Deal or No Deal

When Mike and I found out that Deal or No Deal auditions were coming to the Sacramento area we knew exactly what we had to do. So, I believe, for the first time in our adult life, we dressed alike (just like twins do) and headed up the Folsom. After nearly seven hours in live, we finally got our 15 seconds to sell ourselves. We did enough to get past the second round, which afforded us the opportunity to wait for another hour or so for a second round of interviews - again another 15 seconds to shine. Although our presentation was pretty good, our audition ended there with a "don't call us, we'll call you".

Our sister was also there and was give three interviews. She already promised us that we'd get to be her supporters if she gets on the show. Good luck Missy!

At least we got to round two!

Click here for the pictures.

Happy Easter

Easter came early this year, and the awesome spring weather joined it. With JR, Megan and the rest of the Texas Beckwiths in town (well, in state is more like it) we had lots of opportunities for pictures. Easter turned into a three-day weekend celebration with everyone meeting at the Havens house on Friday, then our house on Saturday and then our annual Easter bash on Sunday. Check out our pics here. Friday

Saturday

Sunday

Remember, bookmark our Flickr site as we sometimes publish random pictures between events.

I Love Bad Grammar (When Someone Else Uses It)

I should clarify. I find humor in signs that display grammatical or spelling errors. I'm no Mignon Fogarty but I do recognize errors when they are blatant. So, today, while walking down the Miracle Mile, I got quite the chuckle when I saw a sign in the window of a salon that had this word in it.

What exactly did the sign say? Click here to check out the rest of the picture on Flickr. While you're there, or should I say, while your their, check out the rest of the pictures posted in the Grammar Girl pool.

Happy Birthday Makenzy

Makenzy turned 9 last weekend which meant that she got more parties and more cake than any child needs. Last weekend, on her actual birthday we ordered her favorite take-out (DaVinci's), rented a movie (The Last Mimzy) and had cake. Then, this weekend, she had two more parties. First, Makenzy and some of her friends were treated like princesses at Panda Girlz. The folks at Panda Girlz really put on a great party for Mak and her friends. Hair, make-up, nails, followed by a fashion show, karoake and crafts made for one of Makenzy's favorite parties ever. If you have daughters you should check this place out.

Party number two was pizza for the family and our favorite family pizza joint where the kids (and some of the adults) quickly went through handfuls of tokens on the redemption games. I wonder if the major casinos help fund the redemption game manufactures, to help turn today's youth into tomorrow's slot machine addicted gamblers.

Check out today's pictures here.

My First Solo Century

This coming July will mark my fifth year riding. When I looked at how many miles I had in late December I realized I was almost at 8,000 (yes, I log every ride). Looking at nearly 8,000 miles in four and a half years was a painful reminder that I have spent too much time off the saddle. Given that I rode 3,000 miles in my first year, I should be closer to 10,000 miles. With 2,200 miles to go, that became my newest riding goal - hit 10,000 miles by my fifth anniversary in July. In order to do that I would need to ride at a rate higher than I ever have. With 100 miles already logged this week I left this morning a little after 10 intent to set a new weekly record. I left with every intent of riding my first solo century. I have ridden several local centuries and even joined some friends for an unorganized century or two but have never ventured out on my own for a 100 mile ride.

I headed south to Tracy and of course was met with the nasty wind that makes riding the flats out here feel like climbing. In this picture, I'm headed south on Tracy Boulevard, taking advantage of a cross tail wind. Easily staying at about 20 MPH with a cadence of 90.

I had a nice tail wind through Banta and out Kasson Road easily holding 25 for the whole 7.5 miles to Airport Way. That's when I hit the head wind and nasty cross wind. I would have it all the way home, except for the short parts through the Weston Ranch and Brookside loops.

This was my most productive week, 200 miles, and so far this month (8 days into it) I have more miles than any of the last 17 months.

Check out the rest of the pictures from today's ride here.

Happy Birthday Kelsie with Mimi and Ralph

Today, we went to Vacaville to Pietro's Pizza to celebrate Kelsie's 6th birthday and to spend some time with Mimi and Ralph. It was great to see Mimi and Ralph. He was in great form and seemed to really enjoy having everyone there visiting with him. Here's a picture of everyone with Ralph. Not sure why Makenzy isn't smiling.

Click here for the rest of the pictures.

Amanda Overmyer = Blackie Lawless Long Lost Daughter

In our house, American Idol is a big deal. Every year, we watch it as a family but rarely agree on who we think will win the competition. This season, we all have our own favorites but can all agree on one thing: Amanda Overmyer is the long lost daughter of W.A.S.P. front man Blackie Lawless. Look at the evidence and decide for yourself.

Oh, and in case you're interested, my pick for the top four are David Cook, Chikezie, Carly Smithson and Brooke White.

I'm Driving a Homer!

I like The Simpsons. Ok, I really like The Simpsons. I've watched the show since the very beginning, I own a couple of seasons on DVD and, of course, I own The Simpsons Movie. I also drive a Ford Five Hundred. I like my car. Ok, I really like my car. It has been perfectly dependable during its first 100,000 miles. I like the name Five Hundred and even like the fact that they re-named the car to Taurus- which is all a bit confusing if you ask me.

So what do the Simpsons have to do with my car? Well, during a recent speech, Ford's head of global product development Derrick Kuzak likened the Five Hundred to Homer Simpson. Not Homer's car, but Homer himself. The Five Hundred was called a failure and an updated model was promised for the future.

A failure? Homer Simpson a failure? I don't think so! I'm proud to drive a Homer Simpson.

Recent pictures

We've been a little late putting up recent pics so here they are. Junior's birthday 1/25/08

Hornbrook Trip 1/18/08

Macworld 1/17/08

New Years 2008

The Word of the Year...

Drum roll, please. Merriam-Webster gave the honor to 'w00t'. American Dialect Societygave it to 'subprime'. Locavore earned the dubious honor fromOxford.

Not one to shy away from popular fads on the internet, I wanted to play along. After careful consideration and some deliberation with Dawn, I have chosen the mattbeckwith.com word of the year:podcast.

Ok, so some of you might catch me on the technicality here. Oxford named 'podcast' their word of the year in 2005. I started listening to podcasts in 2005 and in the time since I have all but given up terrestial radio. Driving nearly three hours a day, I used to be an NPR junky. Nowadays, I might just need to pull out the owner's manual for my car stereo to figure out how to turn on the radio.

I subscribe, and listen, to 67 podcasts. Most are weekly, some are daily, some are between monthly and weekly. I listen to shows on technology, news, management and couple-casts, among others. So, is 'podcast' the word of the year because I spend so much time listening? There must be more to it than that, right?

Of course. 2007 brought so many great podcast moments. Some highlights:

September - Podcast and New Media Expo May - Pizza Go Here is born April - Beckwith Family Podcast is launched April - Manager Tools conference April - My Mostly Trivial "appearance" February - Tour of California January - Macworld / Mac podcast meet-up January - I started writing for Typical Mac User

Through podcasting, we have met some great people, in the real-world and in the podosphere. I've had the chance to spend some time with some of the brightest, most interesting people I have ever met, way too many to list. We are grateful for the amazing people all over the world that have allowed us into their amazing lives.

Podcast.

If you have a computer and a pulse, there is a podcast for you. You don't need an iPod. Download iTunes, go to the podcast directory and take a look. While you're there, check out our show, Pizza Go Here.

Me and Victor Cajiao, one of the kings of podcasting.

Podcast.