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daily journal
Winter Classic  This New Year’s Day the Blackhawks and Redwings face off in Wrigley Field for the NHL’s 2009 Winter Classic. Hockey outside at Wrigley field featuring two of the “Original Six” NHL teams. That is classic.Season ticket holders and "NHL Winter Classic partners" get a first crack at seats. After that, how tickets will be distributed to the rest of the public is going to be left up to a lottery. Registering at www.chicagoblackhawks.com between now and 10:59 a.m. on Friday, Nov. 28, 2008 enters you in a drawing for the opportunity to buy tickets. You can enter only once and the league hasn’t said how many tickets a lottery winner will be allowed to buy. I’ve signed up. Now I expect my dad, sister, brother, brother-in-law, and wife to sign up so we can pool our resources and increase our chances of landing some tickets. Labels: Chicago Blackhawks, Family, Sports posted by Brendan | 3:09 PM | permanent link |
Happy Birthday Dad You're 62 today. I was going to drink a 6-pack of Stroh's beer and fall asleep on the couch watching some random sporting event in your honor, but I couldn't find any Stroh's and frankly, I'm just not that tired. Don't know how you do it. You're a unique guy.  Labels: Family posted by Brendan | 10:28 PM | permanent link |
Autumn 2008 Photo Parade The parade is short, but there are some fun photos from activity we were involved in over the last few months. Make sure you take a look at all of the photos. posted by Brendan | 11:47 PM | permanent link |
Birthday Cake Idea Heather, I know this is sorta last minute, but I found the birthday cake I would like to have this year. The kids at Confetti Cakes already made one, so you pretty much just need to replicate their handy work. I know you are up to the challenge.  Oh, it took them 12 days to build the cake. But you work fast, I'm confident it won't take you that long. posted by Brendan | 1:04 PM | permanent link |
Write This One Down. It’s A Good One. Today is Irish comedian Hal Roach’s birthday.  When my brother and I were little, my grandparents used to play Hal Roach comedy albums for us all the time. Roach’s humor is (was?) somewhat goofy and certainly corny; perfect for impressionable 7 and 8 year-old boys. The subject of his comedy was mainly Irish life – at least the mildly stereotypical Irish life, that was structured around short stories with a few one-liners thrown in for good measure. My brother and I ate his comedy up. We memorized his routines and could do all of his jokes.Time has worn some of those jokes from my memory, but I surprised myself by referencing one of Roach’s jokes while talking with a co-working this afternoon. After explaining who Hal Roach was and supplying some more examples of his jokes (the co-worker wasn’t too impressed), I decided to see what I could find on the web regarding Roach. Not entirely surprisingly, there was very little information to be found regarding Roach. His Wikipedia entry is barely a few paragraphs long and there doesn’t seem to be anything else out there besides stores selling one or two of his albums. No personal website. No news. No anything. All I was really able to learn was that today is his birthday. So, happy birthday Hal Roach. posted by Brendan | 8:41 PM | permanent link |
Butterfinger Debate Heather and Ian love Butterfinger candy bars. I can't get past the unnatural orange glow the inside of the candy gives off. Today's Sheldon comic strip celebrates this difference of opinion.  Labels: comic strips, Family, Fun posted by Brendan | 10:43 AM | permanent link |
I Am a Goofy Suburban Dad A number of years back I reflected on the fact that we had become one of those families. When Heather purchased a giant inflatable Scooby-Doo, we became a family that had embraced the popular trend of turning Halloween into a holiday on par with Christmas when it comes to home decorations.  The other night, as I worked in the cold and the pitch dark to set up our inflatable Scooby-Doo on the front yard after getting home from work, I couldn't help but wonder what sort of goofy suburban dad Halloween was turning me into.Ian, Emma, and Zoe all wanted Scooby set up (Though Ian did complain that Scooby was a bit too "kiddie". He was hoping we could be some real scary decoration for our house) and I had planned on staking Scooby's spot out on the front yard this past weekend. However, a rainy Saturday and a very windy Sunday meant that Scoob didn't make it out of the garage before I headed back to work on Monday morning. But a promise is a promise, so there I was outside on Monday night around 8pm with a flashlight sorting out which way the deflated Scooby had to be oriented so that when he was full of air he would be ready to great all our visitors come trick-or-treat time this Friday. Thirty minutes and ten frozen and slightly banged up fingers later; Scooby was standing proudly and Heather and the kids were all rejoicing in Scooby's return to the front yard. Five years ago I don't know if I would have ventured out into the dark to set up an inflatable yard decoration for Halloween. What am I saying? I know I wouldn't have done that. It's these kids. The more I get to know them, the more it makes me want to do things for them. I still don't see the appeal or necessity in all of these Halloween decorations. I'm reluctant to even refer to it as a holiday. But if it's what makes Ian, Emma, and Zoe (and even Heather) happy, then I guess it is my lot in life to be that goofy suburban dad outside in the dark Labels: Family posted by Brendan | 11:32 PM | permanent link |
I Consider It My Duty Before we launch into tonight's story, remember one thing: my favorite cable network is Turner Classic Movies. Now read on. I take a fair amount of ribbing from Heather for how long the kids' baths take on the nights that I supervise. And while I admit that I tend to goof around and create a fair amount of distractions for the kids, in the end I think we all have a fun time and everyone ends up clean and in pajamas. Part of my shtick is to sing - either make up ridiculous songs or sing songs from old movies. My musical interludes are always halted by pleas for silence from the children, but not before I steal a laugh or smile from the horribly embarrassed child. For the last two nights that I was helping Emma with her bath I had been singing "Let's Call the Whole Thing Off." Instead of demanding that I stop singing, Emma seemed interested in the tune and started asking me about it. I told her it was from a movie, Shall We Dance, and that it was sung by a man and a woman right before they did some really neat dancing on roller skates. My explanation seemed to bolster her interest, so I showed her this clip from the movie. Emma's first question upon seeing Ginger and Fred dancing was, "Are those people real?" Yes, I told her, those are real people singing and doing those amazing dance moves while perched up on roller skates. She agreed with me that Ginger Rodger and Fred Astaire were not only good dancers, but good roller skaters as well. Overall she seemed very impressed with Astaire's and Rodger's performance. Before bed that night Emma told Heather about the song and about the video clip I had showed her from the movie. Heather could see how the five minute clip had captured Emma's imagination. Heather turned to me and said, "You're bound and determined to convert one of them (one of our three kids) into a fan, aren't you?" "I consider it my duty," was my reply. Labels: classic movies, Family posted by Brendan | 11:15 PM | permanent link |
Somber Thoughts The tanking U.S. stock market has me a little spooked, but not in a panic. I'm young, and as long as I don't lose my job, I figure there is still plenty of time for me to ride things out as far as Heather and my investments are concerned. However, in all the stories and analysis that I've read concerning the market meltdown, one reoccurring point that is made is how devastating this week's crash could be on retirees or soon to be retirees who still had money wrapped up in stocks. Which of course led me to consider my mom's and dad's situation. Both in their early 60's, I wonder how or if this market collapse is going to alter their retirement plans. Then I saw this editorial cartoon as part of a collection by John McCutcheon, the "Dean of American Cartoonist", and it only strengthened that concern.  It is interesting how even with so much attention made to learn from history so that the same "bad" things aren't repeated, we still find a way to muddle into "bad" situations that are eerily like events of the past. While I think we've learned too much to end up in another Depression like America experienced in the 1930's, we do seem headed for some sort of recession/depression unlike anything we had since then. posted by Brendan | 8:50 PM | permanent link |
As If They Needed Encouragement After Heather and I moved to Chicago and were preparing to celebrate our first Christmas with our 1 year-old son, Ian, in our new house, my Mom asked if she could come over Christmas morning to watch Ian open the presents Santa had brought him. Ian is my Mom's first grandchild, so she tends to get a little over-excited about some of the things he does. I politely turned her down, stating that Heather and I wanted Christmas morning to be for just our immediate family and I reminded her that we would be coming over to her house later in the day for dinner, etc. She would have plenty of opportunities to watch Ian experience the joys of Christmas as a young child. Well, what if she still came over Christmas morning but stood outside and peaked in through the window, was the counter-proposition. I always assumed she was joking about standing outside and looking in the through the window, but to be honest, I was never quite certain on that. If a new report from the Australian government concerning the role of grandparents in the development and well-being of their grandchildren had been released before that Christmas, there probably wouldn't have been any way of deterring her. Grandparents play a critical role in their grandchildren's lives, helping boost their development even through simple activities such as reading to them or going shopping together, an Australian study said.With those stats at her disposal, I probably would have had to chase her away with a broom or install blackout curtains that Christmas morning so many years ago. posted by Brendan | 12:02 PM | permanent link |
Lawyers - Always Good for a Laugh For about a week now Sheldon has been poking fun at the honorable profession of laywerin'. Being the son of a attorney/judge, who grew up surrounded by attorneys and now has a sister who is an attorney, I think this sort of stuff is great. The lawyer funnies start here. These are two of my favorites.   Labels: comic strips, Family posted by Brendan | 9:57 PM | permanent link |
Dad - You Gotta Think These Things Through The first car my brother Kevin and I got to own/drive as teenagers in high school was a 1979 Dodge Colt. The story (at least how my Dad told it) was that the car was offered up as partial payment for legal services rendered by our father, the attorney. Looking back, Kevin and I (16 and 17 years-old respectively at the time) would probably have preferred what DeKalb, IL attorney Scott Robert Erwin traded his legal services for instead of the crusty black hatchback my Dad received out of his negotiations for payment. Stripper's private dancing lands DeKalb lawyer in hot waterI'm not saying that Kevin and I weren't grateful for the car, Dad. I just think that maybe you didn't think this bartering for legal services all the way through. Labels: Family posted by Brendan | 4:50 PM | permanent link |
Inside the McKillip Castle Came across two pieces of comic art that I think accurately captures what an evening at home in the McKillip Castle with Heather and I is usually like.   They aren't perfectly representative of course. Heather doesn't smoke and she doesn't have to ask me to take the garbage out. I'm more than eager to throw things out of our house. But I think you get the idea. posted by Brendan | 10:33 PM | permanent link |
Wisconsin Has The Best Roadside Signs When I was young lad going somewhere with my parents, there were a few telltale roadside signs that announced to my brother, sister and I that we were headed for fun. Driving over the Thorton Quarry on I-294/I-80 meant we were leaving Illinois to the East, headed out through Indiana to probably somewhere in Michigan (we never did anything in Indiana). Camping and apple picking were the usual activities. Seeing the giant Magikist lips sign on the Eisenhower Expressway meant we were almost to downtown Chicago, which could mean almost anything could be happening next. And the huge wooden Wisconsin sign on I-90 meant we had entered Cheeseland: Chicago’s collective backyard playground. More than likely it meant we were on our way to spend a week at Lake Delavan swimming and playing with cousins in a small cottage that my Grandfather had rented for a week or two for the whole family to share.  Seemingly perpetual construction on I-294/I-80 means I take a different route when headed east out of Illinois, so no more crossing the abyss of the quarry; and the Magikist sign was taken down about ten years ago. So that leaves the hulking wooden replica of the state of Wisconsin hanging on the side of the road as one of my fonder childhood vacationing/traveling memories that I still get to revisit.Last year my Dad restarted the tradition of renting a cottage on Lake Delavan for a week in the summer and inviting the family up to stay. It has been great fun for me to take Heather and the kids to a place I have so many great memories of. It has also provided me the opportunity to see the Wisconsin sign in context of a drive to Delavan again and know that the sign not only marked our arrival in Wisconsin, but that we were only about half an hour away from our final destination. This year I pulled the van over and had the kids get out so we could get some photos next to the sign. Cheesy? Maybe, but this is Wisconsin after all.  There was some grumbling and dirty looks, but the agony of dragging them out for the photo op paid off when Heather found a magnet depicting the roadway sign. The kids were just as excited as she was to find this perfect souvenir. They have always had a wonderful time when we’ve vacationed up in Wisconsin, and now they are associating that fun with its roadside marker – the wooden Wisconsin sign.Labels: Family posted by Brendan | 1:12 PM | permanent link | Congratulations Kevin! My brother received his 3rd Joseph Jefferson Award Nomination in 5 years this morning. His second nomination in as many years. For his work as Eustace in Jeeves Intervenes with the First Folio theater company he is being honored with a nomination for Actor in a Supporting Role - Play. I am extremely proud and excited for Kevin to be recognized and honored by the Chicago theater community like this again. And I look forward to being there to support him when the awards are handed out in late October. Labels: Family posted by Brendan | 8:17 AM | permanent link |
Hey, I Built Something (Sorta) Back in April one of the neighbors on our block was moving out. They had one of those large wooden play sets that have become so popular among suburban families. Big heavy lumber, lots of swings and things to climb on. It’s like having a playground play set right in your own backyard. The new owners didn’t want the play set in the back yard, so the soon-to-be previous owners were breaking it apart on their way out. Heather got to talking with them, and before you can say “Bargain Hunter” Heather had them carrying the pieces of the partially dismantled play set into our backyard. It was a great move by Heather. These play sets – at least one of the size the neighbors gave us – will usually cost around $1,400. We’d gotten it for free. Now I just had to figure out how to put it all together.  The problem was that the soon-to-be previous owners hadn’t been taking the set apart so that it could be reassembled easily. They were basically trying to break it down into moveable parts as quickly as possible. If that meant using their trusty sawzall to slice through bolts and screws, so be it. And as for directions or a schematic for how the play set went together, forget it. We were coming by this play set third-hand. It had been constructed (and as we learned later, with some custom alterations to the original plan) by the family who lived in the house before the family that was donating the play set to us. So any knowledge of how the thing went together was lost.Luckily I was able to get some great help in figuring how to put the whole thing back so the kids could play on it. My Father-in-Law came visiting in late April. It ended up being too cold and wet to work on the play set, but he was able to help me figure out roughly how all the pieces might go together. Our walk through a probable building plan in the rain ended up being critical in figuring out this three dimension puzzle went together when the weather warmed up and I could get some muscle in my backyard for a few days. The muscle arrived on Father’s Day in June (May was a very busy month). My Brother-in-Law and my Dad graciously decided to forgo more traditional Father’s Day celebrations and instead help me move the seemingly 900 pound main structure into place in my backyard. (Every one laughed at my Dad's idea of sliding the monstrosity along to 2x8's - but I believed in the idea and loved proving everyone wrong and my Dad right.) Even when the rain started, they remained outside with me to get the main post back in place and raise the slide platform. Ian even helped for awhile. At least until he grumbled about being in a "work camp" and searched out his Mom and Aunt for something more fun to occupy his time with. The following weekend my Dad came back early Saturday morning and we worked all day to put the remaining platform in place, get the swing arm up, and dig out the ground so the whole structure would lay flat. As with any good home project, there were a few trips to the hardware store to pick up some different bolts and screws (I tried to use all new hardware whenever possible), but in the end the help my father provided was invaluable.  Now that I have hung the swings, put up the ladder, and secured the climbing wall and slide, the kids think we have the greatest play set on the block. Zoe even told me that I was the best builder in the whole world. I didn’t try correcting her by reminding her of all the help that I had received in building this play set, but I did think it. I’m not sure if or how I can repay my Dad and Father-in-Law for the assistance they provided, but I’m sure I’ll get a chance for returning favors for my Brother-in-Law and sister. They’re young, with plans of starting a family, so I pretty sure there will be a play set in need of construction somewhere in their future.Labels: Family posted by Brendan | 9:49 PM | permanent link | Tired of Batman? Hey, if your tired of reading about Batman and comic book related stuff, you should go read Heather's blog. She's got fun stuff. Labels: Family posted by Brendan | 9:07 PM | permanent link |
Magic Trixie  Magic Trixie is the latest creation from Jill Thompson, she of Scary Godmother fame.Magic is a first grader who happens to be a witch, and is surround by a wonderfully eccentric cast of family and friends. Thompson's artwork looks fantastic, as usual, and her past work on Scary Godmother leads me to believe the Magic Trixie books are going to be something special. Thompson's deal to write/draw the Magic Trixie books was announced way back in 2006 and I'm glad to see them making their way to books stores this summer. I can't wait to pick up one or two of these books for Emma and Zoe. I think Magic Trixie will be a big hit. The books: Magic Trixie Magic Trixie Sleeps Over The blog: Magic Trixie posted by Brendan | 10:59 AM | permanent link |
Why Heather Makes Sure Ian Gets to the Library Every Monday Otherwise, something like this would eventually happen.  posted by Brendan | 9:03 PM | permanent link | Where I Finally Start Making Sense of at Least Part of My Childhood According to the Smithsonian (and the photo below from their Flickr stream of photos), it’s been illegal to send a child as postal post item through the U.S. Postal Service since 1913. Apparently after parcel post service was first introduced, at least two children were sent by the service after their parents (presumably) stuck a bunch of stamps to the child’s clothing. The Postmaster General quickly put the end to the practice.  Despite it being outlawed in 1913, I believe that parcel post is how my baby sister arrived at our house. As a youngster I don’t recall my mom being pregnant, nor can I find any photographs from 1979 of my mom being pregnant. Yet my sister showed up at our house to take up residence in the spring of 1979. I went to kindergarten class one day, came home and there was a baby sister. Once or twice my dad explained that he and my mom had bought my sister from gypsies; but I never saw gypsies having around our neighborhood so I dismissed my father’s claims. But I never considered the possibility of someone mailing my sister to our house until now. Mail order babies from gypsies suppliers. It all makes sense now. Sure, the Postmaster General says that people can’t send babies by mail, but that doesn’t mean people still don’t do it. You’re supposed to pay somebody whenever you play/sing “Happy Birthday to You.” It is a copyrighted song. That doesn’t stop people from belting it out and Grandpa’s birthday shindig. So I guess my dad was right. My sister was bought from gypsies. They just mailed her to us. posted by Brendan | 8:59 PM | permanent link |
The Post In Which I Reveal the Full Depths of My Geekitude My dad surprised me with a Father’s Day gift this past Sunday. I thought the gift was undeserved considering the reason he was at my house on Father’s Day (other than to celebrate all things Dad) was to help me move the 4 ton, partially built wood playset sitting in my backyard to a better location. I give him a bad back and achey arm and leg muscles. He gives me a present. Doesn’t seem fair, but then again, I don’t think I would do any less for Ian if I was in my dad’s position.  Anyway, the gift he gave me was a replica Indiana Jones fedora. 100% wool felt and sturdy construction. Looks just like the hat Harrison Ford sports in the films. For an Indy fan like myself, it’s the ultimate in cool.Now, I’m sure that my baby sister will say she’s known this since the late 1980’s, but I have now realized the full extent of my geek existence. It’s not enough that I quote dialogue from Star Wars movies, struggle to suppress the urge to lecture for thirty minutes when I hear someone innocently ask, “Are there any other super heroes, other than Batman, who don’t have super powers?”, and still have my 20-sided die sitting around here somewhere; since receiving that Indiana Jones fedora from my dad I can’t help but want to wear it whenever I can. Wearing the hat is fun. I hear the John Williams-penned Indy theme music running through my head. The experience of wearing the Indy hat reminds me of playing Indiana Jones with my brother when we were kids. I was always Indy, dressed in an old fedora my mom had sitting around, a rope “whip”, and a shoulder bag that was really a schlocky American Indian-themed canteen holder that we’d bought in the Wisconsin Dells. Kevin was always the bad guy I was beating the crap out of. Good times.  The fedora was on my head all last night while I did the dishes, watched the end of the Cubs-Rays game, hauled all the trash out to the curb, and cleaned up the downstairs. In and of themselves boring tasks – with the exception of the Cubs game – but with the hat on it brought a little fun to the work.Is a married thirty-five year-old father of three running around the house in a replica Indiana Jones fedora an indicator of an emotionally stunted man-child? Maybe. Is it geeky as all hell? Definitely. But I don’t care. I wore the hat last night because it was fun to do so, and I’ll do it again tonight if the feeling grabs me. Because it isn’t just any old hat, it’s Indiana Jones’ hat. Labels: Family, Fun, Indiana Jones posted by Brendan | 9:57 PM | permanent link |
Wordle Wordle: making art with words. Give it a try. It’s fun.  Labels: Family, Illustration posted by Brendan | 10:13 AM | permanent link |
Meow Meow Tonight, Heather was grocery shopping, so I was on my own getting the kids ready for bed. While reading the girls their stories, I somehow ended up on a tangent telling them about the Meow Mix cat food commercial I remember watching as a kid. They didn't believe my claim that such a commercial existed. Especially the part about the cat singing. So while they brushed their teeth, I searched YouTube. Good 'ole YouTube Halfway through the first viewing, Emma and Zoe were laughing so hard I thought they were going to fall out of their chairs. I think we watched the thirty-second commercial five or six times before I ushered them off to bed. Tomorrow, maybe, I'll show them this site. posted by Brendan | 9:08 PM | permanent link | Baconhenge Earlier this week Heather asked me if there was anything special I wanted her to cook as part of our Father’s Day celebration this upcoming Sunday. Because Heather is a certified wunderkind in the kitchen, I told her that I would leave the menu in her capable hands. I wouldn’t muddle the situation with my pedestrian culinary suggestions. In thirteen years she hasn’t let me down, and I expect her to deliver this Sunday once again. However . . . I ran across this little item this morning while perusing the interwebs. Knowing our family’s love of bacon (The Candy of Meats!), I think it would be a surefire winner.  Baconhenge – bacon and french toast sticks arranged majestically over an egg and potato frittata.That's the way to celebrate Father's Day. posted by Brendan | 8:54 PM | permanent link |
Bursting With Cuteness  If I could figure out how to bottle and sell this cuteness, I would be a billionaire. Labels: Family posted by Brendan | 9:31 PM | permanent link |
Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull Yesterday morning Ian and I went to go see Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull. Despite (or maybe in defiance of) a phone call from my father the night before warning me about two scenes in the movie that he thought might be too much for Ian to handle, I figured the opportunity to see the Indiana Jones on the big screen with Ian out-weighed any concerns my dad might harbor. So we loaded ourselves into the car to catch the 10:20am showing on Memorial Day.  For most of the kids of my generation, the Indiana Jones films are one of the cultural touch points that provide us with a shared modern mythology to reference and be inspired by. Naturally as we grew up and had children of our own, we would want to share these movies with our kids. Just like my Dad shared the Westerns he watched as a boy with my brother, sister, and me; I have enjoyed screening movies I grew up on with for Ian, Emma, and Zoe. I’ve had to hold back and wait on some of my favorite movies until they were old enough to handle the content, but now my kids are hitting the age that I can start sharing more than just cartoons with them.Even before the official film rating was announced, I knew that Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull would end up tagged PG-13. Considering the sorts of stories George Lucas and Steven Spielberg like to tell with Indy, and considering Temple of Doom was one of the films that helped usher in the new rating category back in the mid-1980s, the PG-13 rating was a foregone conclusion. Ian is still only 8 years-old (only about two months from hitting 9), putting him outside of the “recommended” film viewing age. However, a couple of weeks ago, while talking about Indiana Jones with Ian, I realized that I was exactly his age when I went to go see Raiders of the Lost Ark. Raiders had guys being impaled on hidden spears and dudes’ faces melting. If I could handle that when I was Ian’s age, then I figured Ian could handle anything Lucas/Spielberg threw at us in Kingdom of the Crystal Skull, MPAA rating system be damned. So that’s where we were Memorial Day morning – about 10 rows up, dead center, waiting for Indy to show up and entertain us and the 60 or so other dads my age who had brought their kids as well. Ian and I both really enjoyed the movie. Ian because it was big action film up on the big screen and he was sucked into the sort of movie watching experience he can’t get at home: a monstrous wall of image and sound that transports him to another world for two hours of entertainment. I enjoyed seeing Harrison Ford in the familiar fedora again - making things up as he went along, but always managing to end up on top of some spectacular situation even when you couldn’t quite figure out how he was going to do it. We both thought it was just a flat out fun movie to watch. That’s not to say that the film was a perfect Indiana Jones movie. It never felt like the story provided a compelling reason why Jones would be hunting for the crystal skull. The motivation to get the plot rolling was flimsy and felt sloppily thrown together. At times Dr. Jones did things just because, well, the story needed him to do that particular thing. I guess I saw some artificial pushes in the plot that bothered me. Plus, it was always fairly obvious that the first three Indy movies were adventure films in the spirit of the Saturday morning serials of the 1940s. Kingdom of the Crystal Skull was supposed to draw its inspiration from the sci-fi flicks of the 1950s, or at least according to interviews with George Lucas and Steven Spielberg I read. The problem was that the film makers didn’t take Indy far enough into that ‘50’s sci-fi genre in my opinion. It was like they tried to bridge between Indy the adventurer from the 1940’s with saucer men from Mars. Instead of a blend, the film came off – at least genre-wise - muddied. It didn’t seem full out adventure like the earlier Indy films, but not quite 1950’s/Red Scare sci-fi.  But those are minor complaints when I consider the experience of the film as a whole. The Kingdom of the Crystal Skull was a lot of fun, like any good Indiana Jones movie should be. Great action sequences packed around funny moments and character moments, and I was pleasantly surprised by Shia LaBeouf'’s performance and his character – both of which I was expecting to dislike. I don’t know if I can accept Mutt as the heir apparent to the Indy film franchise – as is hinted at towards the end of the film, but Indy and Mutt teamed up together were fun to watch.I enjoyed the return of Marion Ravenwood, though I felt the script didn’t give Karen Allen quite enough to do. Yes, her smile lit up the screen – and that was much appreciated. I just wish they had worked her into the story a little more. Hell, they should have dropped Mac from the story to make more room for Marion. I was often asking myself why Mac was even in the last thirty minutes of the movie. He did do or say anything. (Incidentally, Ian wasn’t scared by the scenes my dad warned us about. He was, however, spooked by a completely different scene. But it was just one, and he seems to have handled it just fine.) All in all it was a great time. We both enjoyed the movie, and if Ian’s behavior after the film is any indication – asking about getting the movie when it comes out on DVD, spending half an hour on the Indiana Jones website, and telling everyone he saw on Monday about the movie – I think I created another Indiana Jones fan. Labels: Family, Indiana Jones, movies, Review posted by Brendan | 11:12 PM | permanent link |
Saturday Mornings Scott Johnson, he of the ExtraLife website and comic, wrote a great post yesterday that captured the fun and relaxed pace of Saturday mornings that I remember from when I was a kid. His description of what went on in those early hours is spot on - even the part about another sibling already being downstairs, wrapped up in a blanket on the couch, watching cartoons by the time he makes his way to the TV. My sister Wendi is already on the couch, wrapped up tightly in a red and white checkered blanket often used for picnics or fourth of July family fireworks displays. She says nothing…she is already watching The Super Friends.If you grew up in the 80's, read the whole post. I think you will enjoy it. Ian is almost to that stage - getting himself up in the morning and downstairs to do whatever he wants - but he still looks for help with breakfast. Give his sisters another year or two, and I think they will be down there with him. If we can get them all (or at least convince Ian to to help out) to start pouring their own cereal and milk without major accidents, then Heather and I can both enjoying sleeping in Saturday mornings. posted by Brendan | 1:17 PM | permanent link |
What Prom Taught Me This Year This past Saturday night, the school that Ian and Emma attended held an adult prom. I don’t know if it was intended as a fund raiser for the financially strapped Catholic school, but Heather and I went anyway. The idea of a prom for parents sounded like a lot of fun, and Heather was looking for an excuse to wear the bride’s maid dress that she bought for my sister’s wedding a number of years back one more time.  Luckily I didn’t have to rent a tux to go along with my wife’s grown-up prom dress. My dad owns a tuxedo which I was able to borrow and wear because my dad and I are essentially the same size. At first that weirded me out a bit, but after a little reflection I considered our similar builds a good omen. Currently I’m 35 years-old, 5’ 10”, about 163 pounds, and relatively comfortable with the size and shape of my body. My dad is 61 years-old, 26 years my senior, and apparently he and I can share clothing. If I can live another 26 years and still be wearing the same clothing I am today – especially considering that those years will be spent living with my crazy cake-baking wife – then I will be very pleased with how things have turned out.Of course, I am making the assumption that 26 years of minimal weight gain is in my future because I’ve got half of my father’s genes in my genetic make-up (did I mention that my mom is also roughly the same size as when she was in her 30’s? That should count for something too). But that assumption does beg the question: to maintain my 35 year-old size into my 60’s do I have to start running regularly? Let me explain. When my dad hit his mid-30’s he started road running. He was out running every morning. He ran 5Ks and 10Ks. He ran in all varieties of charity runs. He did the Chicago Marathon a number of times. And he still runs – though I don’t think as frequently – today. So that’s why I ask myself the question, “Do I have to start running”? And I mean seriously running every day so that I might wear the same shirt I have on today again on May 5, 2034? Crap, I hope not. I took up the sport of road running for a while. I ran a few of those 5Ks and 10Ks with my dad. I really didn’t like running. I thought it was boring. Of course I was just a kid then and a lot of things I thought boring when I was a kid are no longer boring to me now. None the less, I’ve pretty much stayed away from running as exercise since then. This past fall Heather bought a treadmill for $5 at a garage sale and we put it in our renovated basement. One of my New Year’s Resolutions was to start using that treadmill a few times a week (One, I wanted to justify the existence of the thing in our basement. Two, I knew some extra exercise would do me good.). Surprisingly enough, I have kept that resolution – more or less. It hasn’t been as regular as I planned, but I still get down there and walk/run for 30 minutes. What surprised me more than me keeping the resolution this far into the year was how much I didn’t find running on the treadmill boring. It was a 180-degree reversal from my impression of running when I was a kid. I found it relaxing to be clipping along in a steady trot, the rhythmic patting of my shoes on the surface creating a hypnotically soothing sound. In fact, I caught myself wondering that if I found running on the treadmill enjoyable, what would it be like to actually run on the streets and see something different than the same wall for 30 minutes? That could almost be . . . fun. So now the convergence of my possible interest in running meets the revelation that my dad and I, despite 26 years difference, are basically the same size, which slams into my desire to replicate what my dad has done. My brain can’t stop fitting this information into a logical argument that goes something like: You are your father’s sonWhen I start this post, it was supposed to be about going to the dance, these goofy photos of Heather and I from our high school proms, and how I was the only one in the building who knew the words to “Swinging On A Star” by Bing Crosby when the DJ played it. (Well, the guy who requested it probably knew, but on a night where 90% of the prom attendees were in their 30s and 40s and the music was a mix of 70’s album rock and cheesy 80’s pop, hearing Crosby’s crooning blast over the speakers stuck out like a sore thumb. And singing along with Bing made me an even bigger sore thumb, at least until Heather made me stop.) Obviously I didn’t end up anywhere near that. The prom was a lot a fun and the turn out of parents makes it likely that there will be another prom next year. If Heather and I attend, I can only imagine what sort of mid-life revelation I'll encounter. This year I learned I need to start running to keep up with my dad. Next year it will probably be something about wearing sweater vests or learning to enjoy the Weather Channel. Labels: Family posted by Brendan | 9:59 PM | permanent link |
Happy Days  Heather has started to receive more requests to make cakes for parties and such. Sure, most of the orders are from family members, but she has her first non-family cake to make later this month.The increased interest in her cake making abilities has Heather wanting to experiment with some new recipes and decorating techniques so that she might be able to add them to her repertoire. She doesn't want to try out anything new on a cake she is making for someone, so she has decided to use Ian, Emma, Zoe, and I as her But we don't mind, because the more Heather wants to experiment the more cake we get to eat. Tonight it was a new recipe (devils food and yellow cake marble) plus a new frosting application technique. Both were a great success. posted by Brendan | 10:52 PM | permanent link |
Typical Dinner Conversation We were having smoked sausage as part of our dinner this evening when Ian found a red spot in his sausage. “I think I found where they shot the pig,” he proclaimed with the slightest hint of disgust in his voice. “Not really,” I corrected. “First, to make sausage they grind up the meat and pack it into a sausage casing. All that grinding up would hide how they might have killed the pig. Second, they don’t shoot pigs to make sausage or bacon.” Apparently unsatisified with my answer, Ian pressed on.  “Oh, so they stab ‘em?”“No, they don’t stab them and they don’t shot them. They kill the pigs another way.” Ian continued to search for an answer. “How do they kill them?” “You know, this really isn’t dinner conversation,” I said to cut Ian off while scenes from The Jungle ran through my head. But now Zoe joined the conversation. “Will you tell us after dinner?” I caved. "Sure, I tell you after dinner." There’s something to look forward to, I thought, explaining how pigs are slaughtered in mass. I figured the topic was closed for the time being, but then Ian provided this little nugget. “Well, I bet they don’t kill the pigs with food poisoning.” I almost choked on my bite of sausage. The image of killing a pen of pigs with poisoned food was too funny. Food poisoning is certainly a unique idea, but not too healthy of an option if you plan to eat the animal. But I had to hand it to Ian for continuing to look for an answer when his first two ideas where shot down. Between gasps of air as I tried to catch my breath from laughter, I assured Ian that livestock was not killed with food posioning. And, thankfully, was the end of our discussion on the slaughter techniques used on pigs. posted by Brendan | 9:58 PM | permanent link |
Where Ian and I Both Learn Something Yesterday, for the first time, Ian came with me to work as part of the national “Bring Your Daughter or Son to Work Day.” He has visited me at work in the past, but that was usually because his mom or his grandma had brought him downtown for lunch. Just an hour or two and then back to the suburbs. BYDSTW day was him spending the whole day where I work.  Even though the company I work for now puts together an extensive, well planned, yet fun day for the kids that does an excellent job of demonstrating what a work day can be like (unlike my days at Classified Ventures/Apartments.com, where they would repeatedly announce that the company was not participating in the program and would not allow any parents to bring their children to work for the day. Of all the companies I have worked for, I always found CV/Apartments.com to be the least family friendly of my corporate overlords), I was still a little worried about bringing Ian to work with me.I knew he would have fun doing the activities planned and learning about what sort of work gets done in other departments. What worried me was when I would have him to myself late in the afternoon. That’s when I would have to reveal to him that my job is anything but glamorous. I manage people and the work that they do, I mitigate, I plan, I document – how can that possibly be made interesting for an 8-year-old? Hell, most days I’m not too excited about it myself. Yet there he was Thursday afternoon, after a morning of learning all the steps involved in purchasing a multi-million dollar rental community thanks to the Tax and Treasury department, grilling some adult employees about the career choices, and spending some time in our health club (all of which he was excitedly talking my ear off about), telling me he thought my job was cool after I showed him some of the things that I do and explained what my responsibilities were. And it wasn’t a brush-off sort of “cool” that he threw out there so that we could move on to another topic, like firing up MLB.com to see if the Cubs were beating the Rockies (which we did eventually). He told me a few more times that evening, even after I tucked him in for bed, that not only had he had a great time coming with me to work that day, but he really though what I did seemed like a neat job.It’s not that I am worried about impressing my 8-year-old son with the work that I do, but in a small way it was relief to hear my son validate –so to speak – that I didn’t have a completely lame job. No parent wants their child to be embarrassed or ashamed because of their mom’s or dad’s profession – and by no means did I expect Ian to be either of those after he visited me yesterday and received a better insight into my job. But somewhere deep in the darkest corners of my mind, I still harbor those little kernels of doubt and dread. So his small measure of positive response showed me that at least for now I’m not letting him down. Labels: Family posted by Brendan | 9:22 PM | permanent link |
How Well Do You Know Your McKillips? It was my turn to clean the bathroom, but before I did I had to snap this photo. Can you guess which side is mine and which is Heather's?  Even without the girly stuff to give it a way, the difference between the two sides our our shared bathroom sink is reflective of our personal styles. Me, the anal retentive everything in it's place sort of guy. Her, the relaxed let things be as the are sort of gal. I guess opposites do attract. Labels: Family posted by Brendan | 9:58 PM | permanent link |
Keeping Me On My Toes While I was doing the dishes this evening, Zoe kept coming into the kitchen to share secrets with me and give me all sorts of directions. My favorite line: "In 4 minutes it will be 8 minutes until it's time for you to be done.That's Zoe. Always challenging you. Even in her directions she like to work in some mental gymnastics. Thankfully, I did finish in under 12 minutes. Heaven knows what would have happened if I had gone over my allotted time. Labels: Family posted by Brendan | 10:06 PM | permanent link |
Next Stop: NYC Fashion Week  A while back Heather and I nicknamed Emma “Miss. Arts & Crafts”. If it involved coloring, cutting, gluing, sewing, painting, or in any way taking bit of other things and making something new – Emma was interested in it.Emma took the definition of the title Miss. Arts & Crafts to a whole new level this weekend when we discovered she had crafted – using only toilet paper and scotch tape – a new dress for one of her dolls. And the dress not only fit well, but had some interesting detailing. The pictures don’t really do it justice. You have to see it to understand and appreciate the time and energy Emma spent piecing this garment together on the floor of her bedroom Saturday morning. If I was a less pragmatic man, I would already be whisking her off to the nearest art academy to begin her studies in earnest. As it is, I will wait to see how things develop over the next year or two before enrolling her in the American Academy of Art. Labels: Family posted by Brendan | 10:47 PM | permanent link | No Chance Now Every once and a while Ian talks about some day having a TV for his bedroom, and every time the topic comes up Heather is emphatic in her stance on that subject: there will be no TV’s in the kids’ bedroom. Sure, it may sound slightly hypocritical in as much that Heather and I have a TV in our bedroom, but we are adults and know (hopefully) how to handle things better. Heather strongly believes that TVs, computers, or gaming systems in a kid’s bedroom is detrimental to developing the family dynamic. And I agree with her.  A group of people don’t learn how to function together as a family if they are always escaping back to their own rooms to watch whatever they want or burn hours away online. If there is only one (or maybe two) communal TV, then everyone is forced to work together to figure out what’s going to be watched when. Kids learn communication skills, negotiation skills (maybe some fighting skills), and in general learn about their brothers and sisters.So if his parents' preconceived notion of the negative effects of a bedroom television wasn’t enough to put the kibosh on Ian’s personal TV dream, the recent findings by researchers at the University of Minnesota School of Public Health will certain provide the nail in that coffin. Their study found that teens who had a television set in their bedroom, on average, poorer diet and exercise habits and lower grades in school than those without one. So as I see it, having a TV in your room not only shuts you off from your family, it also makes you dumber and fat. Yep. That TV in your room idea just whimpered and died Ian. Sorry. Labels: Family posted by Brendan | 10:16 PM | permanent link |
Happy Birthday Elizabeth I only have two siblings, both younger. A brother who is 16 months younger than I, and a sister who is 7 years younger. Their birthdays are only one day apart. March 14 and March 16. That closeness in birthday proximity has always been a nice perk of having them as my brother and sister. I can easily knock out the birthday well-wishes all at once. The other perk is that they are genuinely nice people who have always been accepting of their moody, mildly hermetic older brother. I already gave the shout-out for my brother on Friday. Today the birthday message is for my sister. She celebrated her 29th downtown at some Irish pub drinking with sixty to seventy of her closest friends (I was home painting the girls' bedroom). I didn't bother trying to give her a call then, though I will probably try today (but not until later in the day to allow for a sufficient recovery time.) Regardless, I hope she is having/had a great birthday. I shall now end my sister's birthday well-wishing entry with the annual posting of the Elizabeth photo. A lot of pictures have been taken of my sister over the years, but none, I feel, accurately or as completely capture the essence that is Elizabeth like this one.  Ha-ha! Labels: Family posted by Brendan | 4:37 PM | permanent link |
Happy Birthday Kevin Today is my younger brother’s birthday. He's turning 34. He will buy his first condo at the end of the month. He’s a damn good actor. He knows how to ride a unicycle and juggle at the same time. He entertains and tries to cheer up sick kids in the hospital. My kids think he is the coolest uncle. I think he’s pretty cool, too.  Labels: Family posted by Brendan | 9:00 PM | permanent link |
Happy Birthday Zoe Zoe, my youngest, turns four years-old today. Forever smiling and the most relaxed, easy-going of Heather and my three kids, she is a beautiful mix of girly-girl and tom-boy. She loves to play dress-up and act out elaborate stories with her sister and their army of stuffed animals and dolls. On the other hand, Zoe requests to watch my Batman and Justice League DVDs more than Ian and will tank his Batmobile around the house with near reckless abandon.  We threw a birthday party for Zoe this past Sunday and invited a few family members. True to form, Zoe had a Batman cake served on Tinkerbell plates. With age comes wisdom, so she was considerably more invested in the whole present receiving/opening segment of the party – flipping past opened gifts that revealed new clothes to see what gift might offer a new toy or book.When I asked her later in the day which of her presents was her favorite, she confidently replied, “All of them.” That certainly seemed the case in the hours following the party. The Princess-themed Etch-A-Sketch may have been carried everywhere with her, but she was spending equal time playing with the new Belle doll, puzzle, LEGOs, and goofy light-up ball thingy. However, as the afternoon turned to evening and Sunday turned to Monday, one gift seems to have risen to the top of the favorites list: The rainbow umbrella  The umbrella that my brother gave her has quickly become a staple at Zoe’s side. She sits under the umbrella while watching TV (Yes, Heather and I let her open it in the house. You parent your way, we’ll paren | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
