Future Poltergeist

Speaking of the football season, it's time to sign up for the annual football pool. The first one was set up by Heidi , please click this link here and then for Group number enter '38898'. The password is 'RUready08'. Each week you'll simply pick who you think will win each game. There is no money involved. The only thing you need is a Yahoo account, which is free. It even works if you live in Germany. The other pool is a Survivor league. For this one, click this link , for group number enter '20121' and password 'RUlucky08'. A Survivor league can be lots of fun. The rules are simple, each week you'll pick one team to win a game. If your team wins then you keep playing. If they lose then you're eliminated. The tricky part is that you can only pick a team once per year. So come on in, the pools are warm. They can be lots of fun and don't require much work. Enjoy!

The season is coming right up (starts Thursday) and I haven't really written about it yet! Am I excited? You betcha! This year's Vikings could be very, very good. They could be the top team in the NFC. Or they could be like last year. The defense should be improved in exactly the place it needed to be, pass rush. Add in some quarterback pressure and it should make the secondary that much better. The run defense should remain strong, possibly still elite. Injuries will tell the tale, of course but if they can avoid an unusual amount or concentration of injuries than they should be fine. The offense is still the concern. The receivers should be better but they'll need to prove it. The O-line has better depth but they'll miss out their left guard for the first four games. That could be very bad. And of course, there is Tarvaris Jackson at QB. Last year he looked raw. Teams dared him to beat them and he couldn't. This preseason he looked good in very lim...

The White Sox and Twins have 27/26 games left entering today's games. The Sox have a 1/2 game lead and that's been the story for much of the last month. Since July 27th, only one of them have had more than a game and a half lead, and the White Sox only had that for one day. There are two AL teams that really look to have a lock on a playoff spot. The Angels have a full 18 game lead and should clinch their division sometime in the next couple of weeks. The Tampa Bay Rays are the biggest story of the season. They've already set a franchise record for most wins in a season. They have a 4 1/2 game lead right now and the only thing that would keep them from post-season baseball would be an absolute collapse. The Red Sox have the easiest route to the wild card. They're currently leading it by 3 1/2 and they play most of September at home. They would really have to stink it up to lose out. That leaves the White Sox and Twins battling for that last spot. Both teams hav...

If you feed an infant blueberries, they will produce something in their diaper that is amazingly like toner. Honestly. We might have stumbled on the solution to all of your office problems.

VH1 Classic is showing an enormous block of 80's videos this weekend. They appear to be showing them in alphabetical order and they're right in the middle of the Elton John set. Do you think this: And this: Were directed by the same person? Or was it just the way that 1982 was?

Couldn't get into this one either. The story is about a boy in a poor family that makes his way through the world in an interesting manner. The problem is that the plot jumped constantly and it was tough to keep any story in mind. Not for me.

To Whom it May Concern, We have a request regarding any future children. Please allow more time between cutting teeth periods. Back to back teeth (well, side by side) has ruined every night for the last two weeks, not only for us but it's also put more strain on our poor child. We feel that a couple of weeks of rest would be good for everyone involved. An alternative would be to all the teeth come in at one time. Or maybe he/she could just arrive with a full set. Either way would be fine. Thank you for your attention to this matter, -Bleary & Bloodshot

Ok, my movie project hasn't survived fatherhood all that well. I've seen very little movies from the 70's and a few that I had on Netflix sat around for a few weeks and then went back unwatched. Guess I'm giving up on it for now. I'll get to some of the rest, certainly the well known ones, in time but the smaller forgotten ones are off my radar. There are some that I've seen and not written reviews for, so I'll just post some mini ones. American Graffiti (1973) - The movies follow a bunch of teens at the close of the 50's on their last night in town. A great, great movie. Touch of Class (1973) - A movie about a man who has an affair and falls in love and then struggles to decide what to do. Utterly forgettable, almost embarrasing compared to the other movies from this year. The Sting - Probably the greatest caper movie ever. Brought back ragtime music for a time. A definite must-see. Great movie and a deserving Best Picture winner. The Exorci...

We woke this morning to thunder. (Well, actually we woke to baby yelling at 5a, but let's pretend that didn't happen, ok?) A thunderstorm rolled through about 6a and it was wonderful. Now we've got a nice soft drizzle happening outside. The perfect remedy to the ten days of hot sunshine we've had since coming back. Wonder if I could convince Relia to curl up me and a book...?

More from here . Here are the 80's, a decade I remember fondly. Indiana Jones, Raiders or the Lost Ark - A slam dunk of a pic. One of the finest adventure movies ever. Raging Bull - A very impressive movie...but I wouldn't call it essential. In fact I'd be surprised if I saw this on someone's shelf. It really isn't a take it down and watch it each year type of film. The Breakfast Club - Maybe the top teenage movie of the decade. A strong choice. Do The Right Thing - Never saw it but I've heard good stuff. Batman - Eh. I know it was a big deal back then but it's really faded since. Glory - A very good film. Blade Runner - The strongest of the arty sci-fi films. Now it comes in 14 different versions. Tootsie - One of my faves from the decade. Sex, Lies and Videotape - Haven't seen it. Never heard this strong of a recommendation for it. Das Boot - Seriously? This movie lasted for an entire tour of service. Ok, my list would be a bit diffe...

Ok, last post (probably) on our trip. To answer a few questions, the weather was consistently in the 50's and 60's. We had rain at least part of each day but the last. Couldn't see any stars, shooting or otherwise. Video from the karaoke is here (scroll to the bottom). You can read the FP Gal's recaps here . Mom's are here . Aunt Janet posted a ton of pictures here (keep scrolling and hit 'older posts' to get to more). Thematically related, Jodi just got back from her own trip to Alaska and is posting here . I think that's all, if I missed any others, please let me know.

Really, once you leave the ship you should just end the vacation. Unfortunately, our flight out wasn't until the next day so we had to keep on keepin' on. I'm just going to jam the two days together if you don't mind. After we got off of the ship, we went to Heidi's place. It looked like a filming of 'Day of the Living Dead' as everyone needed a nap. We also needed to get online. Seriously, it had been more than a week and the jones was pretty potent. Eventually, the FP Gal and I went downtown with her folks. We picked up a bag that we'd forgotten at the port. Then we headed further downtown and ran into Pioneer Square, home of the famous Underground Tour. I took this back in...2000? Really enjoyed it and talked everyone into taking it with me. It was interesting and humorous. I think the Twin Cities needs one of these somewhere. Back down south and (after a heartbreaking episode when we thought Relia was going to sleep) back to our hotel. W...

For Rachel.

Another early starting day. This one was the Inner Passage, an area that's famous for whale (and other marine animal) sightings. So we were up early to see what we could see. Up to the deck and Relia got another walk around. Shortly after we got up there, we sailed into fog and didn't come out until noonish. We had morning plans anyway. We competed in 'Friends' trivia. Tied for the lead and lost on the tiebreaker of what date did the original episode air on. Then we went to Relia's onboard birthday party. This was a surprise to us and to some of the other guests of our group. The giftbags were composed of things like soap and mints. There were some great gifts, though and Relia was very pleased. The cake was made out of a stack of yogurt cups and she really wanted to play with the candles. Disaster averted and no fingers were burned. In the afternoon, the fog burned off, the sun came out and we decided to whale watch from the stern. Actually, right next ...

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We woke up in Prince Rupert, Canada and it was easily my least favorite spot on our itinerary. The day featured a steady rain and strong winds. I'd read beforehand that the town was fairly new as a cruise destination and there was some pushback from the locals. The only thing that looked interesting on the map was a sunken garden a couple of blocks from the ship. We spent the morning on the ship doing something or other. I had a book from the ship's library and was starting to feel some time pressure to finish the durn thing. There was a nap involved. I mentioned our cabin was completely dark, right? That makes for very good napping. In the afternoon, Relia stayed with Grandpa while the FP Gal and her mom and I went into town. Actually we went our separate ways. I asked the nice lady at the info booth if there were any bookstores in town. She gave me a map and circled two spots for me. Off I walked. Prince Rupert didn't feel like a tourist place and there is a d...

(Yeah, this is late. Fridays are tough.) This was the first day that we set the wake up call. We'd heard that a prime whale spotting place would pass by around 545a. We almost ran up to the balcony but no luck. At least not with whales, lots of luck in watching beautiful scenery roll past. This day we sailed up the Endicott Arm, a beautiful fjord. You can see how close the valley walls were on each side. This type of destination is what makes an Alaskan cruise special. You can just get so close to natural beauty. The only tropical destinations that really compare are the Panama canal, Napali coast in Hawaii and the Great Barrier Reef. At the end of the arm, we got about a mile away from the glacier. All the while sailing up here we passed incredibly blue chunks of ice that had already fallen off and were floating away. Then the ship pivoted and sailed back out. As soon as we cleared the arm, the clouds rolled in and the weather took a turn. We went up the Viking lounge ...

(For pictures and a video tribute , visit the FP Gal.) Oh, Baby! I can't believe it's been a year already. I can still picture that small little girl who looked so fragile and uncertain. Little did I know how fiercely you'd attack the world, without care or precaution. Also didn't know just how much I'd come to love you. You might just have the most addictive smile in the history of the planet. You definitely know how to steal hearts from passersby. But it's not just looks, I'm continually amazed at how smart you are (even though that makes childproofing the house much more difficult). Should also mention your incredible sweetness and sharing nature. Happy birthday!

Go out there and seize that day!