Merry Christmas

Have a great day and remember the reason for the season.

From my family to you and yours.

Merry Christmas!

Fred08

This is not an official campaign commercial.



But it probably should be!

Right Wing News is where it started.

Official Fred!

My kind of Dad

Son smokes pot, son loses Christmas present.

Bears vs Vikings on Monday Night Footbal

First: ESPN HD audio sucks. We're watching on ABC HD out of Chicago and it keeps dropping out. It's gotten better as the game has progressed but it's still on the bad side.

Second: These announcers are annoying. Could they have found three guys who disliked the Bears any more than these guys?

Third: The refs are terrible. The penalty right before the half for a hit out of bounds was yet another gift to the Vikings. Right after the review taking away the TD from Moose (who was nice enough to actually catch a ball that Orton threw to him)

Fourth: According to the Daily Herald Orton was supposed to have the full package. Way to many passes for 5 yards. C'mon - stretch the field!

Update #1: Whoever Jaws is - what an ass!

Update #2: C'mon Bears - tackle!

Update #3: The announcers really need to remove their lips from the Viking's rears. Could they just be a little impartial? And could the Bears stop the one yard passes to the wide receivers? Go down the field!

Update #4: Kyle - please settle down. That was an easy pass. Had McKie wide open.

Update #5: That was really bad Chicago. Allowing a cold QB to run the ball in like that.

Update #6: The refs blew the intentional grounding call. Orton's leg is being pulled as he strides into the throw and the pass goes short. Are they trying to make sure the Vikings win? It doesn't help that the Bear's D seems to be giving up.

Update #7: So close. A little more to the center of the field and it was a TD.

Citizen Soldier

This played before I Am Legend today. Great song.

Superchick

Every once in a while you hear a song where the lyric just sticks in your head. The first time I heard "Bowling Ball" by Superchick and the line:

you need that boy like a bowling ball dropped on your head which means not at all

I was hooked. As a father of a 16 year old girl I wanted her to understand that as well. So I bought Beauty from Pain and gave it a listen. Awesome. Gave it to Thing2 and it went right on her iPod. Great music for anyone but especially for girls. Lots of girl power in those words.

Last Sunday Superchick headlined at a concert in Naperville at the Harvest Bible Church. I got Gold Circle tickets for Thing2 and myself. The wife doesn't like Christian rock so it was just me and my girl.

Harvest is in a office park area in Naperville. The build seemed like a converted office building with the sanctuary in the basement. We got there ~90 minutes early as it was general admission and we wanted to get as close as possible.

First the bad: Edan Concerts in the promoter of Christian music in the area and the crowd control was terrible. The doors didn't open till 15 minutes before the show started and people were able to walk right up and get in front of people who had been there for an hour. Even with this mess we ended up in the second row.

Now the good:

Starlit Platoon led off. IMO this is a band with great potential. Tight music with excellent lyrics. Thing1 would like these guys.



Jimmy Needham was next. Just him and an acoustic guitar (and his wife for two songs) I was so impressed I bought the CD afterwards.



Next up was KJ52. Did I ever mention I really don't like rap. Or hip-hop. On the other hand they were kind of fun. Thing2 seemed to really like them. She got their autographs afterward.



And then there was Superchick. The only bad thing I can say about Superchick's performance is that it was too short. Other than that they were great!





And now for some live music. I apologize for the audio. It was my wife's point and shoot Canon and the mic on it is very sensitive.

Bowling Ball

Rockin around the Christmas Tree

It was great to see all the girls there singing every word right along with the band and bouncing to the music. Great music for kids. Girl power all the way. Just what a dad should want for his daughter.


Go see Superchick. Starlit Platoon and Jimmy Needham as well. And if hip-hop is your thing KJ52.

Daddy

A great Christmas gift

via Hot Air

Another reason to have Legos

Forbidden LEGO: Build the Models Your Parents Warned You Against!

Thing1 is home for Christmas break today and we have over 30,000 Lego pieces to work with. I can't wait for the book to show up!

Of course YouTube has examples:





My thanks to Chris on the KTOG list for the pointer.

Back to work so I can rest

Yeah - it's an old joke but this was a tiring weekend.

Friday nightwas the wife's company Christmas holiday party so we got home sometime Saturday morning. Up early to go Christmas shopping for my gift (CZ75C!!!) Saturday night was the Elgin Symphony Orchestra performance at the Sears Centre. Thing2 was singing as part of the ensemble choir. Not so late but still up past my bedtime. Last night Thing2 and I were at a SuperChic(K) concert in Naperville. Home by 10:00pm but - man I'm tired today.

Christmas Spirit

A woman goes to the post office to buy stamps for her Christmas cards.
She says to the clerk, "May I have 50 Christmas stamps, please?"
Knowing many people are still buying $.02 stamps to catch up to the recent postage increase the clerk says, "What denomination?"
The woman says, "God help us. Has it come to this? Give me 6 Catholic, 12 Presbyterian, 10 Lutheran and 22 Baptists."

All I want for Christmas is

I have a Ruger SR9 or a Taurus PT1911 on my Christmas list but this is what I really want. I wonder what the wife will think? It's just a little more than a year of Thing1's tuition...

GI Jill

What does the following have in common?

Miss America 2008 contestant
Combat Medic
Summa Cum Laude graduate
Registered Nurse
Marathoner
Utah National Guard member

It's a simple answer. They can all be used to describe the same person. Jill Stevens, aka Miss Utah, aka Sgt. Jill Stevens. More at the North Shore Journal.

via Blackfive

TwinkeClaus

The fall project of one of my co-workers

twinkleclaus.com

A Hillary Fan

Update - included the link
From Polipundit

A grade school teacher in upstate New York asked her class how many of them are ‘Hillary fans’.

Not really knowing what a Hillary fan is, but wanting to be liked by the teacher, all the kids raised their hands except one boy.

The teacher asked Johnny why he has decided to be different. Johnny says, “I’m not a Hillary fan.”

The teacher says, “Why aren’t you a Hillary fan?”

Johnny says, “I’m a George Bush fan.”

The teacher asks why he’s a George Bush fan.

The boy says, “Well, my mom’s a George Bush fan and my dad’s a George Bush fan, so I’m a George Bush fan!”

The teacher asks, “If your mom was a moron and your dad was an idiot, what would that make you?”

So Johnny replies, “That would make me a Hillary fan.”

Confidence Inspiring

Not!

Went online to order some tickets for a local performance of the Nutcracker. Instead I get:

Exception Occured. System.Data.SqlClient.SqlException: The log file for database 'unity' is full. Back up the transaction log for the database to free up some log space.

Nice error handling.

Giving Thanks

It's something that everyone tends to do at this time of the year. For one day a year Americans pause to give thanks for all that we are blessed with. And we are a blessed people.

But giving thanks is something that I believe we should do every day. Think about it - if you're anything like me you probably have a long list of things to be thankful for. Looking out my office door to the dining room I see my wonderful kids, my wife and my crazy dog. For all the health issues that our family faces I am thankful that we are alive and kicking. I have faith that all that we face will work out in the end.

I'm thankful for my job. It's not perfect but it fits my life right now. I'm thankful for my family and friends. I'm thankful for a country that is blessed with people who only want to make it a better place to live. I'm thankful for the men and women who willfully go in harms way to make the world a better place.

Happy Thanksgiving everyone!

P.S. - If you're looking for a easy way to say thanks to the men and women of the Armed Forces Xerox is sponsoring the Lets Say Thanks program. Please take a minute out of your life and spread the love.

Teenager Daughter Owner's Manual

(making the rounds at work)

Teenager Daughter Owner's Manual

Instructions for all those with teenage daughters or daughters who think they are teenagers or who will eventually be teenagers.

Congratulations! You are now the proud new owner of a teenaged daughter. Please read this manual carefully, as it describes the maintenance of your new daughter, and answers important questions about your warranty (which does NOT include the right to return the product to the factory for a full refund).

IF YOU FEEL YOU HAVE RECEIVED YOUR TEENAGER IN ERROR:

To determine whether you were supposed to receive a teenaged girl, please examine your new daughter carefully.

Does she:

1. look very similar to your original daughter, only with more makeup and less clothing?
   
2. refuse to acknowledge your existence on the planet Earth(except when requesting money)?
   
3. Sleep in a burrow of dirty laundry?
   

If any of these are true, you have received the correct item.

BREAK-IN PERIOD

When you first receive your teenaged daughter, you will initially experience a high level of discomfort. Gradually, this discomfort will subside, and you will merely feel traumatized. This is the "Break-In Period," during which you are becoming accustomed to certain behaviors that will cause you concern, anxiety, and stress.
Once you have adapted to these behaviors, your teenager will start acting even worse.

ACTIVATION

To activate your teenaged daughter, simply place her in the vicinity of a telephone or Instant Messenger. No further programming is required.

SHUTDOWN

Several hours after activation, you may desire to shut down your teenaged daughter. There is no way to do this.

CLEANING YOUR TEENAGED DAUGHTER

Having a teenaged daughter means learning the difference between the words "clean" and "neat." Teenaged daughters are very clean, because they take frequent showers that last more than an hour. They will scrub themselves with expensive, fragrant soaps which you must purchase for them because like I'm sure I'm going to use like the same kind of soap my mom and dad use. When they have completely drained the hot-water tank, they will step out and wrap themselves in every towel in the bathroom, which they will subsequently strew throughout the house. If you ask them to pick up the towels, you are confusing "clean" with "neat." Teenagers are very busy and do not have time to be neat. They expect others to pick up after them. These others are called "parents."

FEEDING YOUR TEENAGED DAUGHTER

Your teenaged daughter requires regular meals, which must be purchased for her at restaurants because she detests everything you eat because it is like so disgusting.

She does not want you to accompany her to these restaurants, because some people might see you and, "like I'm sure I want my friends to see me eating dinner with my parents". Either order take-out food or just give her the money, preferably both. If you order pizza, never answer the doorbell because the delivery boy might see you and, "ohmigod he is so hot!" Yes, your daughter's idea of an attractive man is the pizza boy.

CLOTHING YOUR TEENAGED DAUGHTER

Retailers make millions of dollars a year selling stylish and frankly sensible clothing which will look adorable on your daughter. If you enjoy shopping, you will love the vast selections which are available to you. Unfortunately, your teenaged daughter wants to dress like a lap dancer. You may be able to coerce her into putting on a cute outfit before leaving the house, but by the time she walks in the schoolhouse door, she will be wearing something entirely different.

OTHER MAINTENANCE

Teenaged daughters require one of two levels of maintenance:

"High," and "Ultra High".

Your daughter is "Ultra High." This means that whatever you do won't be enough and whatever you try won't work.

WARRANTY

This product is not without defect because she has your genes, for heaven's sake. If you think this is not fair, talk to your parents, who think it is hilarious. Your teenaged daughter will remain a teenager for as long as it takes for her to become a woman, which in her opinion has already happened and as far as you are concerned never really will. If you are dissatisfied with your teenaged daughter, well, what did you expect? In any event, your warranty does not give you your little girl back under any circumstances, except that deep down she's actually still there--you just have to look for her.

Chuck

I'm really enjoying Chuck on Monday nights. The stories, while unbelievable, are fun and Adam Baldwin is just great. Tonight was one of those perfect exchanges between Chuck and John Casey (Baldwin) when Chuck was interrupted while brushing his teeth.

Chuck Bartowski - Is there nothing sacred to you?

John Casey - Just the right to keep and bear arms.

Delivered in the classic Adam Baldwin deadpan way.

Christmas Cards

When filling yours out please consider adding a couple of more:

A Recovering Sailor or Marine
National Naval Medical Center
Marine Corps Liaison Center
8901 Rockville Pike
Bethesda, MD 20889-560T

or

A Recovering American Soldier
c/o Walter Reed Army Medical Center
6900 Georgia Avenue NW
Washington, DC 20307-5001

The word via Blackfive is that there is a need of Christmas cheer at both hospitals.

National Ammo Day

Yea - another reason to buy ammo. Please do your part and support National Ammo Day.