PICKS
Pajama Time, Sandra Boynton
Gnarls Barkley, Gone Daddy Gone and Weird Al, White and Nerdy
Big Bird in China
Sports Illustrated
Formula One, Speed Channel, and Doctor Who, Sci-Fi Channel
| OCTOBER 2006
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| 2006.10.31: A Quick Update, and a Sneaky Preview! |
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Hey gang! Again, I have to apologize for the lack of regular updates. This time, it's because of my getting a second job. In addition to my first retail gig, I now work in a local comic book store. Wednesdays are now sheer hell, as it is shipment day for both stores, so I get up before 5am and work at both stores until about 6pm straight through without a break (unless you count the fifteen minutes between noon and 1215p to drive from one to the other), but hey... I'm working. It reminds me of the cartoon in the paper a few years ago where the president is speaking at a luncheon talking about how many new jobs his administration has created and the waiter is thinking "yeah - and I have three of them!" In order to have more regular updates, I'm thinking about actually using an HTML editor, though, for the first time. Yep... I may outsource my website to a program on my harddrive. Ah... Progress. One note about last month's entry: My friend AM noted some corrections about my rant about the Caps and the Ovechkin dog-and-pony show. Apparently it wasn't really Teddy L's idea for the most part to have Alex up there, which leaves me only one person left to blame for the stupidity: Gary Bett-on-someone-else-man. If this was (and from what AM said, I now have little choice to believe otherwise) all Bettman's idea, he made himself look even more foolish. This twerp needs to retire and let someone who really knows and loves hockey take over. Gretzky isn't doing the best job coaching the Coyotes, but I think he would be a good Commissioner. Hell, even Jeremy Roenick would be a tremendous step up. At this point, Sam could open up her diaper and find something with better sense to run the NHL. Photo time? Not yet... I have some more photos to go through, but I thought I'd give you a preview of what you can expect. Sam's still too young to go out trick or treating... But she has a costume. Here's a preview:
See you shortly. I have some time off (okay, one day) this weekend, so I should have the photos done and up soon. I hope everyone had a happy and safe Hallowe'en.
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| 2006.09.01: September 2006 Picks in Brief |
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Okay, I'll admit it. As much as I love reading to Sam, and playing with her and acting out the pages... I am seriously looking forward to the time when I can read something more "adult." And no, I don't mean "adult" as in something by Madonna. I mean the gift my wife gave me nearly a year ago, Shroud of the Thwacker by Chris Elliott, or finishing 1421, the book about the Chinese mapping the Americas 70 years before Columbus "discovered" them...
...Until then, however, I'll have to keep being satisfied with finishing SI every week. Of course, it helps that most of it these days is about Baseball, a sport I really just cannot stand.
My wife and I have not been able to afford a new CD or DVD for weeks, so we've used MTV and FUSE to get our new music fix of late. These two videos have been highly entertaining for two reasons. First and foremost, they are entertaining and catchy songs. The first is a catchy cover of the somewhat classic Violent Femmes tune, the second is Weird Al's take on Chamillionaire's popular Ridin' Dirty song. (As usual, Weird Al's version is better.) The second reason we love these tunes is Sam. At some point I will stop laughing and get video of her dancing to them - particularly Gone Daddy Gone. Normally when she dances, it's more of a bopping with a slight, occassional arm movement. When Gone comes on, she goes nuts and gets her whole body into it, stomping her feet, swinging her arms, everything. Once, the video came on when my wife was changing Sam's diaper, and I had to lunge for the remote to make sure Sam didn't start dancing at that moment, which would have resulted in far flung poop. Would have resulted in a new dance step, easily: the Do-see-doodoo.
Nixon wasn't available, so we sent the next best thing. (Get it? Couldn't send the turkey, so we sent a giant chicken! Oh, nevermind...) My wife Netflix-ed this (amazing - it's already a verb...) for me and Sam, considering Sam now loves Big Bird and I have a degree in Asian History. It's not bad, but it is geared for the toddler set. However, it had a hard time even holding Sam's interest, at some 75 minutes long. There were some nice moments of cinematography and a couple of cute moments, but for the most part it's really just a one-two punch for kids who love Big Bird with parents who have no knowledge of China and want a basic primer on the country (even though the show is 20 years old).
Fernando Alonso won his second Driver's Championship in a row, beating seven-time Champ Michael Schumacher in Michael's final races ever in Formula 1. Alonso's victories also clinched Renault the Constructor's titles. Doctor Who has been great fun, featuring new Doctor David Tennant creating a nice niche for himself in an increasingly crowded character history. He's been helped by very tight storytelling and nice effects. I'm looking forward to the Cybermen returning - we've already seen Sarah Jane and K9... I just hope this incarnation sticks around for a while. I'm already used to him.
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