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12/31/06
-- Apologies for the blog hiatus, blame it on the holiday madness. Anyway, best New Year wishes to all! Corks will be poppin' and the ball will be droppin' (assuming we can stay awake 'til midnight). A low key but merry gathering is underway here, see yous in '07.


12/25/06 -- "...and it was always said of him, that he knew how to keep Christmas well, if any man alive possessed the knowledge. May that be truly said of us, and all of us! And so, as Tiny Tim observed, God Bless Us, Every One!" - Charles Dickens, A Christmas Carol
12/22/06 -- Condi, Condi, Condi... a bright, attractive, extremely well-educated woman with a distinguished job history. One day she might actually become a valuable public servant if she is ever able to break free of her George Bushian shackles. 'Til that day she's still required to periodically say moronic things like this and actually try to make it sound like she believes in what she's saying...

-- Aidan just doesn't DO Santa hats, or any other hats for that matter (click here)...


12/21/06
-- Dude falls 12,000 feet when his parachute fails, and HE LIVES.

12/20/06
-- Required viewing - this runs at 10 frames/sec - one frame for each day - and a single black dot indicates the geographic location that a coalition military fatality occured. Kinda puts things in grim persepective...

-- Come on, fess up... do you fall within the chaste 5% or don't you ?

-- Mars water: Poland Spring it ain't...

-- Recalling more details from the odd dream (see below), the more I think about it. My aquatic friend started out as a Killer Whale, but then at some point he changed to a Narwhal. He would leap high into the air, as if performing at Sea World, then toprpedo back down into the water without making a splash. I remember feeling great anxiety over the possibility of becoming a human shish kabob by his great horn. Strange, huh?

-- Dreamt last night that I was swimming in a pool with a Narwhal. Any Freudians out there please interpret.



12/19/06 -- Study: the US is insolvent. Put simply, there is no way this country will be able to pay its debts under the current course. The financial well-being of the country has plummeted by over $22 trillion in the past four years alone. Very, very troubling...

-- Correction: it was something called valerian that we gave him. Supposedly melatonin can possibly cause nightmares.

--Taking the advice of one of Aidan's therapists, last night we tried giving him melatonin to help his sleeping. So far, no good. It seems to have had the opposite effect, he was completely unable to settle down. Might have been a fluke, but I'm not sure if this warrants further testing or not. The first two active ingredients listed on the bottle are lactose and sucrose. Aren't these sugars? Maybe I'm missing something here. I'm no chemist, in fact I slept through most of my chemistry classes in high school and college. But wouldn't these seem like bad things to ingest right before bed time?


12/18/06 -- Dubya seeks to put an end to earmarking now that all of his Rebuplican croanies have been ousted from office. Where has this been before now?



12/15/06 -- When I grow up I wanna be a dictator. Who knew that Castro was such a ladies' man?

-- Wow. I've never seen a movie get tanked this badly, Rotten Tomatoes gives 'Eragon' a humiliating 13%. Guess we'll wait 'til the DVD comes out, if at all...

-- Video of the most pissed off cat you'll ever see.

-- A breakdown of every NBA player's salary. I think I'm in the wrong line of work...

-- Back in action finally. Have I mentioned that coach sucks? How about this - getting a "B" seat in coach, meaning there is a large person six inches to the left of you, and a larger person six inches to the right of you. Must... sit.. perfectly erect... cannot be comfortable... at all... 5 1/2 hours... butt is tingling... legs are aching... can't deal... And unfortunately I had finished my novel and all of the magazines within reach about an hour into the damn flight.

At least the flight back was better, I had the window and seat B was empty. But even though the return was a red-eye, for some reason I am completely incapable of sleeping on a plane for more than 7 consecutive minutes. Either my head will fall off and I'll awaken with a start, or I'll start having some sort of bizarre motion dream, and jump up in my seat with arms flailing.


12/11/06
-- I am alive, out in the Seattle area for work thing. Arrived around midnight local time (3AM according to my body), and as it turns out Delta Airlines had lost my f*cking bag. They redeemed themselves by somehow getting it to the hotel as I slept. Just the same, I could have done without that extra anxiety. Was not looking forward to meeting with important clients wearing New Balance sneakers.

Can anyone explain to me how this worked out -- we left JFK at 6PM. Estimated arrival time was about 10:45PM local time, but the total flight time is around 5 1/2 hours. So let's pretend local time was in effect the entire time, that would make the arrival time 11:30PM, right? So then subtract three hours for Seattle time and that would make 8:30. Right? Right? Am I losing my mind? Or am I just a nitwit? I suspect that latter...


12/9/06 -- Autism bill passes. It's a start, but throwing money at a problem isn't necessarily the best way to fix it...
12/7/06 -- As I'm still reeling in Bond-dom (see 12/4 post) I've decided that the next time I'm at a fancy restaurant or bar I'm going to order a Vesper. To quote from Casino Royale:

“‘A dry Martini.’ ‘One. In a deep champagne goblet.’
‘Oui, Monsieur.’
‘Just a moment. Three measures of Gordon’s, one of vodka, half a measure of Kina Lillet. Shake it very well until it’s ice-cold, then add a large slice of lemon-peel. Got it?’”

-- Success! Jake slept all the way through the night (see 12/1 post below). A few stirrings here and there, but he cruised right through his usual 3:30AM arousal. The downside of this is he was up for good around 6:00 instead of 7:30. But I say it's worth it -- the morning madness was much more manageable and I was actually to work on time. Fingers are crossed for tonight...


12/5/06
-- This gallery has been floating around the web today, a photo collection of kids screaming and cowering in terror at the site of Santa...

-- Convicted teen to judge: Waaaaaahhh, jail is too tough, I wanna go home now. Shoulda thought of that before he went around killing homeless people for no apparent reason.

-- Doggie digs through snow to save trapped owners, give that pooch a Milk Bone!

-- The single biggest immediate problem with Aidan is his aggressive behavior towards Jake. Almost every time Jake is within arm's reach, Aidan will have a go at him -- a pinch, a poke, or sometimes even a bite. He also has a slow, deliberate head-butt attack that is actually more of a head-push. It is impossible to leave them unattended in a room together, as an attack is almost certain. Worst of all is that Aidan doesn't seem to get it - two minutes after we discipline him he's at it again. Is he being blatantly defiant? Or is he just not making the connection that hurting lil' brother = bad?

I'm hoping it's just some kind of sibling jealousy phase. Heck, he used to do the same thing to the cat. Maybe the best course of action is to let things work themselves out, Darwin style. Jake is a strong little blighter, it won't be long before he'll be retaliating forcefully. Or maybe we need Super Nanny. Or maybe a miracle...


12/4/06
-- Bond: "Vodka Martini."
Bartender: "Shaken or stirred?"
Bond: [With a hint of exasperation] "Do I look like I give a damn?"

Not at all what you'd expect. That sums up the excellent Casino Royale, which I finally saw Friday night. It could be called a prequel, or even better - a reboot of the Bond series. Put simply, we learn how Bond became Bond. Daniel Craig's Bond is gritty. He loses his cool. He *gasp* gives his heart to a woman. At one point he is seen driving a FORD (though of course he's in a Aston Martin by the end). He is buff. He gets his butt whupped. During a torture scened he howls in agony as things are done to him that made every gentleman in the theatre cross his legs. He loses at cards, sort of. He sweats. He bleeds. He gets hoodwinked. He gets by without the help of fancy gadgets. He is monogamous... Not at all what you'd expect. The old Bond cliches will always have a place in my heart, but this movie is different.

Just see it, it's terrific - the so called experts even agree. My favorite part? Right at the end of the credits where it read: "James Bond will return."



12/1/06
-- As Aidan is now doing much better with sleeping through the night (though it's still a major production to get him to go down), Jake has decided to fill in for Aidan in the keeping us up all night department. He has been in the habit of getting up every three hours or so and demanding - loudly - that he be nursed. In an effort to break him of this habit, yours truly has to get up with him around the clock and administer patting and soothing. I'm on my own in this effort, since the instant mom picks him up he starts grabbing for boobs and the whole process starts over. Can't keep this up much longer, I'm walking around in a zombie-like torpor...

11/30/06
-- Some Spanish dudes were walking through the woods and found a real-life Gollum. Extremely creepy.

11/29/06 -- Playing WoW the other day and a guild (kind of like an organized "club") member jumps online from Iraq. There weren't many of us logged in at that time, but of course everyone was asking him how it was going, etc. The dude goes into a testosterone-fueled hero tale of how he and his team "finally got to f*ck up some insurgents" and how the insurgents "actually decided to stand and fight them (his squad) instead of trying to blow them up", and how they (the insurgents) "won't be making that mistake again." He capped it off with a smiley :)

I kept silent, though it was hard to resist serving up my usual analogy - "If a bunch of guys with guns and tanks cruise into my condo complex and I fight back, does that make me an insurgent?"... but I refrained.

I have massive amounts of respect for our soldiers. But I couldn't help but wonder about his gung-ho'ness. It almost sounds as if he truly believes in the cause over there, even though almost every intelligent being on the planet recognizes that the war is based on a lie. Rah! Rah! Go USA! Take out those bad guys! Maybe he's brainwashed. Maybe he doesn't have access to the newspapers. Maybe the powers that be have sprinkled some funny stuff into his MREs. Or maybe he's so gung-ho because he HAS to be, because it keeps him and his squad sane and motivated in a completely chaotic situation?

-- Apparently New Line Cinema has dumped Peter Jackson and he will not be directing 'The Hobbit'. Why bother making it then? Long story short - Jackson is suing New Line over claims that he is still owed money from the LOTR trilogy. Hey New Line - LOTR took in close to $3 BILLION at the box office alone. Give the man what he wants, then get out of his way and let him work. Dumbasses.

-- Study: Bush supporters are nuts. No, seriously.



11/28/06 -- Rock me Amadeus: in honor of Mozart's 250th this site is streaming some of his best works 24/7. The work day just got a bit easier...

-- Achoo! Intolerably cute baby panda sneezes and scares the bejeezus out of mom.

-- These days a Tom Cruise movie has to be damn good to make me forget about his Scientology wackiness and actually keep watching. MI:3 did just that, I highly recommend the DVD. And the always excellent Philip Seymour Hoffman is my new favorite bad guy.


11/27/06
-- Mark "My Muscles are Exceedingly Large & I Hit 583 Homeruns with a Check-Swing & I Pleaded the 5th Repeatedly When Asked Under Oath If I Took Performance-Enahncing Drugs" McGwire is set to go on the ballot for baseball's Hall of Fame. I would comment on this but "I'm not here to talk about the past."

-- As it turns out, all of the arm wavings and movings around required to play Nintendo's new Wii system are taking a toll on some gamers. Sore muscles and even a few injuries have been reported. Nintendo's answer? Work out more.

-- NYT: Money can in fact buy happiness.

-- The scene was almost identical to Ralphie and the cruel "You'll shoot your eye out, kid" Santa in A Christmas Story. Aidan, who has been jabbering incessantly about Santa for the past three weeks, finally got the chance for some lap-time with the Big Guy himself last weekend - and choked like a New York Yankee. Couldn't get out of there fast enough, wanted nothing to do with Mr. Claus. Jake on the other hand didn't know quite what to make of that big fluffy white beard, and was no doubt considering giving it a hard tug (click here).

Though not yet December, I guess it's officially safe to start getting excited about Christmas. Yesterday we had our first of what I'm sure will be several viewings of The Polar Express. If ever there was a Christmas movie that gets me right here (**I'm tapping my chest**) every time, that's the one. I don't remember exactly what year it was when the bells fell silent for me, but what I wouldn't give to hear them again.

I make the same silent, pathetic plea every year around 12/1. Whoever is in charge of bestowing Christmas cheer -- God, Jimmy Stewart, Santa, Bing Crosby, The Ghost of Christmas Present -- someone, ANYone: please let this year be like it was when we were kids. Please let this year be different. Please don't let the things I most look forward to be a Christmas bonus and a few days off. Please let me hear the bells again. Please let Spirit Rule once more...



11/25/06 -- It'll never happen. But it's still fun to think about. Dailykos has compiled 14 Articles of Impeachment against Bush/Cheney.

-- Vintage Ronaldinho...

-- Monk gets an erection and lops off his own weiner with a machete! He really shouldn't be so hardon himself...

11/24/06 -- Nice to see our tax dollars are in such good hands. The Pentagon seems to have lost track of a small chunk of the money Uncle Sam shaves off our paychecks every week, $2.3 TRILLION to be exact...

-- Sneak peak at the new Harry Potter flick!

11/23/06 -- Happy T-Day to all, we've got TWO dinners lined up for this afternoon! Now where did I leave that pair of elastic waistband pants?

-- No fancy dinners, no Kay Jewlers commercials, no walks on the beach. Our anniversary evening consisted of a trip to Big Y and an hour at Starbucks. And ya know what? We had a terrific time. A couple of lattes, the NYT, and an hour of enjoying each other's company & not worrying about anything (thanks for babysitting, grandma!)- sheer bliss.

11/22/06 --Maria and I have been married three, count them, three years today! She hasn't thrown me out yet. Amazing, I know. Incredibly busy today- work stuff, Turkey Day stuff... more later.

11/20/06
-- Kramer vs. Kramer, or so it seems. Michael Richards ("Kramer" of the hit show Seinfeld) launches a barrage of racist comments onstage at a night club. The man clearly has some issues...

-- Pimp your pooch: rapper Snoop Dogg to release a line of pet products on Amazon.

-- From the shameless celebrity gossip department: you may or may not have heard that a porn producer has approached Kevin Federline about the sex tape he and Britney Spears supposedly made during their honeymoon. Well get this - to squash any hopes her ex-hubby may have of cashing in on the tape, Britney may just give the damn thing away. Gossip just doesn't get any, ummmm, juicier than this...

-- Visited some relatives yesterday for an afternoon of horsebackriding and runny-nosed outdoors time. Kudos to Indy (Indie?), the ever-so patient steed who withstood my amateur rein jerkings and flank kickings without a single complaint.


11/18/06
-- With Maria and the boys in Long Island I thought I'd jump on the opportunity to check out the new Bond film. Loews gift card... check! Jacket.. check! Cell phone.. check! Keys... check! Key in ignition, twist, and nothing. Twist again, nothing. AAAAAAAHHH!! I had left the lights on while at work yesterday, completely draining my archaic car battery. What a cruel joke, a full day of me-time and no means of going anywhere. It seems Bond will have to wait...

11/17/06: -- The long anticipated Sony Playstation 3 was released today, and the morons who have been camped out in Best Buy and Circuit City lines for it all week are fighting, robbing, pushing, shoving and shooting each other to get theirs. The $600 console is popping up all over ebay, selling for $3,500 or higher. WHAT IS WRONG WITH YOU PEOPLE?

-- Well surprise, surprise, research shows clear evidence that the 2006 election was hacked in favor of the Repubs... and they still lost. Such a great democracy we live in...

-- Warning: this is disgusting. But it's an amazingly harsh photograph of a San Francisco homeless man shooting up. Hard to look at. Hard not to look at. An incredible shot.

-- A growing number of Japanese women are suffering from a disorder that gives them constant orgasms all day long. I'm not making this up, read here.


11/16/06:
-- Santa, come on baby... deliver the goods, baby... Nintendo's Wii is the real deal, even CNN says so. Commercial here.

-- Hey NASA, nobody gives a @$&#* about the moon. This isn't the 1960's. We aren't competing with the Russians anymore. Stop wasting our money. PLEASE.

-- Study: 1% of the web is porn. Something has GOT to be done about this. I want that number up in the double-digits at least ;)

-- Worth a read: geek hero blogger and former Star Trek: TNG star Will Wheaton with some thoughtful thoughts on Star Wars and why it means so much to so many of us (and why the prequels were such a let down)...

-- OJ Simpson is being paid millions for a book describing how he would have killed his wife and friend if he had done it (but reminding us that he didn't). Folks, do us all a favor and just say no...


11/14/06:
-- Dubya, believe it or not, used to be a fine public speaker and a skilled debater. Now he comes across as a complete dolt. What happened to him in the past decade? Watch here...

-- Alright nasal drip nighttime cough thing, you win. I went to see someone named Dr. Kopf about the cough (har!) that has been keeping me up almost every night. He prescribed some yucky stuff that I'm to shoot up my nostril every day, hopefully will do the trick. I need sleep!

Other Jesse Leo health factoids, because I know you care: blood pressure is good, better than average even. Weight is about 7 lbs higher than it ought to be (no numbers, please). Time to get my arse back on the hardwood...

11/13/06: --I don't feel bad anymore, according to this website I'm among the top 0.85% wealthiest people on the planet...

-- Giuliani thinking of throwing his hat into the 2008 presidential ring? I'd actually take McCain over this tool (if forced to choose between two Republicans). Unfortunately Rudy seems to have gained a huge following for his 'valiant' behavior on 9/11/01, when he walked around in front of the cameras with a cloth over his mouth pointing at stuff...

-- Looks like there's finally a Wikipedia entry for idic(15), which has been curiously absent for a long time...



11/11/06:-- Since when does Veteran's Day fall on a Saturday? Anyway, take a minute today to think about those that have put everything on the line for the rest of us. And no, the yellow sticker on the back of your SUV doesn't count. The handsome fella pictured here and thousands upon thousands of others have spent an awful lot of time in strange countries surrounded by people who were trying to shoot them. Justified or not (usually not), our soldiers answer the call. Appreciate our soldiers and vets even when our leaders do not...


11/10/06: -- NBA ballers chime in on the new rock (see 6/30 post)...

-- Dad, those $2 bill bookmarks you've been hording all these years are finally having their day in the sun...

-- We knew there had to be a reason our usually jocund little fella has been so cranky lately -- his first tooth is pokin' through!

11/9/06:
-- Check out this lightsaber duel between two kids, pretty friggin' cool considering they are probably working with one gazillionth of the budget George Lucas has...

-- So I jumped on the hand sanitizer bandwagon recently, figuring that between the gym, the office and two kids at home I am probably a major league germ carrier. There is one school of thought, however, that argues using these products actually lowers your body's natural ability to build up immunities to bugs and germs. I laughed at first, but since using Germ-X twice a day I've been getting sick on an almost weekly basis...


11/8/06:
-- Update: Dems take the Senate, too. This really was a butt-whuppin' of the highest order.

-- How to hang someone properly.

-- Rummy is resigning, same parting message applies (see below).

-- A message to all of the corrupt, lazy, perverted, incompetent, pork barrelling, earmarking, Bush backing, after midnight secret bill passing, 3-day work week having slimebag Rebuplican members of the Do-Nothing 109th Congress who lost his seat last night: Buh-bye, don't let the door hit you in the ass on your way out.

The House was a landslide but the Senate is still up for grabs - it may be quite a while 'til the outcome is known.

To be realistic, these election results aren't necessarily going to make things better. Talk is cheap, after all. This was more about payback - I think a message was sent that we're finally fed up with the Bushit.



11/7/06: -- Faith Hill is a sore loser and now everybody knows it. But does anybody care?

-- More dirty Republican tricks, gawd I love election day. Virginia voters in Democratic areas are getting bogus phone calls falsely telling them that their voting location has changed, and in one case a voter who has been registered & voting in VA for years was told that he is not registered and would be charged criminally if he shows up...

-- The case of the missing Mission Accomplished banner...

-- Happy B-Day to the love of my life. You're an amazing mom & wife, and in passing you are without a doubt the best looking thirty-something I have ever seen. Seed tonight?



11/6/06: -- Initial reviews of the new Bond flick are trickling in, I am SO there...

-- Stopped by Danbury VW today to pick up a part I'd ordered for my tin can. Next thing I knew a saleswoman named "Bunny" had me sitting in a gorgeous 2007 GTI. Normally this is the part where I would say "Must Be Strong...". But there is really nothing to worry about here -- it isn't a matter of should/shouldn't, it is a mathematical impossibility for anything remotely close to the purchase of that vehicle to take place. So do your worst, Bunny, there are no sales to be made here.

-- Coming soon to a phone near you: Repeated "robocalls" which appear to be from a democratic candidate, but which actually originate from the opposing Republican candidate. The purpose of the repeated calls? To annoy the voter out of voting for the dem. Typical sleazy tactics...

-- HBO's "Hacking Democracy" is up in its entirety on Google Video, check it out. To summarize: The '00 and '04 presidential elections were hacked and stolen, ok we already knew that (MINUS 16,000 votes for Gore in one FL district anyone?). Many local voting district workers do moronic things, such as throwing poll tape (poll tapes laden with descepencies, I might add) from the voting machines into the garbage instead of the shredder. And shouldn't they be retaining those records? Just a thought. Diebold receives money from the GOP to either make their systems ridiculously hackable, or to have a hand in hacking them themselves -- we already knew that too.

The show is definitely worth a watch, but prepare to be nauseated. A great point is made about electronic voting machines: what we essentially do when using them is tell our candidate choices to a man behind a curtain and hope/assume he 1) hears us correctly and understands, and 2) actually does what we ask him to. No proof, no paper trail, no way of knowing. Maybe there's a reason Karl Rove is so smug -- everyone is calling for a sweeping win for the dems tomorrow, but I won't believe it 'til I see it...

-- Beck rules.


11/3/06:
-- Election day is drawing near. Here is a list of crucial things we may all have forgotten in the wake of the smear ads...

-- Enjoy those lobster tails and fresh halibut dinners while you still can. A new study finds that seafood as we know it will cease to exist within 50 years...

-- Poll: Dubya more dangerous than Kim Jong Il. I'm not making this up :)


11/2/06:
-- Anyone have HBO? Tonight they are airing a documentary called "Hacking Democracy" that is supposed to be amazing -- please tape it for me !

-- Possible cause of Sids discovered?

-- Ah, the wonders of Photoshop. I'm able to post a cute shot of the boys sharing a bath (above) without revealing how much mildew has accumulated in our tub...

-- While the administration has succesfully shifted the gaze of the nation from the daily atrocities happening overseas to the John Kerry botched joke incident, Andew Sullivan of TIME points out one little news tidbit that no one is talking about: that Dubya has, at the request of Iraq's prime minister, abandoned the search for the recently abducted American soldier and effectively sealed that soldier's fate...



11/1/06: -- Anyone looking for a babysitter?

-- Well we didn't end up scaring anyone, but we did score mucho candy. Aidan, decked out as Captain Jack Sparrow, was really starting to get the hang of this trick or treating business. And I don't think there has ever been more perfect weather for the big night. All told, I'm not nearly as depressed as I thought I'd be (see yesterday's post) the day after Halloween. As I said, it is for the kids afterall. But that's not to say I will ever stop dressing up on 10/31, EVER...


10/31/06:
-- Where's Vincent Price when I need him? Halloween and feeling a bit blue. Definitely not orange, anyway. Just been busy, damn busy. Scant little time for anything Halloween'ish. So far have only one carved pumpkin on the deck, and he's already rotten to the point of resembling a centenarian.

Halloween has always been such an awsomely creepy kid holiday, but this year something has been lacking. The boys will be decked out tonight of course, but they're still too young to have any clue as to what's going on. We've watched no creepy Tim Burton movies and no Munsters/Adams Family marathons. Our attempt to watch "It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown" was wrecked by Aidan's insisting that we watch Thomas instead. Hardly any spooky decorations at our place. No haunted hayrides or houses this year. Have not heard Michael Jackson's "Thriller" or even that stupid "Monster Mash" song, since NPR is the only station my car can get. The small amount of candy we purchased has mostly been eaten, and now that I think of it I have yet to eat a single piece of candy corn! **SIGH**

But all is not lost. It's going to be a gorgeous fall night, and we will be out pounding the pavement. Save us a handful of candy corn, and have your wits about you. Because it's Halloween, and I will not rest until I've seen someone who is afraid, very afraid...



10/30/06: -- More electronic voting machines changing Democratic votes to Repub, this time in Texas. This is getting absolutely ridiculous...

-- There is a price to pay for screwing up this tongue-twister...

-- Is it just me me or do electronic voting machines need to be deep-sixed? There is plenty of evidence that they played a key role in Dubya's pilfering of the 2004 presidential election. Now there are already reports coming out of Florida that the machines have been (surprise!) changing gubernatorial Democratic votes to Rebublican votes...

-- Four years running, not running
. **SIGH** once again my lofty dreams of running in the Kent Pumpkin Run didn't work out. Need to stop making excuses and just get up there. Well I have a year to brood over it, and, uh, oh yeah - getting in shape for it might be a good idea too...


-- Dom's tag sale, despite the monsoon conditions on Saturday, went very well. A lot of merchandise was moved and a lot of dough was raked in :)

10/27/06: -- Saddam verdict postponed until two days before the November elections. Hmmmmmmmm, imagine that....

-- Sharpen those knives and get carvin' !

-- Reported on Slate: the highest ever Scrabble score: 830! This was largely due to a miraculous triple X2 play using "quixotry"...

-- The tag sale to end all tag sales is underway at Grandpa Dom's (email me for the address). Dolls, books, fishing poles, guns, artwork, games, tools, militaria, dishes, clothes, baby gear, sports stuff.... anything you can think of. Get there early, the haggling vultures ("pros" who tag sale for a living) are already circling above. Sales reaching into four-digits took place last night, before the tag sale even got underway! This is gonna be big.



10/26/06: -- Your phone bill broken out. Angry yet?

10/25/06:
-- How to make a great cuppa joe...

10/24/06:
-- For some reason I keep stumbling into articles about how rigged the '04 election was, and each one ticks me off a little more. Here's another...

-- Guys take note, this list of health benefits can be used as bartering tools the next time you're trying to get lucky: "Come on baby, let's do it for your immune system!"

-- Two poops forward, one poop back -
There was recently a string of several consecutive poops by Aidan where he let us know each time, usually by saying "poopy". Each time we had ample opportunity to get him to the potty and successfully complete the mission. We've been absolutely pinching ourselves. But then last night, alas, an unexpected diaper filled with toxic waste reminded us that there is still a lot of work to do.

-- Hey Grover, I bet even WE could catch fish under these circumstances...

10/20/06: -- This kid has some not-so subtle pickup lines...

-- So I'm asleep on the sofa and it's about 6:15AM (and no, my wife has not banished me to the sofa -- at least not yet -- I often end up there when a certain 7-month old commandeers my spot in the bed). Through a sleepy haze I hear an alarm, which goes off and on again repeatedly in five minute intervals. Sometimes it would change to a low wailing sound, not unlike that of an air raid siren. "What an unusual car alarm," I think, wondering when the jackass car owner would go out and turn it off. This went on for an hour, off and on again, and just when I was about to get up to investigate it would shut up long enough for me to doze off again. Turns out if was one of Aidan's #$*@#ing toys out on our deck, a stupid oil refinery tower thing which for whatever reason decided it was time to start ringing the alarm! Henceforth -- if it requires batteries we don't want it. Bring on the Legos and Lincoln Logs!

-- Invaluable step-by-step pumpkin carving instructions...

-- If you vote democratic next month Osama will find you and kill you. The new RNC ad is pathetic and shameless, a disgusting move of desperation.



10/19/06: -- Ok what the hell is going on with the stingrays lately? First the Croc Hunter and now this guy.

-- Olbermann: the end of Habeus Corpus = the end of America. Is he a drama queen spewing hyperbole or is he spot on? You decide...


10/18/06:
-- $ welcomes the idea of European NBA squads. Cuz let's face it: they're better. I'd pick the average NBA baller in a game of 1-on-1 over the average European player, of course. But 5-on-5, give me team Greece or Spain or Italy any day...

-- N'awlins Man chops up and cooks girlfriend, then offs himself. Sick.

-- Move over Lassie, this dog was a true hero!

-- Navy Seals workout. You can do it. I'll be taking a nap.

-- Free virus with your video iPod. Mac users not affected...


10/17/06:
-- White Men Can't Jump, but at least they pay their taxes. Wesley Snipes in huge trouble with the IRS...

-- More on the autism/TV link from Slate. Interesting point near the very bottom of the article: Autism is very rare in Amish kids, who are not allowed to be vaccinated... and are also not allowed to watch TV.

Have to keep telling myself that whatever comes of these new findings -- while of course it's fantastic if any progress is made on this -- doesn't really pertain much to Aidan. Idic(15), as it was explained to us, happens around conception due to a very unlucky genetic fluke. Or so we're told...

-- Really really rich collector accidentally pokes his elbow through a $140 million Picasso with an errant hand gesture. Ouch!

-- Cornell study: watching TV causes autism. I call bollox. I say kids are born with autism and their parents are more apt to plunk them in front of the TV.

-- By now most of you probably know about the next Rocky movie coming out in a few months (hmmm, wonder how this one is gonna end?). But what you may not know is that production has also started on another chapter of the Rambo series. I can hear you groaning. But come on, admit it -- a part of you is curious... come on, allow yourself a guilty pleasure or two. As for me, I'll probably don a trench coat and a pair of Groucho Marx nose glasses and sneak into some late night 11:45PM showing or something. Hopefully no one will see me. Or maybe I'll just wait for the DVD. I read somewhere that the writers couldn't come up with any bad guys to blast for this latest installment (Commies? the Cold War is long over... Viet Cong? Been there, killed them... Taliban? Too politically sensitive I guess...), so Sly Stallone (who just turned 60!) called up Soldier of Fortune magazine and asked if they knew where the worst injustices in the world were currently taking place. Burma, they answered without hesitation. Apparently that place is the worst hell-hole that no one has ever heard of - corruption, killings, abductions, etc. are apparently very commonplace. So there it is. Strap on your blood-stained headband, pump up your abs & pecs, reload your M-60 and and get in line. Just don't let anyone see you.



10/16/06: -- Complete and Total Barf-o-Rama - It's the only way to describe what's been going on around here lately (with apologies to the immortal 1986 classic movie). It started sometime around Wednesday of last week when Aidan barfed inexplicably. I was next, getting hit hard all of Thursday night and dashing into the bathroom every few minutes. Maria and Jake took over on Friday, barfing during the day and again during the wee hours of Saturday. Maria's mom, who selflessly spent a few days with us to help out, picked it up yesterday. And today, my mom is at this moment either in bed or kneeling before the Porcelain God. It amazes me how contagious these stomach viruses are. Keep your distance!

There was enough of an ebb in the action yesterday to allow us to attend a fall gathering up north with family. Hopefully we didn't infect anyone else. Aidan was treated to numerous laps around the yard on horseback compliments of Aunt Bocky and her equine friend. He (Aidan, not so much the horse) loved it -- time to start actively looking into some Equine-Assisted Therapy options for the spring.



10/12/06:
-- Read a blurb about the Iowa couple who recently won the massive $200 million Powerball jackpot. They opted for lump sum instead of an annuity, so the immediate payout was a paltry $95 million. Their short term plans include some charitable donations to their church and the Humane Society, OK fine. Most alarmingly, however, is that they a) don't anticipate any major lifestyle changes and b) still plan on working! Obviously unworthy of this prize, I'll show 'em how it's done...

10/11/06:
-- College prof likens Bush to Hitler, but asserts: "Hitler had a good 20 to 30 IQ points on Bush, so comparing Bush to Hitler would in many ways be an insult to Hitler." Good stuff :)

He goes on to compare the 9/11 WTC/Pentagon attacks (masterminded by the Bush Administration, he claims) to the Reichstag fire which vaulted the Nazi regime into prominence. Interesting. It's not that the Neocons aren't morally capable of doing it, of course they are. There is a boatload of evidence that points to an inside job, click here and here and here. And the Magic Bullet theory has proven that the public is willing to swallow just about any official explanation handed to them. But I just don't see how the 'cons could have had the balls to pull that off in broad daylight with the entire world watching. Too many things could've gone wrong. Someone would've come forward to blab. Too much at stake. The real trajedy is that we'll never know for sure.

-- Some interesting theories on the season premiere of Lost, I don't know what to think anymore. Damn show has completely confounded me...

-- World's biggest papwerweight
. Or doorstop, perhaps. Scored a behemoth of a monitor at a tag sale last weekend, a 21" Compaq P110. Thing weighs more than a Jeep Liberty, but for $10 I couldn't leave it there. Besides, the dude said it worked. Almost threw my back out carrying this monstosity upstairs, anxiously connected it and... and... everything is green. No amount of degaussing, control panel tweaking, Adobe Gamma'ing, praying, calibrating, adjusting, banging or swearing helped. Objects on screen are there, just green green green. Guess if something seems too good to be true... Well I'll have my revenge next weekend, I intend to make my $10 back selling it a the tag sale my father-in-law is holding, muwahahahahahaha !


10/10/06:
-- Slate has a great article on the North Korea hullabaloo and a few possible outcomes. This could be the real deal folks, the shit might start hitting the fan for real. Am I the only one wondering why Dubya has not started bombing? Crazed dictator, weapons of mass destruction threatening the stability of the region... all of the same reasons he gave for going to Iraq, right? Only thing missing is the oil...

-- My Gawd, Google sucks up Youtube for $1.65 buh-buh-buh billion. Youtube had been around since 2005, two dudes in their 20's with a great idea.... **sigh**

-- List of the top 10 highest paid women. Where's Oprah? And ladies, why not spend some of those millions on a makeover? Woof! Woof!


10/9/06:
-- Lettuce pray...

-- Crisp, clear air. Fiery-colored foliage. Blue sky, damn near Block Island Blue. Definitely a top-downportunity for the commute home. And by the way, I own the rights to the phrase "top-downportunity" in the same way that Pat Riley owns the use of "Three-peat." Mine. I invented it, if you want to use it you must first stick a hefty check payable to MOI into an envelope and mail it to ME (or PayPal will suffice).

-- Hey Kim Jong Il, two things: first and foremost, take off those wack-ass glasses. Second, stop screwing around with nukes.

-- Andrea, you may have turned sixteen but there will be snowmen in hell before you can drive my car ;)



10/6/06: -- Message to people with expensive cars (such as the 2006 V8 Jaguar owner currenlty parked outside my office building, and the moron with the Corvette spotted at the mall recently): Because you have a higher car payment than the next person does not give you permission to park half-assed and crooked, taking up a total of three (3) parking spaces. I understand that you do not want a door ding, but if you continue to park in this manner it will actually INCREASE the odds of you getting one. The 16-year old tin can I drive already has a plethora of dents and rust spots, I now consider myself a ding hobbyist who is constantly looking to add to my collection. Consider yourselves warned...

-- Been dying for Woodward's book to come out. Slate has taken the time to compile the juiciest tidbits, save yourself $30 or whatever it is and click here. Say what you will about anonymous sources, I say Watergate has granted Woodward a lifetime of immunity from having to explain himself or his sources.


10/5/06: -- Jake has been hinting that he wants to crawl for a few weeks now, getting on all fours, doing some pushup-like maneuver and then slowly creeping backwards. But as of last Saturday it's safe to say he can officially crawl -- forward. Now the fun can really start...

-- Lost
resumed last night after a long summer of unwatched re-runs. Despite the infuriating way in which they left us hangin' in last season's finale, I actually resisted the urge to watch. Simply could not risk of possibly being interrupted by a crying child, a ringing phone, or anything else. Don't anyone dare tell me what happened, and if you do start talking about it I will take the mature route by clapping a palm over each ear and yelling "BLAH BLAH BLAH BLAH NOT LISTENING BLAH BLAH NOT LISTENING." The VCR was rolling, of course, but I just learned that you can actually watch the most recent episode online on the ABC website, or dl the podcast. Cool.

10/4/06: -- Happy b-day Grandpa Dom! See you tonight for some stuffed artichokes!

10/2/06: -- Block Island has officially joined the list of Most Expensive Zip Codes, 2006 Edition. My dream retirement home slips e'er farther...

-- Watched Curious George over the weekend, and found that by the end of it Maria and I were more absorbed than Aidan was. Cute cute cute, with Jack Johnson tidbits sprinkled throughout. And I must say that this was the first movie starring not-so-funny funnyman Will Farrell that was not actually ruined by not-so-funny funnyman Will Farrell (Wedding Crashers anyone? It was going great until HE showed up). As the voice of The Man With the Yellow Hat he was actually likeable.


9/28/06:
-- With this cool coin drinking trick I will get ALL the chicks...
9/27/06:
-- Watching soap operas in subtitled "silent mode" while trotting on the treadmill at the gym reminds us just how absurd the dialog is.

Taylor: "No no, we can't. It's too soon. And we both have our children to think about."
Thorne: "My daughter is crazy about you. And so am I..."
**smooch smooch hug hug grope grope**
DRAMATIC FADE TO CLOROX COMMERCIAL

Why can't they have something a bit more motivational playing on the televisions there -- this IS a gym, isn't it? Why not play footage of people scaling mountains, or running on the beach, or heli-skiing, or stomping on bad guys, or just doing great things in general?

-- Dubya signs a bill that will enable taxpayers to track federal spending online. I like the concept, it's a good sign that he's showing at least some semblance of fiscal responsibility. And at least now we'll be able to see which toilet our tax dollars are being flushed down. But the part about "... except for those (federal grants & contracts) classified for national security reasons." I wonder if any of the $10 million/hour (that's an actual figure, I didn't make that up) spent on the Iraq War will be listed.



9/25/06: -- Hey Rummy, whatcha gonna do about the money?

-- Hilarious and geeky, about a year ago the source code for Windows 2000 was leaked onto the internet. As it turns out the obviously stressed-out Microsoft programmers at that time included all sorts of curses and laugh out loud comments within the lines of code, things like: "Mondo hackitude o-rama," "Morons," "...probably makes more sense when you're stoned," "Hack of Death," and many others. They dropped the F-Bomb and used the S Word numerous times as well. These were all remarked out, of course, and the general public using Windows could never see them. But still interesting and funny to see the personalities these code geeks must've had.

-- Note to self: it's a bad time of year to park under a tree with the top down -- the seats are completely filled with brown leaves, seeds, acorns, twigs and other unwelcome miscellany...


9/24/06:
-- Finally got around to compiling some Block Island pics.

9/22/06: -- For weeks I'd been driving around eagerly anticipating my odometer hitting 180,000 miles, the satisfaction of watching all those zeros roll in would be irresistable. Of course at the crucial moment I was not paying attention, probably messing around with the stereo or admiring the scenery with the top down. Oh well, 190K is just around the corner, assuming the old boy makes it through another long harsh winter...

9/21/06:
-- Ok I realize the election was like 2 years ago. I realize that what's done is done and can't be undone. I realize it's pointless to argue about it now, and most arguments will be dismissed as left wing nutjob conspiracy theories. I further realize that this man may not necessarily have become a better commander in chief than the bozo currently in office. What I cannot for the life of me come to grips with is why no one in the media or in Washington or anywhere else seems to care that the 2004 election was rigged even worse than the 2000 election... RS story here, lengthy but worth a read.

-- Urban Ninja rocks my world.



9/20/06: -- Speakers up, any cubicle dweller can appreciate this...

-- How times have changed. Ran over the mall at lunchtime for sneakers. In the old days $80 would have fetched me one shoe for one foot. I left today with two pairs - running and hoops (my feet were bursting through the soles of my previous pairs). I've always believed that with kicks you get what you pay for, time will tell whether or not today's purchases were "penny-wise & pound foolish"...

-- Cousteau on Irwin's tactics. He obviously read my 9/6 post on poking, prodding, and pissing off the animals to make for exciting tv.

-- **OFFICIAL LAST POST COMPLAINING ABOUT VACATION BEING OVER** This would be a lot easier if a fat-assed rain cloud would park itself over New England and spew buckets of water over us. But no, today the sky has to be perfectly azure, ideal September conditions for setting up camp on Mansion Beach...



9/19/06: -- Day Two back in the real world, still wallowing in post-Block misery...

-- Heard back from the race coordinator of the
1st annual IDIC(15) 5K Road Race & Fun Walk, which took place while we were on vacation. She was thrilled with the tunrout - 243 competitors, perfect weather, and almost $8,000 raised ! A local kid won the season pass to Killington :(
I'm hoping to mooch a t-shirt or two if there are any leftover XLs.

9/18/06:
-- The flip flops have been put away, still covered with sand -- don't you dare wipe them off. Bikes are pulled down off the roof rack, soon they will return to their dark cave for the cold months.

Not gonna lie to ya, this one hurts.

After five days of weather that I'll politely describe as "less than optimal", the Block Island gods delivered two of the most gorgeous beach days in recorded history. My faith in our B.I. "September Sessions" has been completely renewed, now what to do about this knot in my chest? A week isn't enough, we were just hitting our stride when it was time to board that ferry.

This one hurts.


9/14/06:
-- September is always a roll of the dice on Block Island. Let's face facts: summer is pretty much over and it's hurricane season. For more Septembers than I can remember I have rolled double-sixes (I assume double-sixes is good, it certainly works wonders in a game of backgammon) -- blue skies and glorious. But as the old saying goes if you keep going to the well, sooner or later you'll come up dry. This week has been chilly. And sometimes wet. And gray. And cloudy. In fact, we have but three days left and I have not yet been in the ocean, UNTHINKABLE. But fortunately this little island has so much to offer, even when Ma Nature is being fickle. Our house is great. We've been to the beach. We've drank wine and ate like royalty. We've shopped and slurped java at my favorite coffee shop in the world (in fact I'm sitting there now). We've seen family. We've laughed. We've read our novels. We've hiked. We've seen a giagantic dead whale washed up on the beach. And though we've discovered that being on vacation with two kids is like running a marathon and a triathlon back to back, Block Island in September remains therapy for the soul...

9/8/06:
-- Dissed and Dismissed: In a move of sheer desperation I phoned Interstate Navigation to -- get this -- try to extend our upcoming vacation by two hours on the back end. Why take the 5PM ferry next Sunday when we could leave at 7PM? Why miss the sunset over the North Light, my traditional last farewell to the island and to summer itself? The boys will be sleeping as we drive home either way (hopefully). When I'm on my death bed will I wish I'd gotten home at a slightly more reasonable hour or spent every possible second on Block Island? Plus, leaving at 5:00 means we technically need to be in the ferry parking lot around 3ish, which, what with all of the packing and what-not on the final day could severely cut into beach time. What was I thinking when I made these reservations? The Parrothead in me was panicking, and by God something needed to be done before it was too late!

The response on the other end of the phone? "Sorry, we're completely booked that day."


9/6/06:
-- You may have seen this on the 2006 MTV VMAs, but if not this treadmill dance routine by OK Go is truly remarkable and worth watching.

-- **Drool drool drool** Apple announced today the release of a brand new 24" iMac, yummmmmmmm...

-- Explained on Slate: how rare are stingray attacks (very), and how often are the attacks fatal (unknown for sure, but probably almost never). Long story short - of all the potentially dangerous critters Steve Irwin has grabbed, poked, prodded, pissed off and provoked over the years, it seems a stingray was the least likely to kill him.

-- I like it I like it -- NBC newsman David Gregory turns White House Press Secretary Tony Snow's confrontational "how dare you question us" techniques against him, you go boy!



9/5/06: -- How you know you've had a good workout: the person working the Dunkin Donuts drive-up window gives you a strange look because your arm is trembling so much that you nearly drop the medium iced coffee she is handing you. Hey, I've got less than a week before I need to squeeze into that Brazillian-cut Speedo I plan to wear on Block Island ;)

9/4/06:
-- Crikey! Steve Irwin, aka The Crocodile Hunter, killed while filming a show about stingrays. Sad stuff.
8/31/06: -- I've got Yankees tickets, 3 of 'em, for Saturday's game vs Minnesota. They're 'cheap seats' (bring your binocs, the only one higher than you will be God) and they aren't next to one another. First caller/emailer takes 'em...

-- Slate has an amazing graphical adaptation of the 9/11 Report. Whether or not this is really how it happened we'll probably never know. But it's definitely worth a read.


8/30/06:
-- Nice to see my beloved Corrado has an entry in Wikipedia. Mine was the 1992 VR6 model in case you were wondering, and looked identical to the one pictured on the site. Gawd I loved that car...

-- A reminder to all runners, walkers, outdoor enthusiasts and general do-gooders, the 1st annual IDIC(15) 5K Road Race & Fun Walk is fast approaching.

-- I'm officially going on the Katie Couric diet...


8/29/06:
-- Countless families have it much worse than we do. Aidan has some good people in his corner, hard working and dedicated to his progress. And before long Birth to Three will step aside and he will be in the hands of the school system. So why complain? Because we can. And because what health insurance companies do is wrong. And because if no one complains nothing will ever change. That's why. In the mail today, for what good it will do...

8/28/06:
-- Crank up your speakers and go to the official movie site for the upcoming Texas Chainsaw Massacre prequel. I've been working most of the day with the web page open, cycling through a loop of extremely creepy sounds :)

-- I am getting one of these and you can't stop me. For Aidan of course, uh, yeah. For Aidan, of course...

-- Oh and we're NOT showing this photo to Aidan's prom date in 15 years? Still a long way to go on the potty training front, but slowly he is being introduced to the notion of sitting and waiting...

-- By popular demand, the V for Vendetta (which you really need to rent btw, it is amazing) "V" introduction speech:

"Voilà! In view, a humble vaudevillian veteran, cast vicariously as both victim and villain by the vicissitudes of Fate. This visage, no mere veneer of vanity, is a vestige of the vox populi, now vacant, vanished. However, this valorous visitation of a bygone vexation stands vivified, and has vowed to vanquish these venal and virulent vermin vanguarding vice and vouchsafing the violently vicious and voracious violation of volition. The only verdict is vengeance; a vendetta held as a votive, not in vain, for the value and veracity of such shall one day vindicate the vigilant and the virtuous. Verily, this vichyssoise of verbiage veers most verbose, so let me simply add that it's my very good honor to meet you and you may call me V."

The Youtube clip is here. I'm sure there are geeks everywhere who can recite it word for word, I hope to join their ranks soon.

-- Pissed off at Microsoft? Send Bill Gates an invoice.


8/25/06: -- This is a hoot: go to Amazon.com and login if you have an account (I think it only works if you're logged in). Do a search on a 'Philips Norelco BG2020', turn up your speakers and enjoy the video (guy in the robe near the bottom)...

-- Holy mackerel, a 720! Well, not quite. But still freaking amazing.

--Been thinking a great deal about our upcoming Block Island trip, probably thinking about it more than most psychiatrists would consider healthy. It can't possibly be normal to already be depressed about having to come home weeks before the trip has even begun, already feeling that dreadful churning in the gut that starts about halfway through a great vacation -- the feeling that, though an epic time is being had, each passing second hurtles us closer to the moment we board the return ferry. One can't help but wonder: is it better to have Blocked and left than to never have Blocked at all?



8/24/06:
-- Awright awright let's not get our knickers in a knot here over Apple's announcement that they are recalling almost 2 million laptop batteries. As I understand, the company that actually makes the lithium ion laptop batteries that are exploding and/or roasting people's scrotums is none other than Sony -- for this reason I resisted the temptation to pounce on Dull Computer when they recalled 4.1 million of them last week (though it wasn't easy, let me tell you).

-- Pluto has lost its status as a planet, now I guess it's just a big hunk of ice. Who cares.


8/23/06:
-- Slate on Dubya's recent press conference...

-- My God, what I would give for this kind of vertical, my man's got more hops than a Budweiser factory...

-- If I had to grade the job we did of settling Aidan into good sleeping habits I'd give us an "H". That's "H", which is two letters lower than "F". Ours is the perfect example of what not to do. And it seems too late to rectify the situation.

On any given day my adult life may consist of 23 minutes of free time. That is -- get up, shower, drive to work, drive home, wolf down some food (there's my 23 minutes), then start "The Process." The Process consists of 1) climbing into bed alongside a reluctant Aidan -- being careful not to wake his brother in the nearby crib -- and reading no fewer than two books. OK fine. Next is 2) kill the lights, turn on the stars (some turtle thing that shoots star shaped lights all around the ceiling and walls). Finally comes 3) The Waiting. And as Tom Petty will tell you, this is the hardest part. If by some miracle he's tired, this phase can take as little as 8 minutes. I believe the record is 4 minutes, set by Maria's mom. But most days this takes around 38 minutes, and on a bad day can take a full hour or more. You lie there next to him staring at the ceiling stressing about work, etc., while Aidan thrashes back and forth, jabbers to himself, plays with whatever toy du jour he's taken to bed (go ahead and TRY to pry it out of his grasp), kicks his legs, sits up, turns over, etc.

Singing to him doesn't help, and in some cases exacerbates the situation (once you start singing "Ol' Macdonald" you are not allowed to stop until you've gone through every animal in the known world, and even invented a few new ones -- "and on his farm he had a jibblesnout, ee ii ee ii oooooohhh... with a jibble jibble here and a jibble jibble there..."). Patting doesn't work. Praying doesn't work. Nothing works, at that point your lot in life is to lie there possum-like and wait for him to slowly fade. On most nights you'll end up falling asleep before he does, and if you don't you're too groggy to do anything productive anyway -- the night is effectively over.

All of the parenting books say "leave him!" and let him scream it out, which we ventured to try a few times. But it doesn't seem to work. He stands by the door shrieking as if someone was carving out his kidney sans anaesthesia. And it doesn't stop. And now with Jake sleeping in the same room the window of opportunity for the "scream it out technique" has slammed shut.

Any suggestions?


8/18/06:
-- Wanna buy a condo? The big news, of course, is that ours is for sale! It's a long shot but we thought we'd put it on the market and see what we can get. This place has been good for us -- lots of space, a pool, easy to maintain, etc. But it's really about a yard for the boys. Whenever we bring Aidan to see family or friends with a yard he is in heaven -- turn him loose in a yard and watch him run run run run. And there is nothing better for him than being outside using his body. I'm sure Jake will also be zipping around very soon, the two of them will be bouncing around the living room like pinballs.

As for me, I'd love a garage where I can hang a heavy bag. Not that I know the first thing about boxing, but damn what a workout. Back in the day I used to hit the bag at the gym, breaking up the routine into three rounds of frenetic flailing. After a while the arms were filled with cement, but the swinging couldn't stop 'til the round was over. Just look at the build on most fighters - not those paunchy heavyweight bozos, I mean the amateurs you see on ESPN after midnight, guys no one has ever heard of. Check out the rhomboids, deltoids, latissimus dorsi and teres minor.

Whoa, kind of got off on a tangent there. But when dreaming about a house those are the kinds of things that come to mind -- the day to day stuff. The coat rack. The garden hose. A push mower vs. a ride-on mower. Battling with Maria over whose car gets the garage tonight. Where to stash the ski stuff during the winter. 60 watt vs. 100 watt bulbs. And so on. Maybe this outlook is too romantic, maybe a year from now we'll find ourselves living in some tiny hut spending every dime we make on electricians and plumbers. But we'll never find out if we don't try...


8/17/06: -- So a Federal Judge has ruled that the NSA's wiretapping program is illegal. Let's hear it, Mr. Cheney: "a blow has been struck to the safety of America"... etc.

-- Creepy and amazing, someone with incredible Photoshop skills has altered celebrity photos, transforming them into senior citizens.

-- Very cool in a Stephen King-ish sort of way, a horrifying mutant dog-like creature found in Maine...


8/16/06:
-- Sounds like the Block Island Ferry is being overrun by drunken revelry. If nothing else maybe this will help keep crowds away...

8/15/06:
-- Granted this price comparison of a Dull, er, Dell Precision 690 to a new Mac Pro Quad appears on a Mac site, but hey - the numbers don't lie. And don't accuse me of being biased, I'm just passing along the information ;)

--
Woolly Mammoths will walk the earth again.

8/14/06:
-- Had a doozy of a line today, a coworker was going around with the latest 'Goo Goo Dolls' CD asking if anyone wanted to burn it. My reply, of course, was "I'd love to burn it... in effigy." Been feeling self-righteous ever since :)

-- Attended the Woodbury Ski Area annual Reggae Festival on Saturday. Must've been poorly promoted or something, because we could count on two hands the number of blankets spread out on the hill besides ours. Strange, too, because the conditions were ideal for a picnic blanket-Igloo cooler-cheese&cracker-white wine-gorgeous summer evening kind of time, and I actually thought the band was very passable. Maybe it was the hefty price tag, which very nearly prompted us to turn around at the gate. To paraphrase:

Shady Guy at the Gate (SGG): "It's $30 per person."
Maria: "Thiiiiiirty dollars?"
SGG: " Yeah. What did you expect to pay? Some of the hottest bands from Jamaica are here this weekend."

**This kind of back and forth went on for a while, and then... ***

SGG: "Bob Marley and the Wailers played here."
Me: "If Brother Bob (may he rest in peace) were here, we'd pay thirty."
Aidan (getting restless): "Mmmmmmmmmmghntshgdssgsdg!"

Eventually we got in for $10 apiece, still a bit steep IMHO. Fortunately the Falls Village Music Mountain Summer Music Festival we attended earlier that day was far more enjoybale, and FREE! Live music, tons of kids, picnic blankets, puppets, hippies, a gentle giant Newfoundland dog and a creepy guy on stilts made for a pleasant afternoon.


8/10/06:
-- Ordered a brand new IBM Thinkpad running Windows XP for some work projects. It arrived today, and I've had it out of the box and powered on for approximately 8 minutes -- it is already completely frozen and in need of rebooting...

-- Kudos to the British authorities for thwarting a plan by a bunch of idiots to blow themselves up on some planes. Such a kind world we live in...

-- I like this shot of the old lady, though it's a bit dark and blurry. Thirty seconds later she began a terrifying transformation -- long pointy ears, a coarse coat of hair, fangs and a lupine snout. Then she broke into song...


8/9/06:
-- Ran over to the local Ski Market during lunch and dropped off a stack of flyers for the upcoming IDIC(15) walk/run in Killington, hope it sparks some interest and this becomes the first of many. I also went over to the store's ski boots section and lingered for way too long...

-- Sorry Joe, looks like the "anti-security" team (as you called them) gave you a whoopin'. Being Dubya's toady doesn't fly anymore, at least not around here. Take that garbage to the Bible Belt.


8/8/06:
-- Apple announced a smorgasbord of cool stuff yesterday at its Worldwide Developers Conference, including the **wiping drool off of my keyboard** Mac Pro. Basically this computer is so fast it will process your request before you type it or click on it. They also gave a sneak peek at the upcoming new operating system named Leopard (Jaguar, Panther, Tiger, Leopard... what's next, Ocelot?). Anyway, suffice to say it's a good time to be a Mac enthusiast.

8/4/06:
-- Check out these old school Apple t-shirts, I am SO getting one.

8/3/06:
-- Are you sneakily surfing the web at the office? Here is a nifty site that gives your web browser the appearance of an MS Word document (Word for Windows, that is). It even includes a "Boss Key" for emergency mouseovers if you're about to get busted (thx Kottke).

8/1/06:
-- Calling for upper 90's today with the heat index making it feel around 108 degrees. Tennis anyone?

-- Support a good cause, and maybe win a season pass to Killington! There is an idic(15) 5K walk/race coming up in about a month or so. Bet yer butt I would be there huffing and puffing were it not happening while we're on vacation. Tickets are $5 each or $20 for five of them, send the dough to the following address:

IDEAS idic15 5K Race Raffle
PO Box 467
Killington, VT 05751

Oh yeah one other thing -- if you win, keep me in mind (wink wink)...


7/31/06:
-- Strolled through the mall during lunch and wound up in Abercrombie & Fitch, where I was greeted by a 8' X 8' mural of a male torso. This was the kind of torso that I strove for (without much success) all throughout my late teens and 20's - every sun-bronzed muscle of the rectus abdominis clearly defined, like a suit of Roman armor. This young gentleman's fly was unzipped to the extent that another centimeter would have caused quite a scandal. In fairness to the male shoppers the female version of this photo could be found near the checkout counter -- some lovely young shirtless thing wearing low-cut jeans and a strategically placed arm covering (barely) the goods. I admit to lingering a bit longer than I should have over that one, but then the blossoming old fogey in me felt like calling out: "Real people don't look like this!"

-- Learned recently that Peter Mayle's latest novel A Good Year will soon be made into a film. I enjoyed this book while vacationing on Block Island a year ago, if pressed to describe it I would probably regurgitate the words "light fare but cute" and "irresistable" or even "charmant" (though a few reviews accused Mayle of slicing the saucisson a bit too thin with this latest effort). Needless to say I'll see it, I'm sure it will make for a nice date flick. Not too happy about Russel Crowe playing the lead, I much prefer him in armor slashing his way through enemy gladiators...


7/28/06:
-- Ahhhh, summer rain. Nature's little cool-down, giving us beautiful rainbows, that delightful damp pavement summer fragrance, and, A SOAKING WET CONVERTIBLE! Yes, I left the top down during the furious little sun shower we just had, and yes it will be a wet-assed drive home. Lovely.

-- Got up this AM to find our entire condo complex sans electricity. Had an early client meeting in Norwalk but luckily Jake's incessant tossing & turning (yes, he still winds up in bed with us somehow) woke me in time (since of course the alarm clock wouldn't have gone off). Not sure what's going on, but according to CL&P it could be down all day and into the night. This could be rough in this humidity - no fans, no AC, no INTERNET! AAAAAHHHH!!!


7/26/06:
-- FYI: Cars is every bit as great as everyone says it is, go see it sans delay.

-- Slate on coffee: drink more, lots more. Okey dokey :)


7/24/06:
-- An indispensable compendium of 80's videos, speakers up! (kudos to Captain 80's).

-- In an effort to reclaim ownership of her boobs my wife has started introducing Jake to cereal. So far he just kind of mushes it around and spits it back out, but it's a start.


7/21/06:
-- Hell Hath No Fury... a friend at work just passed this along, apparently this billboard is currently posted in NYC at 54th and Broadway.

-- On Beauty Salon Blather - Just had my hair buzzed at the mall. My usual guy had an appointment so my beautician was chosen at random, based on whoever wasn't scurrying out the door on lunch break. Now my usual guy (T.J., aka "Big T") and I go back a ways, and have played together in countless pickup hoop games in a previous lifetime. So needless to say I look forward to the hoop talk. But my beautician du jour today has never picked up a ball in her life by the looks of her, and I was forced to endure 15 minutes of brainless drivel that can be justly compared to the Chinese Water Torture: "Where do you live? What do ya do? Got any kids? Where'd ya go to school? Oh really, ever hear of so-and-so? No? I'm surprised, he was really popular, he an my son played Trojan League football. Did you play any sports? Really? I'm not a big fan, myself..."

AAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHH! GIVE ME THOSE SHEARS SO I CAN SLICE MY OWN TRACHEA!


7/20/06:
-- Depp on the selling of his "my way or the highway" approach to his Captain Jack Sparrow character.

-- Good quarter for Apple.


7/19/06:
-- Tomorrow is World Jump Day, set your alarm clocks and find a hard surface. Local time for me will be 6:39:13, worth getting up early for, methinks...

-- New vibrating workout machine is all the rage among celebs. I dunno, seems like cheating to me, I'm thinking that there has to be a tradeoff. Maybe all that jiggling has a long term effect on the brain, forcing the user into a permanent state of idiocy. Or at the very least, laziness...


7/18/06:
-- This photograph was not altered or doctored in any way, the RI beach we visited last Sunday really was that nightmarishly crowded. It was in fact possible to lean over towards our neighbors blanket and read the classified ads in their newspaper. But that aside, on such a scorching day the Atlantic Ocean felt damn good, and there was even a wave or two to be had.

My 16-year old car with a history of cooling system issues was put to the true test this morning. On a normal day the commute takes between 18 and 34 minutes (approximately), but this morning was a full hour and twenty due to an accident on I-84. Thought I'd be clever and jump off Exit 6 to maneuver through downtown Danbury, and this turned out to be a serious mistake -- scoot 8 feet, stop. Wait 45 seconds. Roll 15 feet. Stop. Wait 29 seconds. Creep forward 9 feet. Stop.... and so on. Meanwhile the temperature shot well into the 90s, but I'm happy to report the ol' Cabriolet pulled through with flying colors. Must not become emotionally attached to this car, must not... WILL not.


7/17/06: -- Sorry for the lack of posts, work is crazy and life is crazier. Of all days to catch a fever Aidan has to pick the hottest day of the year! More later I hope...

7/13/06:
-- Lucky find - a guy won an oldie but goodie Mac IIfx on ebay and discovers it once belonged to Douglas Adams, author of the widely popular geeky book "Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy" (a movie based on the book came out last year). The Mac still contained a lot of his old work... (thx Digg)
7/10/06:
-- Dinner at the White House? No thanks. National Design Award honorees decline Laura Bush's invitation to the White House with a poignant statement, nicely put...

-- So the 2006 World Cup wrapped up yesterday with Italy taking top honors. I watched a few matches and enjoyed every moment. Problem is this is a sport that is taking forever to catch on over here in the States. Sure, likeably beautiful people like Mia Hamm, Ronaldinho and Becks are being marketed to make the sport 'sexier', but the pace of the game just doesn't seem to suit our frenetic fast food society (though somehow baseball is America's pastime, with it's 1 pitch for every 6 crotch adjustments). People just can't stand the amount of time between goals. But I say that is the very thing that makes the game great. As much as I love hoops, a basket is a basket is a basket, no big deal. Ah, my man made a nice move, I'll get him next time down the floor. But in soccer, er, football, scoring is a life-alterning experience. During the early rounds of the Cup I saw some dude from some country I can't pronounce score a goal off a beautiful header... and he was overcome. The camera zoomed in on the face of a man who had just seen God. And to his countrymen he WAS God, at least for that day.

-- Speaking of the World Cup, here is the video of the Zinédine Zidane's headbutt and subsequent red card/ejection. An amazing career which will now only be remembered for the moments during his last game when he lost his cool, quel tragedie...

-- Aidan isn't the only one making headlines these days, here's a nice article about my pops and The Villager Redux.


7/7/06: -- Aidan has achieved celebrity status, his picture appears in the most recent edition of the New Milford Spectrum! Link to the online edition here, then click the arrow on the upper right corner of each photo until you get to his (4th or 5th photo).
7/6/06: -- List of the 25 ugliest dudes in music.
7/5/06:
-- Go ahead, laugh it up. The irony is so thick you could wipe cream cheese on it and devour it along with a steaming cup of French Vanilla coffee. WoW has fried my video card. Yes, a bug in my favorite video game had rendered my computer useless. It started about two weeks ago when Blizzard released a patch to fix some bugs and add some new content. Shortly thereafter myself and several hundred other players began noticing random PC lockups and video issues. Things went from bad to worse - it originally only happenned during gameplay but now the display freaks out at bootup, and Windows XP will not load. Or maybe it loads, I just can't see anything. My guess is whatever is going on with the game caused my video card (and a few other people on the discussion forum) to overheat. Luckily the card is covered by a lifetime warranty and is on a UPS truck right now :)

Blizzard has yet to post a fix for this, and the natives are getting restless.

-- Back in the office today, grumble grumble grumble. Long weekends always make the next day back all the tougher. And the bug bite on my right calf itches to the point where I'm considering amputation...

7/3/06:
-- Made like patriotic Americans and attended an Independence Day carnival and fireworks display in New Milford center over the weekend. As Aidan fell asleep five minutes before the show we're considering braving the mall crowd tonight for the Danbury fireworks display. Must be out of our friggin' minds. Anyway, Happy Fourth to everyone! Now find yourselves a pool and some family members and have a great day.

Some random shots from the carnival:
Gorgeous atop the ferris wheel
Bored atop the ferris wheel
Runnin' the show
Grandpa Dom standing guard


6/30/06: -- New ball made of something called Cross Traxxion will become the NBA's official game ball. I want one.

-- Congrats to our buddies The Walshes on the arrival of Owen Patrick!

-- Special thanks to Aunt Kasey for the stellar haircut given to Aidan this week. The muggy weather was making his trademark mop unbearably hot, and he now sports a boyishly handsome buzz cut.

6/27/06:
-- NYT: The final tally is in, $2 billion of our tax dollars wasted on botched or fraudulent Hurricane Katrina efforts...

-- List of the 10 strangest things ever sold on ebay. How this didn't make the Top 10 List of Top 10 Lists (below) is beyond me...

-- Seven things you should NEVER do when sending email.

-- J.K. Rowling hints that Harry may perish in final novel -- say it ain't so!

-- Top 10 List of Top 10 Lists, geeky cool.

6/26/06:
-- Mentioned a while back how I had taken the lion's share of our tax refund and paid off an old bothersome credit card. Was amused to receive a letter from them last week to the effect of: " we noticed you made a large payment on your account recently and wanted to make sure you are satisfied with our level of services..." etc etc. Then they upped my credit limit to some obscene amount that I could never pay off in seven lifetimes. Muwahahahahahahahahahahahahah! The desperation was simply oozing off the page - SQUIRM, BITCHES! THE DAY OF $0 BALANCE IS CLOSE AT HAND! BE AFRAID, BE VERY AFRAID!

-- How to cut your cable bill in half
. No, really.

-- Turned 35 on Friday and find myself feeling a little older, a little poorer, a little creakier, a little crankier, a little weaker, a little rounder, a little wearier, a little grayer, a little balder... and I wouldn't trade any of it for the world :)

Trust me all you young-uns out there, the 20s are fun in a reckless, responsibility-free sort of way. But the good stuff is yet to come.


6/22/06:
-- Watched the last episode of Six Feet Under last night on DVD, and was pleased to see this stellar program laid to rest in satisfying fashion. If you haven't watched it, you owe it to yourself to start at Season 1 and Netflix the whole damn thing - by far HBO's best offering.

-- Ok so I was wrong about the game 7 thing (see below), gratz to the Miami Heat. Stud in training Dwyane Wade more or less singlehandedly won this series, taking over games in Jordan-like fashion. Shaq has his rings, Wade will have many more before he retires, but I'm happiest for the veterans who would have otherwise closed out their great careers sans championship -- the Alonzo Mournings and Gary Paytons.

6/20/06:
-- Update: Cuban fined $250K by the League for his outbursts following Game 5.

-- Been thoroughly enjoying the NBA Finals, after going down 2-0 Miami has raged back to take a 3-2 lead. Sunday night's OT thriller kept me up past midnight but was well worth it. In what will go down as one of the all-time professional basketball blunders, Josh Howard of the Mavericks used his team's final time out with 1.8 ticks left, his team down by 1. This was a huge error because it meant the Mavericks had to inbound the ball under their own basket, not at halfcourt -- thus their last shot of the game became a rushed desperation heave from an impossible distance instead of a carefully executed play in Miami territory. Things are getting testy in the media as well, with billionaire Maverick owner Mark Cuban crying conspiracy theory and dropping the 'F Bomb' at reporters. Betting this series will go seven games, will be watching tonight of course. But why oh why the hell must the games start at 9?!!

6/19/06:
-- Spent a scorching but enjoyable Father's Day up north at Father's pool. Through some cruel twist of fate the medication I'm taking for Lyme Disease forbids me from spending too much time in the sun, so much of my time was spent indoors watching the World Cup. My pops had worked late the night before so he stole a few snoozy moments with Jake (pictured here). Hey, it's Father's Day, he's allowed.

Followed this up with a barbecue back at the condo, and by God it felt good to sink my incisors into that porterhouse and rip rip rip. Living with a vegetarian really makes me appreciate these opportunities. Thanks to everyone for the great cards and gifts, being a dad felt pretty great yesterday :)

6/15/06:
-- From the "Hug 'em While You Got 'em" Department: a computer supplier guy that I've worked with, sort of, since the mid 90's died yesterday of cancer. Rich, aka My Main Man, I'll miss the booming voice, the friendly banter and all of the strings you pulled to get me whatever I needed whenever I needed. Take care...

-- As posted yesterday I've been debating whether or not to go back on coffee. Well, now I've got my reason -- fire up the coffee pot!

-- Kudos to President Bush. Yes, you read that correctly -- he is expected on Thursday to elevate a 1,400 mile stretch now known as the Northwestern Hawaiian Island Coral Reef Ecosystem Reserve to national-monument status. That means no more fishing. No condos. No people (except the occasional scientist or two) -- just seabirds, turtles, fish and assorted other critters that don't exist anywhere else in the world.

-- Read this with horror today - white tigers can exist only in captivity by continual inbreeding such as father to daughter, brother to sister, mother to son, etc, and about 80% of the cubs die. So this is how those idiots Sigfried and Roy have made their fortune, very nice...

6/14/06:
-- Hey Miami Heat, glad you decided to grow some cajones and win last night. I was considering flying my three-year old sneakers, rickety knees and bad back down to Miami to hit some #*@&ing shots for you...

-- Being sick has enabled me to kick my java habit. It has been about four days since I've had a cuppa joe, and I feel fine. No, really. The normal headaches associated with java withdrawal may very well have kicked in over the weekend, but these were no doubt overpowered by the other Lymey symptoms going on at that time. Though these symptoms have since lifted, I still have no real taste for coffee as of right now. So... do I take this opportunity to switch to a java-free lifestyle?

-- Climate experts respond to Gore's global warming movie. I don't know who to believe anymore...


6/13/06: -- At last the secret behind Michael Jackson's Smooth Criminal Lean is explained - he actually has a patent on this invention! (as posted on Digg)

-- Grim message from Hawking
. Maybe I'll be eating my words one day, but I'd almost rather take my chances down here than live on a desolate gray rock...


6/12/06:
-- So much for Net Neutrality, was good while it lasted...

-- Ticked Off: The doc had but to glance at the bulls-eye under my shoulder blade to confirm that I do indeed have Lyme Disease. Around Thursday of last week the bite appeared, and by Saturday evening I was shivering with feverish symptoms. Feel free to pity me, though it appears as if we caught it early enough (thanks to the coaxing of my dear mother) to avoid the agonizing muscle aches often associated with Lyme - the aches I had last summer, where it felt as if the muscles were being peeled from the bone like a rack of ribs at a steak house...

6/8/06:
-- More on Net Neutrality (see 6/2 post below), a letter from Google CEO Eric Schmidt. To quote WAPO on Friday's historic vote: "...it will decide whether the Internet remains a free and open technology fostering innovation, economic growth and democratic communication, or instead becomes the property of cable and phone companies that can put toll booths at every on-ramp and exit on the information superhighway."
6/6/06: -- If you are ugly or even if you just photograph poorly -- but have Adobe Photoshop -- go here.

-- The Press Photographer's Best of 2006, some amazing shots...

-- I suppose there is some demonic Satanic significance to today's date, what with all those sixes and all. Whatever. Though the new remake of The Omen opens in theatres today, and it looks pretty creepy.

Anyway, Aidan's aquatic therapy sessions continue every other week (no thanks to Healthnet), and appear to be helping him substantially. Summer sessions will be off and on, so we took some film footage of the last class which hopefully will enable us to do it ourselves in our over-chlorinated condo pool. The strengthening of his trunk muscles, developing his sense of body awareness, and of course establishing a level of comfort in the water are the primary goals of this stuff, and the little guy has come a long way.

6/2/06:
-- Save the Web: Few things irk me enough to want to write my congressman. I once considered writing to express my disgust about the thievey currently going on in the White House, but since most of Congress is in the presiden't pocket, why bother? But I digress... Net Neutrality is worth writing about. Here's the deal: big time phone companies/providers like Verizon and AT&T/SBC are pushing for legislation that would enable them to charge a fee for premium bandwidth. Long story short, that would mean companies who pay them a fee get the fastest, most responsive websites. Those who do not, do not. So let's say you're cruising the web looking to buy some grooming tools for Fido. You click on a big time retailer like Petsmart.com and get a nice snappy website. You then try to compare prices on a Ma and Pa pet supplies website and find the site is sloooooooooooooooooooooowwwwwww... you finally give up and buy from Petsmart. Why might this happen? Because Petsmart paid a fee for the high bandwidth and the Ma and Pop shop didn't. This is bullshit of this highest order. Fair and balanced access is essential, and evey packet of data on the internet should be given equal dignity. It's not too late. Make a stink. Here and here are two places to get started.
6/1/06:
-- Is there anything better on a 90 degree day than putting on swimming trunks and dashing around like a madman through a sprinkler?

Anyway, it's officially June, the month that I will be turning 35!!!! How the hell did this happen? I just keep telling myself that in about five or six years I qualify for a mid-life crisismobile. I will be reunited with my beloved GTI someday, just you wait...

5/30/06:
-- Some very cool high-rez pics of a retired military vessel being sunk to create a new reef.

-- My little Picasso: Aidan has recently taken quite an interest in drawing/coloring, which of course is very welcome. We set him up with his little chair, box of crayons, stick a tall sheet of paper to the fridge and watch him go to work. Some of his masterpieces outshine anything adorning the walls of the Louvre in my opinion, though I may be a bit biased...

5/25/06:
-- Idol comes to its dreary end last night, with mediocre karioke singer beating out gorgeous girl with boobs (but not much else). Drab as the contestants were this year, something like 98938323 trillion people voted... sheesh. Lost also ended for the season last night in its typically infuriating fashion, though last night's episode confirmed my theory about electromagnetics...
5/24/06:
-- Just lifted weights... first time in months... arms trembling... can't move... ouch.

-- There are scattered reports of Jake smiling, but these cannot be confirmed. To me that looks like he's grimacing in preparation for a trumpeting of the flatus...

5/23/06:
-- Even more genious: this doggie bowl is specially designed to keep your pooch from voraciously gobbling up his entire meal in six seconds. I can think of two or three mutts who would be good candidates for this, but I'll withhold names for now...

-- If ever there was a must-have app for Macs, it's here: MacSaber empowers your Mac with lightsaber sound effects. And don't worry if your Mac isn't motion sensor-capable, you can still tap into the Force just by dragging the window around your screen (though you may not get all of the thrust and parry sounds, as demonstrated here). May the Force be with you.

-- Find out where your baby's name ranks in popularity using this very cool NameVoyager site.

-- Excuse my language, but this man can f&#*$@g juggle.

-- Explained on Slate: why injured racehorses are usually shot. It doesn't seem quite so cruel after reading this, seriously...

-- Threw Aidan and Olivia in the tub over the weekend for some great photo-ops!

5/22/06:
-- My big sister Kasey snuck in a birthday over the weekend, happy birthday Kate! 28 never looked so good!

-- Enjoyed Woody Allen's Match Point over the weekend. It's a thriller about infidelity and **gasp** murder set in upper class London, and it did a great job of instilling that "oh God is he going to get caught?" angst -- an angst you feel for the movie's central character even though he is the scum of the earth and fully deserves to be caught (a la The Talented Mr. Riply and Fatal Attraction). Here's the problem I had with the movie: Scarlett Johansson. This girl is breathtaking to look at in a "I've just seen an angel now I must flog myself with a bullwhip to purge these lewd thoughts " sort of way, so much so that she may seem miscast in any role that doesn't involve covering her up with a potato sack and smearing ugly makeup all over those flawless pores. Real people will have a hard time believing she has real world problems, such as struggling with a career or getting strung out on a dweeb like Jonathan Rhys Meyers. It's inconceivable that she would have to wait around by the phone for anyone to call. Tyson Beckford anyone? Another perfect example of being tragically good looking. He's recently taken up acting, but people only look like that on a runway or in Toni Braxton videos...

5/19/06:
-- For almost a year I smugly prided myself on being the only virus-free Windows XP user on the planet who did not run anti-virus. The secret? Practice safe-surfing. Use FireFox. Turn the computer off when finished. Hide behind a router. Avoid opening emails from unknown senders, and avoid using Microsoft Outlook and Outlook Express altogether. Never ever ever run AIM, Kazaa, or anything like that. Run AdAware and Spybot Search & Destroy every so often... But alas, all good things must come to an end. Some gremlins snuck onto the PC (coincidentally around the time we switched from a DSL connection to a cable modem connection, hmmmmm...), and bad things started happening. Windows Explorer (not Internet Explorer) would crash for no good reason, and things seemed to be slowing down in general. I can't be bothered with spending $60 on an anti-virus package, and I'm not going to Google every rogue process that's running and try to figure out how to remove it in Safe Mode. Just can't be bothered. So drive C: was completely wiped and everything was reinstalled from scratch. Damn things are running great now if I do say so myself. This wipe/reinstall may have to become a monthly ritual, I highly recommend it.

Was asked recently why, since I'm constanty bad-mouthing Windows and praising Macs, I run Windows at all. A few reasons -- 1) Games are developed primarily for and optimized for Windows. Developers play to the market share, can't blame them. 2) Web multimedia content is largely created for the Windows world. Though Quicktime has long been touted as the "standard", it just seems like everything is optimized for Windows Media Player. If I want to hear a song snippet on Amazon, or watch last night's highlights on NBA.com, these types of things just don't seem to work well from within Safari. Again, market share (though Google Video and Youtube seem to have gotten it right and are platform independent). 3) Sentimentality: I entered the working world as a Windows NT tech guy, and for years it paid the bills. Heck, I even put life on hold for a year and got my MCSE. A part of me really wants to see the folks at Redmond get it right. Someday...

-- Disturbing article, almost couldn't bear to read it...

5/18/06:
-- Sorry Charter, ditching the cable modem and switching back to DSL. All of the rumors about cable modems being slow during peak usage turned out to be true, at least in my neck of the woods. Granted, there were times when the connection was insanely fast, but between 7:30PM and midnight things often became erratic, sometimes near dial-up sluggishness. And though I consider SBC/AT&T to be an evil empire, they'll be servicing our high speed needs for a while longer, methinks. Now if only Verizon would hurry up and run fiber lines to our houses we'd be good to go...
5/16/06:
-- In answer to my question (see below post), the DOD is releasing video footage of the Pentagon attack.

-- Drool drool drool drool droooooooool... new MacBook Pro announced today in sleek black.

-- So I caved into temptation and watched the 9/11 documentary video that's bouncing around the web. It's really long, so I recommend starting the download before bed and leaving yourself an extra hour to watch it the next morning. But someone please tell me that this is a bunch of left wing Michael Moore bunk... someone please tell me that it's not true... someone please show me the web site(s) with the counter-arguments for each point made here... someone.. someone... this just can't be....................................................................................... Can it?

5/15/06:
-- From the "Stand By Your Man" Department -- whatever gets you through the night, Laura...

-- Pops, don't think you can sneak a birthday without anyone noticing! Have a great day and we'll see you at the May Babies party!

-- "To Understand a mother's love, bear your own children." -- Chinese Proverb -- I hope all of the moms out there had a relaxing Mom's Day filled with pampering and chocolates and foot rubs by Fabio look-a-likes... as I say every year, here's to YOU Patricia, Maria, Anne, Marie, Dorothy, Patti and the dozens of other mothers in my life. You are loved and appreciated.

5/10/06:
-- Serves you right, Madeline. She has been obsessively chewing on the AC adpater cable for my Powerbook at every opportunity. Little by little the number of teethmarks along the rubber surface of the cord has been increasing, though by some miracle it still charges the computer. Last night we discoverd a blackened, scorched area on the cord where she must have broken through, and singed whiskers on Madeline's face. She doesn't seem any worse for the wear, but hopefully she's a bit wiser now. As for me I'm out $12 for a new *#&!@* cord...

-- For a goof I called SBC/ATT (at the urging of Dailykos) to complain about this whole phone records thing (see below). Of course I got a "we don't do that" speech from the customer service rep, but it still felt good to bitch and moan for a while -- if for no other reason other than to get revenge for their obscene long distance rates.

-- Aside from using it as another reason to rant about the current administration, I didn't really care much about the whole wiretapping thing. So someone listens in on a phone conversation or reads an email. It's illegal and it's unjust, but frankly I have too many other things to worry about right now. Besides, what do I ever talk about on the phone aside from baby poop, WoW and what's for dinner. But reading this is sort of creeping me out in a 'V for Vendetta' sort of way.

-- Don't be fooled by the cuteness of this photo. We've got some rough spots to work out between Aidan and Jake. Most of the time Aidan either A) doesn't seem to notice that Jake is there, or B) tries to bite or pinch him. B is a huge problem, especially since we will need to eventually have them sleeping in the same room...

5/9/06:
-- Slate has a scathing and beautifully written article on Kobe Bryant. And the author is so right -- to anyone who has watched as many countless hours of Jordan footage as I have, there are so many obvious similarities: the strut, the baseline fadeaway, the split the two defenders on the high screen move, the mannerisms, the glances, the buzzer-beater fist pump, the 1,000 other little things that only a Jordan nerd would notice.

But you would never see Jordan pout and stop shooting were he snubbed in the MVP polls, as Kobe did on Sunday. Kobe's sickness is his need to be admired, Jordan's was his absolute refusal to lose. Pick your poison. And pick your hero -- I'll take a winner who goes down shooting over a crybaby who goes down pouting any day.


5/8/06:
-- ...It's not his party but he'll cry if he wants to. We attended cousin Mason's 2nd bday party over the weekend, and there is no longer any doubt that something about the "Happy Birthday" song really ticks Aidan off (as pictured here). Pretty much every time that song is sung, regardless of who it is for, he wails in misery for about five minutes. Is our singing THAT bad?

If you watched any TV over the weekend you probably saw commercials for the latest David Blaine gimmick, scheduled to air tonight for TWO HOURS. This time around I guess he's going to be shackled underwater or something and has to pull a Houdini before he blacks out and dies a watery death. According to this site the World Record for breath holding is 8:58, Blaine will be going for 9 minutes flat. I just can't see a major TV network airing him drowning (which is about the only thing that would entice me to watch this clown), so I myself will not be tuning in.

5/4/06:
-- They weren't lying when they said that video games can be hazardous to your health, this kid almost got shot by a neighbor while playing WoW...

-- Cry me a river, Bill, cry me a river...

-- GREEDO:
"I've been looking forward to this for a long time."
HAN SOLO: "Yeah, I bet you have..." KA-POW!

Geeks rejoice! the original Star Wars trilogy is being re-re-re-re-released on DVD, and it will include the theatrical version of each film -- untouched, unenhanced, unaltered, unspoiled. Sign me up!

-- Woman turns 128
today, jeez...

5/2/06:
-- The new Apple ads are freakin' hilarious, click here...
5/1/06:
-- I'm sure someone has already forwarded this Honda thing to you, but if not here ya go. Here's the deal: supposedly there were no computer or digital tricks used... everything happened in real time... it took 606 takes, after some small part would mess up the entire thing had to be set up from scratch... the crew spent weeks shooting night and day to get it right... by the time it was over they were ready to find new jobs... the film cost $6M and three months... it's two minutes long so every time Honda airs the film on British television, they're shelling out enough dough to keep any 20 of us in clover for a lifetime... it's fast becoming the most downloaded ad in the history or the web... there are six and only six hand-made Honda Accords in the world, and to the horror of Honda engineers, the filmmakers disassembled two of them to make the film... everything you see in the film (aside from the walls, floor, ramp, and complete Honda Accord) is parts from those two cars.

-- **SIGH** According to Killington's website today is the last day of their season. **SIGH** I didn't make it up there for my annual Spring bump-a-thon, first time in years. **SIGH** Granted I had a good excuse, what with the arrival of Jake, our crazy schedules, and of course that whole not having money thing. But with the gorgeous weather I can't help but look northward and utter another **SIGH**. There's nothing like Killington on a day like today, nothing -- clear bluest of blue sky, forgiving corn snow, big ol' bumps, sunblock, Oakleys, short sleeves, outdoor reggae bands, burgers on the barbecue... ok here's one more **SIGH**, there's always next year...

4/27/06:
-- Someplace a financial expert is applauding loudly for us, and many years from now we'll be certain this was the right move. But for right now OUCH! It really hurt lopping off almost all of our tax return cash and sending it those criminals at the credit card companies. It was time, though. Those bastards have been making 16% off of me for too long...

-- Next week's American Idol theme will be Elvis songs, wonder if he'll be performing live...

4/26/06:
-- Due to the illegible scribbling of Aidan's pediatrician, we were given the wrong antibiotics by the pharmacist -- one Aidan has had allergic reactions to in the past. All those years of medical school and I have yet to meet a doctor who doesn't write like a third grader. DOCS: SLOW DOWN AND WRITE LEGIBLY. If we were smart we would've called an ambulance chasing attorney and cashed in on this one (Aidan is fine by the way, but he's had a snotty nose/cough for about three weeks so we took him in).

-- Wanted to take a moment to thank the two ladies pictured here for their help -- in the past month or so they have both given up gobs of their free time to hang out with us and change diapers, clean, soothe, rock, hold, burp, cook, etc. Ears to you ladies! We would be lost without yous...

4/25/06:
-- Alright, alright, dad, I won't play any more video games...

-- The Easter Bunny hates you.

4/24/06:
-- An unthinkably awful photographic essay on Chernobyl 20 years later (thx boingboing)...

-- We are officially cable modem users. Testing will continue for a few days until we're sure it's the way to go, and we'll keep the DSL account alive just in case. Results have been mixed so far. Last night I set it up with my Linksys Wireless G router which, on paper, should outperform my Linksys Wireless B.

But last night while testing a few things -- loading graphically dense web sites, transferring files, playing WoW, etc. it was considerably slower than my DSL connection ever was. However, in the past I have had a slew of problems with that G router, and it has always been flakey even with DSL. So this morning I hooked up my tried-and-true Wireless B and the connection seemed joyously quick. But it was then that I realized my fundamental error: I had altered two aspects of the control group at the same time -- both the router and the time of day -- thereby rendering my test results inconclusive. Was it the crappy router that was slowing me down last night? Or was it the old myth that cable modems are slower during prime time hours when everybody and their mom is online at the same time? Tonight will be the true test, we'll be hitting BlackWing Lair and every byte of bandwidth will be tested...

4/21/06:
-- From the WTF department: I was carded today at the pharmacy while trying to buy Children's Tylenol (for the hip-impaired WTF is a nice way of saying What The, umm, Heck)...
4/20/06: -- I post a good amount of links to videos (movie trailers, horrific music videos (below), etc). As such I want to ensure that all jesseleo.com'ers enjoy an optimal, stutter-free viewing experience. The best way to view online video of any sort is to keep a close watch on the video download progress bar as it pertains to the actual progress of the video. This may vary a great deal based on the speed of your web connection of course. But what I like to do is either pause the video until it is completely downloaded, or drag the play button thingy to the left to ensure it is always a safe distance behind the download bar (visual aid here). When the video progress thingy "catches up" to the video download bar is when you'll get ugly playback hesitations and stuttering.

-- He sings like Bowie, she looks like Sandra Dee... hands down the best music video ever made.

-- Good read from Vanity Fair on the current administration and what needs to be done. Are there any Repubs in congress who are not so deep in Dubya's pocket that they may actually stand up for what's right?

4/19/06:
-- Gettin' all mathematical about the female tuckus kind of takes the fun out of it. But maybe I should have paid more attention in algebra afterall (thx Kottke)...
4/18/06:
-- Think YOU got nailed on your taxes? How about Symantec, makers of highly popular (and laugh-out-loud lousy) backup and anti-virus software, who got hit with a $1,000,000,000 tax bill. Ouch!

-- Some seriously cool Nike soccer ads, especially "Ronaldinho - Joy" on the right margin.

-- Get a load of this -- Tom Cruise, in addition to his other recent strangenesses (see 4/11 post below), intends to eat his new baby's placenta and umbilical cord right there in the delivery room. Dude's got some bats in his belfry, to be sure.

-- Cutest Jake picture EVAH!

4/17/06:
-- I couldn't possibly care any less about Major League Baseball, but it's hard to not find this whole Barry Bonds thing interesting. I might even check out Game of Shadows. There is an interesting opinion piece here about how to award athletic world records from this point forward. It also makes a comparison to Flo Jo and her "interesting" performances in 1988, though it's worth noting that Flo Jo never failed a drug test. Whatever the case -- if Bonds makes it into the Hall of Fame, and if he is able to break "the record" (and if he does, will they count it?) -- he will always pale in comparison as an athlete and as a person to The Hammer.

-- Props to my pops, he's getting back into the restaurant business.

-- Easter always gets a bum deal, at least when you compare it to Christmas. It's widely celebrated of course, but people don't go all out like they do for Christmas. And let's compare the two events: anyone can be born, it's being resurrected that is truly miraculous...

4/14/06:
-- Synching Feeling: This is kind of geeky cool. At work we're starting to use Apple's iCal for our day to day stuff. With a bit of tinkering we were then able to get our calendars to synch up with our iPods to show our appointments and reminders! Neato for sure. Useful? That remains to be seen. Maybe sometime when I'm jogging on the treadmill I'll suddenly be reminded that I was supposed to call someone back or sit in on a conference call...

-- Props to the birthday girl, Nanclyn you are one amazing lady and the greatest of great grandmas. Have a great day, we'll see you this weekend!

4/13/06:
-- OK you slackers, if you haven't done your taxes yet you get a break this year -- since 4/15 falls on a Saturday you technically have until 4/17. The IRS has posted some 11th hour tips, they are so kind. Oh and by the way people are telling me they don't get my pun posted below. OK the article is about a really sticky glue, and since it's so sticky I couldn't put it down, OK get it? Ah nevermind...

-- Interesting article on the newly discovered world's most sticky glue, so interesting I couldn't put it down :)

-- Shameless attempt to photograph Jake in an Anne Geddes sort of way...

4/12/06:
-- Role model to many? Oprah is worth over a billion and feels good about it. Good for you. Bitch.
4/11/06:
-- My wife read somewhere recently that soon-to-pop Katie Holmes is having a scientology birth at the request of her man Tom Cruise. Apparently this will entail not uttering a single peep during the delivery, lest the baby be traumatized. Are you kidding me? Cruise is so out of whack with this L. Ron Hubbard crap that I may just boycott MI3. Alright who am I kidding of course I'll see it. But that's besides the point...

-- Took the young-uns to the Beardsley Zoo last Sunday, where we saw everything from condors to caymen to a giant fake cow with udder veins that are a little too realistic (pictured here). All in all a nice time, though I still think think the concept of zoos is cruel in a circus bear kind of way. Would that condor rather be ripping apart a carcass in the Congo or sitting in a Bridgeport coop with his magnificent wings clipped?

4/10/06:
-- Yipes, was digging through the mountains of trash that make up my Hotmail account when I happened upon an email from my hosting facility indicating that in less than two weeks the jesseleo.com domain was going to expire unless I renewed! All email associated with the account would have been deleted and the domain name would have been made available for any John Doe (or Jesse Leo) to purchase. With the millions of hits the site receives each week I'm sure such a hot commodity would have been instantly scooped up ;)

-- A special lady had a special b-day over the weekend. Actually there were two birthday girls: Grandma Marie and her twin sister Madeline, who (compliments of their kids) will be spending a much-deserved weekend at Foxwoods later this month. The package includes a Johnny Mathis show and more slot machines than you can shake a stick at. ENJOY, LADIES!

4/7/06:
-- Watched with horror recently as all the zeros rolled in on my odometer to 179,000 miles. To celebrate this milestone the driver-side door handle started falling off yesterday. This leaves me with a few options: 1) get it fixed at great expense 2) buy a handle on ebay and make things worse by trying to fix it myself 3) always enter through the passenger-side door 4) keep the window rolled down and slide in like a NASCAR driver...

-- Big Brother REALLY IS watching: The EEF is accusing AT&T of diverting all of its internet traffic directly to the NSA. Wow there were a lot of acronyms in that last sentence. But read the article, maybe this whole Bushian wiretap thing is much worse than anyone thinks...

-- Pop-up hot dog maker
, I MUST have one...

-- Big hubbub over the court case involving the "Da Vinci Code", just in time for the movie launch of course. With a novel that successful it's no wonder some losers came forward with outstretched palms. And therein lies the key point, it's a NOVEL, you idiots. Your "The Holy Blood, the Holy Grail" was nonfiction. You lose.

4/5/06:
-- Hell hath frozen over, Apple is releasing software that will enable you to run Windoze XP on an Intel-based Mac. Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? That would be like putting weeds in a Waterford Crystal vase...

-- Jeez, this guy gets in trouble but nuns are allowed to whack your knuckles with a ruler?

4/4/06:
-- Floodgates are open: Check out this screenshot of my email inbox taken this morning, this is getting absolutely ridculous. When I first set up the jesseleo.com email account I was super careful not to pass it around. When posting it, special care was taken to spell it out as "jesse leo dot com", as I read somewhere this helps thwart the automated email address-seeking bots used by spammers. But at some point around three months ago they caught me, guess it was just a matter of time...
4/3/06:
-- It was suggested recently that liberals, or even people who don't care much about politics but oppose the current administration, tend to turn a blind eye to anything positive the president does. This close-mindedness is not true of me -- I give the president props for two things: 1) for an old-timer he throws remarkably well, and 2) He wears great suits. There, now no one can call me unreasonable.

-- A repulsive but interesting Slate article on tapeworms...

-- Parenthood has truly changed me. An April Fool's Day came and went without me playing a single dirty trick on anyone **sigh**

Anyway, I'm hoping that the makers of baby wipes will read this and take note: you need to invent wipes that don't stick together so much. Here's why -- when changing diapers the left hand is completely occupied gripping both ankles together and holding the baby's buttocks aloft about six inches off the ground. This leaves only the right hand for retrieving wipes out of the box. Since the wipes stick together it is impossible to grab just one, and you end up with a neverending paperdoll-like string of them. No amount of vigorous shaking can free the single wipe in your hand. This has led to quite a few messy disasters.

Some brands of wipes have made an effort to address this by installing a single dispenser hole on top of the box. But this seldom works - the hole is too narrow and grabbing for a wipe usually results in the whole box being lifted into the air.


3/31/06:
-- As baby Jake heads into his first full weekend of life, here is a quick status update:

Sleeping: During the day mostly. Wakes up at regular intervals during the night demanding food.
Eating: All the time. Mom's boobs hurt terribly. Luckily he is starting to allow a bottle. The pump machine is not as stressful on Mom's boobs.
Temperament: Pleasant for the most part. When not asleep he spends much of his time looking around and acting cute.
Diapers: I have renamed him to the Grand Poopa. We've already gone through more diapers with him than we have in two years with Aidan. But this is good, jaundice shouldn't be a problem.

3/29/06:
-- "I will greatly multiply thy sorrow and thy conception; in sorrow thou shalt bring forth children" (Genesis 3:16-19)

Now that my wife has had time to go through my play-by-play (below) of the events of 3/25 and 3/26, I hath been accused of painting a somewhat rosy picture. "Bah!" says I, my intent was to deliver the facts to the family in the limited amount of time given. But it's true, things might have been a twinge more harrowing than I described earlier.

First and foremost, all that talk about the second child being easier than the first is bunch of bollocks. Overall duration of the labor was indeed shorter, but the inensity was doubled. And there were actually about six unsuccessful epidural attempts before any semblance of relief actually kicked in - Maria had to sit perfectly still in a hunched-over position through scathing contractions while the docs played Pin the Needle on the Spinal Column. And when little Jake was in the home stretch ready to impose his will up on the world, there were sights and sounds that can stay with a person for many years. Knowing what we know now, I can't help but laugh at depictions of birth scenes in the movies. Where is the agonized howling? Where is the umbilical cord? Where is the bizarre explosion of swamp water and blood? Where is the birthing of the placenta?

Maria proclaimed that she was "DONE" just over two years ago after Aidan was born. And while beautiful babies have a way of making mothers forget about the challenges of childbirth, she repeated that phrase a few days ago. This time I believe her.


3/26/06:
-- Jake Alexander Leo, born 3/26/06 at 12:16AM, 7 lbs 15 oz, everybody is doing GREAT!! Closeup here.
3/25/06:
-- Update- We've been admitted! Here is a quick breakdown, we'll call it Blogging the Baby. There is a public wifi network here, but it seems slow as a three-toed tree sloth. Anyway, I'll try to keep the updates coming if possible:

11:00PM: After some well-deserved downtime, the pushing will soon commence. Won't be long now :)
9:31PM: Ok so the first epidural didn't work out so well. There was "considerable discomfort," and that's putting it mildly. So another doc came in to yank the first one and try again. This one appeared to take - oh relief, sweet relief...
7:42PM: The epidural is in place, we are feeling much better now :)
6:12PM: Contractions growing in intensity, "Who Wants to be a Millionaire" keeping our minds busy. I nailed the one about the frequency of "Old Faithful's" eruptions, once per hour. It just occurred to me that I should be updating from these entries from the top down, earliest to latest. Oh well...
4:01PM: Relocated to official delivery room, pill administered to start the induction process.
2:52PM: 1 1/2 cm dilated (sp?), doc says we're going to be induced.
2:14PM: In a bed watching 'Barbershop'. Hooked up to monitors. Baby seems great, mom's gestational hypertension has docs insisting she stay lying on her side.
12:40PM: Called the doc again, they say "come on in!"
12:12PM: Contractions increasing in duration and intensity.
10:15AM: Feeling contractions. Better call the doctor.


-- Mama feeling a little funky under the hood this morning, could be nothing or could be the real deal. Bags are packed just in case, further bulletins as events warrant ...



3/23/06: -- Ok there is some comfort in learning that I'm not the only grown-up who is fond of video games...

-- Was scanning a news site this morning and found this headline. What's wrong with this picture?

-- Dear Spammers: I appreciate your efforts to sneak your email through spam filters by cleverly masking the words "Viagra" and "Cialis" with things like "C1ALiS" or "V 1 A G R U H". But I don't have a need for these products at this time, so kindly remove me from your recipient lists at your earliest convenience. Thank you for your attention to this matter.

Hey I figure it's worth a shot :)

3/22/06:
-- CAUTION: Wide loads...

-- The Empire Strikes Back
- Health Net wasted no time in answering our grievance for coverage of Aidan's occupational therapy (scroll down to 3/1 post below):

Dear Mr. Leo,

Health Net of Connecticut, Inc. has completed its review of your grievance dated March 6, 2006. The issue reviewed was whether the denial for occupational therapy, was appropriate. After review, it has been determined that the services are not eligible for coverage as per your evidence of coverage.

In making this determination, your Evidence of Coverage was referenced. Section 10 "Exclusions and Limitations" of your CT Charter POS Subscriber contract includes the following language which was used as the basis for the determination:

"The following is a list of services or supplies that are excluded and/or limited in this EOC. The exclusions or limitations override the Preventative, Medical, Hospital and Emergency Services Sections of this EOC. The following is a list of services, supplies and treatments which are not covered."

"Any long-term treatment for chronic conditions or illnesses. Mental health rehabilitation, mental illness, emotional disorders, substance abuse treatment services, maintenance therapies or programs, conseling, education, and other codependency services. physical therapy, chiropractic care, occupational, speech, cognitive, long-term and cardiac rehabilitative."

Please note that Health Net is not questioning the medical necessity of the services. Our decision is bases solely on the guidelines of the Evidence of Coverage...
etc. etc.

What to say? I praise them for their fast turnaround. It's almost as if they had the DENIED stamp held aloft and at the ready before opening our letter. One thing is certain, we're not done here. Just need to cool down a bit before firing back...

3/20/06:
-- And if that wasn't good enough (see below), check out this side-by-side comparison of new and old.

-- Best Jordan commercial... EVAH !

-- If Aidan's lil brother followed the same timeline as Aidan, he would've been born already. Could be any minute now folks (photo here)! Or it could be three weeks from now. Kid isn't even born yet and he's already confounding us...

3/16/06:
-- Nice to see the Department of Homeland Security keeps their own data safe from hackers.

-- World of Warcraft update: while my beloved shaman Agador Spartacus will always be my number one guy, I've recently started messing around with a rogue named Gutboy Barrelhouse. While the role of a shaman is mostly healing and enhancing the abilities of the other players in the group, rogues specialize in sneaking around, assasinations, theft, picking locks and general mischief -- big fun. With specialty combat moves entitled "Cheap Shot", "Gouge" and "Kidney Shot", what's not to like? Oh and the first person who can tell me where his name comes from gets a cookie...

3/14/06:
-- Roeper on 'V for Vendetta', which looks extremely cool...

-- Until we are all running fibre lines into our homes, the debate over cable modems vs DSL will rage on for some time. We're about this close (I'm pinching my thumb and pointer finger close together with one hand while skillfully typing with the other) to switching from DSL to cable ourselves (see 3/6 post below). Here's a good article on the subject.


-- In case you couldn't tell from this photo, one of Aidan's favorite shows is the Backyardigans. So far his collection includes a full set of sheets (above), two sets of PJs and two DVDs.

But in the brainless void that children's TV has become -- a void where almost anyone can make millions by donning a stupid costume and making an ass out of himself -- this show is pretty great. The animation is gorgeous. The song & dance numbers, at times, can be near-Broadway quality. And best of all the characters talk like kids... really really smart kids, but kids nonetheless.

3/13/06:
-- Between insurance companies and now Verizon Wireless, we're becoming professional bitch and moaners. I don't expect anything to come of this, but it felt good to fire off this email today:

I write to express my extreme dissatisfaction with the Verizon Wireless 'Total Equipment Coverage' insurance plan, for which I have been paying a monthly fee for several years.

I finally hoped to make good on this plan last week when I brought my wife's cell phone to a local Verizon service center. In addition to not holding a
charge, the 'six' button on her keypad does not work at all. As she is very pregnant and could go into labor at any moment, this presents a HUGE
problem if she cannot call me -- my number has a six in it.

I learned the hard way that this insurance coverage is a scam. The Verizon representative informed me that to replace the phone would cost $65. He
suggested that I call Asurion to directly make a claim, and **surprise!** a $50 deductable applies. This was never mentioned when the salesperson enthusiastically recommended I insure our phones. So my options are to either pay $65 and get a new phone right away or pay $50 and maybe get one in a month or two. You call that coverage?

It goes without saying that I cancelled this faux insurance coverage this morning. But calls are being made, investigations are being opened into the
number of subscribers who use this coverage, and this is going to become a very big problem for Verizon. It seems such a silly matter to litigate over, but it's the principle of the matter: it is unlawful and unethical to receive money for coverage that doesn't exist.

Yours in frustration,
Jesse Leo

-- Clooney having his say. Has the line from his recent movie "We mustn't confuse dissent with disloyalty" ever rang more true?

3/10/06:
-- MC Hammer keeps a blog, who knew?

-- Interesting article on CNN about the long sordid history of the cubicle and what the future holds for this terrible invention...

3/9/06:
-- Censorship at its finest, er lamest: Go to http://images.google.com and do an image search on Tiananmen. Pics of tanks lined up in orderly fashion should decorate your screen. Now close that window and go to http://www.google.cn and click IMAGES (second one from the left above the search area) and search for Tiananmen again. Imagine that! Shiny happy people. Pretty buildings. Nary a tank in sight. And this from a company that pledges to "do no evil" (props to Rik Mysleski for the glorious example of Google caving in to the Chinese government to make a buck).

-- Big hullabaloo over at ESPN.com over the "arrangement" Utah Jazz star Andrei Kirilenko has worked out with his uber-hot wife Masha. In case you missed it, Masha permits AK to shag another woman once a year. "If I know about it it's not cheating," she said. For me this instantly propelled AK from what I used to simply consider a good ball player to near deity status. But the ESPN article brings up a good point -- is she simply testing him? One can't help but wonder... the answer is on AK's website, (not that you'll be able to read it).

-- A coworker at the office just received a brand spanking new Macbook Pro and folks, it really is as magnificent as Steve says it is...

3/7/06:
-- My new favorite website. Things the subservient chicken has done for me: peck, dance, run, strut, stomp, go away, come closer (which is very creepy), and sleep. Let me know if you find any more crazy commands that he obeys...

-- Flying to Nashville area tomorrow for a work thing, meeting the limo driver at **UGH** 4:15AM...

-- **Clarification** the post below about Skype was only to mention how fond I am of the product. Rest assured it is not becoming the only means of contacting us (see 3/6 post below). Full-time cell phones will become our modus operandi.

-- Ok people, if you have relatives in far away places that you speak with frequently, get a $12 headset/microphone and use Skype. There's no reason to pay the phone company any longer. Talk to somebody in China. Or Germany. Or Boulder, CO. Or New Milford, CT. As long as you want. Free. Phone companies have made too much money for too many years. I can't say enough about this product, and unless you're into video chatting, I would even recommend it over my beloved iChat AV.

3/6/06:
-- This could either be a really dumb move or a really brilliant one. Realizing over this past weekend that we DO now in fact get cell phone service in our home, we are considering ditching our land line (the one that starts with 355) and going strictly cell phones. This will entail swtiching from DSL to a cable modem, which has me nervous as a long-tailed cat in a room full of rocking chairs. But if my calculations are correct we'll save about $49/month. Please e-moi if you don't have our cell numbers, we'll let ya know how this little test goes...

--This article really hits home. I firmly believe that insurance companies have departments solely dedicated to finding ways to deny coverage. Health Net seems to have jumped all over Autistic Spectrun Disorder long ago (thanks for the article, Aunt Marion!).

-- Our son the Yale Man... sort of. Last week Aidan participated in a two-day study at Yale for children with developmental delays. Some of the best brains in the biz were involved, so we felt very lucky to take part. Interacting. Playing. Speaking. Studying. Questioning. Monitoring. Note taking. Filming. Recording. You name it, they did it. The coolest part was when they sat him in a dark room to watch videos - through hidden cameras some software focused in on his little pupils too see what parts of the screen he watched.

The official novel-sized report should come in a few months. But for now the verdict is in: they don't know. The social skills are there, just underdeveloped. When the cognitive stuff increases, so should the social (fingers and toes crossed). Only then could there be a somewhat conclusive diagnosis. We're to follow up with them when Aidan turns four. In the interim they recommended radically stepping up the speech therapy, and really leaning on Birth to Three to call in a certified expert or two. Beg, cheat, lie, threaten, steal, extort, whatever it takes. And so we shall...

3/2/06:
-- New $10 bills rolling out today. Wish I had more of them.
3/1/06:
-- "And so shines a good deed in a weary world." -- Willy Wonka (the real one)...

Recently while shopping at Stew Leonards in Danbury I walked past the ATM machine as a woman was finishing a transaction. She hurried off while the ATM screen sat at the "Would You Like To Make Another Transaction?" prompt. Maybe it was my innate desire to "do good" that made me press the NO button for her. Or perhaps it was the "fear of getting caught" thing. Only I know for sure and I ain't tellin'...

-- This letter is on a US Postal Service truck right now en route to the office of Health Net in Shelton, CT. Wish us luck:

To Whom It May Concern:

This letter serves to initiate a grievance for the recent denial of service notification we received on 2/13/06, a copy of which is enclosed for your reference.

Our request for coverage of Occupational Therapy with Cindy Freedman, M.O.T.R. was turned down on account of the service falling under the “Exclusions” section of our Membership Materials packet. And yet on page E2-21 (article B2), Outpatient short-term Occupational Therapy is listed as covered up to 30 visits. And since the Birth to Three organization we are working with does NOT employ a licensed Occupational Therapist, we ask that Health Net reconsider our request

The therapy for which we are being denied coverage is not simply beneficial, it is absolutely essential. Our son’s chromosomal abnormality (idic(15)) and the resulting Autism Spectrum Disorder manifests itself in a number of ways aside from mere speech and cognitive delays (another area Health Net has declined to assist us with) including extremely low sensory input, stunted muscle tone, nonexistent fine motor skills and a complete lack of coordination/dexterity. At an age where most children are running, playing, climbing stairs and experiencing the joys of unimpeded movement, Aidan spends most days stumbling and picking himself up off the floor.

The therapeutic techniques used by Cindy Freedman are ideally suited for our son’s condition. Scores of exercises and movements that Aidan is unable to perform on land may be accomplished in the water, opening up new realms of muscular and sensory developmental possibilities. Ms Freedman has seen an extremely high success rate working with children just like Aidan.

Out of pocket is not an option. We are a single income family scrapping to make ends meet, and Aidan’s therapy schedule completely rules out the possibility of my wife seeking employment. Put simply, Aidan’s progress is in your hands.

Respectfully yours,
Jesse Leo


2/24/06:
-- It's his party and he'll cry if he wants to. Not sure what was going on to give him such a sour puss in this b-day photo, maybe he didn't like our singing. Or maybe he was ticked off that someone put THREE candles on the cake instead of TWO. Either way he had a very happy b-day, and now owns more toys than the Kay-Bee Toys store at our local mall has on its shelves.
2/23/06:
-- One billion songs, jeeez.

-- Happy 2nd b-day to my bestest bestest bestest bestest buddy in the world. Who says the 2's have to be terrible?

2/22/06:
-- And so the lucky bastards from Nebraska have stepped forward...

-- In case you missed the NBA dunk contest over the weekend, this shot here is all you need to see. Like an airborne Oompa-Loompa, the diminutive Nate Robinson (dude is like 5'9" on a good day) stole the show when he brought out fellow Lilliputian and '87 dunk champ Spud Webb and hurtled over Spud's head for the slam jam. Full photographic dunk sequence here, video recap of the entire contest here. People that short should not be able to get up like that, it's just not fair...

2/21/06:
-- Don't come between a man and his TP...

-- Chances are if you never really cared much for Pink Floyd -- but have a pulse -- you will enjoy watching The Machine perform. Chances are if you were/are seriously into Pink Floyd, you would be following The Machine around on every tour stop. Friday night they performed in downtown Danbury, and the performance can only be described by this critic (who can be extremely picky when it comes to live shows) as "seriously good." And yes, this is my cousin Nina pictured here, belting it out and sending the crowd into a frenzy! Lousy photo, I know, but damn where did she get those pipes?

2/17/06:
-- New Milford: A bizarre flesh-eating worm-like creature which scientists can only describe as "downright creepy" was spotted earlier this week lurking on residential decks...
2/15/06:
-- Ultrasound yesterday, everything appears to be wonderfully normal. That looks like a closed eye there in the center of the picture, so he must've been enjoying a nice nap...

-- Stood in line with the rest of the fools during lunchtime for my Powerball ticket. Not gonna lie to you, $300M would be a nice little bonus...

2/14/06:
-- Love was definitely in the air at my basketball game last night. Aidan spent most of the game in the bleachers admiring my friend's 15-year old daughter Holly -- feeling her hair, resting his head against her shoulder, leaning in to be kissed, gazing at her dreamily... it was officially getting weird. And this isn't the first time this has happened. Anytime he's in the presence of a cute girl (usually blond, it seems), he's all over her like flies on *&#@. Atta boy!!!
2/13/06:
-- Hey Mr. Vice President, watch where you point that thing! Too bad Cheney wasn't hunting with Dubya...

-- Men's Freestyle Mogul Finals tonight at 8PM on NBC. To me these are the best athletes in the Winter Games -- 2 or 3 turns per second over 3 or 4 foot bumps, insane air, titanium knees, godlike balance and dexterity... this is the event to watch. Full Olympic TV schedule here.

-- Gorgeous blizzard yesterday, well over a foot fell in New Milford. And while I would have preferred this storm on a week day, it was kinda nice being trapped at home with a perfect excuse to be lazy. Note the impeccable broom job on my Cabriolet (center car, pictured here), can't let that heavy snow accumulate on the ragtop! When the storm as at its peak I was bundling up and going out almost hourly with the broom, now that's dedication.

2/10/06:
-- Came across these scaly-skinned lovers (pictured here) at St John's Francis Bay, guess they couldn't wait 'til Valentine's Day.

-- Ouch! Slate has a scathing review of the new Harrison Ford flick. Guess we'll wait for the DVD...

2/9/06:
-- A little privacy please! Was calmly seated astride the commode in the office building at work the other day collecting my thoughts. Bathroom door opens and a maintenance guy enters with a ladder and some tools. No big deal, I thought, until he proceeded to climb up the ladder and start working on a ceiling tile! I was in plain sight! Oh the indignity! I'll surely be reporting this injustice!

-- Not going to buy the new Vanity Fair just because of the cover, not going to buy the new Vanity Fair just because of the cover... ah hell, who am I kidding?

-- Limping, hobbling, staggering to get through this week. Take me back to St John... take me back...

-- The IT folks at my Mother's place of employment seem to have recently implemented some Orwellian content blocker on their internet firewall. Thus every time she tries to access this blog she gets a "forbidden phrase" error message in her browser. Strange, huh? I've scoured the entries and can't find anything too offensive. Unless I'm missing something there is no toilet humor, no smutty talk (at least not nearly as much as there should be), no four letter words... what gives?

2/7/06:
-- Uncharted tropical world discovered near New Guinea, home to dozens of new species of critters -- very very cool...

-- Yes this would be my sister, and yes that would be the astonishingly beautiful Gibney Beach, and no there would be not a single other soul on the beach. We're still organizing the mountain of photos from the St. John trip, but realistically I won't get around to posting them 'til the weekend. In the interim Maria is uploading them to Winkflash, email me if you wanna check 'em out.

2/6/06:
-- Back from St. John, at least physically. Amazing. Spectacular. Stupendous. Soooo busy getting caught up at work, more later...
1/28/06:
-- Packed. Going to bed. Driver here in 5 hours. We'll be in St. John tomorrow. AAAAAAAAHHH! All the planning, all the saving, all the waiting... the day is really here. Surreal, kind of. Needless to say there will be no online access down there, so the photos will have to wait until our return. Wish us luck, initial reports are that Ma Nature doesn't plan to cooperate... But in the immortal words of Dr. Emmitt Brown, "Since when can the weatherman predict the weather, let alone the future?"


1/27/06:
 -- Scrambling to tie up loose ends at work, St John is so close I can smell it. Felt some throaty thing coming on so I've been gulping Airborne like it's going outta style. Nothing will stop us now...
1/26/06:
 -- Sick of your Netflix queue being stalled by the "Long Wait" status of your favorite movie? Try this...

-- Salon has a great look at the mysterious man behind the gazillion dollar clothing company Overcharge Me & Flinch (be warned, Salon.com does some silly advertisement thing if you want an entire article)...

-- Google, a company founded on the statement of "do no evil", has caved in to pressure and will be censoring search results for its China-based users. Laaaaaaaaaaaaame............

-- Recent study shows that political preferences affect the way the brain works, story here. And in other news, Democrats think Rebublicans are wrong and vice-versa...

-- 2005, the hottest year ever. I just wonder what it's gonna be like in 40 years, will New England winters stop seeing snow?

-- Nothing short of brilliant is the only way to describe this revised trailer for 'The Shining'. Apparently the idea is to take existing movie trailers and alter the audio to make it seem like a different movie, TOO funny (thx for the link, Kottke).

1/25/06:
 -- You can't make this stuff up -- after New Orleans mayor Ray Nagin not-so-wisely proclaimed last week that New Orleans will once again be "A Chocolate City", a new tee shirt craze is sweeping the nation, check it out...
1/24/06:
 -- Someone needs to explain to me how this works. We're always reading how wealthy CEO's make $1.00 salaries just to be considered "employees", but they are worth zillions in stock options. But I thought stock options only really matter when you SELL the stock. How does "being worth" a zillion bucks actually put dinner on the table and gas in the tank on a day to day basis? Where does the real green come from? And how are the Feds OK with this obvious tax-dodging loophole?

-- Watched a show the other night about a man who weighed 1000 lbs. It was amazing, he was just a little head perched atop an imobile blob. The show also interviewed a few other folks who were tragically obese, and who were trying to get a grip on their addiction to food. One of the subjects made a great point that really put into perspective how difficult it must be to beat food addiction: imagine being addicted to heroin, or crack cocaine, or alchohol, or whatever, and while battling your addiction you were required everyday to still take small amounts of your drug to survive. You can't simply quit eating altogether, can you?

-- Aidan had an evaluation yesterday with Angel Fish Therapy, a place that offers a unique approach to aquatic therapy for 'special needs' kids. The initial report: he LOVED it. If nothing else this would be great to get his little limbs kicking & paddling, those muscles need some work! Now if only insurance will cooperate...

1/23/06:
 -- OK fine, I'll bite. I went ahead and pre-ordered Jack Johnson's latest effort, the soundtrack to the upcoming 'Curious George' movie. Hey, the iTunes Music Store dangled the bait right in front of my nose, even throwing in the first track right away (the irresistibly pleasant 'Upside Down') and a free downloadable coloring book. How could I resist?

-- I'm convinced that the manufacturers of Barbie dolls lace their products with drugs or something. How else could you explain two 30-year old women playing with them for an hour? Mary & Maria seemed to be in some dream-like trance as they held the Barbies (pictured here), brushing their hair, trying on little outfits, etc. Luckily there were no Ken dolls in sight, things could've really gotten weird...

-- So Kobe Bryant scored an amazing 81 points versus the Raptors over the weekend by taking an even MORE amazing 46 shots. 46 shots??! Daaaaaaamn! Time to ice that elbow, buddy. Oh yeah -- your team called and left a message asking for a pass or two...

1/20/06:
 Was examining the back of a Powerball ticket recently (a losing ticket, mind you). The instructions for redeeming prizes valued over $5K are as follows: "Single winning tickets valued greater than $5,000 can be presented or mailed to..."

Don't know about you folks, but I'll be DAMNED if I take a $27M winning ticket, stick it in an envelope and drop it into a mailbox. Hell no - that sucker is in a plastic baggy inside my underwear covered up by three pairs of pants, and I am WALKING my butt to the lottery headquarters...
1/19/06:
 Want to sleep better? Here's how (props to J. Kottke for da link).

-- Yesterday's commute was a harrowing experience, hurricane-like gusts were moving me and my poor lil VW 4 or 5 feet sideways on the highway. Then there was the matter of the slow drip, drip, drip from the roof which sometimes occurs during very heavy rains. Prolly would've been a good day to take the Pilot...

1/17/06:
 Happy B-Day to my noble mother! Aidan, Maria, myself and everyone else who knows you loves you madly...

1/16/06:
Far too few real-life heros left in the world, today is a good day to remember one...
1/13/06:
At Mother's request I invaded Danbury City Hall last night to speak on behalf of the ol' Harrison Street house where we grew up (and where she still resides). The neighbors are building a two-family unit close enough to enable us to eavesdrop on their conversations from the dining room. So last night at the Zoning Board of Appeals meeting I climbed atop the podium, slammed the gavel on the desk and bellowed "I DEMAND JUSTICE FOR HARRISON STREET!"

Well, maybe it wasn't that dramatic but with any luck the neighbors will be required to keep the dumpster hidden from view and will set up a privacy fence on the property border. Best we can hope for in a tragic situation. Over the past decade or so, the street where we staged countless games of 'kick the can' in our youth has taken on the appearance of a clogged artery. Rusted cars, busted washing machines and assorted flotsam & jetsam lying about have made the place a major eyesore. The quiet, peaceful homes formerly populated by kindly elderly couples now resemble sardine cans packed to the walls with folks from all walks of life. This seems to be typical of much of the city, and yet somehow the prices of houses in Danbury continue to skyrocket. I just don't get it...

1/12/06:
If you absolutely MUST run Windows XP, this site has some handy dandy tips for improving performance.

-- Couple placing themselves and family for lease on ebay. If I had any skills to speak of, I'd seriously consider this. Anyone famous out there need live-in slaves for their tropical beach home? I can set up computers, and, um, I make a decent omlette...

-- Details on the alleged Frey scandal from The Smoking Gun, you be the judge...

-- Remember that druggie book "A Million Little Pieces" that Oprah was praising ad nauseam? Though it sold a gazillion copies, Random House Publishing is now offering a refund for the book on account of it being a load of BS...
1/10/06:
A bevy of drool-worthy announcements at MacWorld Expo today, most notably the new laptop called the Macbook Pro and new iMacs -- both running on dual Intel chips supposedly WAY faster than my G4... time to start working nights waiting tables or stripping, I must have one...

-- Live feed from MacWorld Expo, what I would give to be there...

-- Are they finally seeing the light? Some high schools are toying with the idea of starting classes later to let kids get their zzzz's. I can say this without exaggeration: in high school I either fell asleep or came damn close EVERY DAY. That's EVERY DAY without exception. I wasn't learning anything during those times, I was struggling to stay awake. And most of my peers were the same way. And no, this wasn't because I was up late screwing around, or playing video games (games pretty much sucked in the late 80's), or talking on the phone, or chatting online (online in 1988?), or drinking (didn't drink in HS). But between school, practice, work, life, etc., I was half asleep and the attention span was nil.

It's worth a shot, maybe schools won't crank out nearly as many knuckleheads like me...

-- 'Phantom' overtakes 'Cats' as the all-time longest running musical, article here. Some interesting Phantom tidbits here, did you know that the chandelier has traveled 476 miles? I really thought the damn thing was gonna land on me...

1/9/06: Vintage Bushism today, our president, the most powerful man in the world, was quoted by the White House Press Pool as calling Sam Alito "...imminently qualified to be a member of the bench." That's imminently, as if to say Alito will soon be qualified. Shortly thereafter the corrected "eminently" quote was released. And this is the man that has access to "the button"?

-- Gay cowboys? In Utah? Don't count on it. Shame on you Mormons for cancelling Brokeback Mountain...

-- At last, a guide for the rest of us on how to order wine w/o looking like a total a**hole.

-- Woman killed by clutter in her house. This is no laughing matter, it almost happened to us under Aidan's toys...

-- A new noodle technique has been mastered (see here), not only does Aidan seem to like pasta but I think he has fun eating it. This suits me just fine, cuz I could eat the stuff 7 days a week...


1/6/06: So here it is, folks. The new layout I've been messing with. Still LOADS of work to do, and I've yet to add links to the older content. Tonight perhaps. But for the most part the site should be much easier to maintain. Previous jesseleo.coms have been a tangled mess of <font> </font> tags and other garbage, a living example of what NOT to do. I've finally joined the living and started using CSS. So whaddya think? Like it? Hate it? Don't care? Lemme know...