Hope’s Scary Halloween Costume

Hope’s Halloween costume didn’t quite work out as planned.

A while back, The Civee and I decided that Hope should be something she’s interested in. With that in mind, and thanks to an article I read on Wired about why parents should make their own costumes (not that there’s anything wrong with store-bought costumes), I was inspired. For a while, Hope has been really into helicopters (and anything else that makes noise). With a little imagination, a cardboard box and some other accessories, I figured it wouldn’t be too difficult to make Hope into the cutest and coolest chopper since Airwolf.

We knew this was a gamble- there was the possibility she would not like the idea of walking around in a box. But at the same time, we thought this was too good of an opportunity to pass up.

So I made a cardboard box into a helicopter using some scissors, tape and aluminum foil.  We also got a little propeller beanie to make the costume more realistic.

But when it came time to get Hope into the costume, things fell apart.  She didn’t mind the hat. But trying to put the box over her head was problematic. She’d cry, try to wiggle out of it and run away. We took her trick-or-treating, with her wearing the cap and The Civee or I carrying the helicopter. We hit a few houses, explaining that she was a helicopter (and I think once people heard that, saw the cap and the box, they got the idea), and by the end, she rather enjoyed going up to houses in the neighborhood and getting candy.

By the time we got back to the house, she wasn’t so leery of the helicopter. She wouldn’t put it on. But she could at least sit next to it (the fact that we let her sample some of her candy probably helped).

It’s a good thing we had the cap as a backup. For next year, she’ll be more used to the idea of dressing up and will be able to give us some input as to what she wants to be. And now The Civee and I know to have a pre-made costume (or idea) on standby in case the original costume doesn’t work out.

My Sixth-Generation Star Wars Set

Throughout my life, I haven’t made it any secret that I’m a fan of Star Wars. I’ve even written about it on the blog once in a while.

However, for various reasons, I didn’t write about what I got for my birthday last month- the Star Wars complete saga Blu-Ray set.  Between getting it and now, I’ve watched the movies and the bonus features.  The bonus features are great to finally have (although it would have been nice to have some of them cleaned up a bit) and the movies look incredible. Others have written about changes made to the movies, and while I don’t begrudge George Lucas the opportunity to change his movies, most of these changes are just unnecessary. Darth Vader’s new NOOOOOO at the end of Jedi is more bizarre than offensive. But the change that affects me the most is the blinking Ewoks.  That’s just creepy.

By my count, this is the sixth ‘complete set’ of Star Wars I’ve gotten (or made) over the past twenty five years (four versions on VHS, and two on DVD), and I would bet that none of those versions are the same.

I’ve done the whole watch the saga over a few days thing before and can’t say I’ve noticed anything new this latest go-around. It’s still an enjoyable watch, especially seeing how the Prequel Trilogy improves with each installment and how the scope of the Original Trilogy grows each movie. Before getting the set, I read J.W. Rinzler’s Making of Star Wars and Making of Empire Strikes Back, which provided excellent background to the movies. It’s clear after reading them (and reviewing the different drafts of each movie) that while George had some ideas and themes he wanted to explore, at no point did he have the whole saga (whether it was a six-, nine- or 12-movie saga) planned out beforehand.

Unfortunately, the amount of background information for the Prequel Trilogy isn’t as abundant. For Episodes II and III, George wrote the movies as the art department developed characters and places. However, I recently found (or rediscovered) something that gives an idea about George’s original plan for The Phantom Menace. The Episode I Insider’s Guide CD that came out back in ’99 (which I still have somewhere) had bits from the original script sprinkled throughout. Michael Kaminski, who wrote the Secret History of Star Wars did a great job of compiling all the script information.

The original story for The Phantom Menace was much better than what we got (and I say this as someone who enjoyed TPM). The movie isn’t as childish; Jar Jar isn’t a bumbling fool, Anakin is more mature and there’s more depth to the interactions between the characters (for instance, there’s actual racial tension between the Naboo and the Gungans). The only drawbacks I can think of is that Qui-Gon doesn’t enter the story until the last third of the movie (Obi Wan is on his own) and Palpatine’s maneuvers to become Chancellor aren’t shown. But overall, the story just feels better.  Give it a read sometime.

Who knows, maybe one day, George will have the technology to go back and make that movie (or any other draft he wants). But I’m betting that won’t happen until seven or eight editions of the Star Wars Complete Saga from now.

Hope and No-Neck: Reunited (and It Feels So Good)

Well, No-Neck’s eye job didn’t last that long.

Despite The Civee’s best efforts, Hope’s continued gnawing at No-Neck’s eye sockets (and the surrounding fabric) meant her favorite stuffed animal was in danger of being put out of commission permanently.

Thankfully, we have someone who can sew in the family: Grandma. Only problem is, she lives on the West Coast.

So earlier this week, I mailed No-Neck and another of Hope’s favorite stuffed animals, Ga-Ga the Cat (something she actually named herself, unlike most of the rest of her stuffed animals) out to Grandma. Hope quickly discovered they were missing. At first, she’d look at us and touch her neck (her sign for No-Neck) and we would pretend we couldn’t find him. But she quickly learned something was afoot. She grew tired of our lame excuses and got pretty clever by doing things such as pointing to pictures of giraffes to highlight the absence of a particular giraffe in her life. Over the past day or so, most of her giraffe-related communication would result in crying.

Thankfully, Grandma worked pretty quickly and this afternoon, we got a box in the mail with two of Hope’s missing friends and a bunch of other Halloween-related goodies (and some candy for The Civee and I).

Here’s Hope going through the box:

Thanks again, Grandma!

 

The Secret to a Great Indian Buffet

There used to be this Indian place called Bayleaf  The Civee and I would go to that had an amazing lunch buffet. The buffet was great because there was a big selection and the food was always fresh. In fact, when you ordered the buffet, they would bring out a just-cooked plate of tandoori chicken for your table.

The Civee and I would frequently comment that Bayleaf put too much money into their buffet for it to last. Sadly, we were right. Bayleaf closed their Columbus location and moved an hour away. The Columbus restarant was replaced by a similar (but not similar enough) Indian place, the name of which escapes me. We took Hope to the new place and while it was okay (if not on the unnecessarily spicy side), it wasn’t worth the drive.  We thought the days of having a great Indian buffet in town were over.

But yesterday, we checked out this place that opened up in our old neighborhood called Aab. We got there at noon, just as they opened for lunch. They had a big selection, and even though there was no plate of tandoori chicken for each table, the food was fresh. And good.  Even Hope liked a number of the dishes (and the mango lassi we had for her to drink), probably helped by the fact that because it was for a buffet, the food wasn’t that spicy.

I wasn’t the only one who thought the buffet was great.  As I was loading up my plate, I overheard a couple sitting near the buffet discussing how much they liked the food.  The guy said (and I couldn’t make up a line like this): “that tandoori chicken is so fresh, I could spank it.”

I hope he was talking about the chicken.

Despite the odd commentary, he was right, the freshness of the food made it good (which was also probably helped by the fact that we got there just as they opened) and there was also a variety of dishes.

I can’t say we’ll go to the Aab lunch buffet all the time. But it’s nice to know we have a new place to replace an old favorite. And I hope that guy resolved his issues over the chicken.

Rest in Peace, Mikey Welsh

Earlier today, former Weezer bassist Mikey Welsh died.

Mikey was with Weezer from 1998-2001. He replaced Matt Sharp during a time of uncertainty and inaction for the band. Within a few years and after a few false starts, Weezer (with Mikey in the fold) released the Green Album in 2001, bringing the band new success after a time when people thought the band had called it quits. He left the band in the summer of 2001, weeks after performing on shows like the Video Music Awards and Saturday Night Live.

After leaving Weezer, Mikey took up painting and started a family. He made a few appearances at some of the band’s live shows and recently joined Facebook, where he shared stories of his early years with the band.

I’ve written before about Mikey’s first year with the band, when Weezer struggled to rediscover themselves after the commercial failure of Pinkerton.  One thing I didn’t write about in that series (and something that wasn’t apparent until later) was how Mikey’s personality brought a new dimension to the band.  He was great with the bass, and his personality was refreshing, bringing out the best in drummer Pat Wilson.  In addition, he was a force to be reckoned with on stage.

My first time seeing him was my first Weezer show in Cleveland in August of 2000. He towered over lead singer Rivers Cuomo and was extremely animated (but without the histrionics of his predecessor).

I don’t know what else to say other than he’ll be missed. One of my favorite Weezer moments (music-related or not) is an interview he and Pat did with Rolling Stone in the fall of 2000. He looked like he was having fun.

Answering the Skipper Dan Question

So I was checking out my Sitemeter log and noticed a lot of activity early Sunday morning (and by that I mean around midnight).

Pretty much all of the visitors arrived after Googling something to the effect of “skipper dan parody of.” They arrived at this page, an entry I wrote a few years ago about Weird Al Yankovic’s song Skipper Dan. But I don’t think I ever mentioned the song Al was paying homage to in the original post. To answer the question, Skipper Dan is a style parody* of Weezer’s song Pork and Beans.

I apologize for my poor blogging in the past and hope whoever was staying up late Saturday night win their trivia contest.

*More like Frank’s 2000″ TV : Anything by REM than Eat It : Beat It