And finally …

… Hooper, Victoria and their Aunt Kay with Breanna Ange, Kay’s first grandchild and the kids’ new first cousin once removed.

And while I’m at it …

… I’ve been remiss in not celebrating Hooper’s receiving his Bobcat Cub Scout badge during the 12/13 pack meeting.

Because we haven’t had enough photos of cute kids lately

Hooper, Victoria, Abigail and Camille before their Halloween excursion. V. is an FBI agent to complement Abby’s convict. Sorry I’m just now getting this up; I’ve been remiss in my photoblogging.

Much more entertaining than “a bowl of M&Ms with all the brown ones taken out”

For the non-rock ‘n’ roll among you, contract riders for touring rock bands list all the equipment, backstage facilities and miscellaneous other stuff the band members require — everything from amplifiers to foodstuffs. They can make for severe headaches for concert promoters but entertaining reading for civilians. Perhaps the most famous example, possibly apocryphal, is the Van Halen requirement that there be a bowl of M&Ms in the band’s dressing room with all the brown M&Ms picked out of the bowl.

Via Mostly Modern Media, here’s a copy of the contract rider for Iggy Pop and the Stooges. It’s 18 pages long, and whoever wrote it appears to have written it with entertainment for the reader uppermost in his mind. Good for him/her. I read a bunch of these things back in my music-bidness days, and this is easily the most entertaining I’ve ever come across.

He got that right

Hooper: Daddy, I’m mad.

Me: Why?

Hooper: I want to be more like you!

Me: What do you mean?

Hooper (as if to a particularly slow-witted father): I want to be more like you!

Me: Well, what is it about me that you like that you would like to be like?

Hooper (after thinking a bit): I want to work on the computer like you do. (It should be noted here that I’ve barely worked on the computer at all in months except when he was in bed or I was home with him when he was sick.)

Me: Well, when you get older, I’m sure you’ll work on the computer more. Right now, you get to play on the computer a lot.

Hooper: Daddy! It’s not the same!

“We are stardust …”

Nick ponders two artifacts of prehistoric time and finds a connection.

9-0

More than a month ago, I said that after losses to UNC, UCLA, State, Duke and Western Michigan, the Wildcats’ early promise had been erased and it would now be a tough slog to an NCAA bid.

So far, the Wildcats are slogging just fine, currently standing atop the SoCon at 9-0 after a win last night against Western Carolina. Playing in their first game after defeating previously undefeated (in SoCon) Chattanooga, the ‘Cats were ripe for a letdown, and it came in the second half. But they still were able to win by a respectable margin.

Yet this team has a lot still to prove. Let’s hope they continue playing that way.

Blues

Mr. Sun! has invoked the blues, which means it’s as good a time as any to revisit Rules for the Blues.

Psst. Pass it on.

My friend and former co-worker Blair Pethel has tagged me with an Internet meme. I’m not going to pass it on to anyone via e-mail as he asks because I know some people get annoyed at that, but I will answer the questions here.

A) Four jobs I have had in my life:
1. Fry cook
2. Lawn-care guy
3. Disc jockey
4. Journalist

B) Four movies I would watch over and over (or have):
Better Off Dead
The Princess Bride
Blazing Saddles
Young Frankenstein

C) Four places I have lived:
1. Charlotte, N.C.
2. New York
3. Gastonia, N.C.
4. Greensboro, N.C.

D) Four TV Shows that I watch:
1. Carolina Panthers football games. Other than the odd Carolina basketball game, that’s really it; I otherwise gave up the TV habit a few years ago.

E) Four places I have been:
1. Italy
2. Mexico
3. St. Thomas
4. The Bahamas

F) People who e-mail me (regularly):

1. Fred
2. David
3. Tony
4. Blair

G) Four of my favorite foods:
1. Grilled salmon
2. Chocolate ice cream
3. Stamey’s BBQ
4. Nacho Cheese Doritos

H) Four places I would rather be right now:

1. In bed
2. Tuscany
3. St. Thomas
4. Sonoma County

J) Four things I am looking forward to in 2008:
1. Rain
2. Watching my kids grow
3. Keeping off the weight I’ve lost
4. Vacation

Feel free to swipe this for your own blog.

Welcome home, Cpl. Ange

Kevin is being allowed to rotate home early from Iraq after his dad’s death so that he can keep the family businesses — a commercial waste-hauling business and a sign-and-graphics business — operational until his mom decides whether she wants to keep them or sell them. He’ll remain in the reserves, but it would be at least a year before he might have to rotate back over. The family now has some breathing room in which to decide what to do. The Corps really does look after its own.

From electrons to dead trees, deservedly

Jessica Hagy, whose brilliant Indexed cartoon blog has inspired a very few poor homages on my part, has a book of her work coming out Feb. 28. Yay, Jessica!

Public service

Mr. Sun!: Finding all the good stuff so you don’t have to.

Good fishermen increasingly hard to come by

I’m in the middle of a six-week session of teaching elementary-age kids at our church about Jesus’ calling of disciples. We’re working primarily from Mark 1:14-20, wherein Jesus invites four fishermen to join him and, without apparent hesitation, they do, walking away from homes and livelihoods. This is the “I will make you fishers of men” passage. (UPDATE: Previous post on the perils of translating this passage into modern English here.)

What, I’ve been asking the kids, would it take for you to agree to follow some perfect stranger? And they’ve been responding along the lines of, “No way! I’d yell for the police!” or, at the least, “I’d have to check with my parents.”

Yet more evidence that we’re not living in biblical times, on a number of levels.

That’s my girl

Victoria: Daddy, can I watch football tonight?

Me: No, sweetie, there aren’t any games on tonight.

Victoria: But the Giants won and the — who was it? — the Chargers won. Don’t they get to keep playing?

Me: Yeah, but they don’t play until Sunday.

Victoria: ‘Til Sunday? Aw, man. Who do I talk to about that?

Road trip

Back today from accompanying Victoria’s fourth grade on an overnight field trip to Raleigh. Yesterday was a full day: the legislative building, the Capitol, the N.C. History Museum, the science museum and a brisk walk to take in the exterior of the governor’s mansion before hopping the buses back to Marble Kids Museum. After dinner there (pizza!), the kids had some programs (and a vigorous session on the karaoke machine) before trooping over to the adjacent Imax theater to see “The Polar Express” in 3-D. That was some seriously good 3-D, too, the best I’ve ever seen.

We spent the night in the museum, which, between a headache, a backache from all the walking, the hard floor and the lack of my sleep machine, was not the most comfortable night I’ve ever spent. Then this morning we had a quick snack at the museum before hopping the buses. We stopped in Haw River for breakfast before returning to school just in time to sign Victoria out for the day without penalty. Then it was home for some real sleep — at least a couple of hours’ worth.

Ann accompanied V’s class on a 3-day trip several months ago. I sympathized with her at the time. I really sympathize with her now — and am blown away yet again by the dedication of the teachers who concoct and lead these trips. I enjoyed the sights and the time with Victoria, and she really wants to go back to Marbles again, this time with her cousins. I think that’s a great idea. But the next time I accompany a child on an overnight class trip, then by hook or crook I’m bringing an air mattress.