#53 Snow Skiing (Complete)

                                                 Big Boys on Big White

Great things are done when men and mountains meet.

William Blake 

 So I have crossed off number 53 on my list down hill skiing...I'll start by stating that above is a great picture of Geoff and Elliot riding the chair lift.

This was the first time that I've gone skiing in God knows how long, it was amazing I forgot how much fun the rush is of flying down a snow covered hill. Elliot, Geoff and I partook in Big Whites Friday night skiing, I left work early to get up and buy my pass and gear, shortly after the guys met up with me. Its impressive how cheap it was to go...a lift ticket and all my essential gear was only 20 bucks!

The guys were a little late getting to the hill but that was find it gave me some time to practice on the small hill and warm up and make sure I wasn't going to make a complete fool of myself. I find skiing to be a lot like riding a bike or lacing up hockey skates once you have learned how to do it, it doesn't take long to pick up again, I was coasting down the hill in no time. I did a couple runs of the small hill and road the lift with strangers and struck up interesting conversation. One person told me about how their grandmother died of dementia and she felt what I did was noble  (typical). Another lady told me that her and her girlfriends go up to the hill regularly stating it is their night away from the kids ( sounds fun). 

When the guys showed up I was ready to go down the big hill, when we arrived at the top I was immediately impressed with the view...even a night. One thing I really enjoy about skiing...besides doing it with good friends...is that you can choose to do the hill however you like...you can do slow long cuts making a smooth path down the hill....you can try to gun it and catch as much wind as you can...or you can zig zag in and out of trees....In a way it feels like art as you truly are painting the path that suits your mood in that moment.

We rode right up until closing time, when the hill got dark and the winds got cold. Before heading back down the hill we stopped in at the pub to have fish and chips with beer. It's a great way to replenish the body after a hard work out on the legs (did i mention I wiped out really good at the end?). Overall a great night, I'll have to go more often.

The one and only...Koolaid

#16 See a Favorite Band Live (Complete)

The Killers Killed It!

"Music is a moral law. It gives soul to the universe, wings to the mind, flight to the imagination, and charm and gaiety to life and to everything."
Plato 

Wow this entry is just a bit late, its one of two entries that I forgot to enter, but none the less let me tell you about my night with the Killers! 

When we talk about #16 and seeing a favorite band, it doesn't get much better then the Killers! Sure there's bands I listen to more like the Black Keys (who I also saw) MGMT, Kings of Leon or Monster of Men but I'd have to put Killers at the top of the list. A lot of there tunes remind me of great times in my life, especially the epic trip with my dad down the 101 coast line....."I've got soul but im not a solider!" So needless to say I was dangerously stoked when Jenelle and I got tickets.

The concert started off with Tegan and Sara as the openers, which was surprising disappointing. I've always loved the sister duo and the tunes they produced but it was evidently clear that in a stadium setting there voices can't match the needs of a loud crowd. So its obvious now that to see Tegan and Sara at there best you really need to be looking at small venues. None the less still a fan, you go girls!

When the Killers hit the stage it was everything that I expected it would be. When you think about the Killers you think about Vegas and their roots there. So its to be expected that a Killers show has all the glam of a Vegas act...and they defiantly do deliver. The show was full of amazing lights and fire displays that kept your eyes engaged and entertained, as most concert do, but with Vegas flare. 

The dazzling lights weren't the only treats thought, the sound quality in the Giants arena was very good! The Killers sounded clear and crisp which made it easy for the crowd to sing (or should i say yell) along.

I left the show with a great smile as I reminisced about the memories that the songs drew out of me. Music has always amazed me, its ability to create emotions, and awaken the mind and heart is truly unique. To me music may well be one of humanities greatest creations. 

Anyways I took a few videos and I hope you enjoy them, the sound quality sucks on my camera so my apologies

.

 Rock on!!! Combat Wombat!!!

#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!