Archive for February, 2009
A Handful of Twin Photos
Four new photos are up, coincidentally all containing Will. (=
Adam’s Top Concerts of 2008, Part 1
I know it’s kind of late to be posting 2008 wrap-ups, but we just started this blog, so deal with it!
I probably only went to a dozen or so shows last year, but there were some serious doozies in there.
Honorable Mentions: Buckethead, Telefon Tel Aviv
I saw Buckethead at the Moore on New Years Eve, and it was a great show as far as solo Buckethead shows go. He was “on” and played a good variety of songs, including some from his then-latest release, Albino Slug.
Telefon Tel Aviv opened for Mathew Dear’s Big Hands (which I only made it through half of the set before leaving), but TTA was awesome. They primarily played tunes from their (at the time) forthcoming album Immolate Yourself. This was compounded after the fact when Charles Cooper, one half of the band, was found dead last week. I’m glad I was able to see them.
#3: Dethklok
Yes, a cartoon band was my number 3 concert of 2008. Brendon Small ripped it up live, he’s a heck of a guitarist (and voice actor). The sound was great, the touring band was tight and it all added up to a great show. I hung out next to the lighting guy, and he pretty much an extra band member for both Dethklok and especially the opener, Chimera. This guy wasn’t triggering lights, he was playing the light board. Too cool.
#2: Does It Offend You, Yeah?
I can’t describe how great this show was. I spent the latter half of the year obsessed with their debut album, “You Have No Idea What You’re Getting Yourself Into“. Live, they were fantastic. The songs were pretty faithful to the album versions, which is impressive considering the electronic lean of their sound, but these guys can play. The energy level was nuts, and I just about lost it during “Weird Science” (not a Thomas Dolby cover). I hope these UK guys come back soon, even if I have to see them at a larger venue than the tiny Chop Suey.
Stay tuned for part 2…
Snapshot, 7:34 am
Andy is wide awake, talking to himself. Or maybe to his brother, who is still fast asleep next to him. Or perhaps he’s trying to make contact with the mysterious creatures that dance in a circle hanging over him. Either way, he’s happy. I released him from the confines of the Miracle Blanket, so his little arms are dangerously close to going through the slats in the crib. He lost a sock at some point in the night; it’s tangled up in the blanket somewhere. His coos sound like hoots sometimes, so much so that I think he might be part owl.
They both have slid down the mattress. We elevated one end with a couple phone books in a desperate
attempt to help them breathe. Which has now turned the crib into a baby slide. And because of the crib experiment, I have yet to replace the bumpers, leading to the aforementioned limb escape problem.
Now Andy coughs, but luckily he doesn’t seem bothered by it. The froggy humidifier we bought has helped their poor little noses a lot. We still skipped out on PEPS (the mom/baby group we attend once a week) yesterday. I can’t imagine they are still contagious, but I know we new mothers are particularly protective and I would hate to make any one upset with me.
It sneaks closer and closer to breakfast time. Bottles must be made and heated. The couch must be arranged for two hungry little babes.
Puzzle Quest: Galactrix and the Spree
If there is one game for the Nintendo DS that is digital crack (for me at least), it is Puzzle Quest (also available for the PSP, Windows and as a download from Xbox Live and the PlayStation Network). It’s basically a light RPG with a Bejeweled/match 3 battle system, but it is damn addicting. Every now and then I get the itch and have to play through it again. I think I’ve gone through it 6 or 7 times now, maxing my character out at level 50 each time.
I’ve been excited ever since the “sequel” was announced. (Sequel is in quotes because it was initially under development independent from the Puzzle Quest title, and because the puzzle mechanic is more complicated than the original match-3 system.) Puzzle Quest: Galactrix looks to be just as addictive but with a lot more strategy, as the pieces are hexagons and can move in six directions instead of four. Additionally, it takes place in space and the lack of gravity affects the game board, so pieces don’t just fall down, they fall from the direction you made your move in. Definitely a lot more to think about this time around.
A demo was made available last week, and it seems to live up to my hype. I had minor issues on both my desktop and my laptop (which is one of the reasons I’m getting it for the DS), but it prompted me to pre-order it, so I guess that sums it up.
To top it off, I went on a bit of a spree (mostly with my SanDisk rebate card) at GoGamer.com. I got Final Fantasy 4 and 5 for the Game Boy Advance, and Final Fantasy Tactics A2 for the DS. I decided a while back that I wanted to play all the Final Fantasy games in order. Square/Enix had started releasing GBA (then DS) ports of the games, so I started there. I finished FF3 up last year, then played through Final Fantasy Tactics Advance (which I had started a few times but never quite finished).
Then I found out that Toys’R’Us had a great deal on Guitar Hero: World Tour ($50 off [$139 for the full bundle] with free shipping), which I’ve put off getting since we’re still having tons of fun with Rock Band/2, so I went ahead and got that too. Which reminds me, I need to go pre-order Guitar Hero: Metallica from GameStop so I get the free second bass pedal. (=
And, yes, I’m aware that I will have a plethora of plastic video game instruments. And I don’t care.
Then, to ease my pain, I got the latest Buckethead release, Slaughterhouse on the Prarie.
February is going to rule.
When Two Miles Is More Than Two Miles
So, I used to walk a lot. In 2007 I walked all of the darn time. At first, because I was rehabing from my back surgery and then because I figured out to con Adam into another Disney trip, I better have a good scheme, and thus, decided to walk the 1/2 marathon there in January. In the few months leading up to the race, I was walking a good 20-25 miles a week.
So, it being a beautiful day out in the greater Seattle area, and the fact that the boys refused to nap for more than 45 minutes, which was slowly driving me insane, I thought to take them on a walk along with me.
I bundled them up in their carseats, and headed down to the trailhead.
I thought that two miles would be a good goal, considering it was getting close to their afternoon feeding,
and I felt like I could make it back in plenty of time. What I failed to calculate was the fact that I wasn’t just
walking. Oh no, I was walking and pushing roughly 80 pounds of stoller, carseat and baby. It is no wonder it
took me FAR longer than it should have to cover that distance and why my wrists were quite unhappy last
night.
Regardless of the time involved, the walk was awesome, and the boys slept through most of it. I call that a win.
Mexican Cheerios
We apparently bought a box of Mexican Cheerios at the grocery store, because it proclaims that we could win breakfest with famous(?) telenovela star Juan Soler!
The URL says it all: http://www.desayunaconjuansoler.com/
(For full effect, you should be listening to Mexican Radio by Wall of Voodoo while reading this post, replacing “radio” with “Cheerios,” obviously. And, no, I don’t care that “I’m on a Mexican Cheerios” doesn’t make sense.)
It Must Suck Being a Baby
Poor Will. He’s got a stuffy nose. I’m pretty sure it has something to do with the constant use of the heater–which also explains why I get shocked every time I need to adjust a fuzzy blanket. It never occurred to me how uncomfortable a simple stuffy nose would be if you had no control over any part of your body. He can breathe if he’s on his side, with his head slightly elevated. See if you can picture what that looks like, and then guess if there’s any way to accomplish that without me holding him. Yeah, no.
Oh, I tried, bleary eyed, in the dark at 4:30 this morning. Rolled up a blanket and propped him up. The quiet lasted all of 3 minutes, just enough time to crawl back into bed. That’s a particular talent of these two: they seem to have a sixth sense for exactly how long it takes to get comfortable.
I’m pretty sure that’s what the definition of motherhood is: “never getting comfortable.”
Finally I gave up. The poor thing was tired–he wanted to be asleep, he just couldn’t breathe, so out to the couch we went, and now sit. I type this with a grunty little rhino on my lap, more or less peacefully asleep. Andy remains quiet in the crib, although he’ll be awake soon enough.
And I will be making a run to get a humidifier so maybe we can avoid the pre-dawn wake-up call tomorrow!