Future Poltergeist

Lots of good Monkees stuff to go with but this one gets lots of attention at our house right now:

Here's an interesting article on calendar history and the only February 30th in recorded history. As a bonus, it mentions how Numa Pompilius and Julius Ceasar (both covered in the March reading over here ) had a hand in creating the modern calendar.

Tuesday is usually Nana day for Relia. I pick the kids up at preschool and immediately drip her off at the FP Gal's folks. Then DF and I spend a couple of hours at home before the FP Gal arrives to whisk him off to dinner. Then I have a little time to myself, some supper and go up to work. That wasn't the plan today. At breakfast, Relia was told that Nana had a meeting to go to and Nana day wouldn't happen. She was pretty upset. When I picked her up today at preschool she quizzed me on what she could do to cancel Nana's meeting. I told her there was nothing she could do and that she'd have to figure out a way to handle it. (And then we went home and I made some kool-aid as a treat.) Then the FP Gal, bless her heart, came home and announced that they would indeed be eating over there tonight. Very selfishly, I am so happy to get my quiet time. Thank you, hon. Thank you thank you!

DF and I saw this commercial for Resse's peanut butter cups on TV this morning. He kept saying, 'what is that? what is that?'. After it was done I asked him what it was. He thought for a moment and then simply said 'Cake'.

Sorry, this is a bit of a cop out, not writing anything. But it is late and you can enjoy some great techno pop!

An interesting article from Virginia Postrel. I like her first two suggestions, but not the third one. I bet that all three would be too radical to actually implement though . . .

Just to catch people up, here are things that DF is now saying: Hold you = hug or sometimes 'pick me up' Shoulders = when he wants up high on my shoulders Night night = sleep All done = something is finished (i.e. 'night night all done' means sleep is finished) Ozzie = any and all cats Roar! = what the majority of animals say, even ones like sheep Moo = what cows and pigs say He also repeats words and fragments, though it's sometimes hard to tell what he really understands and what he doesn't. But sometimes this includes 'love you' and that's pretty darn nice.

And now we have the rest of the summer films. Per usual, comments and suggestions are welcome. Stand By Me - Probably the best end of summer movie of all time. It perfectly captures that childhood feeling of wanting one more adventure before the school year starts. Touching, funny and moments of tense drama. What more could you ask for? Rear Window - More drama here. And add in some serious heat in the days before everyone had air conditioning. Easily my favorite Hitchcock film. On Golden Pond - Another classic end of summer movie. Only this one isn't with schoolkids, it's with the old and senile. A great movie about dealing with the golden years. Almost Famous - Traveling with a rock band so you can write about them? That's a pretty good way to spend a summer. Another great movie. Meatballs - And to cap off summer, we have the greatest summer camp movie ever made. Somehow this movie is thirty years old but I refuse to believe that.

DF has a favorite song. Maybe his very first. He has fallen for the Police, 'Every Little Thing She Does is Magic'. The first he heard it was from a Sting concert video that I keep on the DVR for daddy's happy place time. The crowd sings along with the E-O part and he decided he would too. Then near the end, when the song repeats the word 'magic' he got into that too. With my latest mix disc for the car I broke a rule and put both the Police version and a cover of it by Shawn Colvin. They're separated by about six songs and I was curious who would comment about the repetition first. It was the FP Gal, of course, but not long after was Relia. This morning she said, "Hey, these are the same words as that one song!". I agreed that it was and I explained that the lady liked the song so much that she sang it too. She was confused by the gender swap as Colvin sings it 'every little thing he does'. Relia then surprised me by referring to the concert ...

Today while driving from daycare to Nana's house we saw a van painted like an American flag. It prompted this conversation with Relia: Relia: Look! That van! It's America! It's like a flag! Me: Yes, I see it! Relia: Why do they decorate vans? Me: Um, because some people like to. Relia: Why don't we decorate ours? Me: (passing the buck) You'll have to talk to mama about that. What would you want to put on it? Relia: Flowers! Me: Uh . . . Relia: And dinosaurs! Me: Ok. Flowers and dinosaurs. Relia: And giant lips! So basically she wants a cross between flower power and the Rolling Stones. And dinosaurs. (Those last two may be redundant.) I don't see this happening. Not that I don't like the idea of a 'decorated' van at some point. We have a few art cars in our neighborhood and I'm sometimes jealous. There is a part of me that would love to redo a van in Viking style. All purple with white and yellow highlights. Maybe some wooden shields along the si...

I'm a little curious about this. I've been near some of the big windmills down in southern Minnesota and they seem quiet as can be. I wonder how people down there feel about them.

We went to see 'The Secret World of Arriety' today and enjoyed it. It was my first experience going to a movie in a theater with Relia. She did a great job. The only antsy behavior had to do with standing up and since we sat in the back row that was not a problem. After the movie the FP Gal talked about how calm a movie this was for a children's movie and I certainly agree. If you haven't seen 'Arriety' ( here is the trailer ), then you should know that this is a movie adaptation of the children series, 'The Borrowers'. Basically it is about a family of very tiny people, three or four inches tall, who live underneath a house. At night, they creep into the house so they can 'borrow' things that won't be missed. Like a cube of sugar, a tissue, or a pin. They live in constant fear that the big humans will discover them and do who-knows-what. There is a sequence near the beginning of the movie where the main character Borrower, Arriety, i...

An outstanding article here , outlining ten strategies to remember while playing 'Survivor'. Some of this mirrors my understanding as well. The FP Gal can confirm that I talk about some of these constantly. The one that bugs me most is #4 on the list: Tolerate risk appropriately. (The Rule Of Gregg With Three G's.) One of the best strategic moves in Survivor history happened during the Palau season (the show's tenth), when the powerful pair of Ian and Tom realized that a plan had been set in motion from within their alliance for their buddy Gregg to double-cross them. Without getting into the fine points, which involve math, they had to try a risky strategy that still left them a significant chance of being burned, but that was better than waiting around like gazelles on the savanna. They carried it out, and it worked. But what they did that Survivor contestants often don't was this: they correctly counted the risk of doing n...

According to 'Parent & Child' magazine . Their top ten? Frog and Toad are Friends The Giving Tree Diary of a Young Girl Green Eggs and Ham Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone Where the Wild Things Are The Snowy Day A Wrinkle in Time Goodnight Moon Charlotte's Web As you can see, the age range is all over the place. Kind of a fun list!

Ah, July. The second easiest month of the whole project, after December. There are two main categories here, blockbusters and patriotic movies. I could probably do a top five of both. I could probably do a top five of patriotic blockbusters! In any case, these are the five I've gone with. As always, comments and suggestions are appreciated. Braveheart - This would be one of the movies that is both patriotic and a blockbuster. Not only that, it is a Best Picture winner too. Some classic Mel Gibson, before he became so unlikeable. It brought back the epic movie. I watched it recently and it still holds up well. Forrest Gump - Another one that could fit each category. A blockbuster, because it was a movie that virtually everyone had to see. And patriotic because, although not always flattering, it really is the story of a big chunk of American history. Along with that is an incredible performance from Tom Hanks and one of the most underrated love stories in recent history...

Eight years ago the FP Gal and I finally met. We had been talking back and forth through emails and then on the phone. (One of the emails included an Incredible Hulk joke that impressed her. You can ask her about it.) After some deliberation we decided to meet at the Como Observatory. She told me that we couldn't actually meet on Valentine's day because that would be too much pressure. No problem for me, the next day would work just as well. So we met on a nice February Sunday afternoon. We walked around the Observatory, which is basically a giant greenhouse. Let me tell you, a greenhouse is a nice place to be during a snowy winter. We enjoyed each others company enough that we extended the date to the zoo area. When we looked at the spider monkeys I told her that they were named after the spider plant. She thought that joke was great then but has now forgotten it seven consecutive years. While there we also found out that our birthdays were only one day apart. (We...