Silence of the Lambs, as played by Anthony Hopkins)
Norman Bates (Psycho, as played by Anthony Perkins)
Darth Vader (Star Wars, as played by David Prowse and voiced by James Earl Jones)
Wicked Witch of the West (The Wizard of Oz, as played by Margaret Hamilton)
Nurse Ratched (One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest, as played by Louise Fletcher)
Mr. Potter (It's a Wonderful Life, as played by Lionel Barrymore)
Alex Forrest (Fatal Attraction, as played by Glenn Close)
Phyllis Dietrichson (Double Indemnity, as played by Barbara Stanwyck)
Satan, by way of Regan MacNeil (Linda Blair and Mercedes McCambridge) (The Exorcist)
The Queen (Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, as voiced by Lucille La Vern)
Michael Corleone (The Godfather Part II, as played by Al Pacino)
Alex DeLarge (A Clockwork Orange, as played by Malcolm McDowell)
HAL 9000 (2001: A Space Odyssey, as voiced by Douglas Rain)
The Alien (Alien, as played by Bolaji Badejo)
Amon Göth (Schindler's List, as played by Ralph Fiennes)
Noah Cross (Chinatown, as played by John Huston)
Annie Wilkes (Misery, as played by Kathy Bates)
The Shark (Jaws)
Captain Bligh (Mutiny on the Bounty, as played by Charles Laughton)
Man (Bambi)
Mrs. John Iselin (The Manchurian Candidate, as played by Angela Lansbury)
The Terminator (The Terminator, as played by Arnold Schwarzenegger)
Eve Harrington (All About Eve, as played by Anne Baxter)
Gordon Gekko (Wall Street, as played by Michael Douglas)
Jack Torrance (The Shining, as played by Jack Nicholson)
Cody Jarrett (White Heat, as played by James Cagney)
Martians (The War of the Worlds)
Max Cady (Cape Fear, as played by Robert Mitchum)
Reverend Harry Powell (The Night of the Hunter, as played by Robert Mitchum)
Travis Bickle (Taxi Driver, as played by Robert De Niro)
Mrs. Danvers (Rebecca, as played by Judith Anderson)
Bonnie Parker & Clyde Barrow (Bonnie and Clyde, as played by Warren Beatty & Faye Dunaway)
Count Dracula (Dracula, as played by Bela Lugosi)
Dr. Szell (Marathon Man, as played by Laurence Olivier)
J.J. Hunsecker (Sweet Smell of Success, as played by Burt Lancaster)
Frank Booth (Blue Velvet, as played by Dennis Hopper)
Harry Lime (The Third Man, as played by Orson Welles)
Caesar Enrico Bandello (Little Caesar, as played by Edward G. Robinson)
Cruella De Vil (101 Dalmatians, as voiced by Betty Lou Gerson)
Freddy Krueger (A Nightmare on Elm Street, as played by Robert Englund)
Joan Crawford (Mommie Dearest, as played by Faye Dunaway)
Tom Powers (The Public Enemy, as played by James Cagney)
Regina Giddens (The Little Foxes, as played by Bette Davis)
Baby Jane Hudson (What Ever Happened to Baby Jane?, as played by Bette Davis)
The Joker (Batman, as played by Jack Nicholson)
Hans Gruber (Die Hard, as played by Alan Rickman)
Tony Montana (Scarface, as played by Al Pacino)
Verbal Kint (The Usual Suspects, as played by Kevin Spacey)
Auric Goldfinger (Goldfinger, as played by Gert Frobe)
Alonzo Harris (Training Day, as played by Denzel Washington)

Trivia
The actors who portrayed the #1 choices in both the "Hero" and "Villain" lists, Gregory Peck and Sir Anthony Hopkins respectively, won the Best Actor Academy Award for their roles.

Humphrey Bogart, Harrison Ford, Henry Fonda, Gary Cooper, Paul Newman, Robert Redford, and James Stewart are the only other actors to have portrayed multiple heroes. Cooper is the only actor to portray more than two characters in either of the lists.

James Cagney, Bette Davis, Robert De Niro, Faye Dunaway, Robert Mitchum, Jack Nicholson, and Al Pacino are the only actors to have portrayed more than one villain.

Pacino and Schwarzenegger are the only actors to have portrayed both a 'Hero' and 'Villain'

The Terminator character is the only one to appear as a 'Hero' and a 'Villain.'

Batman, It's A Wonderful Life, Star Wars, Schindler's List, and The Silence Of The Lambs are the only films to provide characters to both lists.

'Man' from Bambi (#20) is the only character on either list to never actually appear on-screen (unless one considers Satan from The Exorcist (#9) when referring to the possessed Regan MacNeil).

T.E. Lawrence is the highest ranking non-fictional 'Hero,' while Amon Göth is the highest ranking non-fictional 'Villain.'

Ironically, though not a single top ten villain is seen using a firearm on-screen, 8 of the top 10 heroes are (Rocky Balboa and George Bailey, numbers 7 and 9 respectively, did not).

3 of the heroes and 7 of the villains are not human.

Caboose

"Sometimes when I can't sleep at night I think of my parents having sex and I get really mad for some reason."

I am very popular.

Why else would so many people want to tag me?
Here's the deal: Sonia got me this time. MAJOR WARNING: SONIA'S BLOG IS EXTREMELY NSFW!!!! (THAT MEANS NOT SAFE FOR WORK, EINSTEIN.) She asked me to list ten of life's simple pleasures, so here they are.
1. Winning at Halo (or any video game for that matter). Man, how incredibly exhilerating is it to, after journeying for yards and yards with enemy players trying to kill you, finally hoist that beautiful flag and run like hell all the way back to your base and say: "YES!!! WHO'S THE MAN!!!" or any other such taunt to your enemy? Wow.
2. Watching television. Hundreds of entertainment, sports and news programs waiting for you at the touch of a button. Nuff said.
3. Surfing the net. Being able to communicate with a friend in Vietnam, or obtaining images and information off Google, or expressing you thoughts on a blog. It's very cool.
4. Eating salume (not to be confused with salami). That incredible balance of fat, meat, seasoning, and aging is truly an experience.
5. Sushi. A delicate blend of fish, rice, and usually some vegetable is fantastic.
6. Eating blowfish. Yes, 1 in 20 is fatal, but that's the fun part.
7. Traveling. Going anywhere new and exotic is awesome.
8. Being in a play. People seem to depend on you a lot more when you're the star.
9. FOOTBALL!! Being with the guys, eating snacks, and rooting for the Colts.
10. Picking someone to tag. This time, it's gonna be...

Nicole
RW
Steve
Alien CG
Zach
Tara
And that's it!

Red vs Blue Season 5 Interview

This interview was done by Frank O'Connor from Bungie.net. He interviews Burnie Burns, creator of Red vs. Blue and voice of Church. Never seen an episode of RvB? You are dead to me. (Seriously, just go to Google Video and search for the episode you want, i.e "Red vs. Blue episode 01. That's the easy, download-free way that I use.)


Red vs. Blue is the king of cliffhangers, any plans to sew one or two of those up in the season debut?

I’d like to say yes, but in reality, the opening few episodes of S5 will just add a few more questions to the mix. We plan on tying up most of the high level questions about the RvB storyline during the course of the entire season. We also have a cool new avenue that will let us add more material into the overall series. We should have more info about that very soon.

Have you guys made any changes to the studio or the equipment that you use to make the series during the off time?


You bet. During production, we can’t really touch the gear because we tend to upgrade our stuff by breaking it first. As I write this, my editing computer is currently running at a robust 640x480 and 16 colors. It’s awesome for playing Marathon, but that’s about it. The capture card we used for Season 4 is getting mothballed because we didn’t like some interlacing issues it had with the online version of the files. The videos look great on television sets, which was the main thing we tested it for when we installed it, but we’re hoping to find an even better solution for the new season.
The biggest upgrade is to our Xboxes. We finally decided to max out the credit card and move to all 360’s. The biggest obvious benefit is the higher resolution of Halo 2, but we’re really, really excited about the wireless controllers. Dealing with the cords got to be kind of a hassle. At the end of every recording session, we had this huge knot that took forever to unbraid. Also, the black controllers made it hard to customize for each character. We had to use these dumb office labels to help us show which character was which. Then we had to use a different sticker to show which monitor and quadrant of the screen they were on. The new white ones look much cooler, show the color customizations much more clearly and the quadrant indicator is built in. The real bonus is no cords, though.

Are there any plans to use a different environment – either Halo 1 or Halo 2 – as major settings?


This will probably be the biggest change in the coming episodes. We plan on using as many maps as possible during Season 5 -- maps from Halo, Halo PC and Halo2. We’re also going to continue using multiple maps to illustrate one location in the story. We have one set that we’re trying to “build” by using as many as five different levels in the game. Some of the maps, like Midship, are a little harder fit for us, but coming up with a use for them is half the fun.


At the end of the last season, it looked like we might be getting a new cast member. Can you tell us if you have plans to introduce any other new cast members?


We’ll probably have two new cast members right away. After the first few episodes, it’s wide open. I really want to kill Simmons, though. I can’t stand that guy.


One of the coolest parts of Red vs. Blue is the strong community that you guys foster with the site, is there anything in the works for that on the horizon?


The whole internet community scene went from 0 to 60 pretty quickly. I think it might have something to do with Fox buying MySpace for half a billion dollars. Go figure. The end result is that it seems like a new community website is popping up every five minutes. We want to stay ahead of the pack with our site by expanding cool features like the scoring and “mod economy” system while adding new features that appeal to gamers. We are looking at adding milestones for users that unlock features of the site and that allow them to do more things on their profiles that tie into gaming. Like hosting tournaments and grouping with other members of the site. We want to give the users more control of that part of the site. We’ve always wanted to put that software in the hands of the members, our first version was intended to be a self-moderating entity. The users took that in a different direction than we intended, so we’re just going to roll with them.


Are there any events that you guys will be attending in the future that you’d like to tell us about?


The summer is always the busiest con season. We will be attending the big ones like Comic Con in San Diego (July) and PAX, Penny Arcade’s convention (August). The RvB community has a get together every year now in Toronto. It’s called RvBTO and it’s more about the community site than about the actual show. I know they’ll have screenings of RvB, but they will also be showing more machinima work and some live action pieces made by members from our website. We’ll also be at Akon in Dallas (early June) and the Edinburgh (Scotland) Film Festival later in the summer. We’ll also be in Baltimore and Anaheim as well. You can always check the events page on our site to see if we’re coming close to you. If we are, be sure to come out and kick our ass at Halo. It’s not that hard to do.

I don't know. Makes sense to me.

Snake River

I took these on my trip while horseback riding.

I'm ba-ack!

Hey everybody! Did you miss me? I'll post my travel pictures as soon as I figure it out. (I'm using one of those crappy digital disposable cameras.)

My quest

In my quest to become "Link of the Month" over at Alien CG's blog I've decided to make every few words a link to him. NOTE:This will be my last post before I leave.

I'm leaving on Saturday!

Those of you who got the emails, you know who you are. The rest of you, here's where I'm going. I'll be gone for a week, so don't expect any blog posts. I'll be out in the deep wilderness roughing it with like fourteen other people.

The one that started it all.

Here's another addition to my "Funny Videos" series: the very first episode of Red vs. Blue. I'll post some more of the first season if you guys want.

Risky Business

Funny! Note the RoboSapien cameo and the father on the computer.

My first review ever!

This is from Alien CG, check out his blog. "El Patro, the founder of this blog, has an opinion all his own. His blog is always entertaining, whether he's talking about the goings-on in his life or interesting stuff found on the Internet."

Me, entertaining? Thanks Alien! You rule!

Me: The STAR

I, El Patro, have just been cast in The Sound of Music as this guy, Capt Georg Von Trapp who just happens to be the male lead. It's on June 16th at The Community House in Hinsdale. I'm so talented!