Guess Who’s Coming Back

Fox is bringing back 24 as a limited series

Looks like I’m going to have to start blogging on a regular basis again.

What I’m Listening to Today

Maybe I’ll listen to some Make Believe too.

Turning Up The Radio

Since moving to Columbus 13 years ago, I’ve listened to mostly one radio station: CD 102.5. a locally-owned alt rock station.

CD 102.5 (formerly CD 101) has a Guest DJ feature. Send in a playlist, and if they pick it, they’ll let you be on the air for an hour.  Last month, The Civee and I were driving around and heard a promo. The Civee said I should try it, and I admitted I’d thought of it before. Putting together a playlist was actually pretty tough. I had to pick between 12 and 14 songs, mostly comprised of artists they play regularly. And I thought it would be a good idea if I kept it to one Weezer song. After some thought, I sent in a playlist and a few hours later, they scheduled my time on air.

My guest DJ stint was today and it was a blast. I had to cut a few songs, but once the show started, aside from a short intro from DJ Brian Phillips, I did most of the talking. I talked about myself (And The Civee, Hope and Luke) and introduced some of the songs. They also let me cut a weather promo sponsored by The Easy Street Cafe. I put some life into the Easy Street Cafe promo and my coworkers got a kick out of my reading of their catchphrase: “Feta is Beta.” I had a blast and while I’d love to do it again, it’s probably better to let some other people have a shot. 

Besides, it’s pretty tough limiting myself to one Weezer song each hour.

Here’s my playlist:

Ted Leo and the Pharmacists: Biomusicology
Grouplove: Itchin’ on a Photograph
Steve Burns: Mighty Little Man
Weezer: No One Else
INXS: Don’t Change
The 88: Coming Home
The Thermals: St. Rosa and The Swallows
“Weird” Al Yankovic: One More Minute
Ben Kweller: Hospital Bed
William Shatner: Common People
Better Than Ezra: Good

The songs cut for time:
Oasis: Stand By Me
The Pixies: Here Comes Your Man
Temper Trap: Down River

If you have to ask “why?” about any of these songs, the answer is simple: because I like it.

Drinking Wine to Keep the Mosquitoes Away

Having two kids requires a lot of creative thinking when it comes to projects around the house.

We learned last summer Hope was very sensitive  to mosquito bites (a trait she’s gotten from me). So having some type of defense against the suckers is important to us. Because of the kids, tabletop candles, in-ground torches and everyday applications of Off weren’t the best idea. Last year, I mounted a few in-ground tiki torches to our fence, which kind of did the trick. But they didn’t look that great and didn’t hold up too well.

So this year, I was looking for a more permanent fence-mounted solution. I saw a few torches online, but at $50 each, they weren’t an option. I then found instructions for a do-it-yourself torch using wine bottles. It seemed easy enough, and it was. I did have to make multiple trips to the hardware store for equipment, learn to cut a metal rod with a hacksaw and try to use Teflon tape, but it was pretty easy.

My only issue with the instructions was the choice of bottle size-they reccomend a bottle with a one-inch diameter neck and most of our wine bottles are smaller.

Also, we only had one wine bottle that was close to empty. We’d like a few more of these around the backyard, so I guess The Civee and I are going to have to drink more wine.

But is that really a problem?

All About Episode VII

Patton Oswalt gives details about Star Wars Episode VII.

He lost me at Moon Knight. But got me back at Colossus.

Happy Birthday Hope

Last year, in a post for Hope’s second birthday, I mentioned she had a “halo of hair that would make Art Garfunkel jealous.”

Well, Hope is now three. Her hair is even crazier and she’s become an amazing little person. Last year, she could say a sentence or two and follow along in conversations. Now, she’s telling whole stories and picking up on every little thing The Civee or I say. And she’s a great big sister.

Here she is over the past 12 months. The Civee mentioned that I messed up, going side-to-side with the pictures instead of up and down. To which I reply, my blog, my rules.

Happy birthday, Hope!

Tell Me a Story

Hope is really into stories right now. I don’t mean storybooks (although she loves being read to) or fairy tales. Hope loves when The Civee or I tell her stories about things that happened to us.

Every time we drive past Riverside Hospital, she wants to hear about the time I broke my ankle (and thanks for bringing it up Hope, no it is not embarrassing all these years later). She loves the story of when The Civee sat on a pile of fire ants (I kind of like that one too). And she can almost go line-by-line about the time King Classic got hit by a home run at Yankee Stadium.

It’s great that she’s so interested in our lives. But there are times when she wants to hear the same story over and over. And I’m not only talking about night after night. I mean she wants to hear the same story again right after we’ve told it. And it’s not a stalling tactic to delay bed. She’ll ask to hear stories at dinner time, or on the way to the store.

But The Civee pointed out to me a while ago that this isn’t a bad thing. There was an article in the New York Times explaining that telling kids stories about people in their family gives them perspective about their family.

Decades of research have shown that most happy families communicate effectively. But talking doesn’t mean simply “talking through problems,” as important as that is. Talking also means telling a positive story about yourselves. When faced with a challenge, happy families, like happy people, just add a new chapter to their life story that shows them overcoming the hardship. This skill is particularly important for children, whose identity tends to get locked in during adolescence.

So telling and re-telling these (and other) stories is a good thing. And with some luck, generations of Chansky children will be able to tell the tale of when King Classic got hit by a home run at Yankee Stadium.

Luke Knows Who I Am

When a baby starts making noises every now and then a noise will sound like a word. Aww-duh sounds like all done. Baa will sound like ball. And a burp can easily be confused for the word burlap.

But over the past few days, Luke has consistently made a Dada sound. While looking at me and smiling. While waving as I walk in the room. While clapping.

I think it’s safe to say that I am his favorite word.

The Civee has done a lot of great work with Luke, taking care of him at all hours of the day while he’s been sick. But I haven’t heard many M sounds.

I guess I’ll have to work with Luke on some of those M sounds.

The Force is With JJ

I’ve been a fan of a number of JJ Abrams’ projects for a while.

Alias was an incredible TV show. Lost was one of my favorite shows ever. And I thought the Star Trek movie he directed was great.

But still, I had my issues with him. He left Alias in the middle of its third season and Lost right after shooting the pilot episode (this was a bigger problem for Alias than it was for Lost). And while the Star Trek movie was very entertaining, story-wise, it was a lot like the original Star Wars.

So a few months ago, when it was announced that Abrams would direct Star Wars Episode VII, I thought he was a decent pick. He’s a Star Wars fan and loves the material, but I’ve had some misgivings about his involvement in his other projects.

But after reading part of an interview JJ did with Empire Magazine, I think that he’s the absolute best pick. In describing how he, who was not a Star Trek fan, made two movies for some of the world’s most discerning fans, JJ said he’s taking a similar approach to Star Wars:  “I feel like I can identify a hunger for what I would want to see again and that is an incredibly exciting place to begin a project.”

As a fan, he’s absolutely right.

Swing, Swing

Last weekend, the weather was amazing. Very spring-like. This weekend, the weather is not any of those things.

Here are Hope and Luke from last Sunday, Luke’s first time in  swing. I think he had fun.