Welcome to jesse leo dot com
Archives, photos and other miscellany:
2004 stuff
2005 stuff
Photos!

idic(15)
Made on a Mac
  Jake 
Baby New Year
 

 
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