Future Poltergeist

To say that the last year in Minnesota sports has been bad is a vast understatement. It has been nothing short of brutal. What do I mean? The Minnesota Gophers football team went 3-9 and fired their head coach part way through the season. The Minnesota Gophers basketball team started 11-1 and then lost 13 of their last 19 games. They went from a ranked team to one that missed the tournament. The Vikings celebrated their 50th season by going 6-10 but it was the most spectacularly awful 6-10 season in team history. They were plagued by injury from the beginning, had to beg Favre to come up from Mississippi and generally played poorly. They also had two games postponed, something that is almost unheard of in the NFL. The Timberwolves had the worst record in the NBA and are completely wretched. The Wild had a winning record but missed the playoffs. The Twins ended the 2010 season on a 2-9 run and were swept out of the playoffs. Right now they are 34-45 and have one of the worst recor...

Relia continues to get lots of pub but the big changes in our house are really with DF. He is going through one of those amazing cognitive spurts that is both amazing and exasperating. First the amazing: His speech is getting wider. His favorite word is still 'uh-oh' but he is working hard on 'thank you'. Yesterday he surprised us by saying 'Nana' and then looking around for her. He's still shy with strangers but he is coming out of that shell a bit. When we're out in public he likes to surprise people with 'hi!'. Never fails to get a smile from them. He can obviously understand more than he can say. This includes knowing where certain food is and what areas of the house he wants to play in. No more of that 'out of sight, out of mind'. That last one is probably both in the 'amazing' and 'exasperating category. What else? He is a world class climber (for his age group). Simple things like steps, of course, but he has...

While Relia is talking about her various parts: Relia: And I have two hands. And one big head! Me: Do you have a tail? Relia: Indeed I do not. Where does she get this stuff?

Somewhere in Canada.

This story surfaced a while back but I forgot to write about it then. So instead you get a Sunday evening tale. A popular resort in the UK has changed the rules on their bumper cars : Managers at all three of its famous seaside resorts have issued the crazy edict insisting guests drive safely and avoid all contact. Now holidaymakers are supposed to drive calmly round the track in one direction, following each other and overtaking only when there is enough room to do so. Bemused customers at the sites in Bognor Regis, Minehead and Skegness have described the ride as an "exitless roundabout". I don't know what bit of craziness led to this but I'm guessing it was fear of lawsuits. If Nigel hits Benny too hard then you hold the resort at fault or something like that. In a more reasonable age, we'd assume that anyone who voluntarily rode bumper cars was doing it so they could hit and be hit. This brings to mind my one and only encounter with bumper cars...

Whole list (with links) found here . Any guesses on the #1 longest?

(The second word in the title should be italicized, but I don't know how to do that. To get the full FP experience, go back and read it as if it is italicized. Go ahead, I'll wait.) Today we entered week two of our summer experiment to live in our home as if at a rustic cabin without a kitchen sink or a dishwasher. That hasn't made our kitchen unusable but it has made me strongly averse to dirtying any dishes. Well, not just me. Anyway, as a direct result we have been eating out more lately. The FP Gal said she budgeted for it, so there you go. Today we packed up the clan and went to Davanni's restaurant for a mix of pizza and hoagies. Very yummy stuff. It has long been a favorite of the FP Gal seeing as she grew up here in the Cities around them. I was introduced to them at work, it being one of our go-tos for takeout lunch. Anyway, we went there to eat but also to see their new attraction. A Coca-Cola freestyle machine. Basically it is a fountain pop mach...

Last night while putting Relia down to sleep. Relia: Daddy, I'd like a story about a girl who has no heart. Me: Let me see. (Thinking about a girl who learns to love or some such.) Relia: And then her daddy looks at her and wonders why there are no cuts or blood! Me: Uh . . . That's it. No more CSI for her!

First you make eye contact with the subject. Then you get to your feet as steadily as you can. Wait until the subject has crouched down and then launch yourself, face first, into their belly. Your arms won't reach very far but don't worry, their arms will. After they've cuddled you for a minute, spin around while still leaning back against them. Then, and only then, can you toddle off leaving a big smile on the subject's face.

If I had a) more money, b) a different house and c) no supervision of living space, I would live like this.

This was in the FP Gal's head and now it can be in yours too! Man, I love 80's music. Dig that opening. They just don't make them like this anymore.

NPR is having a poll for the best science fiction or fantasy novels and has asked for people to submit a list of nominations. I'm a sucker for this type of thing so noodled a bit and came up with this list: Time Enough for Love - Robert Heinlein. Some 2500 years in the future there lives an incredibly old man, one who has lived since 1911 or so. He has decided that it's time to end it all but his descendants keep him alive so he can share his accumulated wisdom. This book is high on talk-talk and is easily my all time favorite. War for the Oaks - Emma Bull. Set in the Twin Cities of the 80's, this book deals with a war between good and bad faeries. It centers on a musician who has been thrust into the middle of the whole deal. Very good storytelling. Has one of my all time favorite characters (the Pooka). Filled with local geography. The Diamond Age - Neal Stephenson. It was tough to figure out which of Stephenson's books to go with here. I picked 'Di...

(Sorry about the lack of a post yesterday, my free time was taken up reading this book.) Let me start by admitting that I don't pay much attention to crime stories. I've long thought them too salacious and intrusive and basically not worth my time. This book has changed my mind. Bill James (the author) is best known for bringing a statistical look at baseball and I'm sure I'm not the only reader who picked up this book only because of its author. By his own estimation he has read upwards of a thousand 'true crime' books and this book is something of a way for him to organize his thoughts on the subject. It wanders between crime stories and crime theory in a way that would be annoying with a lesser writer but his conversational style is compelling. I found it hard to put down. There are several parts to this book. The bulk of it is made of discussions of various famous murders in US history. I learned a ton. In most of these he offers his opinions of inno...

A happy Father's day to my dad first of all. We were down in Austin yesterday and got to see him for a few minutes. He chased the kids for a bit (as is his wont) and it was very pleasant. Most of the trip was spent with Mom, well, nearly all of it and that was very nice too. She has planned a trip and the FP Gal wanted the rest of us out of the house so it all worked out well. We stopped at the cemetery so we could see the card catalog that she'll eventually be using. (Btw, the kids love to wander there around and sometimes on top of the stones. I suppose this is common enough but I'll admit that it freaks me out a bit.) Lunch was at the Tendermaid. The FP Gal was pretty actively jealous that we got to go there. It's not the least bit toddler friendly and eating was not easy. But it was yummy and we made it. Later we went to the A&W where they had high chairs, tables and (yipee!) frosty mugs of root beer. That worked out better. The FP Gal gave me a very...

For years I argued that the Oscars were making a mistake with the Best Picture category by having five films duke it out, regardless of its type. Comedies and dramas are so different that it's difficult, if not impossible, to judge them against each other. Two years ago they expanded the number of nominees to ten in an effort to expand the types of movies that make the nomination list. This week they decided to scrap that system and go to something new. Starting next year there can be anywhere from 5-10 Best Picture nominated films . The process goes like this: First, all the ballots are separated into separate stacks according to which film is listed as a first choice. Second, any movies that reach the five percent threshold are automatic nominees. Their stacks are then redistributed to their second or third choices according to a mathmatical formula. Their second or third choices count as partial votes when added to the remaining stacks. Third, at the opposite end...

A very brave robin has started hanging out in our backyard. I don't know if it's a mommy staying near younglings or what but the robin bop bops around on the ground. The kids can be fairly near without him/her flying off. Today I suggested that Relia name the Robin. (The FP Gal is afraid that I am turning into my mom.) The conversation went like this: Me: Relia, what should the robin's name be? Relia: Cathy. [This has been her go-to name for some time now.] Me: No. You just named your toy pony that and it would be too confusing if they had the same name. Relia: What about Ni Hao Kai-Lan? [Name of a kid show that I can't stand.] Me: No, that wouldn't be a good name for our robin. Relia: (pause) What about Field Guide? Me: 'Field Guide'? Relia: Yes, Field Guide! Me: Ok. So we now have a robin named 'Field Guide' living in our backyard.

Relia helped me pick this one out.

It was an active day here on Walton mountain. Or at least it seemed that way. There was lots of running around and playing in pools and swinging on swings and once Shiva, Destroyer of Kitchens was done with her work we even went out to eat. (The destroyed kitchen makes going out an easier sell.) Once nice thing with the long summer days is that we can usually run Relia hard enough that she conks out pretty quickly once in bed. Twice this week the FP Gal has carried her in asleep from the car and put her right down for the night. Tonight wasn't quite that easy but it wasn't at all hard. Well before 9p they were both asleep and we had the night to ourselves. We fired up the Netflix and started watching ' The Third Man '. She said she was up for some Hitchcock and I quickly said "this is Hitchcock-esque" and started it. I'm always afraid of pushing her to see movies because I have a tendency to oversell them. This time I hit the right balance and sh...

A few weeks back the Guardian asked readers what their favorite science fiction book is. Some 500 readers responded. A few days later it was pointed out that of the 500, only 4% were written by women. It has been widely pointed out that this is appaling and efforts are being made to bring more women authors to mind when readers are asked for favorites. I feel raw over the whole thing. I was one of the 500 and I answered honestly that my favorite book is Heinlein's 'Time Enough For Love'. And it is. This is my proverbial desert island book. When I was in the hospital, this is the one that Jodi knew to bring to me. It's not a perfect book but it speaks to me. And damn it, I shouldn't have to defend why something is a favorite of mine. So why was the gender split so heavy towards male authors? It's impossible to tell the gender of most of the responders but I'd guess it was heavily male. And favorite books are usually books that have stood the long test of ti...