#18 Whitecaps (Complete)

West Canada 1 East Canada 0 !

"Playing soccer with your feet is one thing, Playing with your Heart is another" ~ Anonymous

Wow its been forever since I did a blog entry! I just want to start by saying I haven't given up on "The List", In fact I've been working on it tons, If you look at the heading above you will notice the progress I've made on more then a few of my list items. Anyways let me tell you about my amazing weekend in Vancouver.

So this Saturday Jenelle and I went to the Whitecaps season opening game against Toronto FC.  It was a amazing Saturday. When visiting Jenelle we don't usually go downtown due to the chaos but it was worth it this time. We had plans later that night to meet up with Beth and Steven for dinner to congratulate them on there engagement. Being the genius that I am, I notice that the Whitecaps season was starting and so it worked out perfectly if were going downtown for dinner we might as well make a evening of it.

The game started out with a hilarious surprise, in the picture above you will see a picture of Kyle on the jumbo tran smiling like a nob! Kyle and I use to play soccer together in Kelowna before I switched teams to the Celtic, the lucky bastard was selected to participate in the opening game coin toss. (Not jealous at all)

I have to admit the first half of the Caps game was a wee bit shocking to say the least, ball possession was horrendous, shots didn't happen as much as they should have and our captain got injured 8 minutes in! Lucky  we had beers in sippy cups to get us through the stress of the first half.

By the time the second half rolled around the Caps nerves seemed to settle and passing and shooting started to flow, and when they finally scored the whole stadium went off like a fire work and the southeast corner were on there feet the rest of the half! The caps totally dominated and Toronto looked not only out of there element but also out of there league. (Grinning ear to ear at this point with my beautiful girl at my side)

The Caps won and that was great, it defiantly added to a already amazing day, it may not have been the most impressive game i've seen but being the true soccer maniac I am, it was without doubt a incredible time. Now that the Caps are in the MLS I think I have to try my hardest to make it to one of there rival games against Portland or Seattle, that would defiantly be a game to watch!

Sincerely one big Caps fan Butch!

#40 Become a Movie Critic (In Progress)

Brett Butchart gives it two thumbs up!

A film is- or should be- more like music than like fiction. It should be a progression of moods and feelings. The theme, what's behind the emotion. the meaning, all that comes later. Stanley Kubrick

 I've been working pretty hard on #39 on my list (watch a guys 100 best movies list), I'd like to thank Oliver and Elliot for watching some of the movies with me, its nice to have company as i get through this list.

 Anyways this list has prompted me to start #40 (become a movie critic),  in some ways you can say I have already started this as I have been assigning ratings to all the movies that I watch on the guys list. I'm going to start by saying I will keep track of the movies that I critic on a separate page on my blog, the same way i do with some of the other items.

I thought it be a good place to start by ranking what my ideal 100 guy movies would be! I found this exercise easy to do and lots of fun, I hope the list works as a good resource for people when they are having a hard time trying to figure out what they would like to watch. After some thought I realize that I enjoy making the list better then giving each movie individual scores, so my plan for this list item is to make a series of list in difference genres that outline what I think would be the best picks. Some genres I plan to work on will be:

1. Action
2. Adventure
3. Animation
4. Comedy 
5. Best of All Time
6. Documentry
7. Drama
8. 80's
9. Fantasy 
10. TV
11. Mind Blowing
12. Romantic Comedies
13. Thriller
14. Martial Arts
15. Musical
16. Crime
17. Ancient War
18. Chick Flick
19. Sci-Fi
20. Modern War
21. True Stories
22. Teeny Boppers
23. Sports
24. Western
25. Super Hero

I hope that you support this idea and check out the list of movies I place on my blog, I feel I have always had good taste in movies, and I'd bet that it be hard for anyone to find a movie on this list they didn't enjoy.

Signing out, peacefully today THE COMBAT WOMBAT

#42 Create a Cook Book (In Progress)

Bone Ape Tit as they say in France

One cannot think well, love well, sleep well, if one has not dined well.”  Virginia Woolf

I must start by saying it is nice to be writing again, so much of my list is in the "progress stage" and auto pilot mode, that I haven't had a chance to write much. A long with the many other tasks I have taken on lately with my list, I have also started to work away at my plans to have my own personal cook book. There are so many great recipes on the web now, that it seems pointless to spend money on buying cook books when one can simply Google what they fancy. For this reason I have decided to make a collection of recipes that suite my taste and will become "Brett Butchart signature dishes" (stealing all credit from the original owners).

In this article, I'd like to take the time to notice the quote "one cannot think well, love well, sleep well, if one has not dined well." I find this to be a very truthful and powerful quote how we dine plays a tremendous roll in our social lives. Food is use for all sorts of social gathering, its also used to energize us and keep us healthy or used to provoke comfort and security. In may ways it is a key corner stone to our connections with other people. The reason I am going to make a cook book of my "signature dishes" is because I think it will be a nice way of identifying my personality through the art of food.

My cook book will consist of the following:
3 party dishes
3 side dishes
2 soups
1 salad
3 breakfast dishes
5 lunch dishes
3 sea food dishes
3 fish dishes
2 pork dishes
3 beef dishes
4 chicken dishes
1 turkey dish
2 vegetarian dishes 
3 pasta dishes
1 cake
1 pie
1 cookie
1 brownie
1 fruit desert 
1 frozen desert
3 bbq dishes
1 dip
1 sauce
1 dressing
3 drinks

Once I have all the recipes my book will be done !!!

Yours truly  Chef Butchart

#39 Watch a Guy's 100 movie list (In progress)

Maximum Man Movie List

                                  "Everything I learned, I learned from the movies" 
                                                         `Audrey Hepburn

So today I will be talking about #39 on my list (Watch a guys movie list). I have already started on this and have been working on it for awhile now. In order to pick what list I would use I goggled "top guy movies list", there was a lot of different sites that offered lists of movies. I chose to go with Maximum's list for two reasons: 1) I had not seen many movies on the list 2) Maximum seems like they would know what classify as a guys movie.

I have also decided to rate the movies on the list, the following is my rating system:

5 star movie ( one of the best movies I've seen)
4.5 star movie ( very good movie, I would buy it!)
4 star movie  (great movie)
3.5 star movie (good movie)
3 star movie (Ok movie)
2 star movie (bad movie)
1 star movie (so bad I couldn't finish watching it)

I will attach a page to show my progress of the movies I watch on the list, as I finish the films I will cross them off and give them a rating so people know if they are worth watching.

Busting through another item Captain KOOLAID!

# 44 Have a Home Bar (In Progress)

Building a Bar One Glass of Whiskey at a Time

“Alcohol may be man's worst enemy, but the bible says love your enemy.” 
― Frank Sinatra

I'd like to start of this entry with drawing attention to the video above, this man is the inspiration for #44 (have a home bar). He's the kind of guy that will be allowed to drink at my bar! OK OK all jokes aside Marshal Raylen Givens is not the REAL reason why I want a home bar. Some of you might be wondering why I want a bar at all, considering I don't even drink that much, nor do I drink anything other then whiskey when I do drink. The TRUE reason for starting this hobby is because I see it as a great conversation starter and hosting opportunity and hosting is defiantly something I like to do!

When I reflect on the decision to add this hobby to my list, I believe why I was so drawn to the idea was it seems like a great way to please and entertain my good friends and family...but don't think that this means people can get hammered at my bar, this is more of a social treat. At the same time all the research says that you should build your bar in accordance with your taste personality, so it goes without saying that my bar will start off as a old fashion gentlemen bar.

The question comes up how will you determine that this goal is complete?  seeing as a good bar takes years and years and constantly changes. I will answer this by saying that I have decided that my bar will be considered complete when I have the appropriate bar gear, glasses, and 10 bottles.

I'm very happy to say that I have bought my first bottle (Kentucky Straight Bourbon by Jim Beam) I picked this because it is currently what I like to drink the most and as far as whiskey's go I find that Bourbon has the most desirable taste. I have also bought my first set of glasses for the bar, I went with a set of old fashion rock glasses and standard tall glasses. The short glasses will be used for serving drinks on the rocks or neat, the tall glasses can be used for popular drinks such as Paralizer's, Mojito's and Ceaser's.

I hope to make you all a drink one day, with much love Brett

PS Please note I plan to start some side bars on the right side of the page to let people know about the items that are currently in progress.

Cheers!

#36 Rent a Limo (Complete)

High Class Taxi Ride!

"Lots of people want to ride with you in the limo, but what you want is someone who will take the bus with you when the limo breaks down." 
Oprah Winfrey 


So completing #36 on my list (rent a limo) came as a complete surprise! We had just finished yuk yuk's for Jenelle's b-day and decided we were going to head back to Coquitlam for drinks, when BAM! Jen orders a limo. The reason for doing this was pretty simple, it was more fun than taking the sky train and cheaper than renting three cabs.

So like a bunch of clowns in a small car we piled into the limo. I believe the reason I enjoyed it so much was because of how spontaneous the whole thing was and of course I felt like a high roller. The limo was amazing but it was the spontaneity that really made it a treat. The limo was pretty much what I expected it to be: everyone had drinks and it was full of funky lights and music, definitely a good time. The best part was that I got to control the music so the party rocked the way I wanted it to.

Overall the ride was a ton of fun and it was also a great reminder of how important it is to have some spontaneity in life. I feel that although I love to plan out events with detail, spontaneity is definitely one of the keys to a good life. Sometimes when life is going well we can get bogged down with routine and become stagnant but changing it up once in awhile helps the soul to stay youthful.

So I propose a toast to always stay youthful through the bond of spontaneity and friendship

Always with love, Bretzgky

#12 Comedy Show (Complete)

Big Laughs In the City

"We don't laugh because we're happy - we're happy because we laugh. "
William James 


So another week has passed and I have completed two more items on my list. Last weekend was  Jenelle's 26th birthday, at which I completed #12 on my list: See a Comedy Show.

I believe Jenelle's birthday was a pretty big success. The people who attended were Elliot, Courtney, Adam, Meghan, Chelsea, Brad, Beth, Steven, Jen, Blayke, Nicole, Kayla, Billy, myself and of course the birthday girl! We started off the night by going to Original Joe's downtown where we all had some amazing drinks (such as bull dogs) accompanied by some delicious food! I was personally surprised by how good the butter chicken actually is at OJ's!

 After our meal we all headed to Yuk Yuk's (downtown Vancouver), which was a short walk. As a whole the comedians were a pretty solid lot but as the night went on the talent seemed to get weaker, which tends to be the opposite of most shows I've seen in the past. I was surprised by how clever some of the host's jokes were, such as the comment about eating whole boxes of cookies and switching to fig newtons...humm sounds like something I'd do.

The first act was pretty good, he was full of awkward silences and had a very odd physical appearance, which was the blunt of most of his jokes. He was also introduced as being one of the writers of Corner Gas (a show I like).

The second act started out hilarious as his skit was in reference to his youthful look and the disadvantages that came with that. His rookie skills were evident as he was unable to switch topics...but none the less a good showing.

The head liner was a female comedian  which is something you don't see every day! She was defiantly skillful and had enough material to fill up the act. It was evident that she had been working on her material for sometime and although she followed through with great punch lines, I had heard many similar jokes before.

 I've done comedy shows many times before and I have always enjoyed it as it's almost always a good bang for your buck. Even if comedians aren't funny, the unpredictability of a crowd always makes for a entertaining situation. What was great about this time though was that it was for Jenelle's b-day and also because it was held in a different location than usual. I will be doing this again but my only hope is that the next time I go it will be a larger venue, with a more professional act.

P.S this was only the first half of the night! Stay tuned for the second half where I got to complete another list item!

Salute, Captain Koolaid!