HelmsE

I'm a huge fan of "The Umbrella Song" by Rhianna

MVP 2005. It's a shame that EA lost the rights to make MLB games.

You have got to be in the absolute worst possible place in the continent for beer. I feel terrible about that. I mean seriously, Bulgaria? Turkey? Greece? Macedonia? Romania? Not a good beer to be had in ANY of those countries. I think I would need to have a buddy in a hostel in Belgium sending me beer monthly or something. How you survive on that swill is beyond me. My hat is off to you, sir. :patriot

There is a severe lack of good beer in this region. There are a few places in Sofia where I can find some decent draught beer (Kilkenny, Guinness, Murphy's) but am quite out of luck here in Bratsigovo.

ouch, sorry to hear that. Hope everything heals up quickly for you.

Ever been to Cassino in Italy?

Yeah, although I didn't spend much time there sadly. I would love to take a few months and explore southern Italy at some point in the future. I've spent a little time on the eastern coast of Sicily but not nearly enough.

Detroit has the potential to be incredible next year. Good for Miggy!

- Perugia, Italy

- Vernazza, Italy

- Istanbul, Turkey

- Quetzaltenango, Guatemala

- Sanibel Island (I used to go every year as a kid but haven't been in years)

I cooked pizza from scratch this weekend and it turned out quite well despite the fact that there were some ingredients I wanted which weren't available in town (proper cheese mainly.)

My pops just informed me that TJ Miller is in this movie. I played baseball with this kid for 5-6 years in middle school and high school. Strange

Great thread idea. Here are recipes for two of my favorite Bulgarian meals:

Shopska Salad

Ingredients

4 medium tomatoes, washed and diced

4 cucumbers, washed, peeled and diced

2 green bell peppers, diced

1 red onion, chopped

1 tablespoon fresh parsley

1 cup grated Bulgarian white cheese (cirene) or feta cheese

oil, vinegar, salt and pepper (to taste)

1) Put the already cut tomatoes, cucumbers, peppers, onion and parsley into a large bowl and mix.

2) Pour the white cheese or feta over the top of the vegetables

3) Pour olive oil, vinegar, salt and pepper over the cheese and enjoy!

Rhodopean Moussaka

Ingredients

.5 kilogram minced meat (pork and beef although just beef is alright)

1 kilogram potatoes, peeled and cut into cubes

3 tomatoes, chopped

2 onions, chopped

1/3 cup parsley

3 medium sized eggs

1 cup plain yogurt

3 tablespoons of flour

salt and pepper

1) Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F

2) Cook the minced meat and onions in a pan over the stove until the meat is brown

3) Mix together the meat, onions, potatoes, tomatoes, parsley, salt and pepper together in a large baking dish

4) Bake uncovered for 45 minutes - 1 hour until the potatoes are fully cooked (you should quite easily be able to mash them with a fork)

5) Combine the eggs, yogurt and flour together in a bowl and pour the mixture over the top of the dish

6) Bake for 15 more minutes and serve warm!

Happy birthday Dodge!

Should be entertaining to say the least

That is a very surprising statement to make. Even if it does fall in line with his political/religious beliefs I think this can only hurt his campaign. Then again, evangelicals do still have a lot of sway in politics currently so maybe he is banking on that.

Although a bit disappointing I think we all saw it coming. I'm all for giving Sanchez as much time as he needs to return to health.

Interesting read to say the least. In the end it looks like the right move was made.

Interesting move. At this point I'm in the "why the hell not" camp. Quite obviously we will not be in playoff contention next year and are in the development process so why the hell not toss around some cash and hope for the best?

Playing right handed is much more convenient in general but from what I've heard it is quite hard to switch if you are naturally left-handed. Give it a go though, I think it just depends on the person. Some people can switch over with little effort, others cannot.

I shrug when I hear news like this. I'm not sympathetic towards people that likely die by their own hand.

That's a big harsh in my opinion. I agree that it's a shame to see people die by their own hand but a death, no matter the cause, is never a good thing.

Great to see Fox getting another shot. I wish him the best of luck.

For what it's worth, I am also interested although to be reasonable, I would not be able to take over a team seriously for quite a while given my current situation and my plans for half a year of travel after I leave here. Just something to keep in mind in the future I suppose.

ouch...

A degeneration of his heart's mitral valve... just a pity on all fronts.

Great schedule. I remember back when I was a kid my pops and I would fly down to Florida for a week and catch some games, always a great time. Hard to believe that spring training is only a month and a half away.

I got a bottle of coke in Guatemala and the top was all cruded over with God knows what. Suffice it to say, they have a different set of rules when it comes to food safety. :thumbup

Gallo beer in Guatemala is absolutely miserable.

One big plus in the winters out here is that the breweries start making and selling their seasonal dark brews. The dark brew out of Stara Zagora, "Stolichno" is a great find when you can find it on tap and "Boliarka" from Veliko Tarnovo has an excellent dark beer with a pretty unique taste for the country. I'm hoping to get up to Sofia sometime in the next few weeks and heading to my favorite beer pub "Pri Kmeta" for some liters of dark and red beer.

I was able to see the film last night for the first time and really enjoyed it. The dialog at times can be a bit much but it fits well with the rest of the film and there in some excellent dead-pan humor throughout the film. 4 out of 5 from me.