Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: ads, brands, clever, creative, silly, work
Old Spice has released another one of their great commercials featuring the oh-so-confident and smooth-talking gentleman every guy secretly wants to be – follow the link to check it out (not able to embed the video in the post just yet, sorry) – http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uLTIowBF0kE
Funny but I personally prefer the first one I ever saw
Regardless of your commercial preference, you must admit that Old Spice is well on their way to reinventing their brand. There new advertisements are irreverent, clever and entertaining. I no longer think of my father slapping on aftershave from that cone-shaped bottle when I think of Old Spice, I think of a hilarious, young, fit guy’s guy riding a horse…backwards.
Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: Beer, Brew Day, Brewing, family, hobby, Lessons, Shirley Face
In the past, I have committed many atrocities when brewing but, this time, the beer gods took it out on my kitchen…let me explain…
I had an idea for a Pale Ale that I would brew and give to my family at our Family Reunion in October – its called “Shirley Face” Pale Ale after my grandmother who makes a “bitter beer” face when she doesn’t approve of something (the Shirley Face)…
My lovely brewing assistant (and long lost friend), Lauren
Seeing as my experience brewing beer has been limited to this point, thought I might have a trial-run before I unleashed “Shirley Face” on the world. After receiving the Pale Ale beer kit I ordered from Bet-Mar in Columbia, SC, I decided to make Saturday my BREW DAY. Everything started out well enough – I even had an old friend join me for the afternoon to help brew while we enjoyed a few of our own and caught up. I was a little apprehensive to turn the the electric oven’s heat too high because of my experience with boil-overs so the mixture probably cooked slower than it should but that shouldn’t have caused a problem. It finally came to a vigorous boil and Lauren and I let it do its thing and then placed it in the fermentor I made. I added the yeast a little later that evening after it had cooled to my liking and went to bed.
Worse than it looks...
Fast-forward to the next morning…I wake up to find beer fermenting from a crack on the “air-tight” lid and all over my kitchen floor; this guy was less than pleased. So after hours of preparation and excitement, I had to dump 5 gallons of beer and get down on my hands and knees and clean the floor (not to mention those hard to reach spots under the stove).
Lessons learned for next time:
- buy (don’t attempt to make) a fermentor
- don’t fill the fermentor so full (think the lack of air available left in the bucket after the lid was placed on built too much pressure)
- place fermentor in a place that can be easily cleaned
- don’t let Lauren do any of the important things in the brew process
Fear not, friends – “Shirley Face” will happen; just not in the next few months…back to the drawing board…
UPDATE: So lying in bed last night I began thinking about my fermentor set up and realized the air lock I used had the cap on it and, thus, wouldn’t allow the carbon dioxide to escape from the fermentor – that’s why it burst…no place for all that CO^2 to go. And if it’s set up properly, the water in the air lock creates a passage way for the CO^2 to leak out but acts as a barrier to keep any air from getting in. If anyone knows anything about brewing and can confirm (or correct me), please do; I’m learning as I go here….
From AXE…funny little spot. Happy Earth Day! Oh and happy birthday Pops!
I realize I put too much pressure on myself to write an epic, insightful blog post; that’s why they are so few and far between – NO MORE! I won’t just begin posting drivel but some things that I wouldn’t have considered before, I will shout from the rooftops….starting with a new byline. Sure it’s something for work but I always love seeing my name in print attributable to a piece of news. Hope you enjoy…
Filed under: Uncategorized
I learned today that my father (who is 30 years older and 4 inches taller than I) weighs only 8 lbs. more than I do. In an effort to begin eating healthier, I decided to prepare turkey sliders tonight and seasoned, Roasted Red Potatoes, which turned out quite well; wanted to share the recipe.
Turkey Sliders
Ground Turkey – 1/2 lbs
Hawaiian Roles – 4 roles, sliced in half
Sliced Pineapple rings – one, sliced in quarters
Hawaiian Glaze
Brown Sugar – 1/2 cup
Ketchup – 1/4 cup
Pineapple Juice – 1/8 cup
* these are all estimations, mix to taste like something you would want on your burger!
Season for Roasted Potatoes
Red Potatoes – 2 regular size
* equal parts except for red pepper flakes, depends on the heat you want…
Red Pepper Flakes
Oregano
Parsley
Basil
Minced Garlic
Rosemary
Sea Salt
Turkey Sliders
Patty the turkey into 4 burgers and top with salt and pepper; throw burgers on the grill.
While burgers are grilling, mix glaze ingredients together and mix well; glaze should be rich deep but transparent, red color. Also toast Hawaiian rolls in the toaster oven. Cut pineapple ring in half.
Cut into the turkey burgers to make sure the meat is cooked all the way through. Place burger on the toasted Hawaiian roll, top with pineapple and drizzle the glaze over the burger.
Seasoned Roasted Red Potatoes
Wash and clean potatoes; make puncture holes in potatoes with a fork or knife. Place potatoes in microwave for about 5-6 minutes (depending on the size).
While potatoes are cooking, mix equal parts of all the ingredients except minced garlic; use the bottom of a spoon or something blunt to crush all ingredients. Add a tablespoon of minced garlic and mix-this will help it stick together.
Heat EVOO in a medium-sized pan. Once potatoes are finished in the microwave, slice in half. Then, take the seasoning and smash it into the open face of the soft potato so the seasoning won’t come off when you roast them in the pan.
Put potatoes with seasoning in the pan (face down) for about 60 seconds.
Throw it all on a plate and you have a great, easy meal that’s fairly healthy (except for the glaze). Enjoy with a nice SweetWater 420.
Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: ambitions, family, goals, quarks, Random, silly
Some time ago I filled out one of those “25 Random Facts” you don’t know about me on Facebook. I really enjoyed it and it got quite a few comments so I figured that, if I was going to be writing more about myself and personal matters, you may like to get to know me a little better.
DISCLAIMER: I kept a few of the original “25 Random Facts” in the post because they are just too good to remove but they will probably be new to most of you. Friends, reply to this post with something you know about me that you think others don’t or even post your 25 random facts – love to get to know my readers!
25 Random Things about Nick Tompkins You Probably Didn’t (care to) Know…
1. I’m on a boat! No really, I work on a decommissioned aircraft carrier – USS Yorktown – at Patriots Point…I even have a porthole for an office window!
2. I have a personal goal to visit every state by the time I am 35; at the time of this post (12/29/09) I have hit only 18. I have been to Hawaii and plan to take an Alaskan Cruise on my 35th birthday.
3. Sometimes I use words whose meanings I am not sure of and have to look them up later to see if I used them correctly.
4. I drew a picture that was published in Highlights magazine in March, 1992 – it was called “life of the pond.”
5. I had an imaginary friend when I was young named Jon Haven. He was impeccably dressed at all times – he wore a tuxedo with tails and a top hat.
6. I refuse to roll down the sleeves of any button-down, dress shirt I wear.
7. I think I have sexy legs.
8. I like having a beard more than I like being clean-shaven. However, I will concede that I strongly resemble the Iranian President, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.
9. My brother is my best friend and I’ve learned that my parents are pretty damn cool too when I’m not acting like an ungrateful ass.
10. I would like to live in a larger city before I settle down.
11. I have seen Widespread Panic more than 50 times.
12. It makes me uncomfortable when women cry around me.
13. I am a supertaseter and have an uncanny knack for being able to distinguish individual ingredients that make up any given item.
14. I once failed a personality test I was forced to take to work at TGIFriday.
15. I find it very difficult to smile in photos – I always tend to make a kiss-face and then I smile when I’m not trying to.
16. One of my goals in life is to be a published writer.
17. I do a mean Aaron Neville impersonation but the only words to any of his songs I know is “I don’t know much, but I know I love you” – but it sounds damn good.
18. For one year at NCState University, I was a DJ on WKNC; I was horrible.
19. I used to want to be an architect.
20. One of my biggest pet peeves is when people don’t put their grocery carts in the proper place; its pure lazieness!
21. The only reason I cook is so that people will complement what I prepare.
22. I once cried at an episode of “Full House” when one of the Stephanie, DJ and Michelle’s great-uncle died….that was sad….
23. Committment (to anything – even a cell plan) frightens me.
24. I enjoy reading but can’t stick to one book at a time so I am reading at least 3 books at all times. Currently, Eating the Dinosaur and Fargo Rock City by Chuck Klosterman, Groundswell by Josh Bernoff and Charlene Li and Good to Great by Jim Collins.
25. There’s nothing more important to me than my family and friends.
Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: cancer, CHARLIE, fund raising, looking stuipd, Movember
Not sure if the current header photo will remain there for long but I really dig the image. It was taken by Chrys Rynearson (check him out - he does great work!) for Charlie Magazine. You see, the publisher (and editor) Caroline Nuttall did a piece on a group of us who were growing mustaches for charity – or recognizing Movember. Basically the idea is, you grow a mustache for the month of November – hence the name (it began in Australia and they spell it “moustache” down under – and when people ask you why you look so ridiculous, you explain how you are raising money for cancer research; all the funds raised benefit the LIVESTRONG Foundation and the Prostate Cancer Foundation. We ended up raising just shy of $600 – not bad – but there’s still time to donate! If you’d like to help put a face to men’s cancers, you can visit this link to see photos of the team, learn about our mission and donate to a worthy cause.
I think I’m going to stop blogging about my marathon plans. It seems that when I identify and begin training for a marathon, and subsequently blog about it, I never end up completing the training or actual running in the marathon. I’m done!
Instead, I think I am going to turn my blog into a more open forum where I am not confined to just writing about training and running. There are many other things I am interested in that I think other people will find interesting to read about. I work on a decommissioned aircraft carrier (I have a porthole for an office window!). I am a self- diagnosed supertaster – someone who experiences taste with far greater intensity than the average person. I love to cook but love to eat even more – hence the reason I run so much. And I think I can be pretty funny, but most of the time it’s not on purpose.
So in the coming weeks, expect an overhaul of the blog, both in looks and content. Stay tuned….
Filed under: Uncategorized
Had two pretty ho-hum runs last week - a 4.5 miler over the bridge and a 3 miler downtown – but Saturday was the real treat. Me and my buddy Lou (and about 4,000 of our closest friends) ran Race for the Cure on Daniel Island on Saturday. It, indeed, was a great cause and great run – very inspirational; I’ve never been more pleased to pay $30 to run.
I must admit, though, I had to pee so badly that I took a detour when I saw home construction and found a port-a-john only to emerge to see three guys in line waiting to get in – necessity is the mother of invention (or, in my case, improvisation).
And the kicker…I came in a whopping 773 out of 2554! Hey, 773 doesn’t sound great but I think my time might be the best I’ve ever run a 5K – 27:02 … not bad, huh?
Looking forward to going home this weekend and running Ocean Isle Beach, NC. May try to hit up Folly on Saturday too before we head up – honk if you see me!
New songs to add to the playlist….
I’m really digging Phoenix this week – especially Lisztomania, 1901 and Lasso.
Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: country music marathon, history, Jacksonville, music, playlist, return, sprint marathon, training
….but it’s clear that any loyal readers I once (might have) had are certainly not following me anymore …. so I will just have to begin again. It’s my own fault for not updating regularly but (in case you wanted some back story) it all started ….. <wavy lines transition you back to a brisk winter day in Charleston> in the winter of 2008…..
Many of my coworkers had completed, or were training, in marathons so I inherited the bug and decided that I would run the Country Music Marathon in Nashville in April ’09. I had had some knee and back issues before deciding to train but I thought those were well under control so I developed a training schedule and began my training. Everything was going swimmingly until, one Friday in February during week 8 (1/2 way through the training) on a long run, I irritated an old back injury so badly that I had to suspend training for a few weeks. Unfortunately, I got too far behind in my training schedule and wasn’t ready for the marathon in April when the time came around.
I have since run in a 5K or two but nothing serious…until now. I have lit the torch once more and have decided to train for a half-marathon in Jacksonville, FL in December – gonna ease my way back into it. It’s really a precursor to a sprint marathon I want to do in April in Wilmington, NC but, simple fact is, I need to get in better shape. So I’ll be chronicling my training on my blog beginning this week – official training doesnt begin for another week or two – and throw in a couple of other fun things. Yes, most of my posts, for now, will be focused on running, training and what I run into (not literally … hopefully), but I also tend to ramble and bring other aspects of my life into my posts. If you aren’t reading enough about my training, drop me a line and tell me. If you want more inconsequential rants, let me know – those are fun and easy.
Each week I am also going to provide a couple of songs you may (or may not) have on your iPod that I find conducive to working out/running to. I’ll have an ongoing “playlist” I’ll continue to add to that you can refer to – let me know what you think and if you have any recommendations – BY ALL MEANS – send them my way!
NEW SONGS FOR YOUR PLAYLIST…
Beck – Timebomb
Spoon – I Turn My Camera On
Entrain – Anyway
