Memorial Day

It's Memorial Day, and it's a time here in the States where picnics take center stage. It's used in the marketing arena as a way to kick off the Summer season and funnel thousands to the beaches, and into stores. Many of us take the time to get together with family and friends in some way and have a good time, eat good barbecue, have a few beers and play horseshoes and quoits. (That last one is kind of like horseshoes, but better.)

But the name of the holiday is "Memorial Day" and it is the day designated when we pay tribute to the men and women in the Armed Forces, and especially those that gave the ultimate sacrifice for our country. My father was one of them. He died on foreign soil... Saigon, Vietnam, almost 39 years ago. He was an MP in the Army, assigned to the US Embassy in Saigon. A tragic accident took his life... three weeks before I was born.

You are still remembered on this day, and many days. You also have a granddaughter and grandson, and they are growing, and will take your legacy with them as they live their lives too.

So remember, respect, and welcome home those that served... and thank them.

Friday Night, TD on the Tube

Well Maureen's out for the night with the girls from the neighborhood. I had decisions to make... gaming, TV, movies, porn, WHAT?? Well I've got the 360, the PC, and some great games for each (Gears of War and Supreme Commander, respectively). But I don't feel like thinking, and I just feel like sitting. MOVIE!!
OK, so... a movie that Maureen isn't interested in. That narrows it down to anything not on MTV and all comedies. I've got a bunch of DVD's I've bought and not watched yet. A few around, but anything 1. Jack Black and 2. ridiculous... will work. So the only answer is...

Tenacious D and the Pick of Destiny

This. may. be. the. best. rock. movie. ever. made.

Jack Black's comedic timing, and Kyle Glass's (Glass'???) non-acting-skills, as well as their rock opera injection make this a comedic rock masterpiece. The first few minutes, with a "young" Jack Black and Meatloaf as his Dad, with singing dialog is awesomely great. Some great lines, and some even better song-lines, if that makes sense.
"Fuck-a-luck-a-ding-dong" was just one of them, as I was writing this.

Funny thing... Maureen JUST walked in, as Black was trying to disable the laser protection beams, with, his, uhhhhh, "member". Talk about walking in at the wrong time.

I can't say that it's the 3rd drink I've had since I started watching this, but this movie has a lot of the timing, goofiness, crass comments (in this case, in song), and blatant outrageousness that make this a great comedy that's worth watching on any night alone, or with the guys.

In watching the last five minutes of the movie..... I have to say... best. rock. movie. of. all. time.

Thank you Swedesboro, and good night!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Moblog Test

In my never-ending quest for more geeky fun, I helped Eric figure out how to post pics from the mobile phone to his blog.

He wanted to figure out an easy way of blogging on the road, easily, without carting his entire laptop. Since I won't be going on the Phillies roadtrip up to Chicago (Chi-town, Windy City, City with big shoulders, my kinda town...), at least I can live vicariously through him.
Plus, now I know how to do it, which can make for some more interesting posts on my part.

Tomato, Tomato

No matter how you say it, I planted eight of the plants in my humble garden on the side of my house Monday night; two each of plum, cherry, early girl and big boys. Also threw in two, maybe three or four (a few seeds seemed to take in each dirt pots) cucumbers, and two eggplants. With all the plants Maureen bought, I'm glad I expanded the garden by a few square feet this year. Emma helped me plant each of them, and I couldn't be more thrilled. My Pop Pop had a garden, my Dad and Mom took it over, I helped them out, now we have our own for the eighth season, and I'm going to keep my kids interested in it. Pretty damn cool.

If only I could grow grass in that soil.

Last evening I busted out the tiller and took some more dead spots grass out of the equation to finally put in a bed at the back of the house where there were two lilac bushes. Some big, creepy spiders were not happy with me, and I definitely was careful avoiding them when picking out the upturned grass and roots. Anyone that knows me is well aware that I'm not a spider person by any stretch. Unfortunately for me, Maureen's less of one, so I have to take care of them, and they seem to enjoy our garage. [shiver] But I think that I was more creeped out yesterday since I saw this article earlier in the day.
That just skeeves me to no end, and I think it's mainly because these BA sonsof.. keep pets!! [shiver]

Cinco de Mayo!!

Went out on the Cinco with some good friends in Philly. We started at the El Vez restaurant... where Mexican-American meets East L.A. in a Tijuana Taxi. Nice. Food was very good, and plenty of gluten-free (and tasty) things for Maureen. I couldn't finish all of mine, which says something about my new eating lifestyle because that NEVER would have happened before. All were happy.
Then we walked around the corner (more or less) to Senor McGillin's for a nightcap (more or less). That's where I was finally introduced to Red Bull and vodka. I know, I know, that combo's been around for at least a decade, but I never had an interest. Never even had a Red Bull before either. So after my fifth one Saturday, I realized that it's a sweet, guzzling kind of drink and the sugar/caffeine definitely offset the vodka nicely. No hangover the next day either, but I wonder if it's because I didn't get enough alcohol in my system in the first place. Probably won't make a night out of that drink again, but it fit the bill perfectly that night. We laughed our asses off for hours.
On the way home, we talked our DD into a quick diversion down South Street. Now anyone that's familiar with South Street on a Saturday night when it's a perfect-weather night just knows that there's no such thing as a "quick diversion." Driving was slow, so Scott, Eric and myself jumped out of the truck and ran up two blocks to get slices from Lorenzo's. After we stood in line, grabbed the slices and paid, the girls had just pulled over out front. Nice.
The trip home was a combination of pizza, laughing hysterically, and singing (loudly) to many Prince songs... it's probably best to not ask.

A good time was had by all.

Family Bush

So since late January, family's been more and more important in my life. We lost a beloved aunt to cancer, and as these things tend to do, it brought the family closer together. We talked more on the phone, we were able to share stories, laugh together and cry together. I believe it made a lot of us think, and maybe some of us regret not going the extra mile up to this point.
Well since then I've been inspired to lose weight, start this blog, and start gathering info on my family for genealogy. Not that I have so much extra time, but this will be fun... I've always had a thing for plugging in data into forms. LOL
I bought Family Tree Maker 16 and installed it last night, and started harassing family members to get me info. Once I get a lot plugged in and it starts slowing down, I'll try exploring some of the online resources and see where my family came from. Who knows, maybe I'm a direct descendant of a Hungarian, Irish or German ruler... or fry cook.

Soundtrack - iPod playlist including: Foo Fighters, GnR, Red Hot Chili Peppers