Future Poltergeist

Tomorrow is the last game at the Metrodome.  In a month or so, they're going to tear the whole thing down and build a new stadium ( which looks pretty nice ).  I wanted to see it one more time so I took the older kids down there for a semi-pro football game today.  (For the record, it was some kind of all star game and I have no clue whatsoever what league was being represented.) We got there in time for kickoff, just the three of us and about 200 other people. We were in time for the national anthems of Canada and America.  I got them to stand still with their hands on their hearts.  Then we watched the football.  They were amazed that the yellow and blue lines from TV weren't actually there on the field.  What impressed them the most?  The kicking and punting.  After some time we got in some bathroom breaks and started to move around a bit.  We met a nice lady from Green Bay who was filming the game for her boyfriend who was one ...

DF picked this out.  I think he wishes he was an elephant. 

DF helped me pick this out.

The days of the Metrodome are winding down.  IIRC, they're scheduled to deflate it on Jan 18th and then tear it down.  I don't have many memories of the Vikings before they moved inside.  I know that we had them on the TV but I just don't remember them playing outdoors.  The same is true of the Twins, but I'm not sure that they we ever watched any of their games at all. My first memory of the dome was going to a Twins game as part of a reward for being a patrol at Sumner.  They played the Tigers and they lost in the tenth inning.  I can't tell you with any certainty what year that was but I would guess it was 1985.  I did also go to a Vikings game sometime around then but I barely remember that at all.  For the past few days, KFAN has been listing the top 25 moments of the dome.  Part one is here .  Part two here and the final five are here .  I was actually in attendance for a couple of them, most notably the 1998 Championship g...

Our icy door adventure continues.  Every day this week we've ventured out to try and figure out which doors will open.  It's a game that I've come to call 'Kia Roulette'.  You see, there is some risk involved.  If you try the door and it opens, you can get the kids in the easy way.  If it won't open, then you have to load them in the front and then climb through and buckle them up.  As you're picturing this, make sure to include all of the bulky winter clothes needed to get through this ridiculous cold snap that we're having.  Loading them in the front had been something of the default. So what's the risk?  Well, if the door opens just a bit, then you have the door sensor go 'bong, bong, bong' for your entire drive.  Pounding on the door might get it to reclose and turn it off but there is no guarantee.  (Pound anyway.  You'll need the outlet.) Worst of all is that the door might open but then not close again.  That would be...

We are only nine days into December and I'm already done with winter.  Until last week, temps were around freezing or so.  We'd had snow, but not a terrible amount.  Then it changed.  We got some significant snow on Tuesday and Wednesday but it wasn't that cold.  That meant lots of moisture on the cars and roads. By Thursday morning the temperature had fallen to just above zero.  I decided to take the boys out to the mall so they could run (or at least walk) around.  We got all bundled up and went out to the porch.  I had the boys wait there while I turned on the car and cleared off the snow.  I did my scrapping duty but there was a problem.  The side doors to the van were frozen shut.  So we stayed home. When the FP Gal got home I told her what happened and she told me that I should have gotten them in through the front door and then buckled them up.  On Friday I decided to do just that.  It was a pain, especially becau...

On this cold, cold day, I think this should be my next house.  (Which reminds me, I need to buy a Powerball ticket today...)

An interesting article on Toronto's decision to bid on the 2024 Olympic games.  It's widely believed that the U.S. will have a leg up on the bidding simply because we haven't hosted an Olympics since Salt Lake City in 2002.  The United States is the biggest sponsor of the games and brings in the biggest audience dollars.  We haven't been shut out from hosting for more than 20 years since 1960.  Many people think that we're simply due. But not everyone: “The way IOC does it, the games go to Europe, the Americas and then somewhere else,” Paul Henderson , former International Olympic Committee member and the Toronto 1996 bid chief, told the Toronto Sun . “And what most people don’t realize is that the IOC considers North and South America the same continent. Now there are always funny things once in a while that change that, but normally that’s the thought process.” So Mr Henderson believes that the pattern is a) Europe, b) Americas and c) somewhere else. ...

An interesting list from a reader poll.  The slideshow is here and the pictures are purty.  The top ten: 1. Riga, 2. Bergen, 3. Innsbruck 4. Dubrovnik 5. Chester 6. Prague 7. Budapest 8. Santorini 9. Venice 10. Bruges In the commentary, many cities are compared to Paris but Paris itself didn't make the list.  It does make the list of runners up, but you'll have to click through to see those.  The list is very heavy on medieval cities and nicely colored waterfronts.  Makes sense to me. I have been to a grand total of zero of these cities.  They all look very nice!  I'd gladly be in Santorini Greece today, especially with 3 to 7 inches of the white stuff due to hit us. 

DF looked at our fun world map today and asked about one of the buildings on there.  (The map has a bunch of world landmarks on it, in case they get lost.)  I told him he had pointed at Spain and the building was the Sagrada Familia.  I told him that the FP Gal has been there and then we went online to look for pictures.  I found this fun little video of what it will look like when construction is done in 2026.  They've been building for more than 130 years so another 13 isn't a big deal I guess.  It's on my 'someday' list and with any luck it will be on DF's as well.