Enough said.Nov 20, 2008
Oct 27, 2008
It's Time
I'm sitting here watching Game 5 of the World Series. My Philadelphia Phillies are currently leading the series 3 games to the Tampa Bay Rays' 1 game. If the Phillies win tonight, it will be only their second World Series Championship since their inception in 1883. Yes, this team, the Philadelphia Phillies, has been in one town, with one name for 125 years (a professional sports record, by the way)... with only one championship. As a matter of fact, Philadelphia, my professional sports city of choice (I grew up in Central New Jersey, in the Philly TV market), last won a championship in 1983 when the Philadelphia 76ers beat the Lakers. That is 25 years, and 100 seasons (Sixers, Flyers, Eagles and Phillies) without a championship.
Our teams have been to championships since... the most recent for each are the Eagles in 2004 (which I was at), the Sixers in 2001 (which I was at), the Flyers in 1997, and the Phillies in 1993.
But the Phillies are there now. They are winning in Game 5 right now, they have a real shot at stopping this streak right now. One game will mean so much to so many people.
It's about the Phillies right now, and being a Phillies fan. Everyone that knows me knows that I'm an enormous Philadelphia Eagles fan. I have season tickets, I also produce and co host the podcast, EaglesFanCast, with two very good friends. Yesterday I was at the Eagles game, and they beat the Atlanta Falcons in Philadelphia. It was a fun game, especially for the struggling Eagles team. But one thing that made being there even better was looking around the stadium and seeing so many red Phillies hats, shirts and jerseys. The fans of the Eagles and Phillies enjoyed the day to no end... and later that night the Phillies won Game 4 of the Series.
The Phillies won their first and only World Series in 1980... 28 years ago. They were in the Series last in 1993... 15 years ago. (I know, they were also in the Series in 1983, but I lump the time frame in with the 1980 time.)
I'm watching this appearance with completely different eyes than I did in the previous years mentioned. In 1980, I watched the Series with the eyes of an eleven year old, at home with my parents, and can remember it like it was yesterday. I remember Steve Carlton's pitching, Mike Schmidt's hit that knocked in two runs in the third, Pete Rose and that bobble-catch near the dugout, and Tug McGraw throwing that final pitch and throwing up his arms in victory. I remember the players meeting Tug in front of the mound and Schmitty leaping atop the celebrating group. One of the coolest parts of a young boy's life was watching that TV that night. Watching and feeling what it meant to be a Phillies fan, and a winner.
Then in 1993, I watched the final game of the World Series in a local bar among friends this time as a 24 year old single guy, with a job and unknown future. The team was a blast to watch, with Curt Schilling, John Kruk, Lenny Dykstra, Dutch Daulton and of course, Mitch Williams. Ahh, Wild Thing, can't forget you.
Tonight, I watch the game as a 39 year old married father of two. My six year old daughter wanted to stay up and watch the game tonight. With another day of first grade tomorrow, being the responsible Dad, I had to say "No". It wasn't easy. I want her to see the thrill of a championship win. She's too young, though, and quite honestly doesn't really understand... yet. As for me, I realize that 28 years is a long time, and a lifetime to quite a number of my twitter friends. I remember that 1980 Series vividly, but those not much younger than me only know about the 1980 Phillies from articles and news video clips. Their Champion Phillies may be, ahem, WILL be, Cole Hamels, Ryan Howard, Pat Burrell, Jimmy Rollins, Chase Utley, Shane Victorino, and many more. Mine will be as well, but, to me, they will not be as great as Schmidt, Rose, Carlton, McGraw, Bowa, Maddox, Luzinski and Boone. My first Phillies World Series championship was something extremely special. I hope that the 2008 Phillies become something extremely special to many more. These fans deserve it. This city and region deserve it. No matter how bad things have been over the years for each of the teams (and they have been REALLY bad at times), the fans have remained loyal and passionate. They want it for themselves, for the players, for the city and for each other. It's long overdue, and this team has what it takes to make it happen.
Three different stages of my life. Three different sets of eyes. It feels good. It feels like 1980 again. Go Phillies! We're ready for a parade!
Our teams have been to championships since... the most recent for each are the Eagles in 2004 (which I was at), the Sixers in 2001 (which I was at), the Flyers in 1997, and the Phillies in 1993.
But the Phillies are there now. They are winning in Game 5 right now, they have a real shot at stopping this streak right now. One game will mean so much to so many people.
It's about the Phillies right now, and being a Phillies fan. Everyone that knows me knows that I'm an enormous Philadelphia Eagles fan. I have season tickets, I also produce and co host the podcast, EaglesFanCast, with two very good friends. Yesterday I was at the Eagles game, and they beat the Atlanta Falcons in Philadelphia. It was a fun game, especially for the struggling Eagles team. But one thing that made being there even better was looking around the stadium and seeing so many red Phillies hats, shirts and jerseys. The fans of the Eagles and Phillies enjoyed the day to no end... and later that night the Phillies won Game 4 of the Series.
The Phillies won their first and only World Series in 1980... 28 years ago. They were in the Series last in 1993... 15 years ago. (I know, they were also in the Series in 1983, but I lump the time frame in with the 1980 time.)
I'm watching this appearance with completely different eyes than I did in the previous years mentioned. In 1980, I watched the Series with the eyes of an eleven year old, at home with my parents, and can remember it like it was yesterday. I remember Steve Carlton's pitching, Mike Schmidt's hit that knocked in two runs in the third, Pete Rose and that bobble-catch near the dugout, and Tug McGraw throwing that final pitch and throwing up his arms in victory. I remember the players meeting Tug in front of the mound and Schmitty leaping atop the celebrating group. One of the coolest parts of a young boy's life was watching that TV that night. Watching and feeling what it meant to be a Phillies fan, and a winner.
Then in 1993, I watched the final game of the World Series in a local bar among friends this time as a 24 year old single guy, with a job and unknown future. The team was a blast to watch, with Curt Schilling, John Kruk, Lenny Dykstra, Dutch Daulton and of course, Mitch Williams. Ahh, Wild Thing, can't forget you.
Tonight, I watch the game as a 39 year old married father of two. My six year old daughter wanted to stay up and watch the game tonight. With another day of first grade tomorrow, being the responsible Dad, I had to say "No". It wasn't easy. I want her to see the thrill of a championship win. She's too young, though, and quite honestly doesn't really understand... yet. As for me, I realize that 28 years is a long time, and a lifetime to quite a number of my twitter friends. I remember that 1980 Series vividly, but those not much younger than me only know about the 1980 Phillies from articles and news video clips. Their Champion Phillies may be, ahem, WILL be, Cole Hamels, Ryan Howard, Pat Burrell, Jimmy Rollins, Chase Utley, Shane Victorino, and many more. Mine will be as well, but, to me, they will not be as great as Schmidt, Rose, Carlton, McGraw, Bowa, Maddox, Luzinski and Boone. My first Phillies World Series championship was something extremely special. I hope that the 2008 Phillies become something extremely special to many more. These fans deserve it. This city and region deserve it. No matter how bad things have been over the years for each of the teams (and they have been REALLY bad at times), the fans have remained loyal and passionate. They want it for themselves, for the players, for the city and for each other. It's long overdue, and this team has what it takes to make it happen.
Three different stages of my life. Three different sets of eyes. It feels good. It feels like 1980 again. Go Phillies! We're ready for a parade!
Aug 18, 2008
New Media Expo 2008
So I've now been podcasting for a year, and very much still consider myself a noob. I listened to podcasts for probably two years before finally pulling the trigger and getting this one started. One of the things that kept me off the stage for so long was the audio side of things. Other than singing in a few "productions" in grammar school, I have no experience with any musical type things. Audibly, I wouldn't be able to tell the difference between a mandolin and a clarinet, I think. So I had to teach myself a bunch of audio-technical stuff, in addition to the tech behind podcasting itself, before starting. Oddly enough, it seems to work.
So in this last year, I've learned a lot more, some of it marketing (again not in my personal history), some of it technical (ok, I pick that up quick because it's my nature) and most of it patience (and anyone that knows me understands I am very much so). I've tried to get involved in the online community (blogs, social sites, forums and more), to spread the word about the podcast, but most importantly, to learn much more from those immersed in it. Last September I attended the unconference, PodCamp Philly, but I could only go for one day. I was amazed at the friendliness and energy level of the few people that I was able to speak with. I made a few connections and learned more about what I needed for the future of my show.
Soon after, I heard that the New Media Expo would be moving to Las Vegas for it's 2008 iteration. One of the reasons stated was that Vegas would give the conference more credibility, rather than Ontario, California, where it was held previously. The online buzz and early interest seemed pretty high, and back in October or November I decided I wanted to go to this year's Expo. A few months ago, the date was announced, and registration opened. I then had to weigh the costs ($300 for early registration) of attending the sessions to just having access to the show floor (free). Despite wanting to see a number of session speakers, I decided that this year I would hold back and only go to the (free) exhibit floor, as I heard that other podcasters were doing the same. A majority of sessions seemed to be geared toward the "Corporate" side of podcasting, plus the whole idea of the "hallway meetings" that were being touted appealed to me quite a bit.
My wife, Maureen, and I had never been to Vegas, so we were making a small vacation out of it as well. Plus back in June we started her podcast, so she was now more interested in attending the Expo with me. I'll talk about our vacation part of it in a later post.
Well, the New Media Expo 2008 started off with a bang. We both woke and went to the opening keynote, presented by Gary Vaynerchuk of Wine Library TV. Talk about high energy! Gary presented a keynote unlike any I've seen before... he was honest, blunt and confident. That combination I'm sure put off some people in attendance, but, for me, resulted in one of the best I've seen (in person or recorded). I have to honestly say that he nailed it, and I feel that I learned 80% more about podcasting and what I do, than I did before. It was worth the trip just for that.
So when it was over, we went into the exhibit hall, to see who was there, run into people I wanted to run into, pick up some schwag and mostly, learn. The initial plan was to walk the whole floor and make some mental notes as to who we wanted to go back and talk to in more depth a little later. We were done walking the floor (even with stopping quickly at a few booths) in about ten minutes. At this point, we both wondered how we were going to fill up two and a half days. Now I've been to a few conventions before, and the floors took the better part of a day to walk and talk. Needless to say, I was surprised, and I'm sure Maureen was considering just hitting the pool at this point.
Well, we went back in, and walked around the hall as two unknown podcasters. We did get to talk to a bunch of exhibitors, and we were able to see Leo Laporte doing his live show, TWiT Live, which was very cool, as I've been watching him since the early TechTV days. Each day I stopped by and was able to watch him talk with plenty of folks, all streaming live on the Net via Stickam.
At the Expo, I was able to see Kent Nichols of one of my favorites, Ask A Ninja, plus Veronica Belmont, C. C. Chapman, Brad P, Trucker Tom, iJustine, Geoff Smith, Michael Geoghegan, Seth Harwood, and Felicia Day. From being plugged in and being a podcast / internet listener that I am, it was definitely cool to see these folks in person.
On the show floor I was able to have some very good chats with Todd Cochrane, Paul Colligan and THE Drew Olanoff. Drew took the time between a few interviews and asked what my show was about, and actually took the time to answer a few of my questions honestly and with thought. Before he had to rush off to do an interview at an adjacent booth (which I think I was keeping him from), he invited me to an event in Philly the end of this month, and offered to sit down and talk again at a later time. To me, that was great stuff... he is the epitome of what this is all about; about the community, about helping.
Another very good thing that happened on Thursday evening was meeting up with and talking with Gary Puckett, who was at his fourth NME. Gary was more than happy to share some of his experiences and anecdotes from some of the podcasters/interviewers in his network. We just ran into him at the Hilton restaurant, Hacienda Margarita, and we talked for a couple hours.
So the meetups were very minimal, for me at least, despite trying to via twitter a few times. Two different times we were at another part of the strip hanging out when I saw a tweet about a meet up, and when we were over in that area, those we went to find had moved on to somewhere else. It was tough, too, because I don't watch many video podcasts, so recognizing people was kind of limited to what I know from their twitter avatars. lol
That brings me to the negative aspect of the show, and it directly has to do with whether you attended the paid sessions or not. I have to believe that if I went to the sessions, I'd have more opportunity to interact with people. Walking the show floor was very tough because it was so small. You can only talk to the exhibitors you want to so many times, and walk around the four aisles so many times before you start looking like a stalker, and the LVCC Security is summoned. I think it was just too separated and spread out. It's tough to jump into a conversation with someone who is literally in the middle of talking with someone else. The opposite is also in effect here, because the exhibit floor was rather small, people could literally be in and out of there within an hour. If you didn't happen to be in there when someone you wanted to run into was there, you were out of luck. I know I missed several people that I really wanted to see, such as Scott Johnson, Jason Van Orden and Norbert Davis to name a few.
The last thing that I was surprised that wasn't there were the parties! Granted this has nothing to do with the organizers, at all. I remember hearing about a number of parties and big get-togethers last year, and was psyched for it this year. There was only the Coverville 500 Concert. Granted I read in twitter that evening that it was awesome, but we missed most of it. Long story short, our helicopter trip to the Grand Canyon was moved from that morning to the evening. The jaunt was breathtaking... but at the expense of missing most of the concert and only getting to see Richard Cheese perform. He was funny and definitely entertaining, but I heard so many good things about the other artists.
So even though I made a few contacts there, and had some great conversations, the 2008 New Media Expo just didn't live up to the hype, whether it was publicized or my own hype. Again, I learned a lot, mainly because of Gary Vaynerchuk, Drew Olanoff and Todd Cochrane, but I expected more in the way of "experience" if that makes sense. I don't regret going, and if anyone asks, I'll happily give my suggestions for improvement. I really feel I missed out on much more simply by not paying for, and attending, the Sessions.
At this point, though, I'm really looking forward to going to PodCamp Philly in a few weeks. I can only go on Saturday and have to skip Sunday because of the first Eagles game. But the local aspect, and the smaller, more intimate locale, will surely lend to the community atmosphere that something like this needs.
Will I go to New Media Expo 2009? I'd really like to, but we'll see, both financially and logistically, if it will happen. I still commend the Bourquin brothers for pulling something like this together, as I am sure the headaches can outweigh the positives for them.
So in this last year, I've learned a lot more, some of it marketing (again not in my personal history), some of it technical (ok, I pick that up quick because it's my nature) and most of it patience (and anyone that knows me understands I am very much so). I've tried to get involved in the online community (blogs, social sites, forums and more), to spread the word about the podcast, but most importantly, to learn much more from those immersed in it. Last September I attended the unconference, PodCamp Philly, but I could only go for one day. I was amazed at the friendliness and energy level of the few people that I was able to speak with. I made a few connections and learned more about what I needed for the future of my show.
Soon after, I heard that the New Media Expo would be moving to Las Vegas for it's 2008 iteration. One of the reasons stated was that Vegas would give the conference more credibility, rather than Ontario, California, where it was held previously. The online buzz and early interest seemed pretty high, and back in October or November I decided I wanted to go to this year's Expo. A few months ago, the date was announced, and registration opened. I then had to weigh the costs ($300 for early registration) of attending the sessions to just having access to the show floor (free). Despite wanting to see a number of session speakers, I decided that this year I would hold back and only go to the (free) exhibit floor, as I heard that other podcasters were doing the same. A majority of sessions seemed to be geared toward the "Corporate" side of podcasting, plus the whole idea of the "hallway meetings" that were being touted appealed to me quite a bit.
My wife, Maureen, and I had never been to Vegas, so we were making a small vacation out of it as well. Plus back in June we started her podcast, so she was now more interested in attending the Expo with me. I'll talk about our vacation part of it in a later post.
Well, the New Media Expo 2008 started off with a bang. We both woke and went to the opening keynote, presented by Gary Vaynerchuk of Wine Library TV. Talk about high energy! Gary presented a keynote unlike any I've seen before... he was honest, blunt and confident. That combination I'm sure put off some people in attendance, but, for me, resulted in one of the best I've seen (in person or recorded). I have to honestly say that he nailed it, and I feel that I learned 80% more about podcasting and what I do, than I did before. It was worth the trip just for that.
So when it was over, we went into the exhibit hall, to see who was there, run into people I wanted to run into, pick up some schwag and mostly, learn. The initial plan was to walk the whole floor and make some mental notes as to who we wanted to go back and talk to in more depth a little later. We were done walking the floor (even with stopping quickly at a few booths) in about ten minutes. At this point, we both wondered how we were going to fill up two and a half days. Now I've been to a few conventions before, and the floors took the better part of a day to walk and talk. Needless to say, I was surprised, and I'm sure Maureen was considering just hitting the pool at this point.
Well, we went back in, and walked around the hall as two unknown podcasters. We did get to talk to a bunch of exhibitors, and we were able to see Leo Laporte doing his live show, TWiT Live, which was very cool, as I've been watching him since the early TechTV days. Each day I stopped by and was able to watch him talk with plenty of folks, all streaming live on the Net via Stickam.
At the Expo, I was able to see Kent Nichols of one of my favorites, Ask A Ninja, plus Veronica Belmont, C. C. Chapman, Brad P, Trucker Tom, iJustine, Geoff Smith, Michael Geoghegan, Seth Harwood, and Felicia Day. From being plugged in and being a podcast / internet listener that I am, it was definitely cool to see these folks in person.
On the show floor I was able to have some very good chats with Todd Cochrane, Paul Colligan and THE Drew Olanoff. Drew took the time between a few interviews and asked what my show was about, and actually took the time to answer a few of my questions honestly and with thought. Before he had to rush off to do an interview at an adjacent booth (which I think I was keeping him from), he invited me to an event in Philly the end of this month, and offered to sit down and talk again at a later time. To me, that was great stuff... he is the epitome of what this is all about; about the community, about helping.
Another very good thing that happened on Thursday evening was meeting up with and talking with Gary Puckett, who was at his fourth NME. Gary was more than happy to share some of his experiences and anecdotes from some of the podcasters/interviewers in his network. We just ran into him at the Hilton restaurant, Hacienda Margarita, and we talked for a couple hours.
So the meetups were very minimal, for me at least, despite trying to via twitter a few times. Two different times we were at another part of the strip hanging out when I saw a tweet about a meet up, and when we were over in that area, those we went to find had moved on to somewhere else. It was tough, too, because I don't watch many video podcasts, so recognizing people was kind of limited to what I know from their twitter avatars. lol
That brings me to the negative aspect of the show, and it directly has to do with whether you attended the paid sessions or not. I have to believe that if I went to the sessions, I'd have more opportunity to interact with people. Walking the show floor was very tough because it was so small. You can only talk to the exhibitors you want to so many times, and walk around the four aisles so many times before you start looking like a stalker, and the LVCC Security is summoned. I think it was just too separated and spread out. It's tough to jump into a conversation with someone who is literally in the middle of talking with someone else. The opposite is also in effect here, because the exhibit floor was rather small, people could literally be in and out of there within an hour. If you didn't happen to be in there when someone you wanted to run into was there, you were out of luck. I know I missed several people that I really wanted to see, such as Scott Johnson, Jason Van Orden and Norbert Davis to name a few.
The last thing that I was surprised that wasn't there were the parties! Granted this has nothing to do with the organizers, at all. I remember hearing about a number of parties and big get-togethers last year, and was psyched for it this year. There was only the Coverville 500 Concert. Granted I read in twitter that evening that it was awesome, but we missed most of it. Long story short, our helicopter trip to the Grand Canyon was moved from that morning to the evening. The jaunt was breathtaking... but at the expense of missing most of the concert and only getting to see Richard Cheese perform. He was funny and definitely entertaining, but I heard so many good things about the other artists.
So even though I made a few contacts there, and had some great conversations, the 2008 New Media Expo just didn't live up to the hype, whether it was publicized or my own hype. Again, I learned a lot, mainly because of Gary Vaynerchuk, Drew Olanoff and Todd Cochrane, but I expected more in the way of "experience" if that makes sense. I don't regret going, and if anyone asks, I'll happily give my suggestions for improvement. I really feel I missed out on much more simply by not paying for, and attending, the Sessions.
At this point, though, I'm really looking forward to going to PodCamp Philly in a few weeks. I can only go on Saturday and have to skip Sunday because of the first Eagles game. But the local aspect, and the smaller, more intimate locale, will surely lend to the community atmosphere that something like this needs.
Will I go to New Media Expo 2009? I'd really like to, but we'll see, both financially and logistically, if it will happen. I still commend the Bourquin brothers for pulling something like this together, as I am sure the headaches can outweigh the positives for them.
Jun 16, 2008
Father's Day
I simply have to share how my Father's Day was on Sunday.
Life, for everyone, has it's ups and downs, and no one that I know of is immune to that kind of thing in their lives. Everyone deals with their own, and obviously there's lots of levels of intensity to that. This past year has had plenty of that roller coaster ride... some highs and definitely some lows. But we live to take care of each other, and give our children as wonderful, safe and loving life that we can.
Well Sunday was Father's Day, and I normally sleep in on Saturdays (Maureen sleeps in on Sundays), but we switched this weekend at her request. So somewhere around 8:30, I heard the typical sounds of the rabid housebound kids, my 6-year old girl and 3-year old boy. Then as I headed towards a shower, I smelled the unmistakable, wondrous, heavenly scents of... bacon.
awww yeah
So I eventually head downstairs, and am greeted with screams from my kids the likes of which most dogs would go, "Damn, that's high."
Maureen and the kids come out of the office, and close the doors, which is suspicious in it's own right, and shuffle me into the kitchen. "Breakfast is almost done" I'm told, and my daughter is already giving me self-made cards. My son mumbles something sounding like "pee pee" and runs into the living room. So my daughter then proceeds to read her card to me, and it's actually a poem that SHE wrote! My six year old wrote me a poem, does this happen?? I was amazed. So after she beams when I'm telling her how much I love it, she pulls out a picture that she drew for me.
Now she's a little artist, actress and all around director. Not in any order, and they are not exclusive, mind you. She's even taking art classes every Saturday, and we go through more crayons, markers, glitter, paper, glue and pencils than most old-school Disney Imagineers. Well in her hand is one of her best works yet, and I can't tell you how it made me smile and laugh. It was a crayon picture of her, holding the guitar from Guitar Hero 3 (complete with the exact order of colored keys on the neck), big smile (including missing tooth), red shoes with yellow stars on them, and the coup de grace, her one hand is giving the typical rock and roll devil horns. Epic!
My son runs up and roars at me, then sprints off to the other room to either kick a basketball or torment our blind dog.
Next Maureen and my daughter give me a gift bag, which contains not one, but two shirts from one of my favorite podcasts, Extra Life Radio by Scott Johnson. I've become a big fan of the show, and geek out with it each week. I'm very happy with the shirts, let me tell you, plus all four of us are going to the Phillies game this coming Saturday... Maureen's not one for keeping secrets, and told me about the Phillies game a couple months ago when she originally bought the tickets. :) It's going to be a blast, as it'll be the kids' first game.
So then I'm ushered towards the office, and they tell me to sit down in front of the computer monitor, and anyone that knows me knows I'm already smiling. Maureen turns on the monitor, and on it is a drawing, and I recognize the artwork as Scott Johnson's (yes, same one as above... he does web comics, too!) Then I saw the name at the top was "GlutHound", which is my normal gaming handle! Long story as to how it was created, but it goes back a number of years, and I won't need to go into it here.
Basically what I'm looking at on the screen is my own superhero that Maureen commissioned Scott Johnson to do! How absolutely geeky cool is that? It's not just an computer graphic either, it's a print that will be coming in a couple days that I can hang in the office! Well, GlutHound's costume is midnight green (the Eagles' colors, thankyouverymuch), wears a cape, and he has a Guitar Hero guitar slung over his back, an iPod hanging at his waist, earphones and a podcasting microphone, and holding a football... and did I mention he's a super hero? How absolutely awesome is that?
Yeah, I geeked out about it big time... then my son came in, demanded chocolate milk repeatedly, and we ventured into the kitchen.
We had breakfast, a really good breakfast casserole, which Maureen details out nicely in her blog here. The rest of the day we had fun, hung out, I finished up (finally) the PC game Call of Duty 4, which I haven't played in a few months, then we went out to dinner. Dinner was at a place called The Pop Shop in Collingswood, NJ. The place was a blast... 1960's era flavored sodas, breakfast food anytime, unbelievable shakes and sundaes, and super kid friendly.
I tell you, it was my best Father's Day yet... next to that first year back in 2002 when I held my four month old daughter in my arms and realized that day was forever changed for me.
Life, for everyone, has it's ups and downs, and no one that I know of is immune to that kind of thing in their lives. Everyone deals with their own, and obviously there's lots of levels of intensity to that. This past year has had plenty of that roller coaster ride... some highs and definitely some lows. But we live to take care of each other, and give our children as wonderful, safe and loving life that we can.
Well Sunday was Father's Day, and I normally sleep in on Saturdays (Maureen sleeps in on Sundays), but we switched this weekend at her request. So somewhere around 8:30, I heard the typical sounds of the rabid housebound kids, my 6-year old girl and 3-year old boy. Then as I headed towards a shower, I smelled the unmistakable, wondrous, heavenly scents of... bacon.
awww yeah
So I eventually head downstairs, and am greeted with screams from my kids the likes of which most dogs would go, "Damn, that's high."
Maureen and the kids come out of the office, and close the doors, which is suspicious in it's own right, and shuffle me into the kitchen. "Breakfast is almost done" I'm told, and my daughter is already giving me self-made cards. My son mumbles something sounding like "pee pee" and runs into the living room. So my daughter then proceeds to read her card to me, and it's actually a poem that SHE wrote! My six year old wrote me a poem, does this happen?? I was amazed. So after she beams when I'm telling her how much I love it, she pulls out a picture that she drew for me.
Now she's a little artist, actress and all around director. Not in any order, and they are not exclusive, mind you. She's even taking art classes every Saturday, and we go through more crayons, markers, glitter, paper, glue and pencils than most old-school Disney Imagineers. Well in her hand is one of her best works yet, and I can't tell you how it made me smile and laugh. It was a crayon picture of her, holding the guitar from Guitar Hero 3 (complete with the exact order of colored keys on the neck), big smile (including missing tooth), red shoes with yellow stars on them, and the coup de grace, her one hand is giving the typical rock and roll devil horns. Epic!
My son runs up and roars at me, then sprints off to the other room to either kick a basketball or torment our blind dog.
Next Maureen and my daughter give me a gift bag, which contains not one, but two shirts from one of my favorite podcasts, Extra Life Radio by Scott Johnson. I've become a big fan of the show, and geek out with it each week. I'm very happy with the shirts, let me tell you, plus all four of us are going to the Phillies game this coming Saturday... Maureen's not one for keeping secrets, and told me about the Phillies game a couple months ago when she originally bought the tickets. :) It's going to be a blast, as it'll be the kids' first game.
So then I'm ushered towards the office, and they tell me to sit down in front of the computer monitor, and anyone that knows me knows I'm already smiling. Maureen turns on the monitor, and on it is a drawing, and I recognize the artwork as Scott Johnson's (yes, same one as above... he does web comics, too!) Then I saw the name at the top was "GlutHound", which is my normal gaming handle! Long story as to how it was created, but it goes back a number of years, and I won't need to go into it here.
Basically what I'm looking at on the screen is my own superhero that Maureen commissioned Scott Johnson to do! How absolutely geeky cool is that? It's not just an computer graphic either, it's a print that will be coming in a couple days that I can hang in the office! Well, GlutHound's costume is midnight green (the Eagles' colors, thankyouverymuch), wears a cape, and he has a Guitar Hero guitar slung over his back, an iPod hanging at his waist, earphones and a podcasting microphone, and holding a football... and did I mention he's a super hero? How absolutely awesome is that?
Yeah, I geeked out about it big time... then my son came in, demanded chocolate milk repeatedly, and we ventured into the kitchen.
We had breakfast, a really good breakfast casserole, which Maureen details out nicely in her blog here. The rest of the day we had fun, hung out, I finished up (finally) the PC game Call of Duty 4, which I haven't played in a few months, then we went out to dinner. Dinner was at a place called The Pop Shop in Collingswood, NJ. The place was a blast... 1960's era flavored sodas, breakfast food anytime, unbelievable shakes and sundaes, and super kid friendly.
I tell you, it was my best Father's Day yet... next to that first year back in 2002 when I held my four month old daughter in my arms and realized that day was forever changed for me.
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