Idiot test

Here's something to get you through a chilly day.

It took me 6 tries but I'm Brilliant!

http://www.southafrican.za.net/idiotTest.swf

Brrrrrrrr

I agree with Amber. Winter is no fun.

I went to start my miracle van this morning and even though it's been working just fine at -39 all week, I guess -42 was too much for her and all I got was rrrr, rrrr, click.

Today is a home day. I called work and said I'm not coming in. Somehow I knew I'd need today off. I worked a bunch of overtime this week so I'm not missing any hours. Daniel is reading this off the screen as I type it, so I better go get him some breakfast.

The Rules

I have so many blog posts I want to do but I need to get this one out before I forget.

There should be a sign up in every men's room with The Rules clearly laid out.

1) Eyes forward
2) No talking
3) Especially no talking about what you saw when your eyes weren't forward.

I'll work out the rest later, and then give them to this weirdo at my work. I was alone in the men's room, minding my own business. This guy who I've never seen before comes in and says, "Wow, full house in here, eh?"

Two stalls, two urinals, and me. He calls this a full house. I know I've got my winter weight on but I'm not that big.

He then sidles up beside me and proceeds do his business like the proverbial race horse and says, "What a waste of perfectly good coffee, eh?"

Now, apparently he didn't get the hint when I ignored his first "eh". I smiled nervously and nodded. Then I washed up and ran back to my desk. I can't get those rules printed fast enough.

Mid-season review

It's not really the middle of the season yet, but since I'm here, I'll do a quick update on my drama shows.

Battlestar Galactica

This season has been focused even more on broken people and broken relationships. They have covered military occupation, suicide bombers, vigilante justice, torture, genocide, alcoholism, treason, parenthood, post-traumatic stress disorder, slavery, religion, and plague - all in the first 6 episodes. The best part however is how the writers and actors treat the fall-out of all of these changes. Old friendships have been lost, possibly irrevocably torn, and new relationships have developed and grown. Calling this a show about space is like saying the pope is a "Catholic guy with a hat".

Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip

This show has been given a second chance. I think it's one of the most cleverly-written shows on TV right now. The humour takes some thinking. The pace is always very frantic and you have to pay attention to the dialogue. I've heard it compared to The West Wing, but I never saw that show so I can't be certain. The critics have been very positive but the ratings haven't been what NBC expected. I think it's too hard for people to get. It's a drama with comedic moments, or possibly a fairly serious comedy. I like it for its glimpse backstage to see how a show like this comes together. A sketch comedy series may not be as important a topic as the White House, or an emergency room, or a forensics department, but I'm into it.

Heroes

The one I had the highest hopes for. The one I also feared would suck the most. I remember having that same feeling in the summer of 2002 when I went to the theatre to see Spider-Man. As the opening credits rolled, I was excited for what I might see but I was so scared of it being like the 1960s Batman series. What could the kid from Cider House Rules and the girl from Jumanji do with such an icon. I sat for 121 minutes and when the closing credits rolled, I was fully satisified. I loved it. I knew that there would be a sequel and that we had entered a new age of superhero shows.

All this to say that after nine episodes, I am both fully satisfied and terribly frustrated with this show. I think it's my favorite show and when it's over I am frustrated that I have to wait another week to see what's happening. Every answer brings five more questions. The series has basically wrapped up their first major arc ("Save the cheerleader. Save the world") but has left the story more open than ever. We have our heroes being arrested, chased, knocked out, and straight-up vanished in time and we don't know what will happen. Next week's episode is called, "Six Months Ago" and should answer some of our questions, but will more than likely ask dozens more.

I'm right, Daddy!

Josh is so cute. When he gets something in his head, it won't come out. Here are a few phrases I've tried to correct for him this week but he says, "I'm right, Daddy."

"Mmmm, this milk is freeeeee-freshing!" (I guess it doesn't cost Josh anything, so it could be right)

"Good night, sleep tight. Don't forget, the bed bugs bite." (A good warning to keep in mind before going to sleep)

"We learned the story of Daniel and the Lion Stand at church" (Must be where Daniel sold lions to weary travelers)

I wonder where he gets his stubborn streak. ;)

Stood Up v.2.0

I got a comment this week from faithful reader, Heather, stating that I haven't posted in a while. I know how addictive blogs can be and there are a few people out there reading so I'll post a cute boy story.

Amber wrote the first version of Stood Up last week. Mine's not as sad.

The other morning, I heard Andrew calling me as usual. "Daaaaadaa! Daaaaaaaaad! Mamamamamama!" I went in to pick him up and saw that he was standing in his crib. He had pulled himself up the bars and was holding on to the top rail looking very proud of himself. He's such a big boy.

Then again last night, we put him to bed and he was not going for it. He wanted to stay up and play. (Strange, since he'd woken up at 5:45 and had been out visiting all day.) Anyways, I came into his room and turned the light on. He was standing up again and when the light came on, he shut his eyes and tucked his head in. However, he forgot he had the crib rail right in front of his face and he headbutted it pretty good. He cried even louder at that.

The Church You Know

I must be on vacation. The last time I did 4 posts in one day was a year ago when we were visiting Calgary and thinking about moving back. I guess I have blog posts going through my head but just don't have a chance to write them when I'm working.

Anyways...

==================

I came across a very cool site today. It's called The Church You Know It's the funniest and most thought-provoking video site I've seen since the I'm a Mac ads.

It's a parody of the cheesy public service announcements that celebrities have been doing on NBC since I was a little child. Two Christian guys who feel the institutionalized church is getting stale and complacent have made 7 short PSAs to generate discussion about the way we do things and how we might change.

Take a look. Enjoy. And think.

Friday's Feast

Appetizer
Create a new candle scent.

Warm Fresh Bread

Soup
Name one way you show affection to others.

Hmmm, I hug my family but I can't see that working too well at my job. I think encouragement and kind words do wonders.

Salad
What is your favorite writing instrument?

Computer keyboard - see my other post today

Main Course
If you were given $25 to spend anywhere online, from which site would you buy?

eBay, definitely.

Dessert
Are you dressing up for Halloween? If so, what are you going to be?

Amber has committed us to going trick-or-treating with the boys and their girlfriends. Unless she has something up her sleeve, I will be dressed up as "Dad in a winter coat pushing a stroller".

More naming

Amber and I have posted a number of times on baby names and things people should think about when they are pregnant.

A lovely couple that do one of my favorite podcasts, Two Boobs and a Baby+, have just had their second child. Ella Delaney. A pretty name in its own right. And their son, Sam, who was born almost exactly a year earlier, has an equally normal and good name. The thing is that they named them without thought to how they fit together. Even after people pointed it out to them while she was pregnant, they decided it would be funny to name their kids Sam 'n' Ella. I can respect their decision, because they consciously thought it through. Though I think their idea of having a yearly birthday BBQ party in support of Sam 'n' Ella is kind of tacky.

My second thought on this topic is that people name their babies thinking of them as babies. They don't think about what the name will be like on a grown-up. Can you imagine Prime Minister Gynnipher Jones?

A perfect example of this was the little girl at the Hallowe'en party we went to. She was dressed up in a lab coat and stethoscope and had a nametag that said, "Dr. Trinity". This poor girl has been set up to be in the adult entertainment industry.

Handwriting

There have been a few articles going around recently about the importance of cursive handwriting. On Monday, one of my favorite tech blog/news sites, techdirt, reported on an column in the Calcutta Telegraph. The journalist says that only around 15% of kids today choose to write in "cursive", or as I've always called it, "rumply handwriting". They go so far as to quote Rhona Stainthorp, professor of literacy at the Institute of Education at University College London as saying, “Handwriting has become the Cinderella skill of literacy. Unless children learn to write legibly and at speed, their educational achievements may be reduced and their self-esteem affected. Handwriting is a skill and needs to be taught to a level where it flows automatically.”

I laughed at this. Especially when the techdirt writer added his editorial comment, "Next up: we'll be hearing about how awful it is that children, these days, no longer churn their own butter."

I thought it was an interesting story but not at all important until yesterday. Only 4 days later, the Calgary Herald did a cover story on this same topic in their free community paper, Neighbours. I read this article, which was 787 words long and I'm quite sure Cindy Stephen didn't hand in to her editor written in longhand cursive, and actually laughed out loud.

Stephen opens with a nostalgic look back at the time when, "Penmanship was graded and teachers held high expectations for neatly written work -- an A+ for lovely loops and sharply crossed T's, slanted ever so slightly to the right. Teachers were known to rap the knuckles of students holding their pens incorrectly and carelessly written papers were tossed back to be rewritten in proper form." I look back on my childhood and wish things could be like they were too. I wish I could let my kids walk to Kindergarten by themselves, I wish they could ride their bikes to the corner store and trade glass pop bottles for candies. But I've never wished they'd get their knuckles rapped for printing.

A mother quoted in the article says, ""I'm concerned that people will look down on my kids if all they do in the future is print. People will say to them, 'you don't know how to write?' or 'didn't you go to school?' Or what if they have a job where they have to decipher handwriting?"

This is hilarious. I am a college graduate with a degree in music. Possibly one of the most artsy degrees you can get. My hood was actually a beautiful shade of pale pink. I worked in a classical music shop for 6 years. One would think that being in such an artistic, creative setting I would be one of the most likely people to see and use this style of writing. Guess what? I haven't used cursive for probably 20 years. The only time I have seen it is when I get a letter from my grandma - a second-grade school teacher who retired in the mid 80s.

The closest thing I can imagine to this mother's feared situation is people saying, "You only print? Don't you know how to type? Didn't you go to school?"

It gets better. We then hear from a teacher - not a 62 year old woman who has been teaching the same way for 40 years, but from recent graduate in her first year of teaching. She says, "A lot of employers are looking for handwritten cover letters -- I tell my students this to convince them that they should be using handwriting."

What??? I have NEVER handwritten a cover letter. If I did, I am sure it would be the first thing thrown in the recycling bin. No matter how legilble it is, longhand cursive is harder to read and looks far more informal than neat printing or typing. Amber told me that she has heard that some secretarial positions want a sample of handwriting to see how organized and neat you are. I guess if you want to be a secretary or handwriting analyst, it may be important.

I just tried writing a paragraph in cursive. It took my much, much longer than if I printed, and typing would have been even faster. However, when I looked back at it, I could kind of make out what I had written. I felt a little twinge of pride at my ability to do this - especially because I had tried to include hard letters like Q, Z, and G. This pride is the same kind of feeling I get when I work out long division by hand, or successfully read something in French, or remember the order of the planets. These are things I am happy I can do and look back nostalgically upon, but they are not things I use in my real life. A good calculator, translation software, google search, or word processor can do these things much more efficiently and neatly.

I hope my kids learn cursive as a link to the past, but I will never make them actually write anything important in it. There's a reason why all forms say "Please Print".

Twelve of Twelve

I remembered to take my pictures this month so I can post my 12 of 12. Even if it is kind of late.



First of all, I have a picture of my new phone. I got a Motorola Q from work and just activated it last night. The rest of the pictures were taken with this device.



When I went out to get in the van, the windows were all frosted over. It's been pretty nice here the last little while so it was quite a surprise to have to scrape first thing in the morning.



I finally got the windows clean and got going to work. I'm working morning shifts again this month, so driving in rush hour is taking some getting used to. It can take me anywhere from 15 to 75 minutes to get to work.



I made it to the gym this morning. I'd like to say this is my regular routine, but I just lucked out today and I got up early while the boys slept in. I put in 15 minutes on the treadmill and then headed off to work.



I'm in training this week, so I get to sit in a nice classroom and not take any calls. That's very nice.



Mmmmm... free coffee. Another perk of the training building.



I got home late. I picked up supper and had bad traffic so it took a while. Andrew took his cup of water and made himself a water feature on his high chair tray. I don't know how well it shows up in the picture, but he has quite the puddle there.



Amber and the boys decorated Halloween cookies this afternoon. Yumm.



We went for a walk after supper and the boys ran around in the park for a while.



And played in piles of leaves that Amber was sure were full of dog pee.



I had a rehearsal at church where we learned 14 new songs.



And on the way home I picked up some more dispensed caffeine / energy. Mmmmm... slurpee.

Over the head

I was getting Andrew ready for bed the other night and I realized it was quieter than normal. I wonder when he stopped being frightened of having his shirt taken off.

Babies don't seem to realize that the darkness involved with pulling your shirt off over your head is over in half a second and they scream. But Andrew didn't cry this time.

Sniff... my little boy is growing up.

Too loud

This morning Josh got up early and had to go to the bathroom. I went in with him and when he was peeing, he covered his ear with his free hand. Then when he flushed, he covered both ears.

Amber had just told me that he seems to be oversensitive to stimuli and maybe we should get his ears checked. I was wondering why he was doing it and I asked him, "What's the matter Joshie? Is it too loud?"

He replied, briefly removing his hands, "Yes, it's too loud. I don't want it to wake up Andrew." He then covered his ears again.

I guess this is a adaptation of the classic "If-I-cover-my-head-you-can't-see-me" routine. Josh figured if he covered his ears, it actually made the sounds quieter.

Maybe he doesn't need his ears checked. Maybe he's just thinking of others. :)

Getting into Drama

When I was younger I watched sitcoms and gameshows. 6 years ago, Survivor got me into reality TV. A few years ago, my channels of choice were Discovery and Food Network. For some reason though, this fall I have gotten into some new drama series. I haven't really had a drama show that I've watched regularly since I got married so we'll see if I stick with these.

Battlestar Galactica

I had heard people talking about this show for the last few years - mostly about downloading early episodes from the UK because it wasn't available here or something. It just didn't strike me as a show worth watching.

Then it kept coming up more and more. People at work were talking about how it is such a great show and puts all the Star... series to shame (Trek, Wars, Gate, and I guess Search). Father Roderick on the Daily Breakfast podcast (link in the sidebar) mentioned it a few times and talked about how it is an allegory for religious discussion and how the writers have made the shades of grey so subtle, it's hard to tell who the "good guys" are.

I rented the first season from the movie store about 3 weeks ago and have watched at least two episodes a night since then. I zipped through the first 13 episode season and then watched all 20 episodes of the 2nd season in less than 2 weeks. I am hooked.

The show is great. I am so glad I took the time to do this right and catch up before the third season starts this Saturday. The stories are so real and integrated that I really became involved in the lives of these people.

There's no way I can give enough backstory for a new viewer to jump in on the 7th and understand what is happening, who all these characters are. There are probably hundreds of good fansites out there that could help. I will however give a few things that I think make this different from other sci-fi series.

1) No forehead makeup. The aliens look like humans and that's a crucial part of the series.

2) No comedic sidekicks. Star Trek and Star Wars have always had at least one character (C-3PO, Jar-Jar, Phlox, Quark, Data) who is often used to lighten the mood with sarcastic one-liners. BSG takes all of its characters seriously and you really care about them.

3) Flawed heroes. A stubborn admiral and his drunk executive officer, a disobediant and insubordinate top gun, a top political figure who collaborates with the enemy, sleeps with anyone he can find, and is slowly going crazy, a crusty old doctor who doesn't listen to the commander and does things his own way. Well the last one is a lot like Bones McCoy but Donnelly Rhodes plays him so well I can overlook that.

4) Admirable villains. A woman who rises from the mistakes in her past to help save the crew and fight the enemy. She learns to love and overcome her "mechanical" nature and it is that love that gives her hope. Another cylon (enemy) character uses her love for a human to start a resistance movement that will likely play a key role in the new season.

5) People die - and not just "red shirts". They haven't killed off any of the major characters yet but there are a few - especially in the latter part of season two - that would definitely be defined as supporting players. People who we had learned quite a bit about and had played key roles in multiple episodes. And when they die, it means something. People grieve. Relationships are changed.

6) Less unintelligible techno-babble. Aside from "dradis", "CAG", "frak", "viper", and a few others that are used regularly and therefore are easy to figure out, there's not a whole lot of sci-fi language.

Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip

I actually was introduced to this show months ago. I do a lot of online surveys and was selected to be part of a focus group for the pilot of this season. I saw about 12 minutes of various scenes and was asked my opinion. I don't know if I would have watched it if I hadn't had that peek but I am really enjoying it.

It's a very interesting backstage look at the production of a late-night live sketch comedy series on a fictional network. It isn't afraid to show balanced and fair views of Christianity, drug abuse, office politics, and takes more than a few shots at NBC and television in general.

I don't know all the details about Aaron Sorkin and his previous problems with The West Wing. Other bloggers have covered that. All I know is that I don't normally watch dramas and this one has dragged me in. Maybe its my interest in seeing how things work and looking behind the curtains.

Heroes

The third drama I am getting into this fall is Heroes. The second part of the premiere is on tonight and I am really looking forward to it.

It's a new show about people all over the world developing incredible skills. Human evolution is about to take a new leap forwards and a small collection of people are discovering "gifts" such as flight, teleportation, remarkably fast healing / regeneration. In the first hour, we met close to a dozen characters and I was able to care about them all.

Like Battlestar, this is a very realistically portrayed fantasy world. Even though I expect they will be brought together in an X-men fashion, I highly doubt they will end up in yellow and blue spandex. These are people who didn't choose to be heroes but they will likely step up to the challenge.

The next episode is on in about an hour so I'll just post this now.

Friday's Feast

Appetizer
What is your favorite herb or spice?

Garlic

Soup
Name a song you like but haven't heard in a long time.

We Didn't Start the Fire

Salad
If you were to take just one minute to write down as many things as you can think of that you need (not want) to do, approximately how many things would there be?

How fast can I type? Maybe 15 or 20 if I used short words.

Main Course
Tell something interesting about one of your family members (nothing scandalous, please, just something unique).

Daniel's middle name is Robliam.
Josh has memorized and acts out obscure scenes from VeggieTales movies
Andrew can jump for about 90 minutes and then fall asleep in his Jolly Jumper

Dessert
What's the latest you've ever stayed awake?

When I was working graveyard shifts, I would come home and go to bed around 9:30am and sleep for a few hours.

Names

Daniel and Josh are the only ones in their class with the same name. There's a Danny in Josh's class and a Jonah in Daniel's. I know at some point in their school career they'll be Daniel or Josh M. but that's OK.

It's pretty bad in the classes for double names. Here are some of the duplicates.

Katie and Katia
Ethan C, Ethan Y, and Eason
Matthew F. and Matthew Ford
Alison and Alysa

I read somewhere that it's good to name your kids something unique so when you call them in the park, they're the only one who comes running. However you don't want their name to be so unique that they are running because kids are chasing them calling, "Ha ha! Did she just call you Flabervia?"

There's a great site out there that talks about names that people have given their kids. If you want a quick laugh check out "Baby's Named a Bad, Bad Thing"

On the Move

Andrew is becoming more and more mobile. Yesterday we noticed him scootching across the floor. Pulling himself with his hips and arms. He can really get going.

When I was leaving for work today, we saw him getting his legs under his bum for a proper crawl. It ended with him pitching his face into the carpet, but he's definitely getting better at moving.

We need to be careful about baby-proofing again. The boys have lots of toys that would look yummy to a newly-mobile toddler. Amber packed up more than 5 big black bags of garbage last night so we are well on our way. :)

Lasts

As parents we get so focused on firsts that we miss the lasts. Let me explain.

Yesterday, Amber posted about the first time Andrew stood up by himself. I actually saw it too. It was so cute. We were all smiling and laughing and cheering for him. But at some point this week, I think Andrew had his last breastfeeding. I had to get him a bottle at 5:00 this morning because I realized he's not nursing.

I think the lasts are just as important but are much harder to find and remember. Another last we've missed in the last year: Josh's last diaper. That's a huge milestone but because it's gradual, I don't think we'd ever have known when it was happening.

We have lots of other lasts coming up. I can't think of any right now because it's making me a little sad. Maybe that's why we concentrate on firsts.

Friday's Feast

Appetizer
Measured in minutes or hours, how much exercise have you had in the last week?

Minutes

Soup
If you had to change your blog title to something else, what would it be?

Geeky Dad

Salad
Name one television show you watched when you were 9-12 years old.

Hercules (not the terrible Kevin Sorbo one - the cool cartoon with Newton the double-talking centaur and his little friend Toot). Man, I would buy a DVD set of that show. :)

Main Course
If someone gave you $50 to spend with the one condition that it had to be educational, what would you purchase?

A new Bible

Dessert
Do you tend to prefer dark colors, neutral shades, or lighter/pastel hues?

Neutrals

All In

While on vacation last month, I read a really good book by Jonathan Grotenstein and Storms Reback called All In: The (Almost) Entirely True Story of the World Series of Poker. Now, if anyone out there is an English teacher, I'm sure this will suck as a book report, but I thought I'd do a little review.

It's a really cool history of how this tournament grew from a publicity stunt put on by Benny Binion and 8 Texas road gamblers to a multimedia spectacle with thousands of competitors playing dozens of games and has given away more money than the four major PGA tournaments combined in their history.

It interrupts the stories of the tournaments with personal vignettes, glimpses into the lives of the players. For someone who has only been following professional poker since 2003 (like nearly everyone out there), it was very interesting to read the histories of people like Doyle Brunson, Amarillo Slim, Johnny Chan, Phil Helmuth, Johnny Moss, and Jack Strauss. Some of their stories are sad. Champions who had won millions of dollars in their lifetimes but who died like they lived most days of their lives, without a penny to their names.

It also went into the story of the Binion family who owned and operated the Horseshoe Casino that hosted the event nearly its entire run. Their story is the most intriguing. Sickness, murder, family feuds, court cases, hostile takeovers. It is an exciting tale of how the business of casino ownership in Las Vegas changed from the 1950s to the present day.

If you're interested in poker, or just looking for an interesting story full of compelling characters, give it a shot.

I feel like one of those kids on Reading Rainbow.