20 Years

"525,600 minutes
525,000 moments so dear
525,600 minutes
How do you measure, measure a year?" - Seasons of Love

20 Years

20 years.
20 years = 2 decades = a considerable passage of time.
20 years of watching you from the corner of my eye so I don't miss anything you do.
20 years means our relationship can almost legally drink.
20 years of standing side by side but really being almost a single entity.
20 years with 3 hockey lockouts.
20 years of growing, maturing, changing, adapting, but never falling out of love.
20 years with everyone we know still trying to figure out why you're with me.
20 years and still undertaking new and different adventures (hello house).
20 years of waiting on the world to change and realizing a) that's a crappy song and b) we don't need anything to change as long as we're together.
20 years of not being able to smile without you.
20 years of dancing closely, singing softly, and having the tunnel vision of love.
20 years of ever changing communication methods (letters, land line phone calls, cell phones, skype, email, texting, IM) all of which just make it easier to say, I love you!
20 years of partaking of a love written just for us.
20 years with 3 ever growing children creating more of a bond between us.
20 years and you still amaze me.
20 years and we still mark each month's anniversary (That's 240 for anyone keeping track. I know we are.)
20 years of Never gonna give you up, Never gonna let you down, Never gonna run around and desert you. (Yes, you have just been rickrolled)
20 years and it doesn't even compare to our parents and grandparents who set the original template of how to love.
20 years - not even remotely enough time.

At this point, it should go without saying that I love you, but I say it because you should hear it and know how true it is. We couldn't possibly have looked forward 20 years ago and seen where everything was going and where we'd be in the future, but even at that point, we pretty much knew whatever or wherever it was, we'd be together. So, once again, I loved you then, I love you now and I'm always going to love you.

Between now and then til I see you again I'll be loving you, Love me.

All We Need Is Just A Little Patience (cue whistling)

I am not a patient man. (Go ahead, I'll wait for the laughter to subside) Granted, having children has forced some patience, but it's not like it would be my choice of super power like Mr. Smith. Tonight Job would have looked at me and said, "Dude, I'm out. You win."

On Tuesday evenings, Terri works late and I have the children. I was working on a project at work. I look up, it's 4:15. I look down and up again, it's 5:05 and I'm supposed to be out the door to get the kids. I shut down and throw everything in my bag intending to finish at home. As I'm walking toward the door to the car it begins to rain sheets of rain sideways. Figuring I'm heading home, I just walk outside and cross the lot to my car. By the time I close the door, I'm mostly soaked. My hair is dripping and my glasses need their own wipers. I pull out of the parking lot and head toward home and within 3 minutes the sun is shining and there's not a drop of water coming down.

As I pull up toward the house the radio reminds me that we're well into May and Mother's Day is this weekend. May is notoriously busy in our family to begin with. Mother's Day for 3 mothers and birthdays for my brother-in-law, father-in-law, Gage and Parker.

So I think, I'll grab the kids and run a few errands and maybe pick up a gift or two. The kids get ready fine, we're in the car for two minutes and two out of three are asleep. This wouldn't normally be an issue except that I planned on everyone walking when we arrived at the store. No strollers in the car. We get to the first store and I gently wake everyone up. That is like flipping the switch in my daughter. She went from sweet to, um, not-so-sweet in less than a second.

After calming her down we get into the store. I find the section I'm looking for and proceed to start comparison shopping. Then comes the bathroom announcement. So everyone gets gathered up and we head to the bathroom. We get back to the first section and there are no salespeople anywhere in sight. After a trek through two other sections, we finally locate one who says she is knowledgeable about the product I'm looking at. But, she's busy and she'll get there shortly. Over 12 minutes later she finally shows up.

By this time keeping the kids contained at all is almost hopeless. And, of course, she wants to socialize with them. Because, as she explains 4 times over the course of a two minute conversation, she's a retired kindergarten teacher who loves kids. Apparently she does not love sales commissions. I ask again for her to explain the differences between the levels of the three products and she proceeds to read the three little signs posted up in front of the products. Because apparently I couldn't do that myself?

Finally I give up on making an informed decision and do a quick cash to bells and whistles ratio and make a choice. She punches a bunch of information into her iPad and says they have 3 in stock. She rings me up, all the while still trying to engage with the kids. Then she tells me I have to drive around to merchandise pickup.

So, all three kids get herded toward the door, where it proceeds to rain again on the way to the car. Not as bad, but enough that all I hear from Parker is, "it's raining dad, it's raining dad, it's raining dad" over and over and over. I drive 20 seconds around the building and unload all three kids again. We get inside and the three kids run straight over to a vending machine and start pushing buttons. I hand the receipt to the runner and he punches in the code and their little clock starts ticking.

I see the sign on the door saying that 100% of the people who picked up merchandise yesterday had their transaction completed in under 5 minutes. I watch the clock while trying to minimize hurricane children and it stops at 48 seconds. Great, that means my item is headed out the door. 1 minute goes by, 2 minutes, 3 minutes. Finally after 6 1/2 minutes the runner and two other young kids come through the door to tell me that they actually have none of my item in stock and the cashier made a mistake and I should take this return slip and head back to the cashier to either return or exchange the item I never had to begin with. So much for service under 5 minutes.

I look at this kid while Parker tries to flip himself out of my arms and Kiara opens and closes the automatic door. Calmly I ask if there is some way that she can come to me so that I don't have to get the kids in and out of the car again. He says, "Sure, no problem. I'll go get her." Cue another 5 minute waiting period. She comes through the stockroom and Gage looks up and says, "Ugh, you again." After having him apologize, her reply was, "Everyone makes mistakes." Now, at this point, I've been stuck in this tiny room with no air conditioning for close to 20 minutes. In my head I can see my arm raising quickly and backhanding this woman so I turn and pick up Parker and just quietly say, "I'd like to return this." Now I'm down an hour and I've got nothing to show for it. At this point all 3 kids start the hunger complaint.

Across the street I've got a Denny's and a Wendy's. Knowing they haven't even remotely had behavior good enough for kid's meal toys, I opt for Denny's. We get seated and the waitress asks for our drink order. The kids attempt to order smoothies (in flavors they won't even drink) and she writes it down. What type of waitress looks to a 3 year old to order her own food? I correct the order to chocolate milk and she goes to get the drinks. I attempt to get Parker strapped into the high chair (which I liken to Sirius Black's description in Potter 3...It's like trying to catch smoke with your bare hands). Before he's even seated she's back with the drinks asking if we're ready.

At this point, both Gage and Kiara start chattering about what they want and again, she's writing it down. I quickly ask for a minute and get the kids menu. Gage actually knew what he wanted, pancakes, bacon and yogurt. Not my choice, but if he's going to eat it, fine. Kiara wants spaghetti and grapes. Again, fine. I decide on chocolate chip pancakes and grapes for Parker and she's back again. So I let Gage order his while I pick the first thing on my menu. To her credit, she did bring out the yogurt and grapes first so the kids had something to snack on. The yogurt came with this tiny cup of cut up strawberries and syrup. I'm guessing it was just a bit of ice cream topping to mix with the yogurt. Gage set it aside and proceeded to eat the yogurt.

As I'm getting Parker set with his grapes and chocolate milk the rest of the food arrives. The waitress sets down two full containers of maple syrup right in front of Parker. Has this woman never had a table with children before in her life? I'm quick enough to grab one, but he's got three fingers in the other one starting to tip it over before I catch it. So before I can eat, I need to get Parker's food ready and then clean up his mess.

At this point, Kiara has eaten half her grapes and three spaghetti noodles and she's full. Fine, no more food for the rest of the night. So she finishes the grapes. Gage actually eats all his dinner and goes back to the yogurt. Parker eats a few bites of the pancakes, rips through the bacon and the grapes and then tries to get Gage's yogurt. Gage, wanting to be a helpful big brother takes a spoonful to feed to Parker. Half of it ends up in his lap after he grabs the spoon. So now I'm cleaning up Parker again. During this fiasco Kiara manages to dump the strawberries onto the seat of the booth.

I quickly grab a stack of napkins and ask Gage to move. He leans forward. So, I pick him up off the seat and move him to the other side of the table and clean up her mess. I tell them that bedtime occurs as soon as we hit the door of the house. Then, I quickly start gulping down my food and Gage looks over and says, "Dad, we're sorry about all the bad behavior tonight."

I pause and look up ready to condemn that statement as a desperate attempt to get out of an early bedtime and realize that he's being aware of what has gone on and sincere in his apology. So I thank him for the apology and hustle everyone toward the door. Of course, everyone wants the kids menus, crayons and chocolate milk. So Gage and Kiara are juggling all of their stuff while I'm trying to get my wallet out of my pocket holding Parker and his milk. I pay the check, we get out the door and into the car to more rain, I might add.

We get home, I get the kids out of the car and get them onto the porch. I turn to lock the car and hear, "SPLAT!" Gage dropped his milk cup and split the side wide open. Of course, Parker tried to run right at it. So I have hold of his collar, two glasses of milk, my keys and Kiara jumps back away from the milk into my knee which immediately buckles. I set Parker down and line the kids up holding hands to minimize further damage while I unlock the door.

Needless to say we cut the bedtime routine down to under ten minutes. When I took my shoes off and laid back on my bed to decompress, I was so rigid I had to stand back up and stretch before I could fully enjoy laying down. All in all, complete and epic utter FAIL on the evening. Oh yeah, and Terri got caught up in a work emergency and won't be home on time. Joy.

19 Years

19 years ago today, on a random Tuesday, we were sitting on Washington Street waiting for the red light to turn green on our way to a building that doesn't exist anymore when you decided to jump the gun and decided to ask if we were going to be exclusive. Even though I was irritated I didn't get to ask my way (12 minutes...you couldn't have waited 12 minutes?), of course I said yes and now here we are with 3 gorgeous children and a love that grows a little more each day.

19 Years

19 years.
19 years since that Tuesday night.
19 years that brought us to a place I wouldn't trade.
19 years of achieving whatever we put our minds to.
19 years of partners and friends.
19 years that would seem like 19 days without our three tangible expressions of love.
19 years where one touch has more meaning between us than anyone could ever guess.
19 years of proving everyone wrong.
19 years of shared travel.
19 years of loving you more than life.
19 years of never regretting a second.
19 years would mean our relationship can drive, vote and be drafted.
19 years of agreements, disagreements and compromises.
19 years of shared seasons.
19 years of battle changing robots...ok, not really, but we've got to save something for next year, right?
19 years of developing our own level of communication.
19 years of stolen glances.
19 years of viewing you through fresh eyes every day.
19 years haven't been nearly long enough.

I love you completely darling and I always will.

Between now and then til I see you again I'll be loving you, Love me

18 Years

18 years

18 years of shared moments
18 years with everyone saying, "Are you freakin' kidding me? You've been together for 18 years?"
18 years with 3 gorgeous children
18 years defying expectations in our relationship
18 years watching the craziness of the world passing by while holding on to one another
18 years picking up bad habits from one another
18 years = almost 9 1/2 million minutes and each one feels both new and yet comfortable
18 years with 16 anniversary dinners at the same place (and almost the same dinner)
18 years of arguments, agreements, allusions and all our love
18 years with countless automobiles, apartments, collections, but our love staying strong and steady
18 years of watching everyone trying to fathom what we already know, love is all powerful
18 years having so many things become obsolete, but realizing that no matter what may come and go, our love is here to stay (and hopefully that cliche will go at some point)
18 years with my friend, my wife, my love
18 years with your heart next to mine
18 years with my temper and you're snoring (maybe it is a wonder why we're still together)
18 years of laughter far outweighing the tears
18 years never wondering, "what if"
18 years with one steady consistent presence, our love

I love you! We've seen a lot go by in our 18 years and I'm glad I get to experience it all with you. Just think, in another 18 years, we'll have seen all 3 of our children graduate from high school. At least, I hope so. Who knows what the future will bring, but whatever may come, I'll have you by my side to face it all with me.

Between now and then til I see you again I'll be loving you Love, me

17 Years

17 Years

17 years side by side
17 years never once second guessing my decision
17 years grounded in a life of love
17 years of a relationship between Stanley Cups
17 years living around the city we've chosen as home
17 years of making new friends while keeping old friends
17 years playing together
17 years of pictures of our lives
17 years now with two beautiful children (and counting?)
17 years pretending our respective families aren't crazy, but knowing that they really are
17 years wondering how two people seemingly so incompatible on the surface can fit so perfectly
17 years of shorthand relationship notes
17 years of aging and changing...for the better
17 years of watching the world change around us, knowing in our hearts our love will never change
17 years of secrets only we'll ever know
17 years and yes, you are still the one
17 years knowing I could spend 17 lifetimes with you

For 17 years we've watched the world go by safe and secure in the knowledge that whatever else was going on, it wasn't going to touch us. Our foundation has only strengthened over those years and will continue to do so for the next 17 years and beyond.

I love you more today than I ever thought was possible 17 years ago, but now I know that our love knows no bounds.

Between now and then til I see you again I'll be loving you Love, me

16 Years

16 years
16 years of intertwined hearts
16 years of changing technology but unchanging love
16 years building a loving family
16 years working toward a long and prosperous future
16 years of shared stories and events
16 years of stolen moments
16 years of holidays
16 years means 5,840 days together
16 years that can't be erased (nor should they be)
16 years of arbitrary twisting and turning in sync
16 years means our relationship can drive
16 years of sharing everything possible
16 years of wondering why you'd stick with me
16 years of gratefulness that you have
16 years feels more like 16 minutes

To us, my love.


She glided softly down the stairs, only a slight whisper of material and a small click of heel on stair to announce her presence. He glanced up feeling the familiar rush at seeing her, undimmed by the passing years. At the bottom of the stairs he held out his arm, they headed down the hallway to the foyer where he casually draped a wrap over her shoulders. He opened the door and she smiled as she saw the driver holding open the door to a classic Bentley. "And where are we headed?" she asked. "Somewhere special." he answered quickly. He gently closed her door and nodded to the driver, "No reason to hurry. We have plenty of time prior to the reservations." "Very good sir."
He climbed into the backseat and picked up her hand. "I love you!" he whispered. "I know." she answered smiling slightly. As the car headed toward dinner they sat in a comfortable silence enjoying the time. When they pulled up in front of the restaurant she kissed his cheek and said, "I can't believe you remembered." "It's only been 16 years, hon." he answered. "To some, 16 years is a lifetime." "Yes, but to me, it's only a small step at the beginning."

I love you!
Between now and then til I see you again, I'll be loving you. Love, me

Twelve Down Four To Go

Ottawa - check
New York - check
Philadelphia - check and double-check.
Detroit - Here we come.

I'm already weary of the time between series. I want to see hockey and I will tomorrow night. I'm tired of listening to the broadcasters talk about the precision, the puck-possession, and the shut-down defense of Detroit. Detroit's about to get a taste of what depth looks like on offense. Of the forwards only Tyler Kennedy hasn't scored at least one goal for the Pens and it isn't for lack of trying. The Pens aren't going to have the easiest time in the series, but I say they close it out in 6 on home ice in front of 17,132 screaming fans.

When The Puck Drops, The Cradle (Of Liberty, That Is) Will Fall

Bye Bye New York. Tee times vary by clubhouse. Please call ahead. Don't worry about getting enough guys together for doubles, the Flyers will soon be joining you.

That's right, in 6 short games or less (hopefully less) the Flyers will be giving statements to the press wondering what happened to their season.

I'm also predicting that Dallas will push their series to 7 and come out over Detroit.

The four remaining teams are halfway to the ultimate goal, but only two will survive to keep going.

One of the local sports talkshows has a host (and I'd love to have this soundbyte) and he opens a lot of segements and goes to commercial break with "The only thing better than advancing to the Stanley Cup Finals is stepping over the dead carcass of Philadelphia on the way there."

And, of course, there are other things going on besides hockey, but I just haven't had the energy to log on recently in trying to get the house ready for baby and get Gage's birthday invitations out and getting stuff ready for Adam's wedding and etc. etc. etc. Everyone seems to be well so that's an update at least.

I've Seen The Lights Go Out On Broadway, Or At Least I'm Gonna

Alternately titled: I'm Not In A New York State Of Mind
Or maybe: Running On Ice
(Can you tell Terri and I attended the Billy Joel concert Friday night?)
There's much in the way of past weekend wrap-up, but I'm a little too jumbled in those thoughts at the moment so here's the round 2 hockey action. I went 5 for 8, which is a little above my normal 50%.

And, in case anyone's forgotten, the remaining teams are 4 wins closer to holding this.

In the West
Detroit
vs.
Colorado

I'm disappointed that Nashville didn't make it out of the first round, but they shouldn't fret because Detroit won't make it out of the second. Once again, they're showing their age with visible wear and tear. Dominik, I'm retired, no I'm not, yes I am, no I'm not, Hasek is playing like he's already looking forward to summer forcing Osgood to come in and spell him. It's anyone's guess as to who starts round 2. Colorado, even with all their respective aged ones should be able to pull through this in 6 games.

San Jose
vs.
Dallas

It's a shame Calgary didn't make the most of game 7, but then again, no one I wanted won the game 7. I'm predicting that since Turco has a taste of what it's like to win a series, Dallas in 7.

In the East

Montreal
vs.
Philadelphia

Well, after taking their foot off the gas and allowing Boston to make a series of it, Philadelphia liked what they saw and did the same thing for Washington. Turns out Boston missed the memo on what they were supposed to do after getting everything all tied up. Washington made a bit more of a game out of it. Huet just couldn't catch that last one. Two very tied clubs, but I don't think Biron can stand up to Montreal's firepower. I'm saying Montreal in 5.

Pittsburgh
vs.
New York Rangers

Both teams are well rested so one team being rusty shouldn't be a factor. Neither team took major injury losses so that won't matter. And, even though the Rangers aren't quite Pittsburgh East anymore, they still have Jagr, Straka, and Rosival. All in all, it's going to be Pittsburgh in 6.

And, if you didn't get the title...see here and here.

Sweepin Up The Competition

That's right I said Sweep. 4 games for the Penguins to 0 games for the Ottawa Senators. I picked the right outcome, but I was off on the number of games. I thought Ottawa would put up a little bit of a fight. I guess I was wrong. Unless I miscalculated tonight's game, Ottawa held the lead less than 5 minutes in the entire series. (For perspective, 4 games would total 4 hours). Granted, there are times when no one is playing with the lead, but for comparison, the Pens led during the series for well over 2 hours. The 3 stars for the game tonight included Martin Gerber, who, in my opinion, was the only Ottawa player who bothered to show up for the series. Most of the games could have easily been a lot more lopsided if not for him. The series in the West are mostly going my way, although I'm horrible about picking the number of games. I'd still like to see Nashville and Calgary pull it out, but who knows. The games in the East aren't quite as nice to me. Washington hasn't bothered to show up for the last two games. I guess Ovechkin's back isn't as broad as people had hoped. So, if Philly manages to close them out, they'll face Montreal, who has Boston on the ropes. That leaves us with the winner of Devils/Rangers, which right now looks more and more like Rangers. I'm not looking forward to facing Lundquist. But for now, I'll just enjoy the sweep. And, I'm going to game 1 of the second round, dammit.

Other Assorted Items and Hockey Of Course

Okay, I'll start with hockey. Most of the series are headed the way I like, with the exception of the Rangers and Jersey. But, sooner or later, the Rangers will realize that they are, the Rangers, and that will be the end of that run. Pittsburgh has put up two incredible efforts dispelling any notion that Ottawa has the psychological edge on them. After blowing a three goal lead in game two, they hung on and managed to get a beautiful wrap around game winning goal from Ryan Malone, who then proceeded to put in an empty net goal about 45 seconds later. Monday will be the true test up in Ottawa. If they can put Monday's game away, they have a great chance of sweeping and gaining some rest before round two.
I'm growing to like the commercial from the perspective of the goal posts.
Several items have brought about memories of college days recently. It started with reading the 4th novel, Murdered By Mumia by Maureen Faulkner. Not wanting to get into it again, Maureen Faulkner is the widow of the Philadelphia police officer that Mumia Abu Jamal killed in premeditated cold blood in 1981. He's been on death row ever since. When I was writing for the school paper, I was given the assignment to do a story about Mumia since his defense attorney du jour Leonard Weinglass was coming to campus to drum up more support for their "political prisoner" image. Now, I didn't know anything about the case before receiving the assignment. In the span of 4 days, I quickly brought myself up to speed and made my own mind up about the case. However, I spent the next day and a half agonizing, writing, re-writing, editing, reading out loud, scratching, typing, and finally came out with a non-biased account that I was fairly proud of. Turned it in, mentioned to my editor that it was a bit of a task to do a news story on the subject and proceeded to go about my normal set of weekend events (namely buggy). Monday I grab a copy of the paper and I'm thrilled to see top slot above the fold front page. Then I read the article. My editor took the opportunity to use his "editorial pen" to do a slight rewrite on the article and slanted it in favor of Mumia. I was livid since my name was attached to the article. I called immediately and asked where he got off. Three minutes later I had ended my affiliation with the news section of the paper. I continued to submit to the entertainment section doing movie and cd reviews and interviews, but I never submitted another news story. Anyway, reading the novel brought back all those memories and taught me even more about the case. It just amazes me that he's still alive 26 YEARS after being found guilty and sentenced to death by a jury of his peers. It's probably one of the few political issues I take an actual stand on.
The second thing that took me back was the death of Dith Pran on March 30th. I interviewed Mr. Pran when he spoke at Carnegie Mellon. I can't even imagine going through the things that he saw both in and out of his camera lens. He was a diminuitive soft spoken man, but highly articulate and intelligent and he and I had a great conversation that turned into a great article.
Then, of course, there's the ever looming Spring Carnival that occurs next weekend. By this time next week I'll know where my old team finished.
And, Smart People came out this week as well. So, all in all, it's been a blast from the past. I haven't seen smart people yet, but I'll probably see it soon.

Cup Fever, Lord Stanley, and the Beard

Tonight begins the best tournament in sports. Forget the NFL playoffs, the World Series, The Chase for the Cup (although that sounds quite similar), The Final Four, Whatever nonsense Basketball calls their crap, this is it. 16 teams, 7 game series, 16 wins over the course of 2 months and you can hold the Holy Grail of Hockey.
So, here are my picks for the first round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs (as well as a whole lot of hopin.)

Western Conference

1 - Detroit
vs.
8 - Nashville
Nashville is the huge underdog in this series and not just because Detroit won the President's trophy with the best record in the NHL. They are under-experienced in the playoffs even with the addition of Jason Arnott. I'd love to see Nashville pick it up, but I don't think they have the playoff motor primed and ready. Even though they beat Detroit 3 times in the regular season (and came close to making it 5) I think it's going to be Detroit in 6.

2 - San Jose
vs.
7 - Calgary
I don't know much about either team in this series, beyond the fact that a lot of analysts seem to think it'll be the Sharks and Pens in the final (though I disagree with their outcome). I think San Jose is going to make short work of Calgary. San Jose in 5.

3 - Minnesota
vs.
6 - Colorado
Don't know much about this series either. I'm not sure how much of an impact that Forsberg made in the regular season, but I do know he's a handy guy to have around in the playoffs provided he's healthy. I'm going to have say that Minnesota has their number and will take them in a 7 game series.

4 - Anaheim
vs.
5 - Dallas
Anaheim is the defending cup champ and Dallas is known for early and often playoff exits. I think Turco has decided that this is his year to turn that around. Dallas in 7.

Eastern Conference

1 - Montreal
vs.
8 - Boston
Montreal shouldn't have too much difficulty with this series. Tim Thomas isn't ready to carry a team deep, though neither is Carey Price, but with Kovalev filling up the net like he used to, I think it'll be Montreal in 6.

2 - Pittsburgh
vs.
7 - Ottawa
Ah, the rematch from last season. Although the tables are turned and Ottawa is scattered to the injured reserve winds, they have a yappy jackass coach and the experience to dig deep. Unless the Pens can get to them early and often in the first two games, I think this will a little farther than most people think. However, it will be the Wizard of Cros standing at the end of 6 games.

3 - Washington
vs.
6 - Philadelphia
This series will probably be the most brutal in the East. Ovechkin, the face of the Caps picked up the team and carried them into the post-season by kicking Carolina out at the last possible minute. Philadelphia has had an up and down year from sitting atop the division to being on the outside looking in during the last week of the season. They're also a little battered. Biron is not the wall they need him to be and with Ovechkin, Backstrom, and the late acquisition of Federov I think Washington will walk away in 7.

4 - New Jersey
vs.
5 - New York Rangers
Ug, can they both lose? Even though the Rangers have beaten up on New Jersey throughout the season, Brodeur has the ability to put up the invisible force-field in front of his net which will frustrate Jagr to no end and a frustrated Jagr is a whiny cry-baby Jagr and so long have a nice day. Jersey in 7.

So, there you have it. My predictions, half speculation, half hoping, half informed (as usual...I mean what do you expect from a guy with three halves.)

And, though I'm going round by round, you're cordially invited to Pittsburgh in late June or early July for the Stanley Cup rally. I wonder if Snowball will be around to watch?

To Count Or Not To Count

Hmmm, I know that one of the stipulations that I had for the 150 movies over the course of the year is that they were movies that I hadn't seen yet. Whether or not they were at the theater, on dvd, or on satellite didn't seem to matter. However, one thing I hadn't taken into consideration was how they were released. I'm wondering, do I count made for TV movies? I'm curious because this weekend I can either count 4 movies, or 1 depending on how the vote swings. However, the one that definitely counts is Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street.
When I was growing up, it was in a small town with very little in the way of culture. I believe the bowling alley was probably the mecca of civilization. So, I tried to, in essence, "collect" as many different experiences as I could. I tried to venture to Pittsburgh as often as I could to help me out in my quest. This continued right up until college, actually, it hasn't ever really stopped, but my freshman year in college I was exposed to so many different items at different levels it felt like culture shock. One of the things that sticks out vividly in my mind was almost a fluke. My junior year of high school they decided to begin doing musicals. Outside of The Wizard of Oz, Mary Poppins, and The Sound of Music, I wasn't really acquainted with musicals. So, I sort of dove in headfirst. But, until my freshman year of college all I had exposure to were the "normal" musicals. Then, a dramat (drama major) on my floor gave me tickets to Sweeney Todd. I was hooked. At that point, I realized that just like everything else in the world, musicals could be twisted and outside the norm. I had the soundtrack within a week and to this day it's still one of my favorite musicals. However, given it's graphic nature it doesn't get many runs in the traditional sense. So, when it came to Pittsburgh earlier this year, I was there. So, I've seen two very different stage versions and had every intention of seeing the movie when it came out. Of course, with a three year old, making it to the theater for an R rated movie. So, it passed out of the theaters and I almost missed my chance. Then I noticed that one of the cheap theaters in the area picked it up. So, yesterday, we headed down to the 1:15 show thinking that maybe Gage would nap through most of it. Since the theater was also showing The Bee Movie, Terri opted to take him to see that while I went to see Sweeney Todd. I'm glad I went. Johnny Depp did not diappoint. From the minute the score started pumping through the surround sound, I knew it was going to be a good movie. I'd definitely see it again in the theater given the chance. I will be picking up the soundtrack for the movie, even though they shortened or cut some of the songs. I'll also be picking up the DVD when it comes out.
After taking the assessment of made for tv movies, I'll update the counter on the right.
Oh, and today Gage and I got to see the Pens flatten the Flyers 7-1. Gotta love it. That brings the season series a little closer.

14 Years...

of moneymaking, media and pop culture dominance, introducing a mystical world into an otherwise drab "muggle" one, etc. etc.
I am, of course, speaking of Harry Potter and his creator JK Rowling. Although her history with Harry spans much further back, (in fact, another 7 years for 21 total...what is it with this woman and 7's?), the first Harry Potter book was offered to the world at large in 1997. And, rumors confirmed today that the seventh Harry Potter book, "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows" will be split into two parts for a film adaptation with part 1 hitting in November of 2010 and part 2 hitting in May of 2011 (hence the 14 years from '97). The article can be found here for further reading. Contrary to the cynics who are claiming a pure money driven motive, I'm actually glad that it's being split. I like seeing film versions be as true as possible. Hopefully, with the extra film, they'll come close to keeping the plot mostly intact, as opposed to some of the other movies. Honestly, I'm hoping for someone truly ambitious, connected, and wealthy actually goes back at some point 25 or 50 years in the future and remakes all 7 books keeping sub-plots, timelines, and characters intact. The chances of that happening are slim to none because Warner Brothers isn't going to give up a cash franchise that easily unless they have some sort of major stake in the new one. I figure that 25-30 years is going to put some kid who was maybe 7 or 8 when this hoopla started at about just the right age itching to see it done better. (As an aside, I'm at work [didn't want to lose the narrative thread I had in my head] and while listening to the next album up in line, the song 7 Days comes on. Maybe I should go play triple 7's for tonight since I didn't win the Powerball yesterday). Seriously, most of the stuff getting remade nowadays comes from people of our generation who grew up and cut our teeth on this stuff and don't want to see it fade. Why else do we see remakes like Dukes of Hazzard, Bionic Woman, Dallas, Knight Rider, The Incredible Hulk, Wonder Woman, Willie Wonka, etc. Hell, I think the only show they haven't touched is The Waltons and who wants to see that again? Good-Night John Boy. Anyway, done correctly, with a consistent vision (hello gap between 2 and 3, did we hire Trading Spaces to come in and redecorate?) and keeping the books intact, I think it would be good. The 7 or 8 year old with the nostalgia for "his" franchise (because like we owned Star Wars, this kid owns Potter) would be hitting his mid-to late 40s and looking back on what once was. It could happen. Maybe, it should happen. I guess that will have to wait until Christmas of 2011 when the super deluxe special edition of all 7 movies hits shelves just in time for holiday cheer.

"I'll Take The Rapists For $200 Alex"

"That's therapists, not the rapists."
Yes, certainly Sean Connery has his favorite categories on Celebrity Jeopardy. And, an old episode of Cheers had Cliff see his stacked board on the game show. Yesterday, for the first time in a while, I managed to get a chance to sit down and watch Jeopardy. It was a pretty normal game til they announced the categories for
Double Jeopardy. One of the categories was something to the effect of, Quotes from Bruce Willis movies. Terri started laughing and remarked that it was my dream category. And, I did go 5 for 5 on the answers of, "Look Who's Talking," "The Sixth Sense," "The Siege," "12 Monkeys," and "Armageddon."
So, that's 1 out of 11 categories for my dream Jeopardy game. Although I would have used quotes from "Striking Distance," "Hudson Hawk," and the Die Hard movies.
I'm currently watching the Penguins crush the Buffalo Sabres. The score now is 7-3 in favor of the Pens. Gage must be loving the scoring. I'm sure Mommy is getting a ton of high-fives. I was doing some quick figuring on the 150 movies and realized that my movie watching would certainly pick up after hockey season. Hopefully, hockey season for the Penguins will drag on til June. I'll take that.

It's Been A While

Well, of course, I blame work. That lovely catch-all. But enough about a crappy subject. So, I hit several milestones on the lists. I got the first season of TV out of the way, I finished my first novel, and hit 10 movies. All in all, slow progress for it being at the beginning of the third month. But I still have 9 months for 14 more novels, 140 more movies, and 4 more seasons of TV. I have started the next novel and the next season. If all goes well with the seasons of television, I will complete two series with the 5 seasons. Two seasons of F-Troop and 3 seasons of Arrested Development. I would like to finish The Baby Whisperer (book 2) and then head into the 7 Dark Tower books, the Mumia Abu Jamal book Tom gave me for Christmas, and then fill in with 5 other books I've been meaning to read. Although that list fluctuates a lot more. I'd also like to pull several more movies out of my collection to finish as well, but I haven't gotten there. I'm guessing I'll have more television/movie watching time once hockey season is over.
Speaking of hockey, interesting trades. We'll have to see how everything works out. Right now, the Penguins are atop the Eastern Conference. If the playoffs started today, we'd be matched up against the Flyers. Ick. Perhaps the Flyers will lose a few more and fall out of contention all together. Anyway, Crosby is back, Fleury is back, all we need to see now is a healthy Hossa and perhaps Gary Roberts. Hopefully they can ride March into a great playoff match-up and we'll see how deep they go. Oh, and if anyone knows any good girl names, we'll certainly take them under consideration. But they have to be better than Snowball and Broomhilda.

Collecting To Excess And Then Rebuilding

First the rebuilding, mostly because I think it's funnier.
Though I'm not a big baseball fan, I would totally buy this shirt. Tom sent me both that, and this article. It's going to be a long season, I think. On the bright side, they haven't lost a meaningful game yet. I think I'd like to get a t-shirt with the Steelers logo, the Pens logo, and the Pirates logo. Beneath the three logos, "Two Outta Three Ain't Bad"
Now, the next two links deal with collecting to excess. I'll freely admit, my mom is a packrat. Thankfully, I did not inherit this gene. I do, however, enjoy watching my own collections grow. Recently with the posting of the pictures of the library and conversations with some people at work, I've been accused of being a packrat and having too much stuff. I don't think I'm overly afflicted with this. Four things that people automatically leap to point out at my house are (in no particular order) legos, books, music, and movies. However, as I'm sure others will back me on, I know
one person that's got me beat in both movies and legos. Hands down. No contest. Yes, I do have a lot of books at my house, but I have a passion for the written word, both to read and to write. I also have an antique typewriter, three electric typewriters, and a word processor. Anyway, I came across the following two items on back to back days and I don't think that I want to hear anything about my collections ever again.
This collection makes me wish I had three million dollars. I'd probably spend the whole first month of ownership just browsing.
This woman needs some sort of intervention/beating/help/therapy or all of the above. This woman puts my mother to shame. The post has a ton of pictures to load, but it's worth it. Reading the descriptions are even funnier.
So, my collections are just average, everyday normal collections. Just like I've always said.

Retratction!

I guess I should pay more attention to the comments section. I opened it up for revising the answer and then promptly forgot that Randy had upped his guess to 3,500. So, he was the closest to the actual number of books without going over and I guess he gets to keep his showcase showdown. Not much else is going on recently. I watched the Daytona 500 and saw lots of old race footage since it was the 50th Anniversary running. That was pretty cool. I also had 6 of my 8 drivers finish in the top 20 which is a decent week. The other 2 finished in the low 30s, which doesn't go well in the points standings. I'll have to wait for the results to come in to see. And, the Pens managed a win against Buffalo so all in all it was a pretty good weekend. I didn't get to install the light in the nursery like I wanted to, but that will come with time. I mean, I have a ton of time left. Counting down to the current due date, I have a whole 133 days. That's a lifetime, right?

Single-Handedly I Tell You

So, I was at half-price books recently. What, I'm allowed. Anyway, I had methodically gone through the sections and heard a couple of people comment on my "list" that I carry. One of them actually commented to me, which is nice. I usually just hear it second hand. "Look at that guy shuffling papers." Anyway, I'm checking out. The counters at half-price are structured in such a way that they have three sides of a square to check out customers. Frequently, they only use one side, but occasionally there are two open. So, across the counter from me are two women, probably late 30s, early 40s. They are thrilled with the novelty of buying books at a half-price. The second one has her total come up to around $25 and remarks to her friend that in a regular bookstore you would have to pay $25 for just this book and holds one up. Turns out, it's some selection from Oprah's book club. I didn't see which one and as far as I'm concerned it doesn't matter. So, the first woman asks if she's heard anything about the book itself. The second woman actually verbalizes...out loud...in public, the following sentence. "I have no idea, but if Oprah recommends it, then I'll read it." The girl that was ringing up my books almost snapped her neck, her head spun around so fast. (She was, in my opinion, in the end stages of a goth look...kind of grungy, nose-ring, colored hair, but realizing that she was getting a little older) I'm just appalled and beginning to seethe. The two women continue their purchase, take their bags and head for the door. As the door is closing, Terri walks up to me. I turn to her and say, "See, I told you. I actually heard one of those women say out loud, 'If Oprah recommends it, then I'll read it.' I told you that woman is single-handedly destroying literature." The counter girl almost chokes trying not to laugh out loud. Then she turns to me and says, "I'm sorry, can I get a high-five for that? I'm not allowed to say things like that here, but since you did I'm going to agree." So, I exchanged high-fives with the counter girl with Terri rolling her eyes that not only is someone in agreement, but they're willing to admit it. She figures that's all I need and know she's going to have to listen to my anti-Oprah rant for the next several hours. Luckily, I was appeased by the high-five and the eventual thought of relating the story here.
Oh, and because I let it linger a bit too long, the final tally on the books contained just in the loft/library (that doesn't count books housed in the bedrooms, living room, dining room, or kitchen) is 3,573. So, that would make Susie the closest.

It's Official...I'm Screwed

Well, go ahead and laugh, everyone else has. And, while you're doing that, you can meet my daughter (name pending...I'm sure that will cause several more posts in and of itself.)
Tonight, instead of relaxing and watching the Pens beat the Devils, I have to clean out 1/2 of the loft so that someone can have her scrapbooking area available to her. This may be the first time in 15 1/2 years that I've lost a bet to my wife. I think the only one truly happy by all of this is Gage who adamantly kept insisting that he wanted a little sister. We're going to videotape that for later review. Like when she breaks his favorite toy, or starts dating his best friend.