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Today is my friend’s birthday.  I just wanted to extend a Happy Birthday to him with this little pic that Nathan and I came up with.

Just to show that when it is your birthday you can have three of your faves all at once.

Tomler in his Halo 3 armor on his bike and his son riding in the back.

No I am not being paid by Gamestop for this one.  I do, however, think it is a funny commercial.  Check it out.

KIDS!!!!!

That is right.  The days are getting warmer and longer.  Those chores that you have been putting off until warm weather are beckoning (Ben has his big project on his blog here ).  Kids are saying, “Mommy and Daddy, can I go out and pwaaaay….pweeease?” 

Letting the little beasts out will rid the majority of the mess they make in the house and burn off some of that pent up energy that have acquired over the colder cabin fever months.  Sure there are dirtier children to deal with, but the results are worth it. 

So we welcome you Spring and Summer.  We hate cold days and continuous runny noses.  We want to go fishing, camping, and yes to start on that dreaded chore list.

One thing you will notice is…..drum roll please…..RaeLynne is walking.  Yay!!  Wait, stop, be right back gotta go catch her……

brunothekid (C93)
Commander, Grade 4
Highest Skill Level: 36
Total EXP: 2145 EXP
Next Rank: Skill 40

Total Kills: 53,784
Total Deaths: 55,481
K-2-D Ratio: 0.969

Total Games Played: 5,166
Total Custom Games: 216
Total Matchmade Games: 4,926
Total Campaign Missions: 24
Matchmade EXP Percent: 43.54%
Status: Completed Legendary

In case you have not noticed, I have been overrun with spamming commenters with no other goal than to leave a generic message and a link to their prospective website.  These people are driving me crazy.  I just erased hundreds of these false comments tonight.  When the need arises for me to seek out Accai-Berry stuff, Japanese Rocket (whatever that is), or “how to remove a yeast infection” I may miss the convenient links that they plastered all over my website.  Thank you to the loyal and true commenters and to those who wade through the crap that some are posting on my page.  For the rest of you, if you want to advertise on my site show me some money!

I have recently been listening to some music that I have long since ignored.  I have heard these songs all of my life.  Yes that is 33 years of it for some smart alecks out there.  It just got me thinking about my taste in music in general.  It seems to me that these “ older “ songs seem to have more feeling and soul.  I don’t know if this is just a thirty-ish man’s perspective or if there is some validity to my theory.  I have a real hard time really connecting with some newer music.  I can look back on some of my favorite songs and really “feel” something when listening to them.  Ever since I was a young boy music has been more than background noise to simply help the mood.  Music is supposed to feed you, embrace you, and take you into the world that is being represented with the context proposed. 

A classic example is American Pie by Don McLean.  If you have not heard this song, shame on you.  Don’t read anymore, visit I tunes or your CD store, and buy it NOW!  Besides having a good beat, this is a prime example of having a glimpse into not just one person’s world, but an entire generation.  If you don’t know the meaning of this song, it is telling (through some fantastic imagery) how the death of iconic John Lennon affected the world.  Don McLean claims that this is the “day that music died”.  To many that is just the case.  If you really get into this song, how can you not, at least, well up a little as people are losing their innocence and perspective childhood. 

I Guess That’s Why They Call It the Blues is another real tear jerker as well.  Elton John (now with a Sir in front of his name) plays out a world where two lovers are at wits end and just trying to get a reconnection with their relationship. 

If you want some personal insight with many war heroes simply listen to Johnny Horton.  The man sings of the sadness of The Battle of Little Bighorn through Comanche.  He then continues his stories of Civil War times with such songs as Johnny Reb. 

Indian Reservation by Paul Revere and the Raiders tells us the story of the Trail of Tears and how the Indians were forever changed by their entire race being taken from their homelands.  Their trades were copied and stolen and their children forced into “white man” assimilation.  They end the song with the promise that “the Cherokee nation will return”.

Who could forget the royalty of Soul music: James Brown, Aretha Franklin, Fats Domino, etc.  These people pushed the boundary for modern music.  Without such influences the King would never have found his voice.  It was said that when Sun Records was looking for their next big singer, they were looking for a white man that could sing like a black man.  Thus a Memphis man answered the call and Elvis changed our lives forever. 

Don’t get me wrong I enjoy a some modern music, but I just don’t “feel” what I feel when listening to these older songs.  I fear that music is so “made” nowadays that we have lost what it is supposed to be about.  It is an art form of telling a story.  It is not a recipe of creating a band of four good looking guys and putting an enjoyable beat behind some massive voice adjustments and lip syncing. 

Ask yourself, when going through hard times do you look to The Backstreet Boys for support or find a classic that seems to really know what is happening with you.  I found some of my roughest experiences were eased by Air Supply.  I don’t listen to them often, but when the mood is right they really will pull out that catharsis that you need.  Incidentally, I have found the group called Bread to be SO romantic that it is nothing short of musical poetry.  For you guys that just can’t seem to put those words into motion, take a page from their book.  If you want to relate to unrequited love listen to their Diary song.  Good stuff.

I am kinda concentrating on the slower more passionate songs right now but will follow this up other fields that also fit into my main theme.  Just some food for thought.  Has music lost its soul or have I lost my youthful perspective?

Well, now with the forthcoming arrival of our third child, it has become necessary to get another vehicle.  We need something with more room, third row seats, DVD player, and good gas mileage.  Anyone know of a muscle car that fits that description…how about a sports car?  Any body….please…..sigh.  So we went into town and bought a minivan.  Yes that is right we are that family now.  I will have to say that it turned out to be a better looking vehicle than I had feared.  I had already pictured us in a proverbial cracker box on wheels.  Instead we purchased a 2004 Pontiac Montana.

This is a stock photo as it was too dark to take a picture for this entry.  I will add a real picture later.

This thing is awesome in the way of creature comforts (compared to what I am used to).  It appears that all of the stuff works too (amazing).  It has an automatic sliding side door, sliding doors on both sides, 3 rows of seats, a DVD player built into the back, rear heating, folding down back two rows of seats, a backup assistant (Becky already found this one to work fine), and all kinds of other stuff that will take another year to find.  It is like a treasure hunt on wheels. 

Another thing that I do like about it is that you don’t see too many of these out there.  It seems that the roads are flooded with Dodge Grand Caravans and their brethren.  My sister in law also falls into this category.  I like those but it is good to be a little different.  I am also impressed with the sportiness of the van.  It has that “I am a soccer mom that will run your butt over anyway” look.  I attribute this mainly to the position of the fog lights which also work splendidly. 

All in all, I am not totally sold on it but I do not hate it either.  It definitely is what we are needing though.  Becky is happy and that is what matters.  It IS  her vehicle, and what she wanted.  As the saying goes “Happy wife, happy life”. 

There is a joke that goes:

“Did you hear that in the seventies the Chevy Nova was no longer to be sold in Mexico?”

“No, really, Why?”

“Well in Spanish, Nova means “No Go””.

So taking that into consideration, if you figure

Slush+Morning sleet and rain+1993 Chevy Camaro = Nova

So I just got back from an outing, figuring with the multitude of road trucks that I have seen working, that I would have no problem making my rounds.  WRONG!  It all began with my driveway, which I have to admit was the worst of my troubles, and went from there.  I spun all the way out….sideways.  Which I have to admit was fun.  I also made a decent rut in the slush and ice just digging down to get to the gravel.  As long as I remained on major roadways I was fine, but to venture off was nothing more than to sit still spinning my tires…wheeee!  I did, however, make it back home safely and without incident.  I was actually delighted that I even made it back into my proper parking place ( a pet peeve of mine is not being able to be in my parking spot, so stay out of it). 

I have once again been blessed by the “brother does not need it anymore” fairy.  Yeehaw!  Nathan was overcome with anticipation for the latest cell phone…The Droid.  So overcome was he, that he went out and bought it and passed along his Blackberry Storm to me.  I have piddled with this for over a month now and have come to one decision.  MAN I love this thing.  How did I survive before having a Blackberry.  The apps are so cool.  The ability to access internet and emails is understatedly convenient.  And I can’t get my wife to leave the games alone on it, she is killing my battery.  And it has a 3.2 megapixel camera.  Sweet!

Yeah sure there is a newer version of this phone out, but I am ecstatic about this one.  You can read about his first decision to buy this phone here on his website.  I have been surfing apps like crazy.  Some of my favorites have been:

Obviously the email links directly on the Home Page

Web Browser (so much better than the standard Smart Phone)

Facebook

WBIR

Instant Messaging (this one rocks)

The Calendar (highly programmable and useful)

Calculator

Google Maps (just plain cool if using it with Latitude)

got’cha LIGHT (turns the flash of the camera into a flashlight)

Adorno Multi Alarm (phone only comes with one alarm, I need three to wake up)

Level (The Storm is sensitive to how it is moved, using this makes the phone into a virtual level…cool)

EBay

Quick Pull (reboots the whole phone automatically during the middle of the night, or whenever you tell it to, so to keep the phone less burdened)

Bible (a free eBook of the entire Bible in 23 versions)

Storm Taser (turns the phone into a virtual Sabre 120,000 volt taser complete with electricity flying from prongs, vibration, and blue lights.)  I love to act like I am using at my wife, he he

Whippho (turns phone into a virtual whip)  Again using the ability of the phone’s moving response, hold phone on side and make a whip motion with hand…….whippow….whippow.  Love to use this one at my wife too.

Slacker Radio (like Pandora, but no so memory intensive)

Radio Companion (stream any major radio station from a large city without having to adjust an antennae)

I love this thing.  You can arrange your apps anywhere you want and in any folder.  Best of all, almost all of the ones mentioned above were FREE!  You got to love that.  One last thing that is impressive to me is that lack of all the lights and music that happens in mere function of the phone.  Push the power button and it starts up.  No quirky music, just a loading screen.  Text messages are not followed by BEEP BEEP BEEP!  It is the adult phone of its predecessors.  It just has cool stuff too.

My brother in law has posted some pix from this snow and all the fun that the kids (and adults) had.  HERE is a link to said post.  He really has a creative eye when it comes to his camera.  Hope you enjoy.