Not to long ago, I was playing a lot of Tony Hawk Pro Skater 4 for the PS2 (it's an old game but I hadn't played it in a while). Watching the bonus videos of the developers trying to skateboard made me want to do it.
When I was in Jr High, I skateboarded a bit. Mostly, I just went around in circles on our back patio but sometimes I would use it for transportation. The boards I had were skinny and small from the late seventies/ early eighties. Basically, that meant that I didn't bother to try to learn any tricks (not to mention, no one I knew skated).
Yesterday, I went to target and bought a cheap board. I want to spend as little money on this as possible because I'm to old to really get any good at it. But something just to mess around with seemed like a good idea.
So, now I'm trying to ollie. The internet is full of information about how to do one and I've read a lot about it. Unfortunately, that doesn't translate very well into real life.
I'm practicing in the grass because someone suggested that. After about 30 attempts, I've manage to get the back wheels off the ground twice, just barely. I'm hoping that more practice will lead me to getting multiple centimeters into the air.
I guess it doesn't help that I am actually sharing the board with Frances. I worked out that she can lay on her stomach and safely push herself around. She has stopped trying to stand on it because I make her hold my hand when she does that. I suppose she feels more in control this way.
Well, I'm probably too old to learn a new skill but it is pretty good exercise.
mwz
Friday, July 21, 2006
Thursday, July 20, 2006
A Terrible Thought
Today, I had a horrible thought. What does Johann (or any baby) do when he has an itch?
mwz
mwz
Wednesday, July 12, 2006
eMusic 2
I forgot to blog my eMusic picks last month. I'm sure everybody was upset about that because reading about music is so much fun...
Anyway, I don't care about making an interesting blog. So, here's what I got last month.
Interpol - Antics
I really liked their song "Slow Hands" and I had read good things about Interpol, so I thought I would check them out. That's really why I'm excited about eMusic, I can check out new bands without much cost. Anyway, the album is pretty good. Nothing I go out of my way to listen to but I'm not disappointed when I do.
Magnapop - Magnapop
I like Magnapop. I have two other albums of theirs ("Hotboxing" and "Rubbing Doesn't Help") and they are both fairly solid. In the past, they have had support from Bob Mould and Michael Stipe. It was a toss up between getting this album (their first) and their most recent (their first after an 8 year break). I chose this album and I think that was a fine choice. I don't think it's as good as Hotboxing but it's decent.
Bob Mould - Body of Sound
I don't really know what I was thinking. I knew that Mr. Mould had gotten into electronica and I had been really disappointed by his last album "Modulate" which was mostly electronica. This album though was supposed to be a return to rock. Unfortunately, he still through in a quite a few effects like the irritating voice modulation that Cher used on "Live After Love". Mr. Mould is a musical genius (just not in electronica) and there are still some okay songs on the album but you really have to listen past some embarrassing experimentation first.
Pavement - Crooked Rain Crooked Rain LA's Desert Origins
Tracks 1-9
With my remaining songs for the month I picked up the first 9 songs of this album. This album has "Cut Your Hair" which I really liked in high school. I have another Pavement album (the name escapes me) and it is fine music that just kinda blends into the background. There are very view Pavement songs that I get an itch to listen to but they are always a good choice for music to listen to when I'm working. The first 9 songs of this album are no different. Next month I will probably get the remaining 3 to fill out the original album but not the remaining 30 some on the extended version.
mwz
Anyway, I don't care about making an interesting blog. So, here's what I got last month.
Interpol - Antics
I really liked their song "Slow Hands" and I had read good things about Interpol, so I thought I would check them out. That's really why I'm excited about eMusic, I can check out new bands without much cost. Anyway, the album is pretty good. Nothing I go out of my way to listen to but I'm not disappointed when I do.
Magnapop - Magnapop
I like Magnapop. I have two other albums of theirs ("Hotboxing" and "Rubbing Doesn't Help") and they are both fairly solid. In the past, they have had support from Bob Mould and Michael Stipe. It was a toss up between getting this album (their first) and their most recent (their first after an 8 year break). I chose this album and I think that was a fine choice. I don't think it's as good as Hotboxing but it's decent.
Bob Mould - Body of Sound
I don't really know what I was thinking. I knew that Mr. Mould had gotten into electronica and I had been really disappointed by his last album "Modulate" which was mostly electronica. This album though was supposed to be a return to rock. Unfortunately, he still through in a quite a few effects like the irritating voice modulation that Cher used on "Live After Love". Mr. Mould is a musical genius (just not in electronica) and there are still some okay songs on the album but you really have to listen past some embarrassing experimentation first.
Pavement - Crooked Rain Crooked Rain LA's Desert Origins
Tracks 1-9
With my remaining songs for the month I picked up the first 9 songs of this album. This album has "Cut Your Hair" which I really liked in high school. I have another Pavement album (the name escapes me) and it is fine music that just kinda blends into the background. There are very view Pavement songs that I get an itch to listen to but they are always a good choice for music to listen to when I'm working. The first 9 songs of this album are no different. Next month I will probably get the remaining 3 to fill out the original album but not the remaining 30 some on the extended version.
mwz
Tuesday, July 11, 2006
Johann the Jounger
I haven't been blogging much about Johann. That's because Johann doesn't do much. He has recently started being at least a little interesting and not just a blob that requires the holder to be standing.
Now when you talk to him or smile at him, he gets this huge smile on his face. It is like looking at perfect happiness. At those times, he is a little blob of joy.
I just bought Final Fantasy X-2 at my local used game shop. It's an RPG so I don't have to constantly be pressing buttons. It's a lot like an interactive movie. This allows me to hold Johann in the rocking chair and play.
He seems to enjoy it. He watches the game while he's awake (and I sing to him sometimes) and then he goes to sleep. He has slept many hours since I got that game.
It's a win-win. He gets some daddy time and some good rest, Arial gets a break and I don't feel guilty for playing a game that is basically a big time suck.
mwz
Now when you talk to him or smile at him, he gets this huge smile on his face. It is like looking at perfect happiness. At those times, he is a little blob of joy.
I just bought Final Fantasy X-2 at my local used game shop. It's an RPG so I don't have to constantly be pressing buttons. It's a lot like an interactive movie. This allows me to hold Johann in the rocking chair and play.
He seems to enjoy it. He watches the game while he's awake (and I sing to him sometimes) and then he goes to sleep. He has slept many hours since I got that game.
It's a win-win. He gets some daddy time and some good rest, Arial gets a break and I don't feel guilty for playing a game that is basically a big time suck.
mwz
Monday, July 10, 2006
Drummer or Pickpocket
Normally, we have child gates up that keep Frances out of the kitchen and therefor out of the stairs. But the other day, we had people looking at our house (we are selling) and we took them down.
Frances used that opportunity to go to the basement by herself. I was unloading groceries at the time so I let her go. We have a decent basement with not much danger. By the time I finished with the groceries, I could hear her drumming.
I went down to have a look and she had crawled up on the chair (I don't have a stool) and was playing. What I really thought was impressive though was that she had put on her ear protection (a pair of noise reduction ear muffs). I was so proud.
Yesterday, I took Frances up to take her nap. I often nap with her since it settles her down and lets me take a nap. This time though, she was a little more hyper and was bouncing on the bed a bit more than usual.
She lay down and I thought that she had calmed down, so I went to sleep.
When I woke, she was playing with something. I looked over and it was a bunch of cards. After putting on my glasses, I recognized them as cards from my wallet. I felt for my wallet and sure enough, it was gone.
Frances had removed it after I had fallen asleep and I didn't notice at all.
So, if she can't cut it as a drummer, she can always turn to a life of crime. I think she could be quite good at it.
mwz
Frances used that opportunity to go to the basement by herself. I was unloading groceries at the time so I let her go. We have a decent basement with not much danger. By the time I finished with the groceries, I could hear her drumming.
I went down to have a look and she had crawled up on the chair (I don't have a stool) and was playing. What I really thought was impressive though was that she had put on her ear protection (a pair of noise reduction ear muffs). I was so proud.
Yesterday, I took Frances up to take her nap. I often nap with her since it settles her down and lets me take a nap. This time though, she was a little more hyper and was bouncing on the bed a bit more than usual.
She lay down and I thought that she had calmed down, so I went to sleep.
When I woke, she was playing with something. I looked over and it was a bunch of cards. After putting on my glasses, I recognized them as cards from my wallet. I felt for my wallet and sure enough, it was gone.
Frances had removed it after I had fallen asleep and I didn't notice at all.
So, if she can't cut it as a drummer, she can always turn to a life of crime. I think she could be quite good at it.
mwz
Saturday, July 08, 2006
Fourth of July Weekend Part 2
On the fourth itself, I took Frances to see fireworks with a friend of ours... I'll call him Bob. Arial stayed home because she didn't want to have to feed Johann out in public (and she told me that she didn't really want to see fireworks anyway... and that she likes the burnt part as well as the crust...). Bob's wife is very pregnant and didn't want to deal with the whole adventure.
So us three went downtown for fireworks looking like a gay couple with our adopted daughter (as Bob pointed out). We managed to find a parking spot on the street that was free in the evenings.
We walked to a place where we could see the fireworks and found a spot on the grass, the very wet grass and lay down our blankets. The water instantly soaked through one of the blankets where ever we put weight on it but the other was water resistant so it took a little bit for our pants to get soaked.
Frances started off pretty good. I didn't really bring much for her to play with. There were a couple books in the diaper bag but that was about it. Soon she was up and doing laps around us which was fine. The only part I didn't like was when she would go behind the stroller and there would be a little bit that I couldn't see her. I pushed over the stroller and that solved that.
Frances' shorts were a little loose and they kept slipping down. She was fine when she stood still, but she wasn't doing much of that. I dug through the diaper bag looking for a safety pin but didn't find one. Finally, after some thought, I removed the shoelace from one of my shoes and tied it around her like a belt. That worked great but it made it a little more difficult trying to keep my shoe on while chasing after her.
She grew bored again (since it's a long time to wait for a little girl). So, I opened up umbrella and gave it to her. She held it wonderfully and started walking around. It seemed like since Frances was under the protection of the umbrella that she had more courage because pretty soon she was walking in a straight line away from our blankets.
I followed and tried to guide her back but it was pretty difficult. From my viewing angle above, I could only see the umbrella and not the direction that Frances was actually pointing. So I would think that she was going the right way only to realize that she was facing left. Plus, I couldn't actually touch her to guide. I could only guide the umbrella itself.
Eventually, I got her back and we had juice bags, but only one since we had just had an incident. Well, actually Frances had like one and a half since she finished hers pretty quick and then grabbed Bob's. Of course Bob didn't want to upset her, so he just let her have it. I didn't see it or I would have stopped her (I was working on getting my own straw in. I didn't have many juice boxes growing up so it is a bit of a challenge for me).
After juice, she went back to running circles around us, occasionally crouching down to say "Set! Go!" before running again.
When the first fireworks went up, I tried to get her to come back to me. She didn't listen and kept running... until she saw them. Then, she stopped dead in her tracks and stared at the sky in awe.
I grabbed her and set her on my lap. We spent about five minutes watching fireworks and saying "ooo". Then she got bored again. I can't really blame her, I had gotten bored of the fireworks too. So she got up and slowly walked towards the fireworks, like she was testing her boundaries. She finally stopped about 10 feet in front of us. A couple times, I grabbed her and brought her back to the blanket but she would just hop up and go back to the same spot. So I gave up and let her stand there (I think she thought she had to say "ooo" if she was with me and she was tired of that).
Then, she started circling again but this time she went as wide as possible, coming closer than I liked to the other people around us. But she didn't seem to be bothering them, so I let her continue. Occasionally, she would swing in closer to me to kinda check in and then go back to the races.
When the finally started, she stopped running and came over to me and we watched the end together.
All in all it was a good time. We saw fireworks, no one got lost and Frances was asleep in her car seat pretty much by the time I got the car started.
mwz
So us three went downtown for fireworks looking like a gay couple with our adopted daughter (as Bob pointed out). We managed to find a parking spot on the street that was free in the evenings.
We walked to a place where we could see the fireworks and found a spot on the grass, the very wet grass and lay down our blankets. The water instantly soaked through one of the blankets where ever we put weight on it but the other was water resistant so it took a little bit for our pants to get soaked.
Frances started off pretty good. I didn't really bring much for her to play with. There were a couple books in the diaper bag but that was about it. Soon she was up and doing laps around us which was fine. The only part I didn't like was when she would go behind the stroller and there would be a little bit that I couldn't see her. I pushed over the stroller and that solved that.
Frances' shorts were a little loose and they kept slipping down. She was fine when she stood still, but she wasn't doing much of that. I dug through the diaper bag looking for a safety pin but didn't find one. Finally, after some thought, I removed the shoelace from one of my shoes and tied it around her like a belt. That worked great but it made it a little more difficult trying to keep my shoe on while chasing after her.
She grew bored again (since it's a long time to wait for a little girl). So, I opened up umbrella and gave it to her. She held it wonderfully and started walking around. It seemed like since Frances was under the protection of the umbrella that she had more courage because pretty soon she was walking in a straight line away from our blankets.
I followed and tried to guide her back but it was pretty difficult. From my viewing angle above, I could only see the umbrella and not the direction that Frances was actually pointing. So I would think that she was going the right way only to realize that she was facing left. Plus, I couldn't actually touch her to guide. I could only guide the umbrella itself.
Eventually, I got her back and we had juice bags, but only one since we had just had an incident. Well, actually Frances had like one and a half since she finished hers pretty quick and then grabbed Bob's. Of course Bob didn't want to upset her, so he just let her have it. I didn't see it or I would have stopped her (I was working on getting my own straw in. I didn't have many juice boxes growing up so it is a bit of a challenge for me).
After juice, she went back to running circles around us, occasionally crouching down to say "Set! Go!" before running again.
When the first fireworks went up, I tried to get her to come back to me. She didn't listen and kept running... until she saw them. Then, she stopped dead in her tracks and stared at the sky in awe.
I grabbed her and set her on my lap. We spent about five minutes watching fireworks and saying "ooo". Then she got bored again. I can't really blame her, I had gotten bored of the fireworks too. So she got up and slowly walked towards the fireworks, like she was testing her boundaries. She finally stopped about 10 feet in front of us. A couple times, I grabbed her and brought her back to the blanket but she would just hop up and go back to the same spot. So I gave up and let her stand there (I think she thought she had to say "ooo" if she was with me and she was tired of that).
Then, she started circling again but this time she went as wide as possible, coming closer than I liked to the other people around us. But she didn't seem to be bothering them, so I let her continue. Occasionally, she would swing in closer to me to kinda check in and then go back to the races.
When the finally started, she stopped running and came over to me and we watched the end together.
All in all it was a good time. We saw fireworks, no one got lost and Frances was asleep in her car seat pretty much by the time I got the car started.
mwz
Friday, July 07, 2006
Fourth of July Weekend Part 1
We had a mildly interesting weekend.
On Saturday, we decided to go to a drive-in movie. We used to do this when we just had Frances but this was the first attempt with Johann. The movies we went to see were Cars and Nacho Libre.
As is our tradition, we picked up some juice boxes and snacks (cheese puffs and pretzels on this occasion) on the way. It's kinda fun to eat junk food and watch movies (we don't normally get that kind of snack food).
Things were going pretty well other than the car side speakers didn't really work, so we had to use the radio. Frances was having fun sitting in the front seat having juice and eating cheese puffs. Johann was having an okay time sleeping on Arial.
Unfortunately, halfway through Cars, a flaw in our parenting skills became apparent. I was holding Johann and Arial had Frances. I heard some sort of commotion and looked over at the other two in time to see a gush of liquid flow from Frances' mouth onto Arial.
I guess we let Frances have to much junk food and juice.
Frances was obviously scared, so we tried to comfort her (while not spreading the vomit). After a little bit of discussion, I went to the bathroom for paper towels. I could only find toilet paper (and the hand driers were attached to the walls pretty well). So, we cleaned up as much as we could with a large wad of toilet paper.
Then we stripped off Frances' puky clothes and put both of the kids into their car seats. It was a warm night but we gave Frances a blanket anyway. And we left.
Everyone but Johann got a bath/shower that night. While Arial was in the shower, I held both Frances and Johann and rocked in a chair. Frances seemed so pathetic, laying on my chest. I said, "I love you sweetheart" and in this tiny, little voice, she said "too" (which is how she says "I love you, too"). It was the most heartbreaking and heartwarming thing I've ever heard.
She got her bath and fell asleep right away after being put to bed. The next morning she was none the worse for wear. She slept a little longer in the morning but it was like nothing had happened.
She's a tough little girl. (On a side note, she scrapped her knee bloody today but she didn't cry. She was a little unhappy when it happened but for the most part, she didn't let it interrupt her play. She didn't even seem to be that phased when I cleaned up the wound. She is a tough little girl.)
mwz
On Saturday, we decided to go to a drive-in movie. We used to do this when we just had Frances but this was the first attempt with Johann. The movies we went to see were Cars and Nacho Libre.
As is our tradition, we picked up some juice boxes and snacks (cheese puffs and pretzels on this occasion) on the way. It's kinda fun to eat junk food and watch movies (we don't normally get that kind of snack food).
Things were going pretty well other than the car side speakers didn't really work, so we had to use the radio. Frances was having fun sitting in the front seat having juice and eating cheese puffs. Johann was having an okay time sleeping on Arial.
Unfortunately, halfway through Cars, a flaw in our parenting skills became apparent. I was holding Johann and Arial had Frances. I heard some sort of commotion and looked over at the other two in time to see a gush of liquid flow from Frances' mouth onto Arial.
I guess we let Frances have to much junk food and juice.
Frances was obviously scared, so we tried to comfort her (while not spreading the vomit). After a little bit of discussion, I went to the bathroom for paper towels. I could only find toilet paper (and the hand driers were attached to the walls pretty well). So, we cleaned up as much as we could with a large wad of toilet paper.
Then we stripped off Frances' puky clothes and put both of the kids into their car seats. It was a warm night but we gave Frances a blanket anyway. And we left.
Everyone but Johann got a bath/shower that night. While Arial was in the shower, I held both Frances and Johann and rocked in a chair. Frances seemed so pathetic, laying on my chest. I said, "I love you sweetheart" and in this tiny, little voice, she said "too" (which is how she says "I love you, too"). It was the most heartbreaking and heartwarming thing I've ever heard.
She got her bath and fell asleep right away after being put to bed. The next morning she was none the worse for wear. She slept a little longer in the morning but it was like nothing had happened.
She's a tough little girl. (On a side note, she scrapped her knee bloody today but she didn't cry. She was a little unhappy when it happened but for the most part, she didn't let it interrupt her play. She didn't even seem to be that phased when I cleaned up the wound. She is a tough little girl.)
mwz
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