Zander Naps

Excited Zander

2009-05-21T16:03:00.005-05:00

xtc making plans for nigel

2009-03-05T21:27:00.001-06:00

I know it's been a while...

2009-02-23T14:41:00.002-06:00

Alright, so here we go again...

This should have been posted a week ago, but I'll try to rip it from my rapidly decaying memory

Went to a fundraiser at a Catholic high school the other weekend. THe school opens its door the adults in the community and they can wander the halls, listen to live music, eat, drink lots of alcohol and gamble. You know, good Christian values stuff... anyway, we've done this a few times over the years and we've always been, let's say, impressed by the student show (a musical revue) every year. This year was no exception, it was jaw dropping in its insanity. The theme seemed to be 'love throughout the year' or some such thing. He is my recollection, month by month...

September - guy standing center stage looks vaguely familiar from a previous years show. Very eager. Wearing a skin tight white t-shirt. Has either a very dark 3rd nipple, or a huge mole on his chest. Can't remember the song that was sung.

October - we're outside a slum bar. Guy plays sax moderately well, sings passable. Don't know the song, he's apparently pining for the hooker in the bar window (Catholic high school remember). Next song is Van Morrison's "Moondance" - mic dies after the second word this section becomes lip-synced kareoke. There may be another song/dance number in here. Then, of course, "Thriller" which is the most romantic song ever written. (again Catholic school)

November - things start getting a little weird. A Thanksgiving celebration! Stage left, pigrims. Center stage, Native Americans - well, lets just call them the most sterotypical 'Indians' you can imagine. Stage right, cowboys (of course!). What song? The cowboys and indians sing "Thank God I'm A Country Boy" while the Pilgrims nod along. (again, Catholic school) Yes, the cowboys and indians getting together to sing: "Well I wouldnt trade my life for diamonds and jewels/I never was one of them money hungry fools." I just about died. It was like an Americana fever dream...

December - want to remind you once again, Catholic school. How is Christmas celebrated? With a little boy falling alseep under the tree and dreaming of girls dancing in their nightgowns. Yup.

January - can't remember. I think my mind was trying to wrap itself around the combination of the previous 3 months.

February - again, cannot remember. May have passed out from confusion.

March - Irish dancing. Why? The deep love of St. Pat's day of course. Also, the boy dancing looks like he's about 3 feet tall (a Leprechaun?)

April - we're going to the chapel, 'cuz everyone gets married in April. Also, apparently people dance around in raincoats (but don't sing "Singin' In the Rain")

May - all I remember is one kid on stage, buried WAAAY in the back, I'm going to go out on a limb and say it was because he's a bit 'husky' and more than a little goofy looking. He is also the only person on stage that seems to understand the complete absurdity of things and is playing it justly. Completely overblown facial expressions, sheer goofy joy, not even really trying to cover up choreography mistakes - just letting it go and looking like the most talented person on stage because he gets it! While the ladies are all serious and overusing their shrill voices while swallowing the microphone and the boys are completely self-concious and more than a little wooden, this kid is free!!!

June - blackout

July - balls to the wall US pride, Yankee Doodle Dandy all leading to the climactic tap-dancing midgit Uncle Sam. Americana fever dream #2

August - to be honest I cannot remember if this was at the beginning or end of the show. It was that memorable.

That about sums it up. It's always a special little treat, but this one was extra special...

Multimedia message

2009-02-02T21:09:00.000-06:00

Yes dad, this is fun. Yippie.

The Snuggie

2008-12-30T18:31:00.000-06:00

If you ever see me wearing this in public just kill me where I stand.

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2008-12-25T20:06:00.000-06:00

Christmas at the Hales

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2008-12-23T11:54:00.000-06:00

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2008-12-03T11:35:00.000-06:00

Take that! Stupid arteries.

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2008-12-02T19:37:00.000-06:00

This came out of nowhere

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2008-11-24T23:58:00.000-06:00

Mmmm, Scotch poured by a bartender that will soon be fired. He charged $8 for this obscene pour.

Hats!

2008-10-18T19:03:00.001-05:00

Would you buy this?

2008-10-18T19:03:00.000-05:00

I'm sure it tastes wonderful, but...

Belated Update

2008-10-17T15:41:00.002-05:00

Of course, Zander is waking up now that I am typing this, so it will have to be brief. Photos have been uploaded on my Facebook page. enjoy them over there, some may find their way here soon, but that's a fairly relative "soon" judging by recent history.

Things have been crazy busy over here. Good crazy for the most part, but leaving me with little extra time or energy. Most recently we attended a friend's wedding, the following morning the shower at the hotel broke. I was literally holding the handle and all of its inner workings in my hand. All sorts of crap had broken. Don't know if you've ever had the joy of not being able to take a shower the morning after a long wedding celebration, but I'd vote against it... So I took a brid bath in the sink with a washcloth and then proceeded to take a long walk on an unseasonably hot day and got all sweaty and gross again because genius I are.

Zander also pulled a Jeckyl and Hyde this week when he spiked a 103 fever. I do not like sick toddlers. Anyway, that's it for now...

Random Thoughts This Weekend

2008-09-28T21:46:00.000-05:00

1) Congratulations to Brad and Eileen on the birth of their daughter Lillian! Wishing you all the best!

2) To all the overweight, middle-aged men cutting their lawn shirtless on their riding mowers - stop it, you're scaring my son.

Okay, you're scaring me. It's like 75 degrees out, be a man and tough it out.

3) I'm fairly certain that a Girl Scout troop could do a better job of protecting Aaron Rodgers than the Green Bay offensive line. They'd probably tackle better than the defense as well. I would like to see the all-Girl Scout team idea instituted within the next few weeks.

4) Before a govenment declares war I think everyone involved in the decision should be forced to listen to Chromeo's "Bonafied Lovin" for 24 hours straight, then immediately decide.

5) Speaking of Chromeo, their Fancy Footwork album should similarly be used as a kind of music appreciation reprogramming. It's not that it's great, just a great bassline (Thank you, thank you! I'll be here all week)

Last Night's Show

2008-09-25T14:25:00.004-05:00

Saw Sigur Ros perform at the Chicago Theater last night. A little torn about the show overall. The band played very well, no denying it, but I wasn't terribly thrilled with the set list or the arrangements. It's strange, they have just released their brightest, most organic album, but the arrangements were MUCH darker than previous shows and very few songs from the new album were included in the show. Visually the show was a little flat as well, I'm not a big fan of projections of the band playing (especially when visuals have been so powerfully used in past shows). I think what was missing most, however, was their regular opening act and collaberators, Amiina. You don't really realize how important strings are to the arrangements of many of SR's songs until they are missing, and the lack of any back-up help is what really pushed the overall feel of the show into much darker territory than normal.

Like I said though, the band performed very well and there were several incredible moments. When the band finally got around to the new album's first single (Gobbledigook) as the closer of the set it was a truly joyous and transcendent moment witht the band and crowd wound up to giddy proportions (and a confetti explosion straight out of a Flaming Lips show). It was a stunning moment and really makes you wonder how much more could have been done with this show and their new material. I don't know if they trust the material live yet, or what, but it just really seems like a missed opportunity. It was a good show, it just seems like it could have been much more.

More testing

2008-09-24T14:35:00.000-05:00

Testing some more software right now, hopefully will simplify posting to the blog for me and all that jazz. More updating coming, no, really there is. I just gotta get some stuff straight first

Burn Update

2008-08-18T22:06:00.000-05:00

Half the skin I burned the other day sloughed off. I have decided that I do not like burns.

Testing some Importing Functions

2008-08-18T21:12:00.001-05:00

So, this is really just a test to make sure some stuff I was working on worked. You can go about your day and ignore this.

Day three - House under siege

2008-08-08T12:11:00.000-05:00

Zander has not moved from this window. He is OBSESSED!

Zander is way too excited

2008-08-06T12:58:00.000-05:00

Zander is way too excited about this manstealing our deck. I would stop him, but he is a large man, with large tools. I could probably take his chain-smoking friend out though.

Somersaults

2008-07-31T11:28:00.003-05:00

Been trying to get good footage of Z doing somersaults, but, like any good child, he has learned to shut down all activity when the camera comes out. Leave no evidence!

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2008-07-27T17:02:00.000-05:00

Nathan Nathan "Flutebox" Lee and Beardyman @ Google, London

2008-07-17T21:27:00.001-05:00

Thanks to Natali for bringning this to my attention...

Zander's First Coloring Book

2008-07-04T20:41:00.000-05:00

The boy is okay, no, really, he's okay

2008-06-20T20:23:00.003-05:00

So, Zander went bonkers today. Just a little taste...

Zander vs. the Radio & Other Stuff

2008-06-18T10:43:00.003-05:00

Was in the car with Zander when Metallica came on the radio, this was the late result. Unfortunately I was not quick enough to actually catch him headbanging (I have no idea where he got that from). This still made me laugh.

Been listening to the new Sigur Ros album, Með suð í eyrum við spilum endalaust, and must say it is fantastic. I tell you, you start to think that a band has maybe begun to run out of fresh ideas and then they pull something like this out of their hat. A mostly bright, tender, joyous album filled with more acoustic textures it's a little early to say for sure but it's so striking that I may actually be saying that this is my favorite since Ágætis Byrjun.

We Have Come To Destroy Your House, Sir.

2008-06-13T21:06:00.001-05:00

Self Portrait 42

2008-06-03T14:18:00.000-05:00

Nerdcore

2008-05-21T15:31:00.003-05:00

Okay, this is WAY too great to pass up:

http://www.nerdcorerisingthemovie.com/

oh, and...

http://www.ourstage.com/profile/alyssajh7/posts/25

There is a truck in my garden

2008-05-21T11:39:00.001-05:00

Post-Vacation Update

2008-05-20T10:24:00.004-05:00

Not sure what happened, but the posts I sent while on vacation never came through. So, here's the skinny:

Vacation was good. Have discovered that people will generally make the most noise once you put your child down for a nap, not to mention pounding on doors and ringing doorbells at 3AM (I'm really not sure how Z slept through that) Other than that it was a nice trip:

We also have some hawks living in our yard now. Been watching them consume various cute animals. Here's a photo (no dead cute animals):

And then we just have something silly

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2008-05-13T18:20:00.001-05:00

Some Pictures Before Our Trip

2008-05-03T17:02:00.004-05:00

We're heading to upstate New York for a few days tomorrow, but I wanted to post some pictures before we go, so here...

Naps are for Losers

2008-05-01T13:30:00.002-05:00

So, I'm thinking about changing the name of the blog since naps seem to be going the way of the dodo here. Cranky tired boy, just doesn't seem to want to let himself nap, except for in the mornings and those naps are now getting shorter and shorter. I'm not sure if it is his teething (which is coming along splendidly, if you can call it that) or just him trying to assert his power over the world... what can you do... not much really...

anyway, that is all for now, going to try to get outside before the rain comes...

The Inevitable Randomness

2008-04-17T09:32:00.002-05:00

Random crap from the past week.

- As I was finishing up reading Steve Martin's Born Standing Up the other day I realized I was using a King Tut bookmark and snickered to myself. The book is great by the way, short, sweet and quickly consumed (like those little ice cream cups that you eat with a wooden spoon. Mmmm, ice cream) - it's a wonderful reminder of how truly funny and brilliant a performer he once was. Now he seems to save his brilliance for writing, which is perfectly fine by me...

- I have recently become addicted to American Idol (thanks mom and dad, I'll get you back for this one day). Has it always been this obvious who should win, but will ultimately lose disappointingly because the results are left in the hands of those willing to vote - aka preteens and pranksters? Of all the current contestants there is really only one true 'artist' (and this may be a bit of a stretch - it's a little hard to tell on a platform so overproduced as this) - and that is David Cook. I mean, really, what other contestant even remotely takes a risk other than him? No, really, who? But sadly, he will probably lose to David A. (I don't know how to spell his last name, and too lazy and uncaring to look it up), who's young and dopey looking and has a nice voice that he uses while looking like he has a stick being slowly stuck up his ass. He will probably win because he is safe, and America will once again prove to the world that we are a country obsessed with mediocrity.

- Finally, Zander has apparently walked. I have no proof of this other than the word of one of the ladies that watch him at the club where I exercise. And it is apparently not just a couple of steps, but full-blown walking all over the place with determination. He does not do this at home. Maybe soo I will see it? Otherwise I'm watching the cameras closely the next time I'm working out...

Recent Pictures

2008-04-03T10:11:00.007-05:00

Pictures from the last few weeks, first up is Greensboro, NC - visiting the fam...

Easter at grandma's...

Earlier this morning...

Banana Science

2008-04-03T09:59:00.002-05:00

Monday, March 31, 2008

Zander becomes convinced that there is a part of the banana peel that is the best tasting part of the entire fruit. It must be found. Dissection begins, peel is tasted. Results from the lab have not come back yet.

Egads. it has been some time since my last post!

2008-03-26T18:36:00.003-05:00

Okay, I must apologize for my absense, it's been hectic and I just haven felt like it - SO BACK OFF!!

*deep breath*

Well, it's been one of those days, Zander decided that he really doesn't need his afternoon nap and was reduced to a gibbering idiot for the last three and a half hours. I'm talking balls to the wall, full on, stupid tired child - or, in other words, a talkative, belligerent drunk. So, I have decided to deal with this like any rational adult - drink plenty of scotch and listen to ELO. Perhaps I shall order pizza, but right now scotch and ELO are giving me all the sustenance I need (Z is now resting somewhat peacefully in his crib)... Oh, Mandy ordered pizza, all is right with the world.

A while ago, I did mention doing some reviews and what not, but I haven't had time to do any full on reviews, but I do have some recommendations to throw out there...

Erykah Badu: New Amerykah, Pt. 1: 4th World War - absolutely brilliant album. Chaotic to perfection. Most artists that try something like this fall flat on their faces, sounding like they are trying on a series of hat ("hey, this is my old school funk song!"). EB makes it all gel, giving each song it's own identity but never compromising the structure of the album as a whole. Top notch in my ears, but not for all tastes.

XTC: The whole damn back catalog - largely overlooked band in the US. Post-Punk-Psych-Pop perfection on album after album. Haven't listened to full albums in a while, but they are so utterly fantastic that they are worth revisiting. English Settlement is a particular standout still, but Black Sea is really a standout as well... but it's all good.

anyway, gotta go and stuff...

Spring!

2008-03-13T14:46:00.001-05:00

It's fifty degrees outside and time to swing. Yesterday we were in North Carolina and it was nearly seventy. Yeah, It's good to be home.

Ahhh, A Garfield Free Day

2008-02-27T11:44:00.003-06:00

http://garfieldminusgarfield.tumblr.com/

Okay, if you're like me and you haven't liked Garfield since you were, oh 6 years old, this is for you.

Baby Nutrition

2008-02-23T16:37:00.003-06:00

Alright, so this actually happened a few days ago, but I've been slacking off. I also wish I had pictures to go with this little story, but in the ensuing chaos it slipped my mind.

So, a couple of days ago I'm working at the dining room table, Zander is playing at my feet - babbling away. A few minutes pass and I realize that it has gotten very quiet (cue ominous music). Now, I know that Z is still near me because I would have heard him leave and we're in the dining room, which is not exactly a hot-bed of baby danger, but you have to look just to make sure...

What I see when I look down is Z with something dark in his hand and mouth, little flecks of something stuck to his face and similar debris scattered around him and a HUGH grin on his face. Uh-oh. Fear starts kicking in right away, because I have absolutely no idea what he could possibly be eating. upon closer inspection I see that what he has in his mouth (or rather partially hanging out of, like a cigar) is dark brown and kind of furry (!!!), maybe fuzzy is a better description. In his hand and stuck to his face is what looks like iridescent cellophane.

Yes, my son has eaten a moth.

Dad freaks, quickly cleans up what is left of Z's snack and disposes of it properly. Upon returning, Z has another wing in his mouth! Son of a... where is he getting this! I continue to freak for a little while, but soon find my mind wandering to the question - what is the nutritional content of a moth?

Quick Little Note

2008-02-13T09:00:00.003-06:00

Okay, so if you look over to the right of the screen, you'll see a little player from Last.fm. Press the big play button and you can listen to music that I deem necessary for you to listen to and stuff. I'm still messing around with it and updating tracks and all that jazz, but you get the idea - you can also use it to listen to similar bands and whatnot - so mess around with it already....

What day is it again?

2008-01-30T15:53:00.000-06:00

Alright, so things have calmed down a bit. The boy is down for a nap and I have about 20 minutes until I have to leave to go pay someone to punish my body for all that bad stuff I keep eating (okay, AND drinking. I still contend that scotch contains no calories, but no, my trainer says that's not true - 'go do a thousand sit-ups and then run in place for a half hour while I throw tennis balls at your head'). Anyway, here are some more haircut pictures of Z.

Before:

$15 later (WHAT!):

For that price you would think that there would be a live clown frightening the children or monkeys swinging from the rafters, but no, just a couple of really nice ladies with more patience than I think I've seen in the last 10 years. Hmmm... maybe $15 isn't that outrageous after all.

So, that's it for now, but I am planning on starting up a few new recurring segments here (i.e. actually starting to do what I had originally intended to) in the next week or 2. I'm planning on posting reviews of movies, albums, random crap that no one but me cares about on a fairly regular basis. I know, just what the net needs - more reviews! But these will be different, really they will! These will cause the heavens to split and fire to rain down upon us all!

Alright, I'm lying to you. These will be just like any other reviews out there, except you probably won't recognize anything I'm talking about, and it will all be based on a thousand point scale that is determined through a complex of angry household pets, broken yardsticks, alcoholic beverages, one raw egg and, oddly enough, opinions formed within my brain. Okay, you caught me lying again, my brain will not be involved in any form whatsoever.

Z's First Haircut

2008-01-29T15:07:00.001-06:00

AIRTIST live at kecskemét fringe

2008-01-25T19:52:00.001-06:00

Been listening to these guys a whole lot lately...

Self Portrait w/ Camera #56

2008-01-23T16:40:00.001-06:00

Why Daddy...

2008-01-17T15:34:00.001-06:00

Why daddy drinks...

It took Zander 25 seconds to make this mess...

Why Daddy Smiles

So it's been a while since I did an update other than a simple picture or video post and, well, I've been busy and stuff. Here's the deal for all you soon to be parents out there. Schedules are important. You're going to hear that quite a bit from a lot of sources, and there is good reason. Zander fell out of his sleep schedule for a few days and turned into devil child - just a cranky mess. Took a few days, but he seems to be back on schedule - although now that I type this, he's decided to wake up after only 30 minutes of his afternoon nap - a potential powder keg of unrested child is stirring. Must go...

Dresden Dolls - Fight For Your Right

2008-01-16T20:00:00.001-06:00

Yeah, so the Dresden Dolls did Fight For Your Right (To Party) as their encore at the Vic recently. The owners weren't too pleased.

Go Pack Go!

2008-01-12T18:37:00.001-06:00

First Game of Pool

2008-01-12T17:12:00.001-06:00

Baby Art

2008-01-10T16:27:00.001-06:00

Zander's first masterpiece - a sneak peek.

Ad Tedium

2008-01-08T20:03:00.000-06:00

So, I believe I have found the most tedious task ever - peeling grapes for my son. Dear lord, this is brain numbing to no end. There is a light at the end of this dark dark tunnel though - licking the concentrated grape juice off my fingers when done and enjoying a 20 minute sugar rush.

Ahhhhh.

Now I just need to figure out a way to get this stuff to ferment on my hands while I'm working...

Reel Geezers-Superbad

2008-01-07T10:39:00.001-06:00

Grain Lover

2007-12-22T20:30:00.000-06:00

Well, it's the end of the year and that means it's the holiday season and what better time than now for an annoying rant about the state of film. Today I would specifically address digital film/projection. I'm finding the move to the digital realm a little troubling in terms of public viewing. For me, the character of film lies in the very term, "film." That is what it is (or was, I guess), a physical object that can become a shared experience by becoming intangible. That is film's great awe, its mystery, and what creates a unique viewing experience. The grain of every strip of film is different; dirt collects differently; there are breaks and imperfect splices that are annoying, but give the presentation uniqueness or, in other words, a soul.

See, film is alive, it exists, it has mass and it ultimately deteriorates and dies. It is the physical (actors, scenery, etc) chemically recorded via intangible means in reverse (light focused through a lens onto films, developed into a negative, then printed into a positive for release to theaters), transported in a tangible state (the film), then becoming intangible again for an audience to view it (light through film and projector). Film is lightning in a bottle, light stored and shared. There is a beauty and life in this, that is absent in digital projection. The perfect nature of it removes the soul of the 'performance.'

Think of it in terms of music, phonographic LP's are a 'dirty' medium (hiss, pops, skips) but they have a life and character to themselves that compact discs cannot match. Their imperfections create a unique performance and object, it gives each LP its own life and aura (or warmth to use a more common phrase) that just cannot be found in a 'clean' medium such as the CD. Hence, you sometimes have artificial 'noise' added to songs to give them atmosphere, to create the illusion of an LP. In film we now see the same thing occurring in movies such as 300, which was artificially 'grained' to give it texture that would be otherwise missing; to give this film, produced digitally, a warmth and reality that would otherwise be missing.

There is no turning back the tide, film projectors are bound to be slowly phased out, and I would be lying if I was to say that there is no good in the move to digital (although I won't go into that now). I do feel, however, that much of the magic in film is being lost and it makes this viewer, for one, a little sad.

The Soup: Rainbow Brite

2007-12-20T18:10:00.001-06:00

Sinus Infections Derail Household

2007-12-18T18:47:00.000-06:00

Well, a spat with some nasty germs living in Z and my sinuses has kept me away for a bit. We're not better, but we have the finest chemicals modern science can provide us working for us now, so we don't have to do all the heavy lifting. Listening to the John Denver & Muppets Christmas album seems to help, or maybe that's the decongestant talking.

Anyway, watched part of the Sigur Ros film "Heima" yesterday, which is an absolutely beautiful document of the band and their home, Iceland . It's very rare that (what is essentially) a tour film truly expresses the soul of a band, but this one far surpasses that mark and I, for one, couldn't be happier that it has occurred with this particular band.

If the point of music is to create a transcendent state in the listener, Sigur Ros is one of the few 'rock' bands in existence that actually achieve this. To provide some perspective, I attended my first live performance by the band about 3 years ago; that day I was in considerable pain, I would, in fact, be in the hospital the following day having my appendix removed. That night, however, my pain was lifted. The absolute beauty of the performance was so overwhelming that there was nothing else left in the world, it was all-consuming. That feeling returned watching "Heima." I have not finished the film at this point, but it would take something extremely terrible to destroy this experience. I really do not need to go further to be able to say that I wholeheartedly recommend this film to anyone. Sigur Ros may not become your favorite band, but I think you would be hard pressed to not find something to love about this film.

Alcohol Magic

2007-12-14T20:34:00.001-06:00

Guys night out. Brad figures out how to hold his beer without using his fingers.

Literary Laws #502

2007-12-14T16:22:00.000-06:00

If you are reading something and the word "accredited" is used as an adjective, what you are reading is boring.

A Word From Our Sponsor

2007-12-12T15:14:00.000-06:00

Corner Cushions, protecting your delicate 100 pound marble table top from your child's razor sharp teeth for over 30 years.

A Soft Opening

2007-12-12T11:00:00.001-06:00

Okay, so I guess it's time I get this thing rolling - I've been talking about it for quite some time now... Anyway, welcome to what is sure to be a completely unique blogging experience. Alright I've lied to you already, this will pretty much be like any other blog, filled with useless information about things that I am obsessing over. I mean, really, why are you reading this?

So I guess if you really want to know what is going on in my ratty little head, stay tuned for more fun little nuggets of information like this:

I like cheese.

See, you really needed to know that, didn't you? Now go be productive.