Christmas Tree

My Sentiments Exactly (Mostly)

"I can't stand rap... people who can't sing do rap... you can sing rebellion as well as talk it... Hitler would've been in a rap band..."
~ John Entwistle - The Who

I didn't post this for any particular reason other than I was looking at famous quotes and famous last words and happened upon this one. I must say that I agree for the most part. I like (or at least can listen to) most all genres of music but rap is not one of them. But I suppose every generation must have some form of music that annoys others.
This does it for me (yeah, I'm an old fart)

Rim Shot

So this is the drum set we got for Dylan . He is pretty good on it already, he started taking percussion in school after playing trumpet for two years. He's got some natural ability for sure. Dana is very musical, I'm somewhat musical and Jack seems to have it too. Jack's got a good ear for sure. He cracked me up last night though. He was standing behind the drum set and starts saying "A monkey walks into a store..." or something like that. Then he makes up some silly joke and hits the drum and a cymbal (a rim shot as they say).
I didn't show him that, he must have been watching Uncle Miltie or something...

Merry Christmas

Yeah, I know, it's a repeat from last Christmas. I've got a lot of wrapping to do tonight. Dylan knows the scoop with Santa, he's 13 now and figured it out when he was about 11. Jack (Grif) is 6 1/2 and is still a believer. It really makes Christmas so special when they believe in Santa. Grif is so excited, I hope he can get to sleep later. Dana has her usual Christmas gig at her church so she's out until 12:30. Dylan is going to try to get Grif into bed so I can make the magic happen. Anyway, Merry Christmas to all and to all a good night

One Man's Trash, is Another Man's Christmas Present

Martin guitar pick (above)

My eyeball (above)

Dust on an old modem card (above)

Many people are cleaning out their offices at work as of late (that's another post). I found this very cool microscope that someone was throwing out. All it was missing were the drivers for it. a little search on the Internet and presto. Drivers. It's a digital scope that hooks up to the USB port and projects the images on to the computer. You can also take snapshots of what you are viewing. It's so cool, this is bonus gift for me and the boys for Christmas

i-Gotta-Go-Potty

I think this speaks for itself

Big Apple Circus

We went to the Big Apple Circus on Wednesday. We started the day with a visit to my favorite Oncologist who gave me great news, two months off. It ain't over...but it's two months off. That works for me. She was very charning too which was a surprise. She had never met my kids and I certainly didn't expect her to be so nice and cheery. She really is great, I don't pay her to be warm and fuzzy.

Afterwards, we took a walk over to see Saint Patrick's Cathedral which is an amazing structure, even if you're not into the whole religion thing. Then we strolled over to Rockerfeller Center to see the Christmas tree. That is always an amazing sight to see. The skating rink was open and the skaters were all about.

Then we went to the featured attraction, the Big Apple Circus. We had gone there when Dylan was about 5, so Grif (or Jack) wasn't even born yet. Dana had a great idea with trying to see at least one special event in the city every year. Next year it may be a play on Broadway, or a ballet or an opera. It's a good way to get the kids exposed to different events and since we live near the greatest city in the world, why the hell not! So, anyway, we're sitting there talking to Dylan and Jack and calling Grif Jack and so on. There is a woman in front of us with three boys, she turns around and asks us if we are calling our kids Jack and Griffin. She tells us one of her boys is named Griffin, another is Jack, and the third I can't recall. We explained how Grif likes to be called Jack and our other one is Dylan. We all thought that was so interesting because you never hear of other Griffins (at least we never had). About a minute later, I tap her on the shoulder and ask her if her name is Dana by any chance. She looks at me as if she saw a ghost. She says it's spelled the same but she pronounces it Dan-a, not Day-na. We were all freaked out, it was so cool. Her husband was not a Phil but still, it was such a cool coincidence. We all enjoyed the circus and then headed home. I posted a video on Goggle (YouTube was acting up but it's on there now too). I only had my still digital camera but it does take video without audio so I threw some songs here as a soundtrack. I don't have circus music. I also had to edit the length since youtube only lets you post 10 minute videos. I think any more and I'd lose my readers....

Because They Can

(have the sound on)

Insomnia Isn't All Bad

Here's another early morning picture. I found myself up again at 4:30 am. I had remembered reading about another meteor shower this week so I went on line and found a little info about it. So I put on some warm clothes and grabbed a chair and looked to the heavens. I was out for only about 20 minutes and I was able to see 5 real good ones, and 2 lessser ones. It was great. I've seen more falling stars this Autumn than I ever have in my life. I was up last Sunday at 5 am in the cold to see a grouping of Jupiter, Mars and Mercury which didn't pan out but I saw a falling star them too.
It's great

Peace on Earth

"It seems whenever someone tries to say 'Peace on Earth' it is met with so much resistance."
LISA JENSEN, Denver homeowner, after being told by her 200-home subdivision's board to take down a wreath shaped like a peace symbol. Some neighbors saw it as "politically divisive" during wartime.
Of course that was my signal to make a sign in lights that said Peace along with a Peace symbol. I have a neighbor who I don't see eye to eye with politically with. We usually never discuss politics but once he brought up the flag burning issue. My feeling is that when we prohibit flag burning, we take away one of the things I feel our country stands for, Freedom of Speech. I don't approve of flag burning but I feel there should not be a constitutional amendment banning it.

I actually got into an arguement with a blogger from the north of us a few weeks ago over a freedom of speech issue. Maybe where she is they don't have freedom of speech. Maybe should be the censor for the northern hemisphere. Good grief...

A Post

I've been scarce lately. No special reason other than I blog in spurts (sounds gross) I've been getting out in the kayak more, enjoying the lake before it freezes. I've also been waking up at 5 am and going to the lake to look at the stars. It's great how peaceful it is at that time in the morning. Last week I was in the city and visited my brother in laws construction site in the Time Warner building at Columbus Circle. This guy owns 1/2 of the 70 something floor, the views are incredible. The whole place is being gutted and done with imported marble, exotic wood and incredible plaster work. It's a $25 million place. Here's a couple of pictures I took. My BIL does work like this all over the city. It blows my mind how wealthy these people are.
Same planet, different worlds ...

Walton Lake

Sundogs, or perihelia, as they are technically known, are caused by ice particles reflecting a diffused light. More info