Future Poltergeist

During the Opening Ceremonies for the 2012 Olympics in London, there was a sequence that I really enjoyed.  It was titled 'Pandemonium' and it was a kind of history of the Industrial Revolution. The visuals were great, especially the rings at the end, but what really got me was the music.  I simply loved it.  But there was a problem.  I couldn't find it to buy, anywhere.  I quickly tracked down the artist, Underworld, and the name of the music, 'And I Will Kiss', but I couldn't buy it.  I couldn't find it as a stand alone single.  Couldn't find it on an Underworld album.  It just wasn't available. Well, that's not completely true.  It was on the soundtrack for the Olympics, called 'Isles of Wonder', but iTunes didn't have that either.  Amazon didn't either.  I was stuck.  Until I happened to try a couple of weeks ago and found that Amazon had somehow let some used copies slip through the embargo.  Less than $5 later...

I had a wonderful call today.  The admin called, and after I confirmed her name, I asked for her phone number.  She started giving me a set of numbers and then stopped.  "Oh", she said, "I almost gave you my home number."  I laughed and said that the office one would probably be better.  She continued, "If you called my home number, you would have ended up speaking to my senile mother.  And you wouldn't want that."  I laughed again.  "And then I would have gotten home and she would have said [thick German accent] 'I had ze strangest call today...'". Lady, you made my day.

Tonight, I read to Leo.  We read 'Make Way for Ducklings'.  This book has made a reappearance at our house as it has been in storage for some time.  I have not read it with Leo before and I wasn't sure if he had read it all.  He assured me that he has, in fact, read it with mama. Fair enough. We got to this page: And I said, "Doesn't he look nice?" Leo said he did not.  Again, I asked him if he had read this before.  The policeman (who is named Michael) is awfully nice.  Later on in the book he stops traffic for the ducks and even calls in a car from Central to help direct traffic for them.  This is a nice policeman. When I asked him if had read it before, he assured me that he had.  So I asked him what happens later on.  He pointed to the night stick and said, 'he takes that and stabs the ducks'.  Whaaaat?  I told him that isn't quite how I remember it. We read on.  Sure enough, there is no stabbing.  The po...

I almost always enjoy my visits to historical fiction but I don't go there often enough.  This list from Hugh Hewitt looks like a very good one.  He emphasizes a kind of reverse chronology approach, which probably compels the reader to keep asking 'what caused that?'.  He also emphasizes series by authors who really know what they're doing.  Looks like good stuff.

Is there a city with better detective stories than LA? Only London comes close. We've discovered the trick to getting the kids to fall asleep while reading to them. Read from Kipling. Civil war in Egypt. The beneficiary is the player with the most unit points left in storage. (Civilization board game joke.) Sarah is going away for three days, so it's just me and the kids. I promised her that I would not take the kids to McDonalds more than six times while she's gone. Felix just pointed at the words on his shirt (which reads 'Mama's Boy') and told me that it says 'Dragon-Fire'. Kids are in bed and I'm having a drink. Relia is upset that a children's show is showing tortoises and sea turtles together as if they're both turtles. How dare they! Kids are in bed and day three of single parenting is done. For the record, we only had fast food once. Looking at titles on Netflix and saw one called 'Why Ships Sink'. I asked Relia why she thinks...

Back when I was young, June was a warm month. What is the ratio of Superman origin movies to overall Superman movies? 1 to 2? Saw 'Midnight in Paris'. Why in the world do people keep casting Rachel McAdams? She's no longer believable as a person. If aliens ever show up and need to take some representatives back to their home planet, I'd like to nominate the entire extended Kardashian family. It won't show the human race in the best light, but we'll finally be rid of them. Overheard while potty training continues: Felix: Can someone please put pants on me? Oh, we are indeed living the dream. Felix about cousin Michael, "He's my special friend. I'm going to kiss him right in the face!" Sarah is going to build a wall today. Every time she mentions it, Pink Floyd goes through my head.

(Finally updating from Facebook.) It's snowing and they're testing the sirens in Minneapolis. The despair is palpable. Last year, when we had a very mild winter, I distinctly remember a woman (friend of a friend) who was upset that her poor 2nd grader would 'never see snow again'. I've thought of her often over the last two months. The next time someone utters such an absurdity at a Minnesotan we should be allowed to smack them. I predict that by the year 2025, we will officially change the name of clownfish to 'Nemo-fish'. Relia to me: Oops, I forgot you're a human. That's kind of the slogan of my mornings. Watching some Veggie Tales with the kids for the first time in ever. After a good ten minutes, Felix had an epiphany and realized that Bob is a tomato. Well, we can't say that a baby has never pooped on our Wii balance board anymore. Felix thinks we should do Halloween tomorrow so he can get some more candy. I'm trying to explain to him...

I haven't read it yet, but this looks excellent .

I may just have to work my way through this list here .

A while back I realized that when I hear the kids singing, the songs fall into one of two categories.  Either kids songs, like Itsy Bitsy Spider, or more modern music from the FP Gal, like 'Shake it Off'.  That didn't sit well with me.  One of my parenting duties is to pass on my musical tastes to my children.  To aid in this, I decided to consciously put some earworms from the 80's into their path. To do this, I asked my friends on Facebook for suggestions.  They gave me 30+ comments worth of suggestions and I spent some time (and money) on iTunes and made a disc for the car.  This post is to update what has worked and what hasn't. 1. We Got the Beat, Go-Go's - This one worked.  The kids sing along and sometimes talk about it when it isn't playing. 2. Girls Just Want to Have Fun, Cyndi Lauper - Maybe the biggest hit of the bunch.  I've caught Felix singing it outside of the car. 3. Break My Stride, Matthew Wilder - A miss, at least so far....

After all the run up to the US Olympic committee, I think I forgot to mention that they actually did get a pick made.  They choose Boston.  The belief is that the US is the front runner for the games because they've gone so long without hosting them.  If Boston wins, it will have been 28 years since the Atlanta games.  Since the US provides a huge amount of the advertising and support, it only makes sense that they'd get good treatment in terms of hosting. Anyway, they've released some pictures of the proposed sites.  It looks pretty good.  I especially like the idea of holding events on famous University grounds.  I look forward to it!

On the ride home today, DF asked me if I know how to cook a salmon.  I don't but he was kind enough to give me the recipe.   Step 1. Get a big fish. Step 2. Peel the skin off. Step 3. Cut it in pieces. Step 4. Leave a big half. Step 5. Put it in the oven in a long pan. Step 6. Cook it for maybe 30 minutes. Step 7. Slice it up into little pieces. Step 8. Eat.

Last week my dad got me a book called 'The Well Trained Mind' ( Amazon link ).  It's basically a book about the educational upbringing of your children with a heavy emphasis on home-schooling.  While I'm not about to go the home-schooling route, the book seems like an excellent plan for those who do.  I'll be using it as a big ol' suggestion box for things to supplement the education the kids are getting at school. One thing that it emphasizes is exposing young children to the myths and stories of the classic world.  This means the Greeks and Egyptians of course, but it also suggests the Babylonians and Chinese and such.  We've touched on some of these but probably not enough. This Sunday we went to the bookstore so that Relia could use her new kids club discount card.  While she was looking at books, I noticed a large bookshelf dedicated to children's versions of the classics.  I grabbed the opportunity and picked up a book of Greek myths.  I s...

There is an interesting NYT article about the proposed stadium for Tokyo's upcoming 2020 Olympics.  They're fighting over the size and cost of the thing and (especially) its post-Olympic future.  Officials here have reacted to the public outcry by reducing the proposed stadium’s size and budget. Ms. Hadid’s earlier version came in at about $2.5 billion, more than twice the $1.1 billion originally allocated for the stadium. The Sport Council at first called for a retractable roof to soundproof future cultural events like concerts. The steep cost of building and maintaining such an apparatus, critics said, would take away valuable materials and financial resources still needed for reconstruction after the 2011 earthquake and tsunami. After sustained objections from critics, including Mr. Maki and the 2013 Pritzker winner Toyo Ito, the Japanese government reduced the stadium’s budget to $1.37 billion and its site to 52 acres, down from 71. The revised design ...

Ten years ago today, I started this little blog.  It grew and then became less but hasn't puttered out.

A pretty good list from Amazon .  I've already read 42 of them and have another 10 or so on my shelf.  I don't know if this link will stay good or not but I hope it does.

Next week the US Olympic Committee will decide if they'll bid on the 2024 Olympics (I'm betting they will) and may decide on which city they'll put forth to host.  There are four cities on the host list: Boston Los Angeles San Francisco Washington DC I've long believed that if the US bids on 2024, they will win.  The US hasn't hosted an Olympics since Salt Lake City in 2002 and no summer games since Atlanta in 1996.  Given the importance that the US has, particularly in funding, a 28 year gap is a huge one. So who gets the nod?  I have absolutely no insider knowledge but I'd like to make some guesses.  Pure speculation to follow. San Francisco is an interesting choice.  The Bay Area is certainly beautiful.  I'm guessing (I haven't checked into it) that there are enough venues in NoCal to satisfy the sporting requirements.  Between the professional teams (six?) and the number of big time colleges, there must be.  Throw in the big mo...

There is a very nice article here , listing some little known Christmas music.  It's heavy on choir music, which is fine for me.  The article includes YouTube clips of the songs and they've been nice enough to put them into a playlist, which can be found here. I don't think I know any of these, but I'm enjoying them.

This is my 30th post in 30 days and I've fulfilled the task.  True, some of the posts have been bare but I got many of the 'ideas' posts out.  I've still got some more so I'll post them in the next week or two. Did this restart my blog?  I doubt it.  It's hard to blog day in and day out without any audience.  And to be honest, almost all of that audience has fled to Facebook or elsewhere.  That's just how it is.

[Sorry, I got nothing.]