Official Photo

Oh man, oh man, oh man, oh man!!!
There's a party in my BRAIN!

Veterans' Day

We went to the parade.

There's a Party in my City.

One of my last vestiges of cool with my students is that I can tell them about my friend Ben, who is not only related to the Bat Commander of Aquabats fame, but actually played with the Aquabats for a period. Why ska is still considered cool at this point at all is certainly up for debate, but my students continue to be seduced by its syncopated wiles.

Ska past aside, Ben is still a pretty cool cat, and he is one of the producers of the hit kids show "Yo Gabba Gabba", which my kids are fans of (of which my kids are fans), and which most any parent would agree is a googolplex times better than listening to Barney and the Wiggles. We were supposed to connect with Ben and his family at some point over Thanksgiving--either on their way to or from their Thanksgiving destination--but because of traffic and other stormy factors, it was not convenient for them to stop over. Ben called, though, and told us that Yo Gabba Gabba Live was coming to town and asked if we'd like to be on the guest list. "Does the Pope wear a funny hat?" was our immediate reply, and this past Thursday, we went to the show.

Birds!

One of my favorite things about this time of year is the large number of birds on their way through to warmer southern climates. We have an electrical substation just kitty-corner from our house, and in the early afternoon, it's almost always completely covered in chirping birds. I wish I had some better pictures of them in flight (when they all take off at once, it's pretty spectacular), but I'll have to live with having just a few pictures of them just chilling.




I wish this one turned out better, but I like the curved wire at the top:



Of course, all of this reminds me of my favorite Mel Gibson/Goldie Hawn vehicle, Bird on a Wire.

Happy Belated Matador at 21!

This year has been the year of rock and roll for me. Yes, there have been years when I have seen a large number of concerts (1995 and 1996 were very fruitful in this regard--maybe even early 1997), but living in Vegas has put a damper on the rock and roll. Getting older hasn't helped; in talking with Todd about turning 37, we mentioned that 35 seemed manageable, but that 37 is just too close to 40 and the-old-guy-in-the-corner for comfort. So, while in Park City for a family reunion, I happened to hear about a Modest Mouse show in Salt Lake. I scrounged up the details and found that not only was it a concert, but a FREE concert as part of their city concert series. I met my friend Eric and went to the show, which was enjoyable, if you're into spending time in a city park with roughly 40,000 strangers. Later, I spent some birthday money on a last-minute concert decision: the Pixies came to Vegas (there was a rash of shows in late September/early October--no one, and I mean NO ONE comes through town, but in the span of a couple of weeks there was Vampire Weekend, Band of Horses, the Pixies, and the gigantic Matador show--of course, saying "no one" should probably be tempered with the fact that I no longer pick up the free weeklies to see who's coming, nor do I get much reliable music information from the teenagers I spend my days with). When I initially saw the tickets for the Pixies, they were $180 or something crazy like that, but I think I was looking at the pre-sale/hotel room combo. The show was great, and, considering my Pixies obsession started about the time they were falling apart, it was the first real chance I had to see them. They played the album "Doolittle" in its entirety, in addition to the b-sides from the singles and a few of their most popular tracks. I would've stayed much later if they would have continued. But this is not a post about the Pixies (well, okay, it kind of has been); it is about the mother lode.

Beach Blog.

Went to the beach for Halloween (Nevada Day Observed) and were there for five days. I had been dreaming about it at work for about a week before we went. We went with Phoenix and Scott & kids. There were lots of families there, which meant lots of kids. I'll leave it at that. We had beach days, a Mormon Battalion day, and a Lego day. I shot lots of pictures. Here are some (sorry for all the sunsets. Hmmm. That makes it sound like sunsets are my fault, like "sorry for all that cancer". What I mean is that I enjoy the sunsets and I apologize for forcing you to look at them).




Scott walking into the sunset with a boogie board:







More to come. Maybe. Are you happy now, Susan? :)

Halloween Outfits.

Went to the kids' "Halloween Howl" at school. The boy, if you couldn't tell, is Indiana Jones. The girl is a ladybug. The wife is a rootin' tootin' cowgirl. The me is a 70s golfer. We had fun. We ate cotton candy, raced a sack race, threw whipped cream "pies" at a teacher, and three of us went through a spook alley and regretted it. I found a new palindrome in their school's name:
"Howard A. Wasden, Ned saw a Dr. Aw! Oh!"--that's how you know it's a good night.














I'm experimenting with strange crops, so I thought I'd include this sliver of a vampire from the Howl.