entertainment
HOW LONG TIL CONOR CAN START PLAYING THE PIANO
21/02/13 11:20
Studies show children don't have the dexterity, patience for repetition or mental capacity to learn piano until the age of 5. Until then, they're just playing. Wait, since when do we have to study how to play? He's already playing. It just doesn't sound that good.
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GRANDPA TOOK US TO THE ZOO TODAY
17/02/13 11:26
Grandpa and Grandma took Conor to the Gladys Porter Zoo today in Brownsville, Texas. The gorillas and chimpanzees were cool. But not as cool as the rocks in the playground area.
CONOR'S FIRST SLED RIDE
10/02/13 12:35
After running around town looking for some snow boots in a size 5 for a fifteen month old, daddy scored. We suited Conor up and set forth for the Nickerson Post Schlitterbond hill. Okay, so I made that name up. Anyways, it was a great place to watch the neighborhood kids and their parents all having a good time in the great outdoors. Conor was unusually quiet as he looked around at all the screaming kids, snow, and sleds. It took him an easy 20 minutes of just sitting on my lap before he got up and began to walk about on his own. He eventually got the hang of it and laughed when people fell off their sleds or grabbed some air. But he never really liked going down the little hill we made for him. I guess he's just got more Texan in him than his birth certificate recorded.
CONOR'S FIRST SLED RIDE
10/02/13 11:58
After running around town looking for some snow boots in a size 5 for a fifteen month old, daddy scored. We suited Conor up and set forth for the Nickerson Post Schlitterbond hill. Okay, so I made that name up. Anyways, it was a great place to watch the neighborhood kids and their parents all having a good time in the great outdoors. Conor was unusually quiet as he looked around at all the screaming kids, snow, and sleds. It took him an easy 20 minutes of just sitting on my lap before he got up and began to walk about on his own. He eventually got the hang of it and laughed when people fell off their sleds or grabbed some air. But he never really liked going down the little hill we made for him. I guess he's just got more Texan in him than his birth certificate recorded.
LARGEST BLIZZARD IN 30 YEARS HITS BOSTON
09/02/13 12:41
Quincy got 30" of snow overnight. It started at about 10:30am on Friday morning. I took Conor with me to work and after two hours of playing with him and a couple other kids who came with their parents, we all decided to get out the office and go home before the worst of the storm hit. Conor and I picked up his mom and before going home, decided to go to Bye Bye Baby for a snow suit. As all the stores in town were closing down early, we called ahead and they were closing in 15 minutes. We were about 17 minutes away. We picked up the pace and arrived with one minute to spare. It was easy finding him a suit and I picked up this little red sled while I was at it. All the winter stuff was 50% off. The store was making room for swim suits and flip flops. Go figure.
By 6pm the snow was really starting to accumulate. It was fun looking out the window and seeing the landscape change as the flakes fell. At 9:30pm, the electricity went out. And that was a turning point for us. The temperature was at 71 degrees but with a house full of wall-to-wall windows, the temperature started to drop immediately. By midnight, the temp had dropped to 59 degrees. Worse, the news said that those living on the coast should consider evacuation. Tidal waves as high as 28 feet had been sighted. What? 28 feet? Are you serious? So, as the tide rose, I looked vigilantly out the window to give the family enough notice to get ready to evacuate on foot it necessary. We begin to collect family treasures that we would want to save
if the worst came to pass. And we gathered warm clothes for all of us and put them in a central location so we could quickly put them on if necessary. Lastly, because the winds were as strong as 65 miles an hour and the whole house was shaking, we all slept together in the downstairs guest bedroom. And nervously but excitedly, we all settled in.
By 8am, the temp in the house was 51 degrees. Val and Conor stayed in the warm bed while I went outside with a shovel. Shockingly, the snow was up past my knees. I started digging my SUV out. I kept seeing the city snow removal truck two roads away from mine. But it did me no good. We live on a private road and the city's snow trucks look at us and flip us off. At least metaphorically, speaking. For four hours I dug a section of the road of 30" of snow.
By noon I had dug the car out and at the same time, the electricity came back on. Things were looking up. After a big breakfast of french toast, bacon and orange juice, we all dressed for fun and headed out with Conor and his new sled. He was bundled up great but his boots are made for rain and not snow and after a short time out, we returned with a crying baby. Upon pulling off his boots, we realized his feet were cold. Tomorrow I'll see if I can find him some warmer shoes. And then it's out to enjoy a big snowy adventure land that I foolishly moved to 5 years ago from the warm and kind temperate climate of Atlanta.
LARGEST BLIZZARD IN 30 YEARS HITS NEW ENGLAND
09/02/13 12:00
Quincy got 30" of snow overnight. It started at about 10:30am on Friday morning. I took Conor with me to work and after two hours of playing with him and a couple other kids who came with their parents, we all decided to get out the office and go home before the worst of the storm hit. Conor and I picked up his mom and before going home, decided to go to Bye Bye Baby for a snow suit. As all the stores in town were closing down early, we called ahead and they were closing in 15 minutes. We were about 17 minutes away. We picked up the pace and arrived with one minute to spare. It was easy finding him a suit and I picked up this little red sled while I was at it. All the winter stuff was 50% off. The store was making room for swim suits and flip flops. Go figure.
By 6pm the snow was really starting to accumulate. It was fun looking out the window and seeing the landscape change as the flakes fell. At 9:30pm, the electricity went out. And that was a turning point for us. The temperature was at 71 degrees but with a house full of wall-to-wall windows, the temperature started to drop immediately. By midnight, the temp had dropped to 59 degrees. Worse, the news said that those living on the coast should consider evacuation. Tidal waves as high as 28 feet had been sighted. What? 28 feet? Are you serious? So, as the tide rose, I looked vigilantly out the window to give the family enough notice to get ready to evacuate on foot it necessary. We begin to collect family treasures that we would want to save
if the worst came to pass. And we gathered warm clothes for all of us and put them in a central location so we could quickly put them on if necessary. Lastly, because the winds were as strong as 65 miles an hour and the whole house was shaking, we all slept together in the downstairs guest bedroom. And nervously but excitedly, we all settled in.
By 8am, the temp in the house was 51 degrees. Val and Conor stayed in the warm bed while I went outside with a shovel. Shockingly, the snow was up past my knees. I started digging my SUV out. I kept seeing the city snow removal truck two roads away from mine. But it did me no good. We live on a private road and the city's snow trucks look at us and flip us off. At least metaphorically, speaking. For four hours I dug a section of the road of 30" of snow.
By noon I had dug the car out and at the same time, the electricity came back on. Things were looking up. After a big breakfast of french toast, bacon and orange juice, we all dressed for fun and headed out with Conor and his new sled. He was bundled up great but his boots are made for rain and not snow and after a short time out, we returned with a crying baby. Upon pulling off his boots, we realized his feet were cold. Tomorrow I'll see if I can find him some warmer shoes. And then it's out to enjoy a big snowy adventure land that I foolishly moved to 5 years ago from the warm and kind temperate climate of Atlanta.
32-YEAR OLD INTERVIEWS HIM SELF AT THE AGE OF 12
10/07/12 16:07
Young filmmaker/parking attendant, Jeremiah McDonald showed an uncanny vision when he videotaped himself 20 years ago talking to his future self. Digging that VHS tape up all these years later, Jeremiah set off to interview his 12-year old self. The results are stunning as we see what 20 years of living will undoubtedly do to a person. Innocence turns to sarcasm. Dreams fade like a Poloroid picture. Love of pop culture hangs on like a cat to a ball of string. And there's absolutely no way to tell what technology will come along in the future to change our life. Think about it, when Jeremiah created this videotape of himself talking to himself in the future, there was no such thing as the internet. Jeremiah had no way of imagining that he could share this idea with the world. The experiment was simply a kid having fun, obsessed with time travel and an imagination that led him to act out his fantasy. And while no scientist has cracked the code on time travel yet, someone did crack the code on how to connect the past with the future and allow that connection to be witnessed by millions of people all over the world. As of today, four days after the video was uploaded to YouTube, 5,790,459 people have viewed this interaction between a 32-year old and himself at 12.
DOC WATSON DIED TODAY
30/05/12 08:52
Doc Watson is a great musician who plays North Carolina mountain music in a way that just seems to transcend the category. So much so that he has a global audience that may have never discovered such a music genre had he not made it accessible to the masses. He’s what they call a flat picker meaning that he holds a flat pick to create the lightening fast sound he was so well known for. Doc Watson went blind at 1 year old when he got an eye infection and it wasn’t treated. He loved music from an early age and went to great lengths to get a guitar so he could see if he could make a living at playing and writing. Indeed he succeeded. Doc Watson died at North Carolina hospital today at the age of 89 after suffering a fall earlier in the month. He died of complications while undergoing abdominal surgery. For more information on Doc Watson, visit; http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Doc_Watson - See more at: http://dadsdecoded.com/blog/index_files/archive-may-2012.html#sthash.3uPirTWm.dpuf
SUN, MEET MY SON
24/05/12 09:00
Okay, now we’re getting somewhere. Upon returning from Europe, the sun was smiling on Boston and I can finally introduce my son to the sun. Sounds like a country song. “Come on Conor, let’s work this one out. You play the bass notes and I’ll handle the high ones.”
THERE'S A GOAT IN MY BACKYARD
13/03/12 23:20
Grandparents have the best songs for kids. The stuff we hear these days is watered down kumbaya crap. Conor's grandpa is singing about a goat that will knock you from foolish to silly.