OK Go: Of The Blue Colour Of The Sky

These guys are pretty good in the video sense. Their music is not to bad either. Basically all of their videos become viral hits, and that isn't a bad thing. So if you haven't already seen them, Here is OK Go...

He Loves It

Oh `Dem Saints

My Mom calls me during the Saints/49'ers game at like 10:30 at night, I answer the phone, but somehow we are disconnected... I figure she doesn't want to talk since it is so late. I couldn't get to sleep anyway because the Saints can't seem to put the axe into somebody's head... they leave them a chance in both games thus far. Anyway, the next day my mom call's again, I give the phone to the teenager since I had a mouth full of food (it was dinner time) and she needed to thank my mom for her birthday present. All she hears is buttons being pressed... I smell a pattern here.

My daughter calls her back... and gets nothing. 20 minutes go by, she tries again, nothing. Finally my mother calls back, we talk about the Saints game, how back in the day, it would have ended much differently, basically that the Saints would have lost. But so far so good, we are keeping fingers crossed, our gree-gree bags close by, and hoping for a repeat. Well we can hope anyway, they say it is not impossible... so there you go but they did lose to Atlanta in overtime.

Back to the phone tag. I was just saying how weird it would be if we called each other but only got voice mail or the bumbling of accidental dialing while one of us, usually the sender is not aware that the phone was even on. How long could that go on? Like the licks it takes to get to the Tootsie Roll pop, we may never know...

Busy

Me and my wife have been crazy busy lately. Busy at work, busy at home, busy, busy busy. So much so, that I feel like I have neglected my blog. But, so it goes, I mean, it isn't like there is anything I can do about it. And I guess it is good to be busy, though while we are occupied it doesn't feel very good.

So much after work stuff, as if work wasn't enough. I do have some big news, but I will keep it close and not talk about until it is a sure thing. I know it is cryptic, but, I feel must. Probably once I tell it, you will likely think, damn, why was he so cryptic, but that is the way I like to keep things. The way I "roll" if you will.

Still I need to slow down and take in the scenery now and then. We are coming up on baby Augustus's birthday, then Halloween, then Thanksgiving, then Christmas, then a New Year. It seems my life will busy for months and months. Still, there is reason for everything. I hope that we are not just spinning our wheels here. We'll see.

I See a Little Rug Rat Looking at Me...

So on one of my trips home, I see this...

What the heck is she doing? She is just happy to see me, and goes on to slobber all over the door, pound on the glass, and generally make a mess of everything. And that is why I love her. Just one little smile can turn my day from crappy... to awesome without even trying. Yeah I'm a sucker, but a happy sucker all the same.

Come With Me, Won't You?

You ever do something so stupid, and yet you can only blame yourself? In my case I am the proud owner of a pretty bad haircut. I know, I really shouldn't say anything, it will be grown out in a few weeks/months, but still... if you will walk with me as we investigate my stupidity.

I was overdue for a haircut, I almost always am, because who has the time to worry about such things? Well one day, I finally decided that enough was enough. My hair had to be cut (that and I had some free time), so I drive down to my local hair-cuttery, and tell the girl, "I usually just get it as short as you can with scissors". I should have said "As short as you can with scissors for the sides and back, trim up top." Well I didn't and now I have the male version of Kate Gosselin. Kind of spiky, I can't really do anything with it, not that I wanted to anyway. It sort of looks like I got a "high and tight" 2 or 3 weeks ago. One good thing about the hair cut (besides being able to wake up and go) my daughter, Augustus, she can't grab it, I mean she tries, but there is nothing to grab onto... I think that part is great, her not so much.

I have to give this lady credit, she went closer with the scissors than I have ever seen. But really, why bother if you could have set the razor to a 1 or 2 and been done in two minutes or less? Maybe I need to find a new place to get my haircut. Essentially, I got my haircut by my teenager, exactly what you say is exactly how I'm going to do it. Which is the cause of many fights. But the good thing is, this will not last forever... and I really don't have to look at myself anyway. ;o)

Classic Film Friday: Yellow Submarine

I know not everyone can see this movie, because it (for whatever reason) is not currently in wide release. If you should want to see it, come by my house. Or not, because nothing or everything is real... or so the film would have you believe. It is animated, just in case you didn't know, and the animation is somewhat dated, but at the same time it makes the movie special.I received this movie as a gift, actually the teenager got it from my mother... who grew up right in the middle of the Beatles craze.

Spoon: Transference

This band has been around awhile. It doesn't enjoy some of the successes that bigger, more popular bands have, but their music is pretty good all the same. Transference debuted back in January of this year. See what you think...

Nope It Wasn't Working for Me Either...

Cleans Your Balls

Axe Detailer Cleans Your Balls - For more of the funniest videos, click here

Yeah, I'm not buying axe, but this is a damn funny commercial...

Not Leaving

I have a very hard to pronounce last name. Well that is not true, it's really not that hard to say, it's just that you have to know how to say it. Anyway, I have this bet with myself, that basically I will stay some place until they learn how to say my name correctly. Well if the way I just heard my name butchered, I won't be going anywhere any time soon. I'm ok with that...

Who is Having the Most Fun?

Here we have the Songbird, looking pretty in a dress from her grandmother... and Augustus in the background, with a booger nose, having even more fun. Yep this is just a few seconds of my life. We, myself and the teenager, can't stop laughing at this picture. Augustus is learning how to photobomb at a very young age. /Look forward to more pictures like this... I know I am.

Yeah, It is Party Time

For my daughter's 15th birthday, she is having some kids over and spend the night. Well I said, since the weather is so gorgeous outside, why not camp out in our backyard? So we are, and the Songbird is warming up to the idea too. Even I was getting ready to enjoy the outdoors... Until the bugs ate me alive. Maybe I'll just have to screen in the entire yard, then maybe...

Classic Film Friday: Cheech and Chong's Up in Smoke

It is hard not to say or think about Cheech and Chong and not think about how that era shaped me. What I'm saying is both of my parents smoked pot, a lot of pot, and did various other drugs too. They were not exactly "low key" about it either. But I think I was a better person for it... not saying my parents let me smoke it up next to them, because they didn't, but I grew up around drugs, and I'm no worse for wear because of it.

So look on this movie in the time it was made, and know that it was a comedy. And that is what I like about it. Yeah, I'm sure they had to get high for "research" but there is a lot that is spot on for the time. See if you agree...

30 Seconds From Mars: This is War

I bought this on the recommendation of my daughter. I was sorely disappointed at first. In fact so much so that I just forgot about the CD.I told my daughter, "That band is EMO" and let that be that. Then I saw something on MTV2 with them playing a live show. And I must say, I like them a lot more live than I do in the studio. See what you think...

Who's That Lady?

With this music playing in the background...

Sometimes Being a Father Sucks

This is a story of communication skills or the lack thereof. Basically, my daughter should be registered to take Spanish II, as she took Spanish I last year. So just in passing, I find out that she is not in Spanish II, she is in Spanish I again. WTF?!?!

I start talking to my daughter, trying to figure out just what the hell is going on. Let me back up for a minute. Her Spanish class is 1st period and it is on an "A/B day" schedule. Which means her class alternates between, Spanish and ROTC. I have no problem with this, but apparently the ROTC is from the high school, so any communication the middle school has with me, is not there. Because the ROTC guy, doesn't get anything. This I have a big problem with. We didn't get the invite for Open House, we don't get anything at all. This can be somewhat attributed to me not checking through, but honestly the responsibility lies on my daughter, she is almost 15, it is not like she is in the 3rd grade anymore. Also it may be all my daughter's fault anyway, as I am relying on her to provide me with any info.

And I keep harping on her that it is her life, I don't/won't get anything out of whether she takes Spanish I or Spanish II. She seems to understand but I wonder if she really gets it. We explained that if she takes Spanish I again, she won't get credit for the class, because she already took it. Though she doesn't see the results now, when she is a senior, she could take AP Spanish... which could in turn save her from having to take a foreign language in college. Which could save me and/or her some money.

And besides that, who wants to take a class they have already taken and passed? That I place full blame on the school for that little screw up. My daughter walked all the way down to the school over summer vacation to fix her schedule, it is something like a 3 mile walk (one-way) and it was only during a "special" time that she could get this fixed. So all that walking, all that worry, for what? She is right back in the same class that anyone else is in. The being in Spanish I in the 8th grade (a high school credit) means nothing. No get ahead there at all.

Why am I finding out about it 4 weeks into school? Because, my daughter lied and/or the school doesn't care and/or I'm lazy or all of the above in some form or another. What to do from here? Meet with the school and see if there is anything we can do about this screw up... and go from there. I know, you might be thinking, WTF? Why is this such an issue? I guess it is such an issue because I actually do care about my kid... and yet want her to live her own life too. And you can't really do that, I mean sure I guess I could have just let my kid take the class twice. But I know that she would have regretted this choice later. Thankfully she changed her classes, and it really wasn't all that bad, and now I wait for the next catastrophe...

Oatland Island

We spent Labor Day at Oakland Island. Following a little of my own advice I gave to a fellow blogjam member. Well it was the first time out there, so it was a new experience for me. How would I rate it? It kind of depends. If you go on a day that is not quite as hot and buggy, it was excellent, unfortunately for us it was in the low 90's and we had lots of bugs... and no bug spray. So bring bug spray!

We stopped off for lunch at the Crab Shack on Tybee because we left right around lunch. I have to give that place a thumbs down, though I really did try to give it a thumbs up. Basically the only seafood my wife eats is fish, and they don't have one fish on the menu... just oysters, clams, shrimp, and crabs. Also they don't/can't fry anything you can take it that they are healthy or they don't want to bother with the expense and mess that frying oil would create. I got the lunch special, Shack Stew and 1/4 pound of shrimp. That could not even be considered an appetizer, it tasted ok just not enough of it, and the shrimp were hard to peel.  Anyway, I might come back when I have some crab/oyster lovers with me, otherwise, not so much.

So back to Oatland Island. There is apparently some renovations going on, so you can't go in the "big building" however none of the animals reside there, so you park behind it and start walking. And that is the only complaint I have about our trip. When you have kids in tow, you would like to get off the road and away from any oncoming cars. There are swaths were you simply have to share the road. But once you pass that big building, you can relax a bit.

We entered the alligator/bird aviary first. I had no idea gators went out on the tidal marshes, but apparently they do, or can. Next we saw the cougars, which were asleep, as all cats are want to do. The Bobcat was there... but we couldn't find him. Next we walked along the boardwalk and got up close to some crabs. From there we saw the foxes and on to various bird cages. Then on to see some deer, and then the wolf wilderness and a bison. There are other small animals, like armadillo, snakes, bats, that sort of thing. Also this is more like a walk through the woods, which I like. My four-year-old loved it. And I think they had her in mind when they built the place.

It isn't as nice as most zoos, but she could see a lot better than most zoos offer (with the elevated view stands and glass/Plexiglas windows).  It doesn't have the big draws like elephants or monkeys, but it doesn't cost as much either ($35 can get you in for a year), also it is really close. A lot closer than any other zoo. So give it a try. 

The Visitor

The Songbird left me a visitor. S/He has "lived" in my bachelor's chest for months. She (the Songbird) doesn't mind that she can't play with him, (she has many others). So he lives in my bachelor's chest. I don't have the heart to take him out.

Augustus

Our youngest... Augustus Gloop (Ok, not really, but you get my point, especially if you saw Friday's post) has developed a peculiar habit. she yells at her food. While eating, she gets mad, and proceeds to yell. Maybe she is yelling at me or her mother or her sisters or maybe she is yelling at the dog or cat, whatever she is yelling at (I still think it is her food) we all suffer from it.

I mean who doesn't love to sit down to a meal and have a baby screaming into your ear? Hopefully we can some how adjust her behavior, but until then, well I guess we will be having a screaming baby at each meal. Not exactly the September 11, post... but what can I say?

Classic Film Friday: Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory

So what is not to like about this childhood classic? Well the only beef I have with this movie is that the film spends a good hour with Charlie Bucket (Peter Ostrum) wallowing in his situation. What I mean is, I get that he was poor, but this movie drives that idea home. Ok I got it, moving on.

Willy Wonka (Gene Wilder) is a riddle, wrapped in a mystery, inside an enigma. He felt betrayed by his workers that have sold his chocolate making secrets, so he lays off everyone, and he works with the Oompa-Loompas. A fictional race from Loompaland.

And so they (Willy Wonka and Oompa-Loompas) have a contest. They insert "Golden Tickets" into 5 Wonka bars and those 5 people who find them will get to tour the factory and get a lifetime supply of chocolate. Augustus Gloop (Michael Bollner), Violet Beauregarde (Denise Nickerson), Veruca Salt (Julie Dawn Cole), Mike Teavee (Paris Themmen) and of course, Charlie.

So they tour the factory, are wooed and amazed at all sorts of things that is Wonka. They also start to thin out the further into the factory they get. Our favorite is Augustus, because we nicknamed the youngest by the same name, because she wants to eat and eat and eat, he is also the first one out. And then there was only one, Charlie, and he thinks he will get the chocolate, but Willy has something else in mind...

The Dead Weather: Sea of Cowards

The album was released a few months ago. Although I like Jack White, and this album sounds good, it still isn't as good as some of his other endeavors. Still, you may like it. Or you may not. I can't say you should definitely go out and buy, but if it is on the radio, perhaps turn it up. :o)

She Was Gaga, Way Before Gaga

Oh yeah. Jem! Well I had to post this, because I think it is truly outrageous, truly, truly, truly outrageous. See what you think 

The Anhinga

My wife, a Master Naturalist, was finally able to identify a bird that I described... and that bird is?

The Anhinga

At first we really thought that the bird would just fly away once we got too close.

But this bird, well it was different. I really don't know why, but he was unafraid of us, that or he couldn't fly away.




We got right up over the top of him a snapped a few pictures. Eventually he did fly away, the Naturalist wife says he may have been dry off his feathers. Whatever the reason we are glad we got to interact with it...

But I must say, "Anhinga" sounds dirty, like some kind of sex position or word used to describe someone's privates... still good job Master Naturalist wife, you finally did it! (There is some sarcasm there)  

Happy Labor Day

I'm not one to go all out on Labor Day, in fact I didn't until now realize it was given to us as a consolation prize for some people on strike that got killed, whatever. I like it because it gives me a day off, but it aint like it is Christmas or anything. But still, it is nice to have a three day weekend. I'll be firing up the grill, and knocking back a beer or three.

So enjoy your day! You earned it.

It's Funny

This week the Songbird was sick, nothing special about that, at some time or another one or more of us is feeling sick, sick and tired, sick of this shit, sick, sick, sick. Anyway I had to stay home with her because my wife and I have this agreement. She takes a day off, I take a day off. Like taking turns. We're good like that. Anyway, while we were out and about (me and the Songbird) it is funny how many people are moving around during the day. I have a job as does my wife, we may get a lunch together now and then, but nothing regular.

Well after the Songbird's doctor's appointment, and on my way to Walgreen's to get her medicine, I'm in conversation with my wife on the doctor's visit. And she says, "Why don't you call me when you drop off the prescriptions and we'll do lunch?"  Looking at my watch, it was almost noon, and I figured, "Sure, why not."

The prescriptions, would take even longer, than eating lunch... that was a bummer, but still all and all, with weather like this (high 80's, low humidity) it was nice. So we had lunch, at an outside eating establishment... on the cheap and then there was still time, so I would go to Kroger and pick up a few things for dinner that we did not have. I have to say, Kroger is not my favorite grocery store, in fact I would put it right up there with Wal-Mart. But, where else was I going to go?

So I cross 278, and instantly I am reminded what a cluster trying to get in and out of the Kroger parking lot is and why I don't shop there. But I keep telling myself I just need a few things, it won't be that bad. And really, it wasn't. But I looked out amongst the people there... and I wondered WHY? I've pretty much done that since I moved here six years ago. why are they all here?

Yes I know, this area has a big retirement draw. And on this day they were wandering around Kroger... everywhere. And maybe it is just because I should have been at work, instead of looking around Kroger for what is on sale. But it was more than just the retirement crowd. I saw lots of mommies (and daddies) with kids in tow, I saw single people, I saw all kinds... and still I wonder... why?

Like the Tootsie Roll Pop commercial, I feel I will never know. But they were out. And I could only enjoy the day, though I had a sick kid, I did have the day off, all in all I'll take a sick day when I'm not actually sick. The Songbird eventually felt more herself and the ebb and flow started to go forward again, such is life...

The Other Dog...

Yeah I still got one of those. With all this rain, and thunder and lightning it is not a very good thing to have a dog that is terrified by the storms. But eventually, the storms end. and we finally have some peace and quiet around here. And the Hatter household breathes a collective sigh of relief. And our remaining dog is happier too...

Classic Film Friday: Batman (1966)

This certainly has a high cheese factor. In fact it may be one of the cheesiest. But kids love Batman, at least this reiteration of Batman and this movie has been coming on the FOX movie channel for a while now. They like the overdoneness of everything, the fact that there is a clear good guy/bad guy, and those crazy fight scenes. It really is like the TV show, just longer, and bigger, and I might even say better. I mean it does have that whole exploding shark scene...

ALO... A Compilation of Albums

Ok so this is some songs off of the Roses & Clover album and the last one is off of their Man of the World CD which just came out earlier this year. See if you like them, they are a bit quirky, and I think their live performance is much better but still, give them a try...

Bathroom Stall Soliloquies

Found in a lady's bathroom just outside Metter Georgia... Yes there is a misspelled word.