I am publishing this entry currently pressed against a wall with a sloped ceiling 12 inches from my face. A girl who is about 1/10th my weight and a third my height has me in this ridiculous position as she sprawls out on my pillow To her right is her brother, who is snuggled up against his mommy... my lovely wife. We are squeezed into this shoe box of a double bed because our cherubs can't sleep. It's Christmas Eve, I have a crick in my neck, a knot in my back and my foot keeps falling asleep... but laying next to my family, hearing their soft little breaths, I can't think of anywhere else I'd rather be. Looking over at the two of them illumined in the dim glow of the laptop light, I already got the two best presents a person could ask for. Just don't tell Santa. ;)
On the bright side, the only way I could get closer to hearing the jolly man's landing is if Donner's hoof comes through the roof and crushes my face. Even then, I don't think either of my kids would stir in the slightest.
So I sign off wishing a Merry Christmas to all, and to all a good night! :)
ps. Dear Santa, some advil in my stocking would go a long way. Thanks pal!
So the other night my two little ones were playing with each other in their playpen. After being content playing with each other for a while they both grew bored with play time and opted to call "ma ma ma ma!!" So mommy, who's been swamped with work, decided to take a little break and go over to them to say hi and play with them for a while. While she's talking to them, playing peek-a-boo, which they found absolutely hysterical and having them try to put their binky in her mouth, our son goes and takes 2 un-assisted steps across the play pen to get to his mommy. "He just took two steps!" my wife exclaimed! I was watching the Ranger game and doing some work myself on the couch, "Really?! Alright buddy!!" I replied excitedly. My wife set him back up on the far side of the playpen and called for him to come to mommy. Sure enough he did it again, two big well balanced steps! "YAY!!" we cheered as he beamed with pride! So we did it again and again, each time him taking two to three solid steps towards mommy. Each time our cheers and clapping getting louder and more exuberant! Meanwhile, our daughter was sitting in the opposite corner of the pack-in-play watching this all play out, for the most part just playing with her block. Well, one time our little rambler stumbled over his sister's leg on his transreceptacal journey so mommy skooted her leg over and told her "schooch over a little honey, so your brother doesn't trip". Well that was the last straw apparently! The next time he crossed and we cheered like he scored the game winning touchdown... she had had enough! Red faced and pouty, she started to tantrum that she wasn't getting any attention and her brother was getting the spotlight! It took us everything we had not to start laughing out loud at the scene. Here's my boy walking on his own, so proud of his accomplishment and beaming at his parents, and there's his sister, who's got a bevy of accomplishments of her own that mommy and daddy have cheered just as loudly and proudly for, like the fact that she's already saying "good girl" (well, she still needs to get the articulation down, but it's clearly "good girl" and she says it with a smile like she knows, she's the "good girl") freaking out because she's not getting the attention that he's getting at that particular moment! A portent of things to come no doubt.... God help us! :)
Oh and Day 1 of the Advent Calendar!! The official countdown has begun!
There are roughly 54 hours until the annual family feast! Thanksgiving is upon us and then... well, you know what's next! I'm more than ready to start decorating and getting full blown into the Christmas season, but first let's soak up Thanksgiving for the next 2 days. The last couple Thanksgivings have been especially poignant for me personally, but we'll get into that a little later. For now I want to just touch on two of my favorite charities during the Christmas season...
Toys for Tots - Toys for Tots was started in 1947 by reservist Major William L. Hendricks of the United States Marine Corp. Reserves. It's goal was to provide gifts for children who's parents could not afford them for Christmas. There's a magic about Christmas to a child that is profound and giving children that gift, I feel, goes beyond simply giving them a shiny gift on Christmas, but helps give them moments of joy and hope in their formative years that will hopefully help them get through the tough times their families are going through. Being a toy collector, this charity has always struck a chord with me because of my hobby... because at the end of the day, toys are meant to be played with by kids first and foremost!
Child's Play - Child's Play Charity was started in 2003 by Mike Krahulik and Jerry Holkins, creators of the Penny Arcade webcomic. The charity has rallied the gamer community and gaming induistry to donate games and toys to childrens' hospitals throughout the world to help improve the lives of sick children. Over the last 7 years they've raised millions for sick children. If you've got 20 minutes, here's two episodes of the reality series that covered Child's Play: PATV - Child's Play part 1, PATV - Child's Play part 2. I highly recommend you find the 20 minutes. :) I believe the phrase "laughter is the best medicine" really is true. Laughter and a positive mental attitude have a profound affect on the body's ability to heal and recover. Giving children who are battling cancer and other serious and not so serious ailments, toys and games to help them take them minds off of their horrible situations goes a long long way to helping them make full recoveries. When you're done with the videos, head over to the website and check them out.
This Thanksgiving, and every Thanksgiving, I am thankful for my health and my family's health and for being in a situation where I can help others in some small way. :)
So my sister got me this new game called Skylanders: Spyro's Adventure for the Nintendo Wii for my birthday. It's a extremely interesting concept, and it's angling to be the next Guitar Hero "big thing!" The game's concept is simple but ingenious and the game is actually very fun to play! Activision just might have that next big thing on their hands. The starter set comes with 3 figures, Spyro, Trigger Happy and Gill Grunt, and the "Portal of Power" which is connected via USB to your game system. You then place the actual figures on the portal and it "transports" the character into the game. The characters stats, powers, nickname and accessories are all stored in a chip on the figure so you can take your figures to your friends house and have all your information available. The game plays like the 1985 arcade classic, Gauntlet where you explore, find food and powerups in dungeons and battle hordes of monsters.
Warrior needs food badly!
The guys who wrote Toy Story penned the story for Skylanders and it's very enjoyable with some very funny lines and moments. I guiltily admit I laughed when a pirate challenged me to a game of cards and said "no one can beat my poop deck!" :P The music is very well done as well as it was composed and orchestrated by Hans Zimmer, of whom I am a big fan. The Last Samurai, Crimson Tide, Gladiator, Pirates of the Caribbean, etc all have fantastic soundtracks. The game is clearly aimed at the kids ages 7-10 demographic, but it doesn't pander to them or talk down to them as if they're stupid and it's so accessible that adults and more importantly, parents, can enjoy the game too. Unfortunately my little ones are still too young for video games, but I look forward to playing it with them when they're old enough. I even put aside a couple figures for them when they're old enough. Sure I could just break out the figures I have for the game, but there's something special and magical about opening up a brand new toy and it being all yours. So while the game will be 7 years old by then, they'll at least have a figure or two still brand new to have that experience with.
The only real draw back is that the figures cost $7 a pop and much like Pokemon, there's going to be a "gotta catch em all" mentality. The game is actually set up so that while you could beat the game with just the 3 starter figures, which represent 3 of the 8 elements in the game, you can access new levels and content in the game by getting figures from the other elements. You don't actually NEED all 32 characters, but having one of each of the 8 elements does open the game up to it's maximum potential. Of course, you can also achieve this by playing it with your friends, provided they have different figures than you. Activision went so far as to not include online play for this specific reason, so you need to pack up your toys and head over to your friends house to play, kinda like how we did it as kids. :) Also, for the first time ever, the game is cross platform compatible. Meaning, your figures will work at your friends house whether he has a Xbox 360, PS3 or Wii. That in and of itself is revolutionary!
My favorite characters by far are Drobot, a flying cyborg dinosaur, Prism Break, a rock monster with crystals for arms and Boomer, a crazed dynamite throwing troll who decided to switch sides and fight for the good guys. Much of the fun of the game is personalizing the character so they're distinctly yours so my 3 are named....
"Gorignak" "Dinosaucer" "Evil"
According to my system, I've already racked up 23 hours of game time, no small feat when you've got two one year olds that demand your play time when you get home from work, and most of that time playing it multiplayer either with my brother-in-law, my brother or my best friend. I'm still trying to get my wife to play! :P Needless to say, I'm pretty hooked and so are most of my friends and well, most of the country. Skylander displays at Wal-Marts, TRU's and Gamestops are usually pillaged with pegs left barren and tumbleweed rolling by so it looks like it's well on it's way to becoming this years Furby, Tickle Me Elmo and Tamagachi (wow, that brings back retail memories). The big difference, in my opinion, is that this concept has the potential to have staying power like Pokemon. The concept can be applied to other properties like, case in point, Pokemon so I really don't see this game, or this concept fading away after the Christmas season. So if you decide to pick up the game, there's an active Portal of Power on my end table, so come on over! :)
My sincerest thank you to every man and woman who has served in the military for this country, past and present. Your service and sacrifice can never be repaid, we can only hope that we make the most of the freedoms we enjoy because of you. So when you see a vet, thank them. Thank them today on Veterans day, but also thank them every day. Stop them on the street and just say thank you. They deserve it.
So what does "Drain for Two" mean? Well, for that we have to first define it's origin. The term comes from Star Wars: Customizable Card Game, a game I started playing back in high school. SWCCG for short, is a strategy card game that uses the Star Wars license, which I am, in no small part, a fan of having grown up in the 80s. The game requires forward thinking, strong decision making skills, resource management and the ability to adapt well to situations on the fly. It also encourages counting cards, which proves to be an invaluable skill for the game and for your brain if you can get it down. It's a really great game created during the 90's when games were increasingly complex and strategic before the 2000's hit and things swung the other way to the simplistic random chance games. Anywho, when trying to come up with a name for the blog, I had just gotten back into playing the game with my friends so it was suddenly very relevant to me. During the game, you use one of the game mechanics called force draining to deplete your opponent of his "force" and as with anything in this world that sees enough distribution and circulation, it develops it's own phrases, acronyms, caveats, etc. This game was no different and "drain for two" was force draining for two force. Simple.
I liked having this name for the blog because firstly, it tied me into something that has been a very important part of my life for the last 16 years. Not just because of the game itself, which is still incredibly fun and challenging and I'm really happy to be playing it again, but because that game introduced me to my best friend who has become like my 3rd brother, a friendship that has helped define me as a person. It introduced me to my core group of closest friends, who I've shared almost as many laughs and memories with as I have with my family. It allowed us all to go on several amazing road trips across the country together. It introduced me to an incredible group of people and places along the way and make for a plethora of fond and not so fond memories (a bowl of sugar in your hair at 3am while you're asleep on an Atlanta diner table not being one of them...). It prompted me to learn about web development for this hobby which in turn helped me land my first real job. It challenged me to be a better writer and sparked my love of graphic design. It gateway'ed me into this wonderful hobby of gaming and helped expand my critical and creative thinking. It connected me with one of the most influential things in my formative years besides my parents, siblings and God... Star Wars and allowed me to meet and chat with many of it's actors and actresses. Most of which were extremely wonderful, down to earth people who you could just sit and chat with all day if allowed. Especially Mr. Jeremy Bulloch, the man behind the mask of my favorite character growing up, Boba Fett... and boy is that is a story for another time! Most importantly, it's how I met my lovely wife and mother of my children (which is a pretty good story in it's own right, but that's for another post...), which segues into the second reason I liked the name... So this card game that I discovered in 1995 during an after school trip with some buddies down to the local comic book store, Jim Hanley's Universe on New Dorp Lane, pulling a Han Solo rare in my very first pack, was the catalyst for a seemingly endless list of life experiences and friendships that I wouldn't trade for the world.
The second reason I liked the name is because I am the proud father of the most amazing pair of twins this side of Mos Eisley. They are my little miracles and are my pride and joy. They are draining and taxing and wear you down... especially when your night owl daughter never wants to go to sleep because she's too busy saying "HI!" and waving at you at 11:20pm and the only way to get her to go to sleep and stay asleep is to rock her and have her spread out on the bed pushing mommy and daddy to the edges... a habit, I really need to nip in the bud soon. Or your son who is finally sleeping hears you come home and is now transformed into a giggling bouncing bundle of sugar high that wants to throw his baseball to you and use you as his personal jungle gym. Yet, they have the uncanny ability to restore all that drained energy with a one excited look at seeing you walk through the front door, faces beaming with smiles and joy at seeing their daddy. It's one of the absolute greatest emotional surges I've ever felt in my 33 years on this spinning rock, and it never grows old. I've always wanted to be a dad since I was young, but nothing in the world prepares you, or shows you just how amazing (and tiring) the experience really is. They are my little drain for two, but I wouldn't trade them for the world either!
So that's what a drain for two is, so until next time... The force is with you. ;)
I've never been huge on the horror genre... so in turn, I've never been huge on Halloween. Definitely not to the level my brother-in-law takes it. He's a Halloween nut :) However, every year around the time of All Hallows Eve I do make sure to watch a few choice selections to get into the spirit on some ethereal level. The following are my must watch Halloween films...
(In no particular order)
1. Ghostbusters - This one really doesn't need much introduction. It's GHOSTBUSTERS! One of the all time greatest pieces of American cinema ever created! It's an all year round classic, but it's subject matter gives it a little extra juice around Halloween.
2. The Monster Squad - If you grew up in the 80's, it's a safe bet you know that the Wolfman has nards! Featuring all the classic Universal monsters, Wolfman, The Mummy, Frankenstein, the Creature and Dracula himself, this is a great fun flick if you're a kid or an adult. No Halloween would be complete without it.
3. Vampire Hunter D - An anime created in 1985 that features a dhampir vampire hunter named D, a half-breed child of a vampire father and human mother. He hunts down and kills vampires in a post-apocalyptic future earth. It's a pretty awesome movie as far as monster slaying goes and was one of my "gateway" drugs into the wold of Japanese animation. Probably not for little eyes as it's got some very gory scenes in it.
4. Spaced Invaders - This ridiculous movie holds a special place in my heart even though it's beyond hokey and corny! A group of Martians intercept a broadcast of War of the Worlds on earth and mistake it for the real invasion of the Martian enemy's home world of "Arcturus". So these wayward invaders end up on Earth and hilarity ensues. ;) It's cheesy, but it's tradition, and I get a kick out of it every time!
5. Bubba Ho-Tep - Elvis and JFK do battle with an ancient soul sucking cowboy mummy, seriously, what is not to love about this?! Oh and it's got Bruce Campbell and Ossie Davis in it, epic!
6. Blade - What can I say, I like seeing vampires die! :) Marvel's own comic book version of a dhampir vampire hunter was a great sleeper hit in 1998. Vampires not only walk the earth, but they secretly rule (they're the 1% ;) meanwhile Blade, the half-man, half-vampire who has all of a vampire's strengths and none of their weaknesses seeks to eradicate vampires from the face of the planet for what they did to his mother. As far as comic book movies go, this one is one of the better ones and features some pretty cool action scenes.
7. Army of Darkness - "this is my BOOM STICK!" The 3rd installment in the Evil Dead trilogy is easily my favorite and the only one I make sure to watch in the month of October. Again... Bruce Campell, the legend, need we say more? :)
8. The Blair Witch Project - I remember seeing this before it went mainstream at the Angelika on West Houston in the city. Before it blew up, much of the background about how it was real was still preserved so you really didn't know what to expect going into it. The movie as a whole isn't overly creepy or scary, but the final 5 minutes more than make up for it. Interesting factoid, the girl who's in the movie worked at my office and quit to make the movie shortly before I was hired. :P
9. Gremlins - One could argue that this is a Christmas movie, but this movie about little green monsters' rightful home is on All Hallows Eve... much like Ghostbusters, I don't think this one needs much in the way of introduction. Just remember, no bright light... no water... and most important, do NOT feed after midnight!
10. The Burbs - This Tom Hanks cult classic about a quiet neighborhood that suddenly gets very strange new neighbors. I love this movie, it's not your standard Hanks fare, but it's a great addition to any movie collection! Plus it has Halloween perennial... Corey Feldman.
There's a couple others, but we'll stop the list at these 10. If I can manage to watch these 10 and eat some candy, my Halloween happiness has been fulfilled and I'm ready for the Thanksgiving Day Parade! Now, there are two halloween/horror movies that are on the absolute DO NOT WATCH list.
1. The Gate - I'm going to assume that if I watched it now, the movie really wouldn't be all that scary... but the indelible memories scarred upon my psyche from watching this movie in a creaky basement during a sleep over at a friends house when I was 10 years old have removed any and all desire to turn this one on. Freaky story about The Gate, after that horrific night of nightmares and heart palpitations... I never thought about the Gate again. I blocked off that part of my brain and quarantined it. For 12 years it's existence was gone for me, and oddly enough I never heard a reference to it, never saw it on TV, it was literally wiped from existence. Fast forward 12 years, I now a grown man of 22, hanging out late one evening at a friends house. I believe it was close to Halloween actually... anyway, the group of people hanging out started talking about "what's the scariest movie you ever saw" and everyone's throwing in their opinions, your standard Friday the 13th and Nightmare on Elm Street answers are there along with some more insidious offerings (Boxing Helena IS f'in scary!). While the majority of the group is deep in debate, one friend's girlfriend is flipping through the channels from the couch. Finally I decide to unlock the quarantine from hell and offer up the one movie that scarred my childhood... "Mine is The Gate... " I say to the group. One girl pipes up, "The Gate! That movie scared the $%^& out of me!" as we both say this, the channel on the TV flips over and what is on!? THE F'IN GATE!!! 12 years of nothing, I mention it's foul darkness and it finds me!! The entire group looked at the television in unison.. you could have heard a pin drop in that room that lasted for what seemed like an hour. After several moments, almost in unison... a collective sigh was released as the girl on the couch clicked off the TV. "Ok, I think it's time to go" we all seemed to say at the same time. One by one we left for the night, but I don't think anyone forgot that creepy evening...
2. Event Horizon - This movie.... if you've seen it, you know. If you haven't seen it... view at your own risk... fist. mouth. w t f!
So the other day was my kids birthday. 1 year ago they came into this world, one crying and peeing on the doctor, the other one holding onto a rib for dear life because she didn't want to leave her little nook. It's been such a long and bumpy road to the 365th day, but it's also been a magical and enlightening one! To see these two little monkeys not only survive, but thrive after that harrowing first 2 months of IV's, incubators, UV lamps, feeding tubes, glycerin drops and apnea monitors. Taking them home in the middle of a December winter that was one of the coldest I can recall when they only weighed 3+ lbs. Having the heat go out in the apartment and trying to keep them warm, waking up for 3am feedings, apnea false alarms, and random crying fits. Those nights seemed like they'd never end... but then, before you knew it, they were over and the these two were recognizing sounds and faces, crawling, clapping, getting favorite tv shows, picking out favorite toy and most of all... they recognized and loved their mommy and daddy!
We had some family over and had a quiet party to celebrate our little miracles. They cherished every moment, enjoying spending time with everyone while getting passed around like hot potatoes. When it came time for cake... they had set before them, two gigantic cupcakes, almost as big as they were! She took to the icing almost immediately, swiping large fistfulls and devouring them. He took one big handful, got it all over his face, then proceeded to lick the icing still on his face instead of going back for more. Waste not, want not... good job buddy! Of course, daddy felt the need to interject and pull off pieces of the actual cake for them to try. My little girl gobbled it up with a smile. My little guy on the other hand started choking and gagging on it... great, I'm going to choke my own son on his 1st birthday! He got it up tho and had a smile back on his face in no time. Thanks for being so forgiving buddy. :) By the end of the cake eating extravaganza, he'd gotten blue frosting in his hair, all over his face, on his clothes, the floor, the highchair... it was a war zone! She on the other hand, got most of it in her mouth, good job pumpkin! Then it was off to the bath for a quick clean up and then presents time! They always say that kids spend more time with the box than they do with the toy... I'm pretty sure that was the case with me growing up. With my own kids tho, granted during the opening of the presents the paper was all they cared about... but once all the gifts were unwrapped and the paper was cleaned up... they dove head long into their new treasures with reckless abandon. They loved their new play things, so much so that long after our family had gone and it was well past their bed time... they wanted to play with their new toys in lieu of going to bed... thank you all!
But when I see their beaming faces smiling up at their mommy and daddy with pure joy between playing with each other and their birthday gifts, how can I be mad? They've gone through so much to get here and they've earned their birthday celebration! So clap and dance and wiggle all you want guys, you've earned it and mommy and daddy love you so much!
What to write about, what to write about... this blog thing can be frustrating! Well, my little ones are going to be a year old in a few weeks! The sheer magnitude of this milestone is overwhelming! Considering that when they came into the world, they were 11 weeks early and only 2 lbs and change each. Spending almost 2 months in the NICU unit under warming lights with feeding tubes, IV's and monitors hooked up to them. Now a year later, they're healthy, happy, thriving little monsters who fall asleep at 7:30pm, get brought up to bed by mommy, and then hear daddy come home and are suddenly filled with a rejuvenation tonic! I slip into their room and looks who's wide awake, huge smiles on bright eyed faces, one bouncing on his bed while giggling, the other clapping gleefully while telling me all about her day. It's one of the moments where you say "shhh, it's bed time" out loud, but inside you're thinking "yeah! daddy is the man! I love you guys too, let's play!" After 15-20 minutes of sitting in their dimly lit room on the rocker quietly chatting with the two of them, we decided to give them a warm bottle to hopefully calm them down and get them nestled back to bed. Yeah, that didn't work. Daddy's home! Mommy's here! Let's go downstairs and play! So instead of fighting with them, we brought them back downstairs and let them hang out for an hour. Having no sports to watch and nothing dvr'ed worth sitting through, I decided to play some Mario Kart Wii online. I always sit on the floor when the monkeys are up because I can act as a gate barring entry to the hallway, and to let them climb on me. Well my boy wanted nothing more than my game controller, so I gave him one of the faux controller shells for the Wiimote. Literally the second he got his hands on that, guess who wanted it? They're not even a year old and if one has it, the other one wants it and will do whatever they can to steal it away! The whole sharing thing is going to be a fun lesson to impart on them. :)
In other news NYCC is this weekend, which I'm really looking forward to. For the uninitiated, NYCC is the New York Comic Con, not quite as big as the media juggernaut that is the San Diego Comic Con, but still a strong up and comer over the last several years. I'm going in my usual member of the press capacity as a photographer for a content relevant web-site so I should have plenty of photos and subjects to talk about over the next week or so. Until then, Excelsior!
And just like that, the New York Yankees season is over. With a wimper. It's weird though, I never got the vibe from this team that it was a championship caliber team. Last night's loss, while disappointing, wasn't gut wrenching. Maybe this means I'm focused on other priorities in life, maybe it means I just didn't have high expectations for the team. Maybe it just means I can focus on Rangers hockey right from the get go! Last season my 4 month old daughter would lock into hockey, she obviously had no idea what was going on, but when the game was on, her eyes were locked in. Soon as there was a commercial break or intermission, she would look around, play with the dangling toys from her bouncer, maybe cry or fuss a little... but the second the ice was back, her head was glued to the television set! It was hysterical to watch! Now that she's going to be a year old, I'm curious to see how she reacts to the games again. It's going to be so much fun taking my kids to Rangers games! Can't wait! Now if only Staal would recover from the Crosbyitis and get back on the ice!
We are all aware of it, it smacks us in the face every year, a couple days earlier than the last. You walk into your friendly neighborhood Target (or K-Mart, or Wal-Mart, or Quik-E-Mart) and there it is... Christmas decorations! It was silly when it started appearing around mid-October before little ghouls and goblins had even begun to delight in their saccharin hordes, it's down right ridiculous now that it's popping up during back-to-school sales in the beginning of September... madness! Now I love Christmas, I devour Christmas when it arrives. From the spiritual joy and hope it brings me every year when I celebrate our Lord's birth to all the superfluous trimmings Santa and his kin bring along for the ride. I love it, the decorations, the lights, the music, the parties, the turkey, grandma's pudding pie and cupcakes, the Christmas crackers, trimming the tree, watching Christmas movies and TV specials... I get high on the Christmas season every year. It allows you to take all those things and use them to enrich your bonds with friend and family. While it's been rather lackluster in recent years, the end of the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade holds as much meaning and, if you will, magic, for me now as it did when I was a kid. Santa Claus closing down the parade meant Christmas was here! After the 25 days of December and the 12 days of Christmas have come and gone, I feel a sense of loss. The same feeling you get when you have a house full of company over for a couple days and right when the noise and chatter starts to wear on you and you're thinking "ok, it's time for everyone to go" they do go, and then the sudden deafening silence makes everything feel somewhat empty and hollow... No? Maybe that's just me. :)
Seeing the Christmas Creep ebb it's way closer and closer to summer vacation turns my stomach more and more every year. By the time the holiday finally comes knocking on your door, you've already grown so tired of seeing it's merry face you start to think ole Ebenezer was on to something. I've gone so far as to write the various factions warring for my consumer dollars to plead my case (www.planetfeedback.com is a great tool for pulling a modern day Andy Dufresne). It's a drop in the Atlantic ocean for sure, but still a drop more than before, and so the creep continues. What makes me laugh most is that I see fellow shoppers making the same comments and expressing the same foul taste it's left on their tongues. Scrunching up their faces the same way I just did mere seconds prior with that look that says "Christmas!? Already? Really?!" It really does seem like the overall majority of people, at least in the tri-state, don't like Christmas creep anymore than I do.
I can only hope that one day there is enough of a backlash that companies wake up and readjust their store planning schedules. It's either that or the Creep goes back so far that it returns to normal, like a clock rolling back a full 24 hours. :) Now what brought up this thought of Christmas Creep was my lunchtime experience at K-Mart today. I descended down bottom level of the Big K to be greeted by... you guessed it, Christmas decorations! Trees, lights, stockings, lawn ornaments... wait... wth!
I've seen some zany crap before, but how in the 7 hells of Sloatsburg does a Stegosaurus = Christmas?! Then again, I might actually have to rethink my stance on this Christmas Creep thing if these are the types of Indiana Jones-esque discoveries I'm going to be making in mid-September! I almost wish I had the time, because I would have loved to have grabbed a folding chair, a cold drink and a bag of popcorn and just waited to see the first paleontologist to come along and see that thing, yelling "OMG! THAT'S PERFECT" as they saunter off to check out with their brand new Jurassic treat! :)
First, a little background.... Last night, after a very long day of traveling and excitement at my nephew's Christening, we arrived home. Mom and dad exhausted, the two little monkeys quite rejuvenated after a hour long power nap in the car. So after feeding the kids dinner, we let them sit in their highchairs for a bit to digest and play with their toys, while mom and dad did the modern day equivalent of reading the paper... we cracked open our laptops and surfed the web. A nice quiet Sunday night, right?..... so far, but it got so much better! After a while and some serious grunting, my nose detected that my girl needed her diaper changed. Drawing the shortest straw, I took care of my fatherly duties and afterward sat on the living room floor with her watching the Yankee game and some football highlights. 15 minutes go by and I smell "that smell" again so I pick her up thinking she doubled down on me and gave her butt a whiff.... nope "It's not her" I say to my wife who's in the dinning room, "It's probably him" she says of our boy who's still in his highchair and had been doing some grunting of his own. So I place my daughter into the playpen and take on fatherly duties part 2... these straws have got to be rigged! After changing him, I played with him for a little bit and then put him in with his sister to play.
Now commence the circus!! Next thing we know our darling little dancer is bopping and clappin' which makes her brother start cracking up at her with this infectious giggle, we're talking hysterics here! She loves making him laugh and he thinks when she does this it's the funniest thing ever so she keeps going which only makes him laugh harder. We honestly thought at a couple points he was crying he was laughing so hard. You know your priorities in life are totally readjusted when the Yankees - Red Sox game is tied 4 to 4, bottom of the ninth, 2 on, 2 out and the Yankees could win the game and I'm completely locked in... to the playpen and my kids antics! At one point he got himself laughing so hard he hit a whole new level of breathless sidesplitting belly laughing. After a solid hour of this little show, in which mommy and daddy desperately wanted our little ones to finally wind down since it was way past their bedtime, we couldn't help but laugh and just let them go. Finally... after I got out the video camera, the little gunshy munchkins decided that NOW was the time to wind down, thanks guys! She more so than him, as she laid down in the playpen trying to get herself comfy, while he was still running amok around her. So I pick up my daughter to rock her to sleep and I smell "that smell" yet again!... "I think she went again" I say, so I once again, butt to nose, I inhale... nope, smells fresh as a daisy. "What the heck, she's clean... honey, where is that smell..........." as she's cradled in my arms I look her over and there it is, a marble size poo ball stuck to the end of her hair wisps on the side of her head! "I don't believe it! "She's got poop in her hair!"
"What?? no way!" my wife chuckles as she comes over to us thinking I'm pulling her leg, but there it was clear as day. After a good 3 minutes of laughing hysterically while, and much to her credit, my daughter still trying to drift off in my arms. We started to work on removing her "accessory". I voted to just cut the thing out like you would dried gum, but seeing as the poor girl doesn't have much hair to begin with, we slowly worked to soften it up and get it out. Up we marched to the bathroom to wash the poor tired girl's head, our little guy happily playing with his blocks in the playpen. As soon as the water came on, her eyes shot open as if to say, "water?! bath!? I'm in!!", But instead of getting ready for a bath, I held her suspended in the air looking up at me, my wife shampooing and scrubbing her little melon. She had this look on her face of confusion as I held her that way as if to say "why am I like this?? this isn't how we do bath time! don't drop me!" but then I plucked her binky from out of her mouth and that huge ham and cheese smile lit up her face! That smile never gets old!
Finally after two good shampooings, her head was free of "that smell" and she was back to dozing in my arms. My wife and I still laughing. It was one of those nights where I wish there was a reality show camera crew in our house, because I think we would have gone back and watched it 100 times that night! Around 11pm, the twins finally nestled in their beds, us still occasionally laughing as we thought back to the sight of a poo nugget bobbing in her hair, I couldn't help but think how much they leave out of the books. Welcome to parenthood indeed! :)
Today would have been Jim Henson's 75th Birthday. His legacy is still felt the world over, but I feel like we missed out on so much more genius. Thank you for everything Jim, you are missed!
The latest in a series of spoof trailers hit youtube today for the new Muppet Movie that's hitting theaters this Thanksgiving....
I can not begin to contain the excitement I have about this movie! Instead of going with the tack of using Muppets to do a classic story like Wizard of Oz or A Christmas Carol, they're going back to a story about the Muppets as the Muppets and their beloved theater. Already being a fan of Jason Segal just makes it doubly awesome. He seems to genuinely care about the property and really making a great Muppet film.
Jim Henson has been one of the greatest influences in my life next to Star Wars and my dad. His creativity and originality blew me away as a little kid and teenager. From Sesame Street, to the Muppet Show on to Dark Crystal and TMNT: The Movie, the things he did with puppets and special effects have inspired me as an artist and as a person all my life. While I was way too young to catch The Muppet Show during it's original run, let alone any television at all... thanks to the magic of syndication, I fondly remember the very first time I did catch a glimpse of the end of the Muppet Show one night when I was supposed to be in bed. I vividly remember peering around the archway into the living room to get just enough of an angle on the tv to see Zoot playing that last note on his sax. Already being a huge Sesame Street nut (Oscar and Ernie topping the list of favorites) I was so intrigued by more of the awesome puppet madness, that I had to see more! So I would find myself sneaking down to the kitchen at night to try and catch the show on the little set, most of the time not finding it on and having to sneak back upstairs. The ONLY episode my mom and dad did let me stay up to watch was the episode that had Luke Skywalker, C-3PO and R2-D2 on it. Star Wars..... on the Muppet Show?! I would not miss this!! Darth Nader remains one of the greatest villains of all time! ;)
I have really high hopes that this film will capitalize on the grassroots movement Muppet Studios has been doing on Youtube (do a search, there's some really funny stuff!) and push The Muppets back into the lime light where they belong, so that my children can enjoy the same magic that I enjoyed as a boy.
10 years. It sounds cliche, but it really does feel like yesterday. I can remember only one thing specifically from September 10th... I had just gotten a post card delivered to me in my office. I won a party for 20 people at the adult arcade bar called Barcode (think Dave and Buster's but smaller and not as good), drinks, games, etc all paid for. How great was that I had thought at the time. I honestly don't recall a single thing more. The very next day however, I can remember almost in it's entirety with crystalline clarity. It's amazing how the human mind works. I remember the emotions most of all, from the initial confusion when I heard the explosion from the second plane striking the tower while I was riding the Staten Island Ferry into work, to the sudden panic when the realization that it was no accident, but an attack, set in. The responsibility to put my own fears aside and be the anchor for my girlfriend who's father was supposed to be in that tower. The sense of relief when friends and family slowly checked in that they were safe to the overwhelming sense of love I felt from friends and family when I had finally let them know I was safe. Our house on Staten Island had become a base of operations of sorts. Our friends all wound up there as a place to email, telephone or instant message their loved ones of their whereabouts. I remember logging on to AIM and seeing the screen get blasted with no less than 90 IM windows all at the same time asking me if I was ok. I remember the love I felt for my brothers and sisters and my mother and father, how all the little things you squabble over, like who used all the hot water and who ate the last Devil Dog, while they're important in creating the very fabric which is essential to a functioning and loving family, ultimately are just that... little things. That we were all alive and together was all that mattered in the world.
So much has happened in my life in the 10 years since... I met my best friend who is more like my third brother, My grandma passed away, I lost my job... and got it back, I got married, my sister got really sick... but thankfully recovered, my father successfully battled cancer and a quadruple by-pass, my brother and sister both had weddings and we welcomed new siblings to the family. We bought a house. I was blessed with 3 nieces one whom is my Goddaughter, 1 nephew and a bevy of second cousins. Lastly we welcomed the two most beautiful miracles these eyes have ever seen into the world. I look back on these last 10 years and I am thankful. Thankful for my life and for the blessings that have be given to me. I take the time, not just on the commemoration days, but every day, to make sure I don't take those blessings for granted because I remember all those people who lost someone they loved on that day, 10 years ago and all the people who have lost someone they loved fighting for this country in the years since. I remember them and hope that by remembering them and living my own life to the fullest, I can give their sacrifice value. May we, as a people, never forget what happened on that day 10 years ago, not just to prevent the horrors of that day from happening again, but more importantly to honor those who paid the ultimate sacrifice.
If Doc Brown could take me back 15 years and I could talk to my 18 year old self and tell him "George, in 15 years on a quiet Wednesday night, at around 8:30 at night, you're going to be holding a beautiful girl in your arms and telling her "that's it honey, just a little more", my 18 year old self would be quite pleased with his future prospects! Fast forward 15 years and sure enough, I'm sitting here around 8:30 at night holding a beautiful girl in my arms and telling her "that's it honey, just a little more.... I know you can get this last one out" as I pat and rub her back and she cries and pushes and then it happens. Out comes a fart so "perfect" a 12 year old boy would brag about it to his friends for weeks! That sucker was so strong, I felt relieved! With that all the crying and fussing was over and she was a contented and fast asleep! Of course then my wife and I started laughing in the dark to the point where I had to bite my lip to stop from making too much noise while my eyes welled up with tears from laughing so hard. "18 year old George, trust me pal, this is so much better than whatever prospects you think 15 years is going to bring!"
Talk about flipping the switch! I wake up today to a 60 degree morning with cold, wet rain that hasn't stopped coming down for over 24 hours... summer took it's ball and went home in a hurry! The cold stark realization that the summer is over is suddenly having to wake up at 5am to go to work... it's a jarring and painful shift that takes about a month to get used to, I do not recommend it. Not even the little ones are liking the switch very much. Though my little girl seems to make the best of it as long as she has either mommy or daddy in her line of sight, then it's all ham and cheese! While I'm leaving out the crisp smell of fall air for the time being, due to the small warren of skunks that lives somewhere in the neighborhood and refuses to let a single day go by without announcing their presence, there is the promise of football, free air conditioning, sweatshirts and hockey, and this fall, the hope of a new opportunity! So despite the cold and the dark and the early mornings, I'm going into this month positive about the last leg of the year that the best is yet to come, and when all else fails... there's always Christmas! Ahhhh, Christmas!
Well, summer is officially over. I'm pretty sad to see it go this year, not because I feel like I missed out on bbqs or pool parties but because I feel like my kids shot up like little bean sprouts in the blink of an eye. When we entered summer, they were still just laying on their backs with maybe a roll over here or there. Now my little guy is standing on his own and is looking for any and all reasons to test the limits of how far he is allowed to go. My little girl is sitting up, standing when you hold her and expressing the widest range of emotions and expressions the human soul is permitted to exude. They've both already logged earthquake and hurricane time before they even hit their one year milestone! It's an amazing time right now as they learn and explore this new crazy world around them but it's going by like brush fire on the Serengeti. Which I am here lamenting because with the fall/winter schedule, I get relegated to a sort of "visitation rights on the weekends" dad. They're in bed before I get home and asleep or groggy when we drop them off at the sitter in the morning.... I miss them already.
Toys for Tots - Toys for Tots was started in 1947 by reservist Major William L. Hendricks of the United States Marine Corp. Reserves. It's goal was to provide gifts for children who's parents could not afford them for Christmas. There's a magic about Christmas to a child that is profound and giving children that gift, I feel, goes beyond simply giving them a shiny gift on Christmas, but helps give them moments of joy and hope in their formative years that will hopefully help them get through the tough times their families are going through. Being a toy collector, this charity has always struck a chord with me because of my hobby... because at the end of the day, toys are meant to be played with by kids first and foremost! 
