Mom’s Bat Mitzvah – July 25, 2009!!
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Category Archives: Family
July 4 Weekend 2009 – The photographic evidence
We did sing about shooting the angler fish with a secret invisible gun
Well, it seems like a bit of a longshot that Oscar and I will get to do any musical micro-blogging this weekend. We’ll just have to book some studio time when it’s not a busy holiday weekend.
We did, however, have an opportunity to sit down at the piano and sing about going to fight a dragon. I figured that every brave adventurer needs a good bit of epic music to document his exploita. But before we could find the cave of the secret invisible dragon, we first had to take on an evil cyclops, then a bunch of pirates, and I believe there was a killer shark in there somewhere.
There was also a lot of talk (and/or singing) about the vicious angler fish, but because of that monster’s sheer prowess, I think we decided to leave him alone. Or maybe Oscar managed to shoot him with secret, invisible ray gun.
Good times.
I don’t even know what to call this post
I guess it’s another catch-all. The holiday weekend is pretty much here, so everything is starting to slow down, and that is perfectly fine with me. I’ve been enjoying (NOT!) some bowel distress over the past 24 hours, so I’m glad that there’s no work tomorrow. I prep’d my butt off for an Arbitration on Wednesday and it went south on me because the panel didn’t like my client – they actually said that to me after. Hours and hours of prep down the tubes.
I’m just about done with Greg van Eekhout’s (like Vonnegut?) first novel – Norse Code. Despite the title, it’s actually been quite a good piece of fantasy fiction. If I were in another line of work, perhaps I could have read this book over a weekend, but with distractions and trials, it has taken a bit longer. Great action, well written, and sexy cover. What more could you ask for? As a rumination on Ragnarok, it’s a bit more fluid and entertaining than Neil Gaiman’s American Gods. The retelling of myth is a bit more fluid in Gaiman’s work, but the van Eekhout has been a more cohesive read. I certainly liked them both, but in being a bit less ambitious, Norse Code is actually more fun. Although, I don’t think Gaiman was going for fun.
Company’s coming to mpomy HQ to help celebrate the holiday. We’re looking forward to Oscar and his mom and dad. Pictures will undoubtedly be posted. Also, we’ve arranged a trip to Morris Arboretum to hang out in nature’s beauty with my mom and our guests. It should be just the ticket after my beleaguered week.
Over at Fretbuzz.net, the insanity continues. we’ve got Mr. Delaruss now actively blogging, which is great news. I’ll also try to do little more micro-music because it’s so damn fun. Maybe Oscar can help with the next composition.
We have also found out that a cousin has breast cancer – which absolutely sucks. She’s got a bunch of little kids and she’s almost definitely going to have to go through some of the most heinous shit. But she’s got a great husband (Em’s 1st cousin) and they’re within shouting distance of top notch healthcare. It’s still going to be a bumpy ride for that family, so we’ll be sending the good vibes that way as the situation and treatment regimen become clearer.
And lastly, I’ll be trying to get Em to watch Virtuality tonight. It seems like good, low-impact fun before our guests arrive, and I need to take another look before I write up my thoughts.
Have a great weekend, everybody.
Emily discovers Guitar Hero
Uh-oh. She skooled me at, get this, Sunshine Of Your Love. No way!!
Me vs. Oscar – A Memorial Day Moment
This young fellow is going to beat the tar out of me in a few years, but for now, I’ve got his number. It was great to have company over Memorial Day weekend. We really got a lot of mileage out of our stoop. And, even though you can’t see it in the picture, we’ll be drinking Philadelphia Brewing Company’s Fleur de Lehigh for the rest of the summer.
In addition to the above being a nice shot of a toddler trying to squeeze my head off my shoulder, you can also see our phantastic Phillies banner in the front door window.
Concept Album
OK – the big holiday weekend is winding down. After entertaining family for a few days of fun, I left myself in a spot where I basically hd to crank out all sorts of legal nonsense over the past six hours. What a way to spend the holiday! But it was all worth it. I’ll have more on the visit later.
Now, in honor of being done my work for the night, I’m planning the big concept album. Ive come up with a few song titles:
- I Like Cold Beer
- Tell Someone Who Cares
- You Lose
- Stay The Fuck Away From Me
- The Mike Piazza
- Poison Claw
- Blown Save
- Peed In The House
Can you think of any others?
Glanville on Manny and Mom
Our former center fielder has been out of the game for a while, but he”s a distiguished Penn grad and has scored a column at the Times. Here’s a link to his latest.
I like the column and the sentiment, especially the bit about Mom, but the Matrix anology is a disaster. Sorry, Doug. In the Matrix, Neo takes the hard way and suffers for the chance to save the rest of us. In his baseball career, Glanville took the hard way by no going on the junk. A fabulous world of supermodels and riches was kept away from him, but it’s not like he continued on as a drone attached to a malevolent machine that sought to manipulate and control him. Good article, bad analogy.
Not going nowhere
Actually, the plane we were on was much smaller than this, but you get the idea. The plan was to fly from Rochester, MN (home of the Mayo Clinic, get it?) to Chicago, enjoy two hours worth of the hospitality to be offered by O’Hare, then about two hours to Philly. It all seemed so easy, so straightforward. Alas, it was not to be. Instead, we spent enough time sitting on the runway to get back and forth to Chi-town while waiting for the all-clear to take off. Apparently the weather over the windy city was not going to cooperate. Eventually, we taxied back to the terminal and decided we’d try it all again tomorrow.
Now we’re much happier and warmer, back at Em’s parents’ place. The ‘sun’ room is serving as an excellent place to watch the rain fall all around and turn the garden green before our very eyes. The Phillies are pounding the first-place Marlins (1213-1 in the 8th) and I’m sipping a bit of Earl Grey. It’s all so peaceful and calm that whetever trouble I’ll have missing a day of work while in transit is outweighed by our current tranquil state.
Vacation, all I ever wanted
(Not that Mayo Clinic!)
Greetings from sunny Rochester, MN. Actually, it’s not that sunny at the moment, but yesterday it was sunny and a mere 90 degrees. It’s been great to relax and play with the in-laws 18-month-old pup, who is now, uncharacteristically, crashed out behind Emily here in the living room. We’ll post some pictures over at Flickr shortly.
One of the great things about vacation for me is what Em call the reading orgy. I finished WWW:Wake and have now started The Dark River. Wake was great the whole way through, but a little cliinical and detached – until the end. The end was strong, moving, personal; it made me very excited for the next book, which, I guess, will come out next year.
The Dark River is the second installment of the paranoid 4th Realm trilogy. The question is, are you being paranoid if what your afraid of actually exists? In this case, it is the end of privacy and the end of free society as evil manipulators with limitless power and technology seek to stamp out the prohpets who bring enlightenment and combat despotic domination and control. It’s scary stuff. I had to wait until this morning to actually start reading.
Phinally, the Phillies pulled out a dramatic 9th inning come-from-behind victory last night, thanks to Shane Victorino’s salami! That almost makes up for Wednesday night when we shivered and they lost.