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