Afternoon in the "D" w/ the Kids

We were going to go to Lansing today but Isaiah is sick & Stephanie had a headache so I decided to do a little syllabizing & then take them out around here. we grabbed lunch @ American Coney Island. I'd been to Lafayette many time when I was a kid but I'd never been to American. People seem to have a preference, but I don't quite understand the difference... same owners, same food, same atmosphere, same block. Apparently, American beat Lafayette on some Travel Channel show last week; I didn't see it, I've never even heard of the show, so I'm not too impressed w/ the victory. The food, on the other hand, was great. Chili fries & a pair of coneys. I was almost done before I realized they had beer. Oh well... next time.After we ate, wee hit the Charles H. Wright Museum of African American History. I had never actually been there before... it's amazing! I've sent my students there many times, but the only time I got there was just into the gift shop... never around the actual exhibits. Solstice & Aiden were really into it, but Aiden was (justifiably) creeped out by the Slave Ship exhibit. There was also an exhibit celebrating big, colorful women's hats. I wasn't quite as interested in that, but it was alright. I can't wait to go back. Anyone interested in a trip down there?Or a trip out to Chelsea on Saturday night for Whitey Morgan at the Inverness Inn. The show starts @ 9:00 & I think it's outdoors. I haven't seen them in a few years, & they have a new CD coming out next month, so it should be a fun time.

Jamboree Day 1

After a morning @ the DIA to check out the "Through African Eyes" exhibit (more about that in a few days), we stopped by my parents' house to drop off some boxes. They're moving across town so I grabbed some from Nicola's & Stephanie grabbed some from the Co-Op. Once Isaiah had his nap in the afternoon we headed down to the Jamboree. After checking out the vendors, we found a nice spot behind the tapers (all 2 of them) & settled in to watch the music. We missed Mr. Shz, but having seen them once before, we really didn't miss them @ all.

The 1st band we saw was Tokyo Sexwhale. They were pretty cool. Instrumental electronic jams kind of like Particle. They did a 15 minute version of the theme from Magnum PI & closed w/ a fun version of Henry Mancini's theme from A Shot in he Dark. I'll definitely keep my eyes & ears peeled so as to see these guys again.

Next was Theo Katzman. Apparently, he's in My Dear Disco. I liked them when I saw them, but solo, he was lacking something... like an interesting band I guess. His songs all sounded the same & he could have fit nicely on the early to mid-90s pop-charts w/ Matthew Sweet or Tom Cochran. or on the soundtrack from Reality Bites. He was talented, but didn't do it for me. I think Stephanie like him though, so it wasn't a complete wash.

We then went up to Aubrees w/ Georgina & missed most of Dragon Wagon. It's too bad because what we heard @ the end was some good bluegrass. I love me some good bluegrass. I want to say they were playing "Rollin in my Sweet Baby's Arms" & then "Shady Grove," but we were mingling & getting our chairs set up so I may be wrong.

Chuck's band Smokestack was up next. Maybe I'll post the Saga of Chuck from the 1996 Further tour on here soon to make y'all smile. Once you've read that, you'll realize why I was so shocked that he is actually a really good guitarist. I was impressed.

The penultimate performance came from The Macpodz. As far as local bands are concerned, I'd gotten tire of hearing "This band is really good; you should check them out." So I'd never seen them. I was never floored by Back 40 the way I was supposed to be. Hullabaloo are playing this afternoon, but the time I saw them I was under impressed. The Macpodz fell through the cracks... unfortunately. They're pretty fucking great. They're playing The Blind Pig in October & we might have to go. A trumpet player, a drummer, a guy on keys w/ some funky, "Superstitionesque" tones, a singer who also played some hand percussion & the flute, & an amazing bassist. The lack of a guitar threw me for a loop @ 1st, but the bass & horn filled in those gaps nicely. Very, very cool.

Last up was ekoostik hookah. We hadn't seen them since 1999. They haven't changed a whole lot. The guitarist is amazing, but the lyrics blow. I was loving the jams, but then they'd start singing again & it would become boring. They're cheesy sophomoric tunes about getting high & being a hippie. W/ a good lyricist, they could be a good band... or by dropping the lyrics & just doing instrumentals & covers they could be a cool band. As it stands, they're fun & maybe in another 10 years I'll give them another chance.

I'm about to make some PB&Js to bring up there in a few minutes as we check out The Mayflys. Be there! They start @ 11:00. Brandon Inge will be signing @ some Verizon place on Washtenaw @ 1:00 so I think I'll take Aiden up there while Isaiah takes a nap & then we'll be back @ the Jamboree for the rest of he afternoon & evening. See you there!

WCP #29: Isaiah's B-day & a Round-Up

At 2:00ish this afternoon, people are coming by for Isaiah's big, big 2nd B-Day Blowout. He seems excited & keeps telling us that he's 2, so he seems to get it... sort of. At the same time ass his party we'll also be viewing the final match: Spain v Netherlands. Here's what I like about it. I like that the European Champions are playing a team lead by the people who starred in the Champions League Final. I like that Van Persie is playing Fabregas. We have what seem to be the best 2 teams in the world actually making it to the finals for a change. These are the teams I wanted to see make it (other than France... obviously). The biggest concern is that 1) Spain will play too defensively & 2) Fabregas won't play. He's been better than Iniesta every time he's come on, but in keeping w/ my conspiracy theory, until he moves to Spain, I don't see him breaking into the starting line-up on a regular basis.

Before we get to the Visions of Ypsi Player of the Day for yesterdays 3rd Place match, here's a little re-cap of all of your previous Players of the Day from the 2010 FIFA World Cup:
Day 1: Diego Forlan (Uruguay)
Day 2: Tim Howard (USA)
Day 3: Mesut Ozil (Germany)
Day 4: Robin van Persie (Netherlands)
Day 5: Maicon (Brazil)
Day 6: Diego Benaglio (Switzerland)
Day 7: Gonzalo Higuain (Argentina)
Day 8: Michael Bradley (USA)
Day 9: Dennis Rommedahl (Denmark)
Day 10: Elano (Brazil)
Day 11: Cristiano Ronaldo (Portugal)
Day 12: Katlego Mphela (South Africa)
Day 13: Landon Donovan (USA)
Day 14: Keisuke Honda (Japan)
Day 15: David Villa (Spain)
Day 16: Luis Suarez (Uruguay)
Day 17: Carlos tevez (Argentina)
Day 18: Robinho (Brazil)
Day 19: David Villa (Spain)
Day 20: Wesley Sneijder (Netherlands)
Day 21: Miroslav Klose (Germany)
Day 22: Bert Van Marwijl (Netherlands)
Day 23: Carles Puyol (Spain)

Spain: 3
Netherlands: 3
Brazil: 3
USA: 3
Germany: 2
Argentina: 2
Uruguay: 2

David Villa is the only person so far to win it twice. We'll see how the game goes this afternoon, but we could easily get another 2 award player (or he could win it an unprecedented 3rd time). As far as Your Visions of Ypsi Player of the Day fo yesterday adds another one for the Germans: Bastian Schweinsteiger. This Hitler-Youth lookin' mother fucker is actually really good

Solstice Peltier: Bad Ass

About 20 minutes into their match yesterday, Solstice bonked her nose on the back of some other kid's head & needed to come off for a minute. It seemed pretty innocent, & when she was feeling better she went back in. Apparently, it wasn't as innocent as I thought. She claims the kid left his foot out a little late each time she was going for the ball, which ended up tripping her (or kicking her) repeatedly. W/ about 5 minutes to go, the other team went ahead w/ a penalty kick (after our defender stopped a goal w/ his hand... technically, it was after the PK because out goalie saved it but the shooter put in the rebound). As they were walking back to the center circle, the kid who'd been going @ it w/ Solstice said something in a taunting manner, & she'd had enough. I only saw it out of the corner of my eye & thought it was an accident, but she clobbered him. W/ a look of murder on her face that I only heard about after the fact, she ran into him & pushed him down into the mud. I thought she'd stumbled on the uneven ground & just fell against him, until it was explained to me more completely. Ironically, this happened right after our brawl in the Green Team match last week. I guess this goes to show how bad-sports-person-ship can spread. We had a big talk about not retaliating, but they way she did it was just like I used to do it (or like Gordie Howe), a little after the initial problem & when the ref's back was turned. As freaked out as I was about the whole thing, ass while I obviously did the correct parent thing (a long talk about why we shouldn't do that), inside I was beaming. I assume it was from these shady characters that my little princess got her vengeful streak.

Snow Day?

As far as I can remember, the last time we had classes canceled @ EMU due to weather was in December of 2000. I was teaching Eng.121 & sharing an office w/ Annette. It was my very 1st semester as a Lecturer, and while Annette & I were in an office together, I really didn't know her at all. Seeing as it's been almost 10 years, today's snow day came as a bit of a shock, & while I'll have to reshuffle the next couple weeks of class to get us back on track, I think I might be able to actually make good use of the day off. Here are the things I'll do:

1) Blogging: Lately, the blogging has played second fiddle to the rest of my life. I suppose that's the way it should be, but I've tried to keep up a steady pace of 10-12 posts per month over the last 5 years, but that hasn't been happening this year.

2) Reading: I feel as though I've been reading The Savage Detectives since Halloween. It's really good, but it's been really slow going too. I guess confining my "fun" reading to bathroom time & breaks @ Plum Market don't make for fast books. However, recently, around page 350, something resembling a plot appeared so the pace might start picking up. We'll see.

3) Terminator Salvation: The Machinima Series: I rented it last week & it's due back on Friday so today'll be a good opportunity to watch it. It looks like it might suck, but in keeping w/ my new-found love of all things Terminator, I feel wee need to watch it.

4) Star Wars: We've been talking about watching the whole saga again, so we may need to start today w/ a viewing of Star Wars: Episode I: The Phantom Menace. I think Isaiah wants to watch it.

5) Sledding: I image that @ some point this afternoon, probably while Isaiah is taking his nap, I'll take S & A out for a little while @ Riverside Park.

6) Chili: I'll take the day to slow-cook some chili & fix Coney Dogs for dinner.

7) Arsenal: There's a match this afternoon vs. Liverpool, but it's not on Fox Soccer Channel. I was considering resubscribing to Setanta, chose not to. Today, I'm regretting that decision. If I were in my office, I'd be able to watch it on-line w/ a much better connection than I have @ home... oh well. Who wants to come over & watch Arsenal go down in their 3rd consecutive defeat today?

Cub Scouts... Again

This week, Aiden & I made his rocket for the "Space Derby." It was another stellar Scouting event. Kids were being shits, talking about how the other rockets sucked, and generally running amok w/o any parental supervision. This year's leader is a lot cooler than the one we had last year though, & I think he sees us as the one family that doesn't deserve a foot in the ass each week. The other issue w/ the parents is that they rarely actually have their kids do anything. Clearly, making a rocket out of a block of wood is a bit beyond an 8 year old (it's a bit beyond me too), but we worked together & he learned about sanding & whittling, plus, he designed it & colored it himself. Of course, he then said, "I bet I'm the only kid who actually worked on it himself." I bet he was right. Some of the families may have a bigger tool collection than I do (it only makes sense... they're bigger tools), but there's no way in Hell the kids were using the electric saws. These douchey kids would certainly have injured themselves in new & exciting ways had that been the case.

Maybe part of the problem is the fact that they're choosing an activity that is too "saw oriented" for a little kid. Along w/ the saws, it also has to do w/ the mathematics of balancing it properly. On the other hand, maybe I'm just too over-protective & should let Aiden just play w/ saws. I'm sure I was doing that when I was his age.Of course, the night ended w/ tears as his rocket got it's ass handed to it by his friend's rocket (this friend is significantly less nozzly than the other kids btw... he's cool. It's the rest I don't dig... except the leader's son is usually alright too). I wish the focus was less on the competition & more on the construction & camaraderie. he can lose every single soccer game this fall & never shed a tear, but as soon as it's a one on one competition w/ his friends, the waterworks are bound to spring forth. We did have fun making it though. I think he learned a few things about the tools too.

Hallowewen Post #1: Jenny's Dexter Market

After the kids' game this morning, we made out annual trip out to Jenny's Dexter Market to get pumpkins and random canned goods: salsa, jam, pickles, etc. We've been going there since 2004 & the kids have always loved it. I stumbled upon it one afternoon when taking the scenic route home from Holly's house in Howell; it's just west of Dexter @ the fork in the road where Dexter Rd. turns North towards Pinckney. The kids played in the hay-bale tunnels for a while before picking out their pumpkins, pumpkins that I made them carry back to the car for the first time. Aiden was shocked...
"Can't I get a big one?"
"Can you carry a big one?"
"You can!"
He was certainly correct about my awesome strength, but he was wrong about who was going to carry them. After we took care of that, we headed into the little shop to score cider & doughnuts & the canned stuff. Outside, Isaiah got to check out the chickens, horses, & donkeys (aka ponies) which of course was his favorite part... other than climbing the hay-bale mountain which I think made him feel like such a big kid. Jenny's is definitely a cool place, so if you're looking for a good spot to score your pumpkins, look no further than that weird fork in the road just west of Dexter.

Balls & Ovaries... & the Tigers: The Big Talk

On Tuesday evening, starting during the bottom of the 3rd & running through the top of the 6th inning, we had the Panthers' U10 soccer practice. It was a rainy, crappy, evening. I've always loved playing in that kind of weather, but coaching is another thing all together. Afterwards, I put the ball-bag in the trunk, we dropped another kid off @ his house, & then we headed home. Listening to the game on the radio, we heard that whoever was batting had 2 balls.

Aiden then asked? "What'd that guy on the radio just say?"

Me: "The batter has 2 balls."

Aiden: "I've got a bunch of balls!"

Me: "What do you mean by that?"

Aiden: "In my ball sack!"

Solstice: "HAHAHAHAHA"

Me: "A bunch? How many balls do you think you have?"

Aiden: "I don't know... a ton?"

Solstice: "HAHAHAHAHA"

Me: "Do you really not know?"

Aiden: "No; how should I know?"

At this point, I realized a little science was in order. I proceeded to explain the testicles, the scrotum, and semen.

Solstice: "Scrotum? We call it a ball sack or a nut sack."

Me: "Yeah, I'm aware of those phrases, but the technical term is 'scrotum' or 'scrotal sack.'"

Solstice: "Well, kids these days say ball sack."

Me: "Yes, I understand that; I'm telling you the scientific term for it. Besides, it's not like your generation coined the phrase."

Solstice: "So how come I don't have any balls?"

Me: "Are you kidding?" (I think she may have been kidding.)

Me: "Because you have ovaries."

Solstice: "What are those?"

At this point, I'm pretty sure she was fucking w/ me, but I wasn't positive so I proceeded to explain.

Me: "It's where your eggs are made."

Solstice: "I'm gonna lay an egg???"

Shades of Grey: Yet Another Piece of the Puzzle Falls into Place

If you know me, you know I've never been secretive about my love for old hip-hop. By old we're talking about what I would point to as the "Golden Era of Rap," the period between Raising Hell & The Chronic. I wasn't loving Run DMC @ 1st, but when I was in 8th grade, I scored a copy of LL Cool J's underrated masterpiece, Bigger & Deffer. I saw LL on SNL in October of 1987, when he performed "Go Cut Creator Go." At the time, I had no clue that it would change my life. Afterwards, I drifted between an interest in hip hop & an interest in hair bands, but, thankfully, the hip hop won out. A few years later, I had the opportunity to see LL cool J in concert @ Joe Louis Arena. He was touring w/ a slew of smaller artists including NWA, Big Daddy Kane, Slick Rick, De La Soul, & MC Lyte. Although the gang warfare inside the arena made us leave a little early... to the sound of police in street clothes w/ baseball bats & brooms sticks telling us to get to our cars... I was sure that was the life for me. I got heavily into the political stuff being released by the Jungle Brothers, BDP, & most specifically, Public Enemy. This influence lead my friend Marques & I to start our own group along w/ a kid from down the street whose father hooked him up w/ a small mixing "thing" so he was our DJ. I think he went by Matt D... as his name was Matt & his last name began w/ D.Why am I taking this walk down memory lane? Because last night, after a completely unrelated conversation w/ Solstice & Aiden about balls & ball sacks, she refused to believe that I was ever in a rap group. She thought there was no way in Hell I could ever have been cool enough to be in a rap group, when in fact, I was never cool enough to avoid such ridiculousness. Obviously, it's not like we had a contract... or ever actually performed, be we had dreams & we wrote a shit load of songs. I only wish I could remember a couple of them. Oh, & in case you're wondering... Marques went under the Nom de Mic, Question Marq. Mine? A Plu$$ of course. It had less to do w/ my GPA & more to do w/ the fact that we fancied ourselves some sort of PE influenced group out there spreading positivity... of course.

And check back tomorrow for "The Ball Sack Story." (Yes, it has something to do w/ the Tigers' tragic loss yesterday evening.)

Deep in the Hell of Youth Soccer

This fall season has been 1 clusterfuck after another. We've been pushed around from 1 practice place to another a few times. I told the dude we were going to practice 1 place, he said fine & then immediately sent out an e-mail to parents saying somewhere else. They were obviously confused as Hell so I've had to sort that out multiple times. Certainly, it wasn't their fault, but I'm then caught in the middle of it all looking like a total douche nozzle. Of course, it doesn't help that the roster changes every fucking week. We started w/ practices 2 weeks ago, had a few changes for the 2nd week & then had 3 new kids this week. This seems to be a case of the parents registering their kids after the deadline, but @ this point, I wouldn't rule out the possibility of it just being a clerical mistake on the part of the Township Rec Dept. I suppose this wouldn't be as big of a deal if wee didn't keep getting new kids who had never played before. Each practice takes us back to the beginning. I'm glad they want to play, & I'm happy to help, but the other kids stand there w/ looks on their faces as if to say, "WTF? We just did all this shit last week." (That's a literal translation of their facial expressions, not a word for word transcription of their actual comments.)

In the end today, after an hour of frustration & disorganization, the parents were really understanding so @ least there was that. They could have been really angry. To top it off, I started kicking the balls as far as I could to take out a little aggression after most had left when 1 of the parents, laughing, asked if it'd been a rough practice @ which point her kid came running up telling her what a great practice it had been. It's nice to know the kids didn't pick up on my frustration; maybe they weren't upset that we'd already done that stuff twice after all.

On the other hand, we got home & Stephanie had made awesome chili. After which, while I was writing this, Isaiah was screwing w/ the computer so I tried to distract him by asking where Mace Windu was. He preceded to walk across the room & grab the Clone Wars Action Figure. The dude is 14 months old & know ace Windu? Sweet! Maybe net year we'll start him on SWTCG. I bet a gaming league would be a lot easier than youth fucking soccer.