Cooking, Singing & Dancing?

Cooking, singing and dancing? My New Year's Resolutions? Nope....themes of new video games.
I have always enjoyed playing video games (even since my Atari 2600 and those afternoons of Pacman), now games seems to be changing, at least the ones I'm playing. I guess it started a little over a year ago when I got introduced to Katamari Damacy. If you have never played it (there are now two with a new one coming in 2007) you simply must give it a try. Basically you roll a ball around and collect things. For my birthday this past February I got Guitar Hero with an actual guitar controller. I am pleased to say that this time I have gotten some other people hooked on this game. For Christmas I got a game called Cooking Mama (where you have to chop, dice, slice and fry your way through recipes) and another called Elite Beat Agents (where you have to dance your way to saving the world). These two games are on the Nintendo DS and you do everything with a stylus instead of the tradition buttons and game pad. My friend Randy (another Guitar Hero!) recently got a Nintendo Wii and brought it over. We bowled, we boxed and played tennis. I was so impressed. Alice is now hooked on the Karaoke games which are also quite fun (unless you are someone having to listen to me sing through the TV). It seems that the games I have been playing are getting more and more fun. Less sitting down, more interesting controllers and overall more fun. I highly recommend that you try out any of the games I have mentioned. That is...if you want to have fun!

Cars (Not the Movie)

I love to drive. I always have. However, it is time to replace both of our cars. Alice's car is 13 years old and mine is 9. We both have about 160,000 on our vehicles. This last year we have spent quite a bit in repairs and there is quite a bit left to fix. We have been renting cars to travel and now my inlaws live 2 hours away in the mountains. I'm not too confident in taking our cars. Two weeks ago I couldn't get out of my car. The seat belt was stuck and when I finally got out it wouldn't go back in. This led to some interesting events at the garage (why is it that all car repair shops treat their customers like idiots and then charge outrageous prices to do repairs).
I am definately not an expert on cars, but I knew that I needed a new seatbelt receptacle (there were pieces rattling around inside of it). I called the garage and they said I needed to come in and pay for the part before they would order it. When I got there I had to wait 30 minutes for a technician to look at the car and tell me "the seat belt receptacle is broken and needs to be replaced". Really!?!?! Wow...what a sharp guy. Anyway, $175 and a few days later my seat belt was fixed. Good thing too because 2 days after I got it fixed I hit a deer. This time $2,300 in damage. I only have to spend $500 because insurance pays the rest. Like I said, I love to drive, but man this car stuff is really getting to be too much.

'Tis the Season

Merry Christmas everyone! Today is the 1st day of my 10 day break from school. It is always such a nice feeling at the start of a break. I do realize that these 10 days will be over with quickly, however, right now the break seems long. Things have been crazy and busy with us. The whole year has seemed that way. We are quite pleased that this year we are staying home for the entire holiday season. Nowhere to travel means we can do some relaxing and play with all of Doug's new toys. I have a number of things I would like to blog about before the New Year so I hope to add a few new blogs. I hope that everyone has a very Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

Yummy Smiley House of Meats

Tonight Alice, Doug and I ate at the Happy Seafood Buffet. When we first heard of this new dining establishment we were not quite sure what to think. The name is a bit odd. It ended up being a nice place to eat. The waitresses were very nice to Douglas and even made him a balloon animal. While we were eating there I noticed that most of the customers were the type of people that you would meet at Wal-Mart and then I had the greatest idea....why doesn't Wal-mart have a buffet? Couldn't you picture it now......The "All You Can Eat Wal-Mart Buffet for $3.00". On Sunday afternoons they could have the $0.99 NASCAR special.

Halloween: Time for Cheese

Halloween has to be the 2nd best time of year for movies (Christmas has to come in #1 due to Christmas Vacation alone!). I have always been a fan of the horror movie genre. Now, there have been a slight few of these movies that actually were scary in parts, but most are just great comedies with a lot of blood. My favorite slasher is hands down....Jason Vorhees. I enjoy Freddy and Michael Myers as well, and hey what is Halloween without some zombies. This past week we have gotten some free movies from our satellite company in honor of the upcoming holiday. I have Tivo'd them all and invite you all to come over and watch. Here is the line up:
The Toxic Avenger
The Toxic Avenger Part 2 (trust me, they HAD to make a sequel to this classic)
The Class of Nuke'em High
Attack of the Killer Tomatoes

Now I assume that you have probably seen or at least know about the tomato movie. But the one here that you all must see is The Toxic Avenger. This movie has the absolute worst acting, worst script, worst special effects and worst everything of any movie I have ever seen. The main "bad" character is named Bozo! I kid you not. Now, as to not ruin the story I must point out one other detail for you to watch out for. There is an 18 wheeler transporting liquid nuclear (toxic) waste. Please note that ALL of the containers have no lids! Of course this is crucial to the plot. If you do not spend the majority of this film laughing I would check for a pulse.
So, buy way more candy that you could ever give out, turn off all the lights and sit back and enjoy this classic cheesy film Halloween night. You'll thank me!

My apologies

I just realized that I haven't posted a blog in about 2 months. Yikes! I was doing well there for a while I had done 3 entries in 2 days. So why no blogs? Well, I guess you could say I've been busy. We have been back to school for a while now. I am pleased to say that I have a nice group of kids this year. Last year was quite a crew. The family is doing well. Alice has been blogging recently, but over at Live Journal. Douglas is doing great. Getting bigger everyday. Of course this has created some trouble with clothing. Joslin is also doing well. Still in the naughty puppy stage but she is getting better. We have all been trying to exercise more. Alice is able to exercise almost everyday. I get about 3 days a week in. There just seems to be no time. I wish I could be one of those morning people and work out really early and then go to work. I hear that it can be quite energizing. I just cling to every possible minute of sleep and can't imagine voluntarily getting up even earlier.
I guess that catches everyone up. I am going to try to blog a bit more. Perhaps if I shoot for once a week. I have been watching some really interesting TV shows recently and think there might be some interesting blogs in me.
Keep checking back.....I'll do my best!

Captain Feathersword

Being a dad is without a doubt the most amazing thing I have ever done in my life. No matter how tough a day is seeing Doug smile makes it all better. Now, I have many things that I could blog about that I have learned or experienced since becoming a dad, but this I feel is most important.

Have you ever heard of the Wiggles? They are a group of guys, each dressed in matching outfits of different colors. They play instruments and play overly happy songs. I guess they even go on tour. Doug does not watch the Wiggles. Sesame Street and Met's baseball are all he watches at the moment. Well, last week my cousin Jim visited us from Pennsylvania. He came with an awesome gift for Doug. It is a book of songs by the Wiggles and it includes a microphone that you can sing into and along with the song. (Doug actually just chews on the microphone, I however belt out the tunes). Since I have limited exposure to the Wiggles I am not familiar with most of the songs in the book. I have learned a few and am working on the rest. One song in particular jumps out at me as being a bit odd. It is about a pirate captain. Here are the words to the song, decide for yourself:

He can cook a birthday cake for a party you see
Ooh, it's Captain Feathersword
He can show you how to do a groovy pirate dance
Ooh, it's Captain Feathersword
He'll tickle you, he'll tickle me
He'll tickle everything that moves and everything he sees.

This pirate captain is actually dressed like a pirate with a sword that has feathers instead of a blade. I just did a Google search for the captain and discovered that they sell actual swords made of feathers. Yikes!

Wawa!

I have a new favorite convenience store chain. On our way home from Philadelphia we stopped at a Wawa in New Jersey (there were some in Pennsylvania as well, not New York). Now, the store has all of the basics....soda, chips, chewing tobacco etc. In addition to this they also have a most impressive coffee bar. There were about 10 different flavors of hot coffee, with a large variety of creams and milks to add to the flavor in your mouth! They have a large selection of Ben & Jerry's Ice cream (actually more flavors than most supermarkets). They have a huge selection of Tastee Cakes. (Think Hostess but with more variety). There are homemade baked goods such as donuts and muffins. The most fun part, however, was the sandwich bar. Basically you create your ideal sandwich on a touch screen. The order is sent back and within a few minutes your yummy creation is handed to you. The options are endless, more choices than a Subway. I was quite impressed with my experience. I think they would be smart to expand their chain to New York. If you have never been to a Wawa, do so when you get the chance!

Rubbernecking

It seems that whenever I go on a vacation I spend a great deal of time in traffic that is not moving. There are two common causes to this.

1. Merging lanes. Why is it that people can't figure a way to merge from 3 lanes into 2? There is always enough warning to get over but everyone wants to wait until the last minute to get ahead of everyone else. Of course this is what causes the backups. There must be a better way to merge.

2. An accident or police car sitting on the side of the road. These vehicles aren't even in the road yet for some reason 65 miles an hour cannot be done. We must all go 5 miles and hour to look at what is going on. I just don't understand. I mean, okay you are curious, but you just spent the last hour going 2 miles an hour......is it really worth it.

We had this happen again today coming home from Philadelphia. There were 2 cars and a police car on the side of the road. It frustrates me when there is just no logic.

Dear Kasey

Today while we were driving in the car we were listening to the 80's station on XM. They were replaying an episode of America's Top 40 with Kasey Kasem from 1985. We enjoyed a few good songs (come on....who doesn't like Duran Duran?) and then Kasey read one of his famous request letters. The letter struck me as a bit odd (most of the letters people write him are quite similar). Now...I have made requests on radio stations before. I would think that many people have. Heck, I've even called in for some contests and even won a cd once. My point is that when I have made a request it was something like "Yes, could you please play "Alone in the Dark" by Testament?" or "How about some Skynard?". The letters written to Kasey are much more than that.....way more!
Todays letter was from a woman who grew up being abused by her father. Her sister was too. The sister ended up on drugs and was sent to a hospital. She came back home and fought with the mother and then got kicked out. So the sister (the one writing the letter) took her in only to end up giving her back to the courts and now her sister hates her and oh by the way...."Could you play "You have a friend" by Carole King?"
What?
Why spend the time writing your life story to request a 3 minute song? Did this woman sit by the radio for hours every week waiting to hear her letter? Does she think the sister heard it? Will the sister now forgive her? Please.....what a waste of time. Just go out and buy the cd (actually 45 back in 1985). If you feel that badly send the letter to the sister.
Anyway, I was thinking about making a request for song myself. Here is my letter:
Dear Kasey,
My name is Brad. I like to rock! I haven't been injured in a parachute accident, my wife didn't run off with the circus, I don't have a family of mexicans living in my basement....I just like to rock. So please play "I wanna rock" by Twisted Sister.
Thanks,
Brad

Press 1 for English, 2 for Spanish

Due to a family situation I care not to blog about, I have spent a great deal of time recently on the phone with many businesses. From the phone company to the electric company to the bank and satellite people. It is amazing the number of choices each one gives you when you call. But have you noticed that speaking to a live person is usually not one of them? Also, the reason that you are calling is not one of them either. I did, however, discover an interesting way to get a live person every time. When you get of these menus (after pressing 1 for English of course) make a selection that either signs you up for something or adds more services. For example, for the bank I selected opening a new account and got a live person immediatley. The satellite company will answer quite quickly when you want to add programing. I hope this advice is helpful for you. If not, please press 9 to hear further suggestions.

How things change...

Well, since my last blog, life has definately changed. Last week our new puppy "Dex" had been sick with an upset stomach (nothing uncommon for a dog moving to a new home). During his 2nd visit to the vets in 5 days, the vet felt something strange and wanted to keep Dex overnight and stated that most likely they would have to do surgery the next morning. It was hard to leave him there (little did I know that would be the last time I was to see him). The next morning everyone waited and hoped to hear good news. Alice received the call mid-morning stating that Dex had made it through surgery just fine, however, he stopped breathing while waking up. They had tried to revive him but couldn't. Words can't explain the rest of that day. I drove out to pick him up later that afternoon and in the evening we buried him at my inlaws. Dex only spent 5 nights with us, not even enough time to get a tag, yet it felt like he had been here even longer. Alice and I had waited 5 years to get a puppy. We have found another and will be getting her next week. I am excited, yet even more nervous than ever. I'm sure she'll be fine and do well. What happened with Dex was a rare occurance. I'm glad we have some wonderful pictures to remember him by.
Farnsworth "Dex" Dexter April 17, 2006-July 13, 2006.

Farnsworth "Dex" Dexter

Okay...so the blogs aren't flying from me. Well, with the addition of our newest "child" sleep is once again something I can't remember. Our little guy is keeping us pretty busy with learning not to do his business in the house. It will be worth it in the long run though. Using the words of Jon Bon Jovi "I'll live while I'm alive and sleep while I'm dead".
By the way....if you are wondering about his name....Farnsworth Dexter is a character from the 80's primetime drama "Dynasty". I always thought his name would be great for a bassett hound. Dex was also a pretty cool guy, so it is quite fitting.

Summertime=Blogs

Yes, the title is correct. Now that it is summer you can expect more blogs coming your way. I feel badly that people check my site so often only to be left with nothing new. Well....trust me you will be getting a lot of new stuff. We just got back from an awesome vacation to Kalamazoo, Michigan. Summer school starts tomorrow. We are about to get a bassett hound puppy. We have 2 more trips planned for August.....the blog should be red hot before long.

The first comment I wish to make and perhaps hear back about is a series of props (feel free to raise the roof) for my son Doug. This little guy was an absolute trooper on vacation. Can you picture a 1 year old riding 13 1/2 straight hours in the car? Can you picture a 1 year old skipping naps and not being a monster? Can you picture a 1 year old sleeping in a new place, in a crib that is usually only used for playing? Well, my little guy did all of that and with a smile most of the time. It was an eye-opening experience for sure. On top of all that, now that we are home he has just given up his bottle (only sippy cups allowed) and his binkie (parent code word for pacifier). I can't even begin to say how proud I am of him.

Okay....I have lots more to write about but I should save some tales. I want everyone to keep coming back. I promise that I will be adding new posts regularly.

Oh, by the way...how about those Mets? 6 players on the All-star team and they already have 49 wins. I am hopeful about October!

The Month of May

I just realized that May is coming to a close and I haven't posted a Blog. When I started this Blog I truly intended to post a new entry weekly. Somehow that hasn't happened. So I guess I need to come up with something interesting to say for this month. I'm kinda stuck. It was a pretty good month. Nothing really stood out as being Blog worthy. Work has been a pain but I really don't want to write about that. We got a new chest freezer this month. Now we can store up mass quantities of frozen vegetables. I am really looking forward to the end of school. The summer is setting up to be awesome. We will be heading out for a 9 day trek to Michigan as soon as it starts. Then I teach summer school for about 5 weeks. We go to Philadelphia for a few days. I work at the Dutchess County Fair for a week and then we spend the last week in Vermont. Hopefully we'll be getting a bassett hound puppy this summer as well. I think I will be pretty busy. It should be fun. Hopefully some Blog worthy events will occur.

Whaaaaaaaaat!!!!!!!!!

Over the 34 plus years of my life I have seen quite a few movies. I enjoy going to the theater and also renting a good flick to watch at home. I enjoy many genres of film from comedy to horror, drama and even some good old classics. Recently it seems that I keep getting into conversations where people mention a movie that I haven't seen. Yes, it is true I haven't seen them all. The common response is "WHAAAAAT....You haven't seen ______________ "(insert name of any movie you have seen). It's as if I have committed some horrid crime. I feel like I should mention a movie in return that they haven't seen...but by then the effect is gone. I admit, there are some classics I haven't seen (Casablanca, Rear Window, The History of Pickletown) and even some more recent ones that I've missed(Jurassic Park ((hey I'm not much into dinosaurs)), Pochohontas, Crash etc.), but I mean really.....what movies have you missed? Who here has seen "Chopping Mall"? Anyone? How about "Sarah, Plain and Tall"? Well anyway, the point is that I haven't seen every movie and at the rate new movies come out I don't imagine I'll ever catch up. I'd rather watch a Met's game anyway.
To wrap up this post I thought I would list my Top 10 favorite movies with you. If you choose to leave a reply why not include your Top 10. I'd be interested in how many I haven't seen!
Brad's Top 10 Favorite Movies of All Time:
1. National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation
2. Smokey and the Bandit
3. When Harry Met Sally
4. The Music Man (with Robert Preston)
5. Star Wars Episode V The Empire Strikes Back
6. National Lampoons Vacation
7. Pulp Fiction
8. Airplane
9. The Naked Gun
10. Rent

Great taste! Less filling!

In order to fully appreciate this story you need to know 2 things.
1. My friend Dave does home brewing. About once a month he comes over with some new brews, I provide the pizza and we watch a baseball game or play a video game. To help with his home brewing I save all of my empty beer bottles for him.
2. We had a mouse in the house a few weeks ago.

So, last night Dave and his wife Laura came over for pizza and beverages. We ate, chatted and watched the Met's game. While Dave was over I asked him for some advice. (He works in construction building and remodeling houses) I told him that I thought our mouse friend had died and was under the dishwasher or sink area. The smell had gotten pretty bad the past few days but I couldn't find a mouse corpse anywhere. He showed me how to pull out the dishwasher so that I could get a better view. I planned on actually doing this today. Later in the evening Dave and Laura were about to leave so I gathered up the empty beer bottles and apologized about the odor since I keep them under the sink. As we were chatting a bit more Dave noticed the odor getting quite strong and asked if the mouse was in one of the bottles I had given him. Sure enough, there was the mouse corpse in the bottom of a bottle of Caramel Porter.
I'm sure Dave is going to carefully inspect anything I give him in the future. I had thought about mailing the bottle back to the beer company and blaming it on them. Then I remembered the lady with the finger in her chili and decided not to. I was, however, quite impressed that the mouse was able to fit in the small opening of the bottle. At least he had good taste in beers!

Kids

I spent the day today overseeing the scoring of 3rd graders New York State Math exams (yes, someone actually put me in charge of something). It was interesting to see the way 9 year old minds work. One of the questions asked the students to draw a ring around the 2 rectangles (there were a variety of shapes to choose from). A large number of students actually drew "rings", complete with diamonds on top, around the rectangles. Now don't worry the students still got full credit (I think they should get some extra credit). I am continually amazed at students. One of the best things about being a teacher is that every day is different and you never can predict what the kids are going to say or do.

Happy Pancake Day

I hope everyone is enjoying National Pancake Day! In honor of this special day IHOP is offering a free short stack of pancakes to all customers. What a deal. I love going to IHOP. The variety of syrups is wonderful, plus you get your own pot of coffee. Back to the topic at hand...pancakes..yum! Now I'm sure that you have tried some different types of pancakes.....blueberry, chocolate chip....but have you had Pigs in a blanket pancakes? IHOP has created a menu item where they wrap a buttermilk pancake around a pork sausage. Not only that, you get 4 of them! If only they could deep fry them and of course toss in some bacon. Perhaps there could be a cheesey dipping sauce. Now that would be a pancake celebration!

New Blogs

I apologize for not posting a new blog in a while. Life has been interesting to say the least recently. I added a blog that I started working on a few weeks ago. Unfortunatley it posts the blog according to the date I started it. So please take a moment and scroll down to February 20th. I think you'll enjoy the tale.

The Circle of "Life"

A bowl of cereal has to be one of the most versatile meals. It's great for breakfast, lunch, dinner or a snack. As Jerry Seinfeld says the milk at the bottom of the bowl is "the nectar of the Gods". There are so many wonderful varieties that you always have a new flavor to discover. Aside from Grapenuts (which I have to believe are a cruel trick to make people eat actual bits of rock) I haven't met a bowl I didn't like. I recently discovered that I share my birthday (February 26) with Dr. James Kellogg the inventor of the Corn Flake. He was born in the 1800's (a couple of years before me). I have to believe there is some connection between us. This coming June Alice, Doug and I will be heading on vacation to Kalamazoo, Michigan. We are heading to visit our good friend Corey and while we are there we plan to visit the Kelloggs factory. There is also a chance we might get to go to "Cereality" in Chicago. If you have never heard of "Cereality" take a moment to check it out. www.cereality.com
So, in honor of Dr. Kellogg, have a bowl or two of your favorite cereal this Sunday. You know I will.

Milky the Marvelous Milking Cow

Back in the late 1970's my cousin Tom was supposed to get "Milky" as a Christmas Present from our grandparents. Luckily for him, I discovered the cow in the closet and proceeded to open the box. Needless to say, "Milky" didn't survive. I convinced my cousins that the toys in the closet were for us to play with. Milky was quite an invention. She actual would moo and lower her head into the water trough. If you mixed water with the milk tablets you could actually "milk" the cow. We couldn't get it to work and I'm not sure what my grandparents did with it, but I have never lived it down. I recently discovered that these cows are still available (on E-bay of course). They sell for around $100 in various conditions. I keep checking back and hoping I'll be able to get one. I couldn't picture spending more that $50. I vow to give my cousin a "Milky the Cow" and watch him milk it with joy. So do me a favor....take a look in your attic or check a relatives basement and let me know if you find one!

Celebration Time

Happy President's Day! I'm sure most of you are in the middle of your traditional President's Day activities (going to the mailbox and remembering there's no mail) or perhaps in honor of President Lincoln bringing an end to slavery you are purchasing some new shoes. I am here to suggest a new twist to your usual celebration. How about, in honor of President Warren G. Harding you attend a meeting of the KKK (he was a member) or to honor President Andrew Jackson you could challenge your neighbor to a duel (just like in those wild west movies, DRAW!) Okay so maybe these ideas aren't the best, so let's just celebrate the memory of President Howard Taft and eat so much that we actually get stuck in our own bathtub! Whichever activity you choose, have a spledid time!

Stop...Hammer Time

I realize that I am now officially addicted to curling. I don't know what I am going to do next week when the Olympics are over. Although the US Women's team is out of it, the men are looking like they might get a medal. I find myself using the Tivo if I have to step away from the matches for just a moment and I am really enjoying the phrase "The US has the hammer". For all of you non-curlists the "hammer" is when your team has the last "rock" to throw. It gives the team the advantage for the round. My head is now full of all this information. Aside from the Olympics I'm not sure when or where I can watch curling. I suppose there might be some illegal late night underground league somewhere if I search. Anyone out there interested in starting a team?

Maximum Overdrive

I have never been one to understand machinery. Power tools and devices with engines are not something I am confident with. Last weekend this created the first repair I will need to do to our house. (We have only been here 1 month.) At the end of the snowstorm on 2/12 I ventured outside to fire up our new snowblower (thank you Earl). For those of you who have never used a snowblower (which was me a week ago), there are two levers, one on each handle. The right lever engages the actual snow blowing part of the machine. The left one engages the power drive to the wheels. As I was clearing the small path behind the house I wanted to stop the snowblower, however, I did not release the correct handle. The snowblower drove under the house smashing through the "fake brick" siding that goes all around the house. You can see in the picture that I have sort of pieced it back together for the time being. I am really hoping that I have better luck next week when I use the new chainsaw!

The Gift of a Broom

Here goes......Thanks to Corey for inspiring me to be a copycat and start a blog. I pondered over the idea for days wondering what on earth I would write about. I guess I decided that I have a few interesting personal tales and random thoughts that someone might find interesting.

So............the first musing I would like to put out there has to do with the Winter Olympics. I have always been a fan, I can remember watching the bobsled events during the 1980 Lake Placid Olympics. This year I have taken an interest in the curling. I have tried to get Alice (my wife for those of you who don't already know) interested and I think I am making progress. Anyway, it dawned upon me that the only acceptable time to give a woman a broom as a holiday gift (birthday, Christmas, etc.) is if she is a curler. Any other time and the broom will probably become a weapon.

Thanks for taking the time to read my blog. Comment if you chose, I won't be offended if you don't.