My Alternate Reality

2012-02-13T04:36:00.000-08:00

knitted this for Ashli's birthday. Ally wants one too.

Quiz time

2012-02-07T12:55:00.001-08:00

Name a country where the intervention of the United States has established a stable, lasting Democracy. Name three countries where our intervention has established a lasting dictatorship. Why is question 2 so much easier than question 1.

Lingerie Football League

2012-02-06T09:18:00.001-08:00

Yesterday, while flipping through channels, something spectacular caught my eye. I will preface this by saying that Football is the only watchable sport on TV for me currently. I grew up watching it and enjoy the game. I may watch 1 game a week currently as I really don’t have time to be sitting around every Sunday. Point is, I enjoy Football. To get back on topic, the

The Warrior Club

2012-02-03T14:41:00.001-08:00

When I was stationed in Korea, at least once a week we had lunch or dinner at the Warrior Club. Part of the building had a money changer and ATM. There was a dance/reception hall, a room with nickel, dime, and quarter slot machines, and a restaurant. Now I was a specialist at the time, but soon after getting to Korea, two great things happened. I paid off my truck, and I got a time in grade

Who makes these decisions

2012-01-23T11:06:00.001-08:00

BC is giving Newton City Schools $100k a year for technology in the class room. While I applaud a local university supporting the schools, I have to wonder if education is overpriced. It should also be noted that my children’s school is wisely using their portion to purchase 15 mac books. What!?! It is really easy spending money people give you I guess. For that they could have bought 30

Hot and Juicy

2012-01-23T08:53:00.001-08:00

This is a good burger. It has been a while since I had a Hardees $6 burger so I don’t think I can compare them, but this might be the best fast food burger out there. It was excellent. I go the double without onions bit in and it was both hot (temp wise) and juicy as the label describes. I read up on the process of creating this burger and they tested meats with different fat content and

Amazon Prime

2012-01-20T13:08:00.001-08:00

The biggest mistake Amazon made with prime for the kindle is giving a month of it away for free. After using, or actually not using, Amazon Prime for a month, I know I don’t want it. I am way more inclined to go the Netflix route. That extra couple of dollars a month for Netflix means more content that I would use. “But you get to barrow a free book from Amazon Prime every month.” Have

Why I Knit

2012-01-17T09:13:00.001-08:00

Upon moving to the great white north, I took up an activity that may at first seem very feminine. I learned to knit. Anyone that has spent a winter in New England knows that hats and scarves are essential articles of clothing. Sweaters will add an extra protective layer of warmth. Also, in the winter, you sit around inside not wanting to go outside (well at least us Southerners do)with the

The Political Question of Out Times!

2012-01-04T07:15:00.001-08:00

Who is hotter?I know it is cougar hunting, but Michell Bachman gets my vote on thisevery time.

Sunrise on the Day

2011-12-18T15:25:00.000-08:00

As i awaken to the beautiful sunrise, Something strange is seeming to appear: The clouds start to cover the sun like a disguise, And the thunder says the end could be near. The birds are singing their beautiful tune, The squirrels are starting to play: But even to those who don't arouse until noon, Not a soul will know the day. I Say unto all with eyes of the blind, You'd better awaken and

Model trains

2011-12-05T20:22:00.001-08:00

Thanksgiving Weekend at Morris Arboretum in Philadelphia, PA. All of these get much bigger.

Ashli on a horse silhouette

2011-11-19T15:15:00.001-08:00

Ashli during a girl scout trip to Victory Stables.

2011-11-15T18:48:00.001-08:00

Darkened the black and white a bit. Better or Worse?

Hemlock Gorge Fall 2011

2011-11-15T08:17:00.000-08:00

one of the best of the day this one was just fun! Awwwww! may go back and increase the shadows on this Run! The old mill from the bridge looking towards Route 9 Echo Bridge I am stumped about how to caption this.

Grown Ups

2011-11-14T13:15:00.001-08:00

Obama to China- “Act Like a Grown Up Economy!” China to Obama- “Really? This coming from the country that is constantly asking for money so he can go to the mall. Or should we saddle ourselves with so much debt that our grandchildren can’t even hope to pay it off. Or should we borrow money in dollars from a bunch of other people, then inflate that dollar so that what we are paying back

Best Friends

2011-11-02T10:00:00.001-07:00

I think every parent analyzes their child to death. When you have two or more, it just gives you comparisons. Why is one child one way and another child completely different? Why are they exactly the same in one aspect? It can fill whole afternoons of conversation. Recently the conversation turned to friends. My oldest really cares about friends. She has a tendency to get really close

Their Return Was Prophesized!

2011-10-27T10:54:00.001-07:00

Just a friendly reminder, tonight Beavis and B**thead return at 10pm tonight on MTV. I don’t watch any MTV anymore, but I may have to flip over and relive my teenage years. If the show is still good, I will tune in next week at the same Beavis time, same B**thead channel. I can only hope for more scenes in the spirit of frog baseball, nacho vending machines, hey baby, wanna wrestle,

Can you hear me now?

2011-10-21T13:46:00.000-07:00

Troy Polamalu was just fined 10k for talking on a phone during a game. He was pulled from the game due to a concussion and used the phone to call his wife and let her know what was going on as I am sure she was watching the game on television and would be worried watching her husband being escorted by medical staff into the locker room. Players are not allowed to use electronic devices on

pics from the past few weeks

2011-10-15T14:58:00.000-07:00

Roller Coasters and Scared Kids

2011-10-12T09:15:00.001-07:00

You know what is probably annoying. Seeing some parent drag their kid on to a roller coaster kicking and screaming. I say probably because I am not sure what it looks like from the other side. I am that parent and I felt like we were being annoying. A lot of people just gasped. “What, you forced your child to ride a roller coaster against her will, that could traumatize the poor

The Economy isn't Bad. . . Yet.

2011-09-16T13:42:00.002-07:00

A buddy of mine, Richard, introduced me to the "fast food service economic indicator" several years ego. It states that in a good economy/job market service at fast food (any lower wage job will suffice) will get worse because these places are finding it hard to find and keep employees. This is because these people will find other better paying jobs and move on. On the flip side, in a bad

Why the President Hates Me

2011-09-09T09:03:00.000-07:00

I actually watched the stimulus part 2 speech last night, and the president rubbed me the wrong way. It wasn't the non sequitur's about construction in China and Korea being up (last I checked they weren't trillions of dollars in debt). It wasn't even the non sequitur about bringing manufacturing jobs back to USA (I am not certain that our focus on college education jives with manufacturing

Creep review and casting

2011-08-05T06:51:00.002-07:00

Creep is Jennifer Hillier's debut novel. In full disclosure, I have been following her blog for a while, so I might not be an impartial observer. On the other hand, I don't generally read thrillers, uless they are Micheal Crichton scifi thrillers (hey Jennifer, you should totally consider this considering we lost Crichton). So, this book was a little out of my comfort range. It was good

Dear Bike Thief

2011-07-14T07:52:00.003-07:00

Dear Bike Thief, I hope I see you riding around the neighborhood on my bike, so I can push you into oncoming traffic. It would probably mess up my bike, but you have forced me to replace it anyways, haven't you. Better yet, I hope you are dumb enough to post it to craigslist. I will respond and show up to buy it back. Instead of cash, I plan on paying you back in dental work. This is

NYC trip

2011-07-10T07:14:00.000-07:00

Last weekend we went to NYC with my brother and his GF. I have to start out with where we stayed. It was the Residence Inn in E. Rutherford. Completely awesome place. We got a discount on a two room sweet so that it was about $160 a night. The bus ride into the city was only 15-20 minutes. The room had a full kitchen and living room. They offered free breakfast, and I mean eggs, bacon,

Rad!

2011-06-21T08:52:00.000-07:00

Do you remember the 80's film Rad. It is one of the treasures of my childhood. It still isn't available on DVD but is kind of in the Cloud. I watched this movie on Sunday morning with my girls. It was a horrible vhs transfer on youtube. My youngest absolutely loved it. Just like it did with me, thinking about the movie got her really amped up and while we were out shopping she was ready

Freeeeeeeedommmmmm!!!!!!!!!

2011-06-17T10:34:00.001-07:00

On Monday morning there was a police officer at my Daughters' school. The officer was doing a bicycle safety seminar and bike ride around the surrounding neighborhood. My daughter let me know that I needed to pack her bike in the car so that her mom could drop it off. Ashli decided that she wanted to ride the bike home. Now, as the crow flies, we only live about a mile away from the

Contest

2011-06-15T09:05:00.005-07:00

Over on SciFi Media, I am having a book give away. feel free to share with friends.

I Have a Confession

2011-05-19T07:34:00.008-07:00

"Inspired by Arnold Schwarzanagger, I have a confession to make. I to have had an eleven year relationship with the person that cleans my house. The relationship has resulted in two children. I have supported these children all of their lives and also supported their mother."

Eww That Smell

2011-05-16T08:30:00.082-07:00

Growing up, I was surrounded by smokers. My parents, grandparents, aunts, uncles, cousins, and family friends all smoked. Going out to eat as a kid, the whole restaurant would be smoking and as a teen we would always sit in the smoking section. It didn't bother me at all. Now, I don't believe one is likely to get cancer from second hand smoke. But I am in full support of smoking bans

What is your ring entrance music?

2011-05-12T08:30:00.000-07:00

In MMA and Wrasslin all of the athletes have entrance music. In MMA it is to pump the guy up. In wrasslin, it goes further. Wresters are identified with their music to the point that the fans know who is coming out by hearing only the first couple of notes. The wrestler's will keep their entrance music for years. To this day, if you are at a WWE event and you hear glass breaking, everyone

Do you know what is wrong with this country

2011-05-06T10:05:00.030-07:00

Here is a symptom. Employee fired for detaining shoplifter stealing $1600 worth of merchandise. To add insult to injury, they suspened him for a whole month before letting him know he was fired. Sure, employees stopping shoplifters would raise liability insurance costs, but stolen merchandise doesn't just get absorbed. That price gets passed on to the consumer and insurance prices still go

Thanks Film Father!

2011-05-04T04:37:00.008-07:00

I entered a contest over at Film Father's site and got the first two wimpy kid books and a wimpy kid standee. Thanks Film Father. My kids love the wimp kid books.

Dear America

2011-05-03T05:53:00.041-07:00

Dear America, I must admit that I am a little disappointed in you. Actually, I am quite a bit disappointed in you. While bringing down a terrorist leader is, in fact, a noble thing, celebrating the death of a human being with jubilant cheers and dancing in the street is sickening. Osama Bin Laden was a terrorist, but he was also a husband, father, and a son. There are people, although

Online medic training complete

2011-04-24T17:08:00.000-07:00

Wooo hooo. it took like 2.5hrs, Thursday I do the live portion to complete the training.

The Manchu Mile

2011-04-18T13:57:00.000-07:00

When I served in Korea back in 1998/1999, I was given the opportunity to participate in a legacy of my Unit. I was assigned as a scout to 2/9inf. The 9th infantry apprently marched 85 miles into battle during the Boxer Rebellion in China. When the commanding officer was shot he passed on the guide-on (unit flag with battle streamers) to the man beside him and shouted, "Keep up the Fire!" The

Planet Fitness Must Be Stopped

2011-04-11T08:54:00.000-07:00

Planet Fitness has a new ad in their campaign of exclusion. For those of you who don't know, their motto is your planet not theirs. The only way we have of knowing who "they" are is by watching the commercials. In this case "they" could either be large black men or people with obvious cases of tourette's. I realize that the gentleman in the commercial may be intimidating, but I live in a

Natalie Portman

2011-04-06T09:45:00.000-07:00

naI have a crush on Natalie Portman. My wife knows about it and doesn't care. She says, "She went to Harvard, you wouldn't stand a chance." It is harmless and I haven't stalked her since she got that restraining order. I saw a preview for a movie that she was in this week and thought that in her career she has only made that one mistake. I went to IMDB to confirm and while she has been in

Reading Conundrum

2011-03-30T11:19:00.000-07:00

For those that don't know, I have an advanced reader (actually 2, but the younger isn't an issue). She is in the 4th grade but makes short work of anything assigned in class and rips through books for pleasure so fast that we could never afford to buy books for here. Thank goodness for libraries. Our problem comes from finding challenging books that she will like, but are still age

The Ballad of the Spelling Bee

2011-03-17T06:53:00.001-07:00

Ashli participated in her first spelling bee. It was a community planned event that divided kids up by grade level. There were 14 fourth graders from various schools. What surprised me is that words would take out numerous people at a time. Gnaw took out 3 kids and llama took out 3 more. Ashli was defeated by the word ballad. She spelled it ballet and I think she thought that is what she

2011-03-14T11:23:00.000-07:00

JC Martin both fighter and writer held a contest to celebrate her 200th folower. It was a writing contest and I thought I would give it a shot. I got second place in reader votes. I am reposting my entry below and it was originally posted at scifi media. Readers of this blog, you get the special treat of reading my un-truncated (JC limited entries to 750 words). I only had to cut a little

Kindle Customer Service

2011-02-25T10:20:00.000-08:00

Cover via AmazonI got a kindle over Christmas, and went out and bought a cover for it immediately. I got the amazon leather cover without a light. I just didn't feel like spending $60 on a cover, if you know what I mean. About a month ago, my kindle froze up. I went through restart procedures and it started back up, but I had lost my place in my book. This continued to happen on a more

Well duh

2011-02-23T11:08:00.001-08:00

Looks like I am a genuine leader. NOW BOW BEFORE ZOD!

It was this year

2011-02-14T16:25:00.001-08:00

I have been waiting for it to happen. Every year for the last 4 years I have awaited this moment on this day. I knew it would happen someday and this year it did. Ashli came to me and said, “I hate this.” She was filling out Valentine’s Day cards. I asked what was going on and she said that she was having a hard time picking which cards to give to which boys. Not because she liked them,

More reasons to boycott Planet Fitness

2011-01-25T18:28:00.002-08:00

Not everyone cares about Austrian Prejudice, so I have come up with some more reasons to Boycott planet fitness. 1. The lunk alarm- Apparently, planet fitness has an alarm that goes off is someone is slamming weights (reasonable), lifting a whole lot of weight (safety issues, maybe) or is grunting(?). What, it is a gym right? The lunk alarm is apparently a way for them to get rid of the

Now Award Winning

2011-01-17T21:16:00.001-08:00

I would like to thank Dez over at Hollywood Spy for giving me the 2011 heart award. Go check out Hollywood Spy for a complete list of winners. I would like to congratulate all the other winners as well. Thanks again, Dez!

I lift things up and put them down!

2011-01-14T16:30:00.002-08:00

Planet Fitness apparently thinks it is okay to discriminate against Austrians. The sales guy’s attitude does a complete 180 when he hears the accent. Until he finally leads the poor guy outside and locks him out. The commercial ends with the words, not his planet… yours. Is this aimed at all foreigners or just Austrians. The ending is really scary as it says that this guy doesn’t even

Has Boobs, Reads Comics: Wired.com's Sexy Geeks of 2010

2011-01-10T06:51:00.000-08:00

Has Boobs, Reads Comics: Wired.com's Sexy Geeks of 2010The Nerdy Bird was nominated as one of 2010's Sexy Geeks on Wired.com. Head over and vote for her for the #1 spot.

Politics is about Hate!

2011-01-09T20:59:00.001-08:00

I hate the internet right now. Everyone is a political commentator. Apparently that involves vitriol. Pure poison spewing hate. It is no longer possible in this age to have a civil discussion about politics. People believe that their views are the correct and most logical views and feel a need to insult the other view. This is generally done from a place of ignorance. There are blogs and

Greek Accents

2011-01-02T09:25:00.001-08:00

Cover of Clash of the Titans (Snap Case) I have watched a lot of movies recently involving ancient Greece; both Clash of the Titans, Troy, 300, and last night the last half of Percy Jackson. I have come to the conclusion that the Ancient Greeks spoke with an British accent. Only actors from the UK have a chance at any of these roles. I am pretty sure the ancient Greeks didn’t speak

Tis the Season to Give

2010-12-22T18:55:00.001-08:00

This is a repost of two Christmas posts I did in the past. These were originally posted on my Vox Blog so they were likely missed by people here. The Gift of Compassion When I was in 4th grade, my family was poor. My mom was on Maternity leave and the family’s sole income was from my step-dad. He was a tree surgeon and work isn’t great in the winter time especially the messy Tennessee

Not if I see you first!

2010-12-18T13:42:00.002-08:00

I was talking to someone the other day and when I left they said they would see me later. I almost commented with, “Not if I see you first.” For the first time in my life, I stopped and really considered what that phrase implies. This is not a phrase that you would return to a friend. Not if I see you first implies that the person will not see you if you see them first. At best, you are

Amazon, You Could Do Better

2010-12-16T18:51:00.001-08:00

Image via Wikipedia I have an amazon wish list, actually I have four. One for each member of my family. Living away from extended family it is a great way to showcase interests to people far away. The only problem is that the Amazon wish list system sucks. Problem 1: Order. The default listing for items are the most recently wished for item is at the top. By default, I don’t mean

Knucklehead (2010) Movie Review

2010-12-12T17:25:00.001-08:00

Image via Wikipedia Movie reviewers tend to look at movies from the point of view of someone looking at art. They want movies that mean something and that take chances both with the shots and with the story. For these reasons, reviewers hated this movie. I can usually separate myself from this need for high art from movies. Sometimes I just need a fun family movie, where I can sit

Stop Child Abuse-Log Off

2010-12-05T06:42:00.001-08:00

Facebook or people on facebook, more likely, are in the midst of a campaign to change your facebook profile picture to a cartoon character from your childhood in order to raise awareness about child abuse. I am not a fan of awareness campaigns in general. Mostly they are a waste of donated money. I think they are mostly cop outs for people who feel guilty about them, but don’t really want to

Mad Chick Magnet

2010-12-02T18:02:00.001-08:00

The girls on the train are always hitting on me. Today, when the train stopped suddenly, one fell into me. Sometimes a girl will sit beside me or stand in front of me. One girl sat across from me and pretended to read her book. Can’t fool me. Another one was pretending to sleep. Uh huh. One silly girl never looked at me. Yeah, the lady dost protest too much. Hello ladies, can

Hollywood, Stop It!

2010-11-27T10:09:00.001-08:00

I have come to the point in my life where I no longer want to see my favorite comic books or movies made into major Hollywood pictures. I have been burnt too many times. I think the problem is two fold. First, screenwriters are often given the daunting task of turning a 300 page plus novel into a 2 hour movie. I am sorry, but there is no way that you can do that. Maybe you should ask the

Veteran’s Day

2010-11-11T08:37:00.001-08:00

Today is Veteran’s Day. Our military is voluntary, and a lot of people forget that. The men and women that pledge their lives to the service of their country do it because they want to. Some may do it for college, others for adventure, and still others because they don’t have any better options, but they all sign that line and take the oath of their own free will. It is a beautiful thing.

Oh No!

2010-11-07T16:29:00.001-08:00

Looking back at a lot of my recent posts and it is apparent that this blog has become a daddy blog. This was obviously not my intent and still isn’t. I guess because I am a dad and it is a big part of my life (sometimes seems like the whole thing), it is just a natural change. Part of it may have to do with the focused niche writing I have been doing at my other sites. Some of it has to do

All Hallows Eve

2010-11-02T12:26:00.001-07:00

I wasn’t expecting to dress up this year but boredom got the best of me. You see, we were going to meet up with another family and go trick or treating. I start getting the kids ready for a 6pm departure at about 4:30pm. It doesn’t take that long to get them ready contrary to what every Sunday morning church departure has taught me. At 5:30pm we make the call to see if the other family is

Diary of a Wimpy Kid

2010-10-24T19:46:00.001-07:00

Cover of Diary of a Wimpy Kid I watched the Diary of a wimpy kid movie this weekend. I have read a couple of the books and they are pretty funny. The series as well as the movie are based on the trials of middle school and the main character’s struggles with popularity. The books are amazingly funny. The movie doesn’t really live up to the books. The problem with the movie is that

Google Reader Review

2010-10-19T17:56:00.001-07:00

Image via CrunchBase So since Vox died, I have been using google reader to keep up with what was left of my Vox neighborhood and the people that I was following on Blogger. While it is no replacement for the Vox neighborhood it is actually more functional for the web as a whole. You don’t get to follow comments, which would be my only complaint. You can sort your feeds into as many

Visit to Salem, MA

2010-10-17T07:22:00.001-07:00

Sorry, I have been away from the computer for a while and then trying to get caught up on things. This Saturday we went to Salem, MA to check out some haunted happenings. The drive from from our house is about 20 miles so you know that it took about 2hrs to get there. I think MA purposely makes local roads suck so that you have to take the turnpike. Well, I refuse, my tax money already

Eulogy for Mammaw

2010-10-06T23:57:00.001-07:00

Ouieda Grant(Black) 1921-2010 My grandmother on my father's side passed away early Tuesday morning. I have not been asked to deliver a eulogy, but I feel the need to write one anyway. Jesus told the parable of the talents where the good and faithful servant took the one talent, invested it, and made a profit. He was then entrusted with more talents. This describes my mammaw. She was given

Fancy Nancy

2010-09-29T21:35:00.001-07:00

Cover of Fancy Nancy My youngest isn’t a bookworm like my oldest. She reads but we struggle to find things that hold her interest. A couple of years ago, I heard an interview on NPR about the Fancy Nancy books. I thought that these sounded right up my youngest child's isle. On Tuesday evening, we go every Tuesday, we went to the library and I grabbed a couple of the books. She didn’t

Some updates about stuff

2010-09-29T21:20:00.001-07:00

Took the kids to see Legend of the Guardians and then interviewed Ashli about it. went to the arlington martial arts meetup in Boston. it cost $5 but was worth every penny. I have watched tv so you don’t have to.

English is not a phonetic language

2010-09-25T06:31:00.001-07:00

Image via Wikipedia Well not entirely, anyways. A while back I was tutoring English on Saturdays to a group of kids. These kids were not having problems in school. Their parents just thought that the extra attention would accelerate their children’s learning. My class had 7 kids and they got plenty of individual attention. One of the older children was very choppy when he read. It

Top 10 TV Shows 9 year old edition

2010-09-20T15:37:00.002-07:00

I had fun putting together a list of the best 10 scifi shows over on SciFi Media for Blogfest. I have decided to do a second entry here. For this entry I will ask my oldest what her thoughts on the matter are. in no particular order: Fairly Odd Parents because it is really funny and his parents are done. iCarly because it is funny Martha Speaks because it is also funny. The Middle and Modern

Art of Motion Boston

2010-09-18T07:59:00.001-07:00

Yesterday, Boston hosted the Art of Motion Free running and Parkour tour. Jung brought the girls down and we had a burger at B-Good burgers in Downtown Crossing before going back to watch the Free Runners. By the time we got back there were any good places to stand so we couldn’t see the whole course. After looking around I realized that no matter where you stood, you could only see about

Vox Forever on Facebook

2010-09-16T04:09:00.001-07:00

Image via Wikipedia Lauren/Kawaii has created at group on Facebook called Vox Forever for all former Voxers. Go and post where your blog is now. Related articles by Zemanta Lessons from the death of Vox (onemanandhisblog.com)

Purgatory Chasm

2010-09-13T15:39:00.001-07:00

This weekend we had a great time hiking in Purgatory Chasm. The chasm has some great rock formations and I did a whole lot of climbing around on rocks. They have an attached kids park that was a lot of fun because it had a merry-go-round. Yeah, like when I was a kid. This one was made with cables so was kind of safe, but oh well. The kids didn’t know how to use it. They thought the parents

Clash of the Titans

2010-09-11T10:18:00.001-07:00

Cover of Clash of the Titans I watched the original Clash of the Titans with the family this week. It was the first time Jung had ever seen it. Which is strange. The girls enjoy it quite a bit and really like Medusa. Ashli, of course, has been exposed to the Gorgons in the Doctor Who spin-off Sarah Jane. Ally said that they got Medusa wrong because she didn’t have legs. Jung said

It’s Official, I Like Me

2010-09-08T19:29:00.001-07:00

Circumstances over the past few days have dictated that I go through a lot of old blog posts. Looking through my old posts I would laugh or feel the emotion that I felt when I wrote them. I realize that I like my sense of humor. I make me laugh. I am not sure I have a writing style, but if I do, I like it. Going through the comments, I have seen that sometimes my attempt at humor misses

Proud Parenting Moments

2010-09-08T16:30:00.001-07:00

blogger Tags: ashli, ally, reading, books, parenting, proud This morning, I had one of those rare proud parenting moments. One of those moments that reassures you that you are doing a sufficient job in raising your child. There are a lot of cool moments when your kids do something that make you laugh or make you happy but the ones where they make you proud are fewer. This morning as I was

Hiking This Weekend

2010-09-06T17:31:00.003-07:00

We went to a couple of parks this weekend and hiked some really light trails. The first one we went to was Hammond Pond Reservation. It was nice and had some cool rock formations. They allow climbing and repelling off of these formations. They only get about 20ft high from what I witnessed. The pond is gorgeous and is full of lily pads. We didn’t see any frogs but there were a bunch of

The Miz

2010-09-04T18:44:00.002-07:00

Saw this a Walmart today. Ally asked me why John Cena (her favorite wrestler) wasn’t on the cover but The Miz was. I think everyone knows the answer to that one. Well, you do if you know anything about wrestling or anything about The Miz. Without giving the answer, I will tell you about the Miz. He was on the Real World like 10 years ago and then on road rules. The whole time on both

To Be Read

2010-08-30T11:48:00.000-07:00

I finished my most recent book and wasn't sure what I would pick off of my shelf read next. I have a shelf of books that I am trying to get through. I bought the books at various times and have always preempted them with other books. I am trying not to request books from the library or buy anything until I finish the shelf (exceptions of course for book club books and amazing deals

Yesterday's Adventure

2010-08-27T03:57:00.000-07:00

We found this guy yesterday near our house. Catch and release, to the displeasure of the girls. He musked us a little at first, but settled down really quickly. He was really pretty with some blue coloration. Read and post comments | Send to a friend

Suck It Wonder Woman!

2010-08-24T10:12:00.000-07:00

Suck It, Wonder Woman!: The Misadventures of a Hollywood Geek Olivia Munn I reviewed Olivia Munn's book over at Sci Fi Media. Read and post

Hey, Hey, We are the Monkees!

2010-08-23T09:07:00.000-07:00

When I was in 4th grade, I discovered a show in reruns that made me laugh. This show was the Monkees. It was completely crazy, and I loved it from the first time I saw it. My oldest will be going int 4th grade this year and this weekend, after watching "Big Time Rush," I mentioned the monkeys and how "Big Time Rush" reminded me of the show. I found one episode online. Only one.

Project Time

2010-08-16T09:26:00.000-07:00

I never took woodshop in High School. It wasn't offered. It was offered in one of the middle schools I went to, but I was only there for half a year and that half was home economics. Like most other kids I knew, I was always trying to build ramps, tree houses, and all kinds of other stuff. I never had instruction on it though. At a certain age it didn't even seem important. Then I

You want to put a mosque where?

2010-08-10T09:12:00.000-07:00

A lot has been made of the Mosque that is going to be built near ground zero. I could care less really, but I think I will help others look at this rationally. Did the people looking to put the mosque up purchase the land legally? Would building the Mosque break any zoning laws that where in place when the property was purchased? Are we in America where you can do what you want with

You hear what you want or at least what you expect

2010-08-06T09:12:00.000-07:00

Some TV show on TNT had people handing out things outside of my building on Wednesday. This is far from unusual as I work right beside Government Center in Boston. People are always handing out free stuff there. What was beeing handed out were little silver pill boxes with the logo of the TV show on top with the words Feel the Rush. I kindly thanked the girl as she handed me the box

Resident Evil 4 Wii

2010-08-03T09:21:00.000-07:00

I beat Resident Evil 4 on the Wii last week and played through Assignment Ada and Seperate Ways since. This game was a lot of fun and has lots of extras after you beat it. It is also a great value. My complete review is over at SciFi Media. Read and post comments | Send to a friend

An Answer for a Rhetorical Question

2010-08-02T09:45:00.000-07:00

On the news this morning. Someone asked what a different news reporter thought was going through Lindsay Lohan's mind as she was released this morning. My answer was "Man, I could use a drink!" Read and post comments | Send to a friend

The Guilt Trip

2010-07-28T08:58:00.000-07:00

Sunday night, we had dinner and my youngest stated that she wasn't hungry or didn't like it or some such thing. Bedtime rolls around and the get sent to bed. They obviously are digging on this summer schedule stuff because they rebelled. They had to go to the bathroom, they forgot to brush their teeth, they wanted to stay up and read in their room. At about 11pm, they come out and

The Guilt Trip

2010-07-28T08:57:00.000-07:00

Wipeout

2010-07-23T13:00:00.000-07:00

The girls and I have been enjoying this season of wipeout. Although the blind date episode was the best, the show is almost always hilarious. I have to give ABC props. John and John up in the booth are great. Jill Wagner always asks the best questions. They make this show. Without them being funny, it wouldn't really work. It also helps that the obsacles are so ridiculous. The

why nerds are not cool.

2010-07-22T09:24:00.000-07:00

I found this and thought that is was a really interesting take on the subject. http://www.paulgraham.com/nerds.html My wife keeps telling my daughter that she has to be really smart so she can be popular in high school and I keep telling her that doesn't happen in the U.S. She disagrees. I mean I am sure it happens in a very few schools, but not a vast majority and almost never in

Busy Weekend

2010-07-19T08:58:00.000-07:00

Friday night ended VBS and we went to the final program and watched the kids sing. Ashli got pretty close to one of the girls there so we planned some activities with them over the weekend. On Sat, we went to the Basketball Hall of Fame in Springfield Mass. It was pretty fun. Ashli got into it, surprisingly. This was mainly a trip for the other families 13 year old, but an

Kafka on the Shore-book review

2010-07-16T09:35:00.000-07:00

I will preface this by saying that I am a huge Murakami fan. I picked up a copy of Norwegian Wood several years ago (I think I got an uncorrected proof for free). I was blown away. His writing style was poignent and amazing. Norwegian Wood is one of my favorite books and Murakami is one of my favorite authors. I went on to read some of his short story collections, South of the

America's Got Talent?

2010-07-14T05:57:00.002-07:00

Watched America's Got Talent last night and a lot of people just didn't show up. The fire guy was just schizophrenic and it wasn't the most dangerous thing I have ever seen or actually ever seen him do, he shouldn't have been called back. the guy with the slight of hand card trick should have been there in the first place. I think Sexy painter just didn't want to be known as sexy painter.

Legend of chun li

2010-07-13T08:53:00.000-07:00

I saw the Legend of Chun Li and didn't really care for it. Can't say it was any good. Full review is at SciFi Media. Street Fighter: The Legend of Chun Li Read and post

Gunfire and Explosions

2010-07-12T10:06:00.002-07:00

I was playing Resident Evil 4 last night, when my wife told me that the gunfire and explosions were giving her a headache. I gave in and turned off the Wii. I then put in a movie. Unfortunately the movie was more of the same. My wife looked at me and asked if I was entertained by anything other than gunfire and explosions. That was a tough question.

Gunfire and Explosions

2010-07-12T09:38:00.000-07:00

morning commute

2010-07-10T07:49:00.003-07:00

When I got on the train yesterday morning, I sat in the complete wrong place. In my defense it is a place on the train where I will normally sit, but today a couple was sitting next to the spot. They were in love! They were also 45+. So, I am sitting there trying to finish Good Omens and this guy is talking non stop. She really can't say any more than yeah. Then he starts rubbing her upper

Morning Commute

2010-07-10T07:39:00.000-07:00

Nintendo 3DS

2010-07-09T03:44:00.000-07:00

Yesterday, I watched the Nintendo Channels coverage of the 3DS. I was watching with my 9 year old. This thing looks completely awesome. It has more adult games coming out for it, the slide controller is an excellent addition, it has an accelerometer, you can take 3D pictures, you don't need glasses for 3D, You can control how 3D you want it to be, and the list goes on. I have

Book of Eli-Spoiler Free Review

2010-07-08T13:12:00.000-07:00

Talk about little to no hype on an amazing movie. Where is the buzz. This was a great movie. The only thing that I can think of is that people didn't like the religious nature of the film. I didn't know what to expect from this film. I may have heard a couple of people recommend it, but I wasn't really in that much of hurry to see it. The premise of a man protecting the last bible

Hi, Remember Me

2010-07-08T13:08:00.000-07:00

It has been a while, but I have been up to a lot. I live in Boston now. I got a new job (well new to me, it might be a used job), hence the move. I have been working with some friends on and writing for a martial arts website: Practical Black Belt. I have been trying to update regularly to my science fiction blog: SciFi Media. I have been on facebook. It is kind of like