Thoughts..

• So while we're in Ohio, do you think it would be inappropriate to bring a newborn to a Cavaliers game? Actually, I think the better question is, do you think it would be appropriate to bring the wife to a Cavs game? She'd be more bored than the baby would be..
• There's a commercial on tv now, an AT&T commercial that has this sprinter saying that he's fast just like the AT&T network. At the end of the commercial, he passes the finish line and the clock in the background shows 14 seconds. Now, I'm assuming it's the 100 meter dash. If that's the case, 14 seconds is sloooow. The world record is 9.72 seconds, so 14 seconds doesn't even compare to that. You'd think someone would have caught this..
• Did you hear that Tom Verducci (from sports illustrated) and Joe Torre have a book coming out next Tuesday (feb 3). In it, Torre supposedly tells tales from the locker room, I think it might be a fun read..
• We watched Next last night on cable. It's a Nicholas Cage movie where he can see into the future, but only two minutes ahead, and only in regards to events that events that directly effect him. Not horrible, but not all that great either.
• Stay tuned next week, because when we have them, I'll be sure to post baby pics/updates and all that jazz. Not sure exactly when yet so you'll have to check in from time to time...

Lucky!

So remember I used to work for the Celtics.. yeah, how I was essentially the b*tch of Lucky the mascot..

Well I moved so I obviously don't work for them anymore, but Lucky...Lucky has done just fine without me. Check out this clip of him (starts about the one minute mark) on with Conan O'Brien a couple of weeks ago...

To think, if I didn't move, I might have had the chance to go be on Conan....

News and Pictures

First the news. The due date has been bumped up a week, so it looks like I'll be a dad sooner than originally thought. This is great, but it gives us less time to prep, which I guess is ok, because we're pretty much all set..

So I said I'd post a couple pictures, and here they are...

This is the wife snow shoeing. I'm at the top of my uncles driveway (having just ridden past her on a snowmobile) and she's down the bottom..
A more up close and personal shot...

Apparently the snow shoeing is quite the work out. I wouldn't since I'm too lazy to try..

I promise I'll get pics of nursery up, I've just been lazy and didn't take any tonight...

The Weekend

So you'll have to excuse my lack of entries as of late. We've been pretty busy with the nursery etc, so I haven't had anything interesting happen really. Sad huh..

Great news though! My sister in law had her baby (out in CA) late last night, so I'm now and uncle! How cool is that?!?! They had a little boy, no name as of this post, but I'll be sure to announce it when I know. And you know what this means... another baby I get to spoil. And as an uncle, I feel it is my responsibility to teach this boy how to properly throw a baseball, cuz god knows his father won't be able to do it. (ooh yeah, that's right, I'm trash talking over a blog!) Seriously though, I couldn't be more happy for A & C, and I know they'll make amazing parents.

I had a revelation the other day. Since we're having a girl, I should probably invest in a shotgun, shovel and a bag of lime huh. Eventually there will be boyfriends, and I want to be prepared.

The wife made rice crispy treats yesterday. I would go treat myself to one after I'm done writing, but I can't. Not because it's 10pm or my legs won't work or anything like that, no.. it's because we ate them all already. She might try to blame it all on me, but it was at least 50/50.

I don't know how much you guys got, but we got like 13 or so inches of snow up here yesterday. Bad for shoveling, great for snowshoeing and snowmobiling. I have some pictures to post, but they're on the desktop and I'm on the laptop, so I'll post them tomorrow. The snow is so high, that I can only push it off the top two steps. I actually have to shovel it off the other six steps, which makes my job much tougher. Luckily I have a couple of very nice neighbors and lately they've been coming over with their snowblower and clearing the bottom of the driveway for me.

And I promise, the blogs won't continue to be this lame. I'll get back on my game, not sure if I was ever really on it though, and get back to writing about things that interest more than just me..

Woo Hoo!!!

So after nine months of paperwork and talking about it, it finally happened! We got picked!!! So here's the deal. The birthmother is from Akron, Ohio. She's an African American nurse who also has an MBA. Nice huh. She has two adult kids, and just decided that she didn't want to/couldn't raise another child. This is where the wife and I step in.

Her due date is February 1st, so it's all happening really really really fast. Essentially what happens is that when she gives birth, we go to Akron and hang out for three weeks (hopefully less time than that, but that's worst case) while Maine and Ohio complete all the necessary paperwork. So anyone out there know of anything fun and exciting to do in Akron? It's only 30 minutes to Cleveland though, so maybe I'll drag the wife to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Would it be wrong to bring a new born there? I think it might be... we'll just avoid all the loud rock and all, how's that?

Anyway, as you can imagine, we're incredibly excited, beyond excited really... so now we wait. We need to finish up a couple of loose ends that Ohio requires, then we're good to go.. so yeah, I'm going to be a dad in like three weeks... holy crap hahahha

Top Ten

Have you ever had one of those days… those days where you don’t feel like moving off the couch. Where you have nothing planned and don’t want to do a darn thing so you spend the day flicking aimlessly through the labyrinth of channels on your tv?

I have these days a lot. As a matter of face, I love these days… especially the days when I stumble across a fantastic/fantastically bad but great movie. So today I thought I’d hit you with my top ten most rewatchable movies. These aren’t necessarily my top ten all time movies or my favorite of one genre or another, but just the best movies that no matter what point it is during the movie, you still stop to watch it the rest…

So here we go…(in no particular order)

1. Memphis Belle: It’s not on nearly enough, but whenever I stumble across it, I have to watch it.
2. Star Wars: especially any of the original three. I can’t help myself here. I’ve seen each of the hundreds of times, yet I always feel the need to rewatch them.
3. Shawshank Redemption: TNT made a classic out of this movie, and because it was on so often, I discovered it. Everybody should watch this movie at least once.
4. Independence Day: Corny special effects laden summer blockbuster of 1996, but I just can’t turn it off.
5. Men In Black (1&2): More so one than two though. Again, another Will Smith summer blockbuster, but it keeps me highly entertained every time I watch it.
6. The Rock: Surprising choice huh. A Nicholas Cage movie, and for my money the only good movie he’s made in the past 10 years (well, maybe Con Air)
7. The Running Man: Going old school here. 1980’s Arnold Swartzeneger at his best/worst. Any 80’s movie that deals with their idea of the future is always fine by me.
8. The Dirty Dozen: Love me some World War II movies. Especially those with the cast like this one.
9. The Poseidon Adventure: The original of course, not either of the not so good remakes.
10. Gross Point Blank: I think I've watched this movie 3 times in the past month.

So there you have it. Feel free to suggest new movies or criticize my picks...

The Weekend

So as we sit here watching the Golden Globes… it strikes me. I consider myself fairly up and current with movies/pop culture. The wife and I go to the movies a lot, we stay in a watch a lot of movies, heck we even have a NetFlix membership. So how is it that I have never heard of 75% of the nominees? Do we actually live under a rock up here? I didn’t think so, but maybe I’m wrong…

Anyway, this weekend was fantastic. Friday night was spent in just watching tv/movies and hanging out (we have lots of free movie channels since we switched to the dish, so for the next three months (when they stop being free) the wife and I plan to watch as many flicks as possible).

Saturday was simply a great day. We spent the morning just hanging around the house and doing some painting (by we I mean the wife of course). That afternoon we went over to my uncles for some snowmobiling! (see videos below) Tons and tons of fun there. It was so great to get back out there ya know. Here we have the wife on the right and cousin D on the left...


But the real piece de resistance was Saturday night. We went over to my other uncle’s house for homemade pizza and karaoke. And for the record, I am a karaoke machine! Love it…the people around me might not love listening to me, but they’ll get over it. And as much as I love my new video camera, and am taking it everywhere, it will never get used while I’m singing. It’s for the greater good, trust me…

So all in all it was a great weekend… and now we just have to push thru this week to get to next weekend which is thankfully a long weekend…

And for all my crazy cat loving in-laws, I present fat cat in a little box...

Snowmobiling Fun

Just a couple of snowmobiling videos from this weekend. Nothing extraordinary or anything, but still lots of fun...

Here's cousin D...

Here's me and cousin D. Keep in mind, we're only going about 40 mph in each of these clips, no faster. (seriously, we're not going that fast at all, it's only my first ride of the season. gotta warm up first ya know)

And finally, here's cousin D and my lovely wife...

Finally Made The Switch

Yes, I finally did it. After months of talking about it, and researching it, I finally made the switch to satellite tv. The guys from Direct Tv came this morning and four hours later we were cable free.

My biggest concern was the quality of the picture. Well, it's gross out now (freezing rain/snow/windy) and the picture is perfect. So no worries there.

The best part is, we're saving tons of money over cable. We cancelled our phone since the wife doesn't need it for work anymore, which saved us some loot. Now with satellite over cable, we're saving another $50 a month, and we're getting easily twice as many channels. So far, I'm a happy man...

You Take The Good...

You take the bad. You take them both and there you have the facts of life, the facts of life. Today was one of those days.
The Good:
Scrubs is back on tv!!!!!
The Bad:
The wife got laid off today. Not good, not at all. Thankfully we live in Maine and everything is cheaper up here, but still it's really not a good thing. So instead of being a two income family, the wife now gets to be a stay at home mom!

Weekend Report

So before I get started, I need to properly thank someone. When Liz and Rick came up for new years last week, Rick brought me a present. Two jugs of harvest spice beer from John Harvard's. Really really really great beer. I still have one glass left, which I'm saving until tomorrow night. You always need a good glass of beer after work on Mondays...

Not a whole lot to report on this weekend. My cousin turned 18 on Friday, so we all went over to celebrate which was fun as always. We figured that since she was now of age, we'd buy her some scratch tickets, and of course she didn't win anything.

Saturday was spent painting the nursery for Future Baby (it'll be completed next weekend, pictures will be provided then) followed by a night of video games and chinese food. For a couple of old foggies such as ourselves, it's the perfect night.

Today was a sad day, as I brought in all the Christmas decorations from outside. Well most of them at least. Some stuff is still frozen to the ground (mostly the plastic stakes holding lights and holding the animatronic reindeer in place), so we'll just get them in the spring when the ground thaws enough.

As I sit here writing this lame entry, the following was just spoken by my lovely wife, "trampolines are such a bad idea, yet I desperately want one. Not for my children.. I I just want one." Can you guess what show we are watching? Yep, America's Funniest Home Videos. The show that shows you all that bad things that can happen with trampolines, yet she still wants one... so do i though...

There's a rumor out there that the Knicks are going to buy out Stephon Marbury and he'll then sign with the Celtics. This is a bad idea on many many levels. Mr. Dolan, if you agree to keep Marbury under contract, I'll help pay his contract. And I'm sure there's a couple million Celtics fans out there that feel the same way and would be willing to chip in... Please don't let this happen.

And finally. In the next day or two, I'll hit the 10,000 hit mark. So thanks. Thanks for taking a couple minutes out of your day to put off work and read all about our sometimes amusing, mostly mundane lives.

Best Of 2008! Or At Least In My Humble Opinion

So even though it’s a played and killed subject for a column, I decided to write a best of 2008 entry. Now this isn’t the best of everything out there, it’s just the best I saw/read. There was a lot out there I didn’t get around to doing, so don’t abuse me for missing out on something. As always though, feel free to throw in your two cents or recommend something I missed…

Tv shows:
Leverage –(TBS) Brand new show, almost a modern day A-Team. Every episode to date has been well written and very entertaining. What else can you ask for?
Chuck – (NBC) Very underrated comedy. Again, well written, funny (no laugh track so you have to be smart enough to know when to laugh without being told to do so) and very good acting
How I met your mother – (CBS) Paired with The Big Bang Theory it’s the most consistently funny hour of television on prime time right now.
Bones – (FOX) Consistently entertaining even though Fox does it best to lose viewers by constantly moving it on the schedule. It doesn’t hurt that my wife loves David Borenaz either, so there’s something for the ladies here.
Lost – (ABC) Positively the best show on tv and I will not debate this. Extraordinarily well written/acted and always makes you pay attention.

Movies:
Batman – We walked out of this movie and they only thing we could say is Wow. So good that you almost forget it’s a comic book.
Forgetting Sarah Marshall – The R rated comedy has had a recent resurgence and this movie just pushes the envelope a little further. I’ve watched it multiple times and still laugh at all the jokes even though I know they’re coming.
Iron man – This movie bothered me because it could have been so much better, but then you realize that it’s just the first of many Iron Man movies so it’s basically an introduction for the ungeeks out there. I think the real reason I loved it so much was because I was a huge Iron Man fan growing up and still have a lot of the comic books. NERD ALERT!
Hancock – Noticing a theme? Lots of super hero movies although this one puts a twist on the genre. A despondent, drunk super hero looking for a purpose. Then again, I love pretty much everything Will Smith is in, especially if it’s a summer blockbuster.

Worst movie
Indiana Jones – And no, this is not debatable. They took the man I most wanted to be growing up and tried their best to ruin him. It was horribly written and consisted mostly of generic one-liners. First Star Wars, now this. George Lucas has it out for me for some reason.


Music
All I really listen to is country and that doesn’t interest any of you so I won’t bore you here. But I will say you’re missing out.

Books:
13 Things That Don’t Make Sense by Michael Brooks – It’s essentially a chapter per subject, each dealing with common ideas/conceptions that aren’t true. Very interesting read.
Outliers by Malcolm Gladwell – I haven’t quite finished this yet, but I highly recommend it. In it the author explores the reasons behind success and it’s really very fascinating.
Nothing To Lose by Lee Child - This wasn’t Child’s best work, but I still find all his books to be page turners and very entertaining. If you haven’t read any of his books, I highly recommend them

Phrase of the year:
We all know the phrase “jumping the shark”. It’s basically when a movie/tv show/even a person does something so fantastically unrealistic in an attempt to garner ratings/attention right before they hit rock bottom. It comes from the episode of Happy Days where The Fonze (leather jacket and all) is waterskiing and infamously jumps a bunch of sharks swimming underneath. Well that phrase has been replaced. The worst movie of the year gave us its replacement of “nuking the fridge”. Its definition is the same, it’s just a more updated example of this phenomenon. (in the movie, Indiana Jones somehow survives a nuclear blast while hiding in a refrigerator)

2009 Resolutions

Usually, I'm one of those people that makes tons of new years resolutions, but never keeps any of them. This year, I'm going to try my darnedest to keep them, so here we go..

• Get in shape! I'm 10-15 pounds over my high school weight and I wouldn't mind getting back down to that number. I joined a gym, so that'll help, but I don't really need to change my diet as we don't really eat a lot of junk. I think just getting active again will do the trick, or at least I hope so...
• Swear less. I find my choice in words is getting worse and worse so I think before Future Baby arrives I should really try to clean up the language...
• Procrastinate less. Ahhh I'll do it next year...
• Finish a project I start. The wife and I have a habit of completing 90% of a project around the house and never getting around to those last couple of finishing touches. No more doing that...
• Blog less, but more. As of late, my blog entries have been kind of mundane. I really don't think you guys care that I went to Target and cooked dinner on Tuesday or whatever. I used to keep a pen and paper in my pocket all the time and when something random or funny happened I'd write it down. For some reason I stopped doing that and I feel as if my blogging has suffered because of it...

So what are the chances that I keep any of these? I'd like to say 100% but who am I kidding. 2008 was interesting and wasn't exactly the best of years (economy etc) so 2009 can only get better right? Hopefully, Future Baby will arrive which could make this the best year ever, for the wife and I at least. And for all you people out there in internetland I hope you have a happy and successful 2009 too!!!