Tom Cruise is a Jerk

Tom Cruise was running around Rome earlier this week promoting his new movie and telling everyone about how much he loved fatherhood and how great a father he is...yap, yap, yap, yap-yap! This all happened THREE days after his new baby was born! THREE!!!! Come on Tom, even the bag boy at Sav-On takes a week or two off after his girlfriend has a baby!

It just cracks me up that he's standing there in front of the press smiling from ear to ear about how great a father he is, when he is thousands of miles away and on the other side of the globe from his 96-hour old baby! I didn't even leave the hospital for three days after my wife gave birth to our first son! And was this trip to Rome really necessary?

First of all, he's promoting Mission: Impossible 3. The reason there is a three in the title is because there were two other movies just like it that made a boat-load of cash. It doesn't really need promoting...it's what they call a sure thing! What else are they going to do in Rome!? At this point they've all seen the Coliseum and that fountain!

Second, does Tom Cruise really need to worry if MI3 does well or not. As I said, it's a given that the movie is going to rake in the dough...but Tom Cruise is already a multi-millionaire! The opening weekend gross at the Rome AMC 15 isn't going to make or break the Cruise family. He probably hasn't even touched money he's made 10 years ago. He's still dipping into the Interview with the Vampire money!

And then to top it all off, he told all the reporters in Rome that he was only going to be there for eight hours and then he was going to fly back home to be with Katie and the baby. Next thing you know, he's promoting his stupid movie in Paris and London for the next couple of days. Give me a break! My wife was mad at me because I spent too much time at Wal-Mart the week after our baby was born!

Mr. Cruise, I'm sure you're a great provider but you are not being a good father! Your silly car chase and explosions movie will do just fine without you. Now go home, be with your child and your child-bride and start filling that baby's head with all that Scientology mumbo-jumbo you seduced Joey Potter with!

Everyone's Fine

Tanner is gaining weight! His spit-up output continues to be a roller coaster, last week there was very little but this weekend has been pretty bad. But the good news is that Tanner is has put on a few pounds in the past week. He went to the doctors this week and weighed 12 lbs. 12 oz! So they say he is back on track for getting to where he should be on the growth scale!

Elias had his first big tumble down the stairs this week. It scared the hell out of him...and me, but he was alright. We have 14 steps from the top floor to the main level of the house, and I think he fell all the way from the top! Luckily all he had to show for it was a couple of rug burn marks on his forehead!

Jennifer and I got to go out and be adults for the third time in one month! Can you believe it! We literally have been out more this April then we have the entire time we've been married! We just went to a restaurant and bar with a handful of friends, but it was a good time. We were introduced to the game of Bud Pong, which is essentially tossing ping pong balls into plastic cups of water. An interesting way to spend the evening. There's a few pointless pictures in the Photo Album if you wanna see!!!

Cars Shopping Spree!

Elias and I are both looking forward to the upcoming Disney/Pixar animated film "Cars" (which opens June 9.) One of the fun things about a big summer blockbuster is all the merchandising and product tie-ins for the movie. Now that I have children, I have the perfect excuse to buy lots of silly Cars stuff. Actually, Elias is really into the whole thing. I got him a Cars book last week that he makes me read to him at least twice daily. So today at Wal-Mart we stocked up on all the movie merchandising we could get our hands on!

First we started off with the outfit. It's not a summer blockbuster unless you can buy clothing plugging the movie. And it's not a kids film if there aren't tons of outfits for the little ones. The problem with the Cars outfits is that some of them look way too "NASCAR" which I guess makes sense considering the movie is about car racing. But, this shirt and matching shorts that we got him aren't too bad looking!

Next we had to get a box of Keebler Bumper Bites Grahams Crackers. Guess what? They are shaped like little cars! I always say with food tie-ins, it's all in the shape! , Well played Keebler Elves, well played!

Elias was also thrilled to get sandals with his buddy Lightning McQueen on the them! He didn't want to take them off in the store after we tried them on! He rode around Wal-Mart in the shopping cart clutching the shoebox they came in. Later, when we got home and I put the sandals on him to take this picture and he didn't want to wear them for more than 30 seconds!?!


Finally, we stocked up on Frosted Flakes and Rice Krispies as most of the Kellogg's brand cereals actually have a free prize inside the box. Cereal premiums are almost a dead art-form, but Kellogg's has got Cars Racers inside specially marked boxes! We got Lightning McQueen in the Rice Krispies and Luigi in the Flakes! When you pull them back on the floor and then let them go, they race across the floor. Pretty cool!!

This weekend we're going to go to Toys R Us to see if they have any of the actual toys out yet! It's fun being a kid...I mean, an adult...!?

Asleep at the Wheel

For those of you that have been on a long car ride with me, you might title this picture "Like Father, Like Son!" We wore Elias out today shopping at BJ's.

Today was also an historical day in my medical history. I went to see a new doctor today, a chiropractor to be exact. And for the first time ever in an initial visit with a doctor he didn't tell me that the problem was that I was fat! Wow! Twenty-some years going to the Columbia Medical Plan and the only diagnosis I ever head was: "You're Fat!" Trouble breathing, Mono, sprained ankle...all met with a "You're Fat!"

Yesterday while I was playing with the kids, Elias took a rattle and said, "I want to slap Baby Tanner!" "No," I said, "It's not nice to hit people. People don't like to be slapped!" To which Elias replied, "Girls do!" I'm not sure where he got that from, but just to be careful he's not allowed to watch Cinemax anymore!

Hanover Charming Sight of the Week: Pale White Shirtless Fat Guy with Large Cowboy Hat on directing traffic while a truck backs up!

McDonald's Taste Test Dept. New Asian Salad is disgusting! Nothing from McDonalds (or any fast food restaurant) should have Snap Peas in it!

An Inconvenient Truth - Trailer

Here-a-Blog...There-a-Blog...

There's some new pictures in the photo album from a birthday party Elias, Tanner and I went to this weekend. The party was for Bridget, who is the daughter of a friend of mine, Theresa. Theresa and I worked together at Port Discovery for several years and then I got her a job at Crayola Works not too long after I left Port Discovery (for the last time!) It was cool to see people from both jobs at the party, as well as getting to meet Bridget - who just turned one! She had a Disney Princess themed party, and I'm pretty sure they had every single Princess party supply and paper good that Disney has ever ok'ed! Good Times!

And...if you're getting more and more jazzed about Disney/Pixar's Cars, check out this blog entry at Route 66 News. It's an exclusive sneak peak at some of the art work from the movie! The attention to detail is awesome!

Stamps & Sunshine

The United States Postal Service releases their newest set of Disney stamps today, after an unveiling yesterday at Walt Disney World. The new stamps feature some of Disney's greatest romantic couples.

I was going to comment that Cinderella and Prince Charming look a bit too "cartoony" compared to their appearance in the movie, but now that I give the Mickey and Minnie stamp a closer look I've got a problem with it! That is a 1920's Minnie, with the flower in her hat, the way the face in drawn and the absence of a shirt. But that is definitely a more modern Mickey Mouse, with the rounder face and body. That Mickey and Minnie would have never appeared together.

Either way, they beat stamps featuring flowers or old cars! Stop by your local post office and pick some up today if you still have any reason to use the postal service!

Also, check out this hotel that Jennifer and I are staying at in Tampa, Florida at the end of next month when we go to a wedding! Jen's best friend from high school, Kassy, is getting married on the beach in Clearwater. We're very excited about going and have splurged on a suite in this hotel which is way fancier then the kind of hotels were used to staying at! The pool has a waterfall in it, which pretty much sealed the deal for us! My mom is watching the kids for the weekend, so it's just Jen and I on our own for the first time in many...MANY...years. We're flying down Saturday morning, the wedding and a dinner are Saturday night, and then we've got Sunday to ourselves and we're coming back Monday morning. It should be totally cool.

I'm hoping I'll be able to post some pictures and reports while we're down there! This will be my 19th trip to Florida, but the first not involving Disney World! (Unless I can talk Jen into driving over there Sunday!)

Summer Movie Season

With the big summer movie season just around the corner I was thinking to myself that there was only about 3 movies I knew off that I was really "excited" about seeing. Well, Entertainment Weekly's annual Summer Movie Preview arrived in my mailbox today...and I was right. There isn't too much I'm looking forward too this summer! Here's a preview of some of the flicks coming to the multiplex this summer:

Mission: Impossible III (5/5) I continue to not care less about this franchise, I've never seen a frame of the other two and I don't plan on starting with this one! I predict that this is the beginning of the end for Mr. Cruise. We're all sick and tired of hearing about his looney girlfriend, his looney baby and his even loonier religion! Plus, Mr. Cruise, you owe me the two and half hours of my life you took last summer with that War of the Worlds piece of junk!

X-Men: The Last Stand (5/26) Same kind of applies here as with MI:3, ain't jumping on board for this one. I'm sure the video game based on the movie is great, HOLLER!, but besides X-Men Candy Sticks I don't have much interest in this group of....Superheros!? What are they!? I don't even know...Mutant Superheors or something!? Whatever!

Over the Hedge (5/19) Now that we know that Dreamworks animated films are just silly comedies and not the works of art Disney animated films are, I might be able to enjoy this film. It's a CG cartoon with animals that do wacky things and it has a great voice cast: Garry Shandling, Steve Carell, William Shatner, Bruce Willis, and Avril Lavigne.

Poseidon (5/12) This is another film version of the novel The Poseidon Adventure. You know it's more intense than the 1972 version because they dropped the word "Adventure". So take that! It's about a big cruise ship that sinks! It was directed by Wolfgang Petersen who also did "The Perfect Storm," was to go out on a limb there, Wolfie! It's Crap!

Just My Luck (5/12) Pros: Stars Lindsay Lohan. Cons: Not a remake of a silly old Disney film. Verdict: I'd still see it!

The DaVinci Code (5/19) My wife and I have earmarked this as the one "grown-up" movie that we are going to try and go see this summer. After watching 78,000 stories on the Today Show about this book, I'm kind of intrigued to find out what it's about! Not enough to actually read the book, but enough to go see the movie! I did read the last book Tom Hanks made into a movie: The Polar Express.

Hoot (5/5) I saw the trailer for this movie the other day and thought it looked kind of cute. It's about some kids who band together to stop some evil land developers from tearing up some land that is home to endangered owls. Even though I hate owls, I love stories with evil land developers! Plus it's got Jimmy Buffett as the kids teacher, and I just found out it was based on the book by Carl Hiaasen. Now I have read some of his stuff so I get points for that! I might have to move this movie to my "must-see" list!

Superman Returns (6/30)Superman is basically a cartoon character and an American Icon just like my boy Mickey! So, I kind of feel for the guy. And, just like everyone else my age I grew up watching the Christopher Reeves movies. And, like every guy...deep down inside I think Superman is a cool dude! So, it's got a lot going for it, plus the cast includes Kate Bosworth (so hot,) Parker Posey, and screen legend Eva Marie Saint.

Nacho Libre (6/16) Jack Black stars as a....I'm sorry, did you say Jack Black!?!...NO THANK YOU!

Cars (6/9) This is the one that I'm most excited to see! I loved all the Pixar films up until The Incredibles, I was very disappointed with that one. But I'm ready to embrace Pixar again with open arms. Plus it will be very fun because my 2 1/2 year old son is VERY excited to see it as well! The cast features Owen Wilson, Paul Newman, and Larry the Cable Guy. There's a line up!

The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift (6/16) Are you %&#$in' kidding me!?

Garfield: A Tail of Two Kitties (6/16) The only thing unfunnier than the last 15 years of the Garfield comic strip will be this sequel.

Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest (7/7) Part of what made the original so great was that it was way better than anyone thought it would be. Can they do that again!? It's the same director and cast as the 2003 movie, so maybe they can. I just hope they are still able to incorporate aspects of the Disneyland ride into the movie.

Miami Vice 7/28) When you think of Miami Vice, what do you think of!? The song, right!? Well...there's no song here! Second clue of disaster: the director is quoted as saying, "We're doing Miami Vice as if there never had been a television series." Really? Because there was a television series, and that's why people would go see a movie BASED on a television series! Idiots! Flop!

Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby (8/4) Will Farrell as a NASCAR driver, `nuff said! My wife and I saw this trailer on TV the other day and laughed out loud through the entire thing! It's from the same director as Anchorman, so it's off the a good start right there!

Snakes on a Plane (8/28)Like everybody else, all I really know about this movie is that it stars Samuel L. Jackson and it's called Snakes on a Plane. I think this one is going to be huge. If you don't believe me, Google the title and look at all the internet buzz on this flick! It's got snakes, you see, and they are on some sort of plane!!!

Any flicks you're excited to see this summer!? Feel free to comment!?

Hollywood Party

Hollywood Party is a 1934 MGM Musical staring Jimmy Durante that I have been wanting to see for a very long time. It's not on DVD and extremely rare on VHS. When I first got my TiVo in 2002, I set it up to automatically record this movie if it were to ever come on! About two weeks ago Turner Classic Movies aired the movie at 9am, and I finally got to sit down and watch it last night!

Why am I so interested in seeing Hollywood Party. Look at the bottom left hand corner of the movie poster. That's right, it's our good ol' friend Mickey Mouse! Hollywood Party has the dictinction of being one of the only films NOT produced by the Walt Disney Studios that Mickey Mouse appeared in.

In the movie, Jimmy Durante (playing the role of Jimmy) throws a big Hollywood party to impress the visiting Baron Munchausen in the hopes that the Baron will allow Jimmy to use his fierce tigers in the upcoming "Schnarzan" film. That's right folks, SCHNARZAN! during the 70 minute running time of the film there are about 107 musical numbers, and numerous cameos from celebrities of the day...the most notable being The Three Stooges. About half way through the party, and 50 minutes into the movie, a lady screams "Mouse!" and everyone starts to run and scream! Jimmy Durante investigates and tells everyone not to worry. He picks an animated Mickey Mouse up off the floor by the tail and sets him down on a table that is conveniently in front of a plain-white wall. Mickey is on screen for all of a minute (at best) and trades a few jokes with Durante. Then Mickey pulls up a cartoon piano and begins to play. Then, for whatever reason, the movie just stops and they play a color cartoon that has nothing to do with anything in the movie.

The cartoon is called "Chocolate Soldiers" and is basically a Walt Disney Silly Symphony. It's not bad, but it's not a very good Silly Symphony either. When the cartoon is over, the movie goes back to Black and White and Mickey is gone and there is no mention of him for the rest of the movie.

I was pretty bummed that I spent almost an hour watching goofy musical numbers and jokes anyone under the age of 105 wouldn't get, all to see about 6 minutes of below average Disney animation! Luckily after the Mickey segment and another 7 to 8 musical numbers, Laurel & Hardy show up and stick around for the rest of the film! They have a great bit with some lady and cracking eggs in their hats. It's funny, trust me! Then before you know it, the movie is over...I'm not sure if Jimmy Durante got his tigers or not, but I really didn't care!

The Disney segment of the film had been edited out for television screenings in the 60's and then was believed to be lost! I was keeping my fingers crossed that the animated part was edited back in, and I'm glad it was otherwise I would have completely lost an hour of my life!

Laurel and Hardy are comedy geniuses, by the way. Go rent one of their movies!

Baby News, Movie News

First, some baby news! My good friend Brian Kaiser was excited to tell me that he and his wife Jenae are expecting their first child this fall! Congratulations to both of them! If you don't know Brian personally, you might remember him as Devon and/or Producer Brian from TV's The Ed South Show. Brian and Jenae live in California now, where Brian works as a Video Game Designer and Jenae is employed at the local children's museum.

Believe it or not, I was actually able to go to a movie yesterday! I had been eagerly awaiting Scary Movie 4, which is directed by one of my favorite directors - David Zucker. The film is very enjoyable and pokes fun at The Grudge, The Village, Saw, Brokeback Mountain, Million Dollar Baby, and mostly War of the Worlds. There are some really funny, clever bits in the film along with a little too much potty humor and slapstick. But, it's all in good fun!

David Zucker co-directed Airplane! and Top Secret and did The Naked Gun. He also took over the Scary Movie franchise with Scary Movie 3 after the Wayans Brothers SM2's horrible box office performance. Scary Movie 4 was the number one movie this past weekend, grossing something like $42 million! Today the studio announced they plan on having Scary Movie 5 in theatres next Easter weekend, with David Zucker again in the directors chair! Yeah!!!!

Five Yummy Cereals You Forgot About

One thing that I was always appreciative of when I was a kid was that I didn't have the kind of parents that only let their kids eat the boring non-cartoon cereal. When I was a kid, breakfast cereal selection was based on one thing...and one thing only...what prize was in the box. And you can ask my wife, things haven't changed much to this day! Since I was never loyal to one brand of cereal, I've sampled so many over the years. Here's a look back at a few short lived, but loved cereals that I shared my childhood mornings with.

The key to a good "tie-in" cereal is how well the shape of the cereal fits into the world of the license its based on. In the video game, Donkey Kong threw barrels at Mario, so what a perfect shape for the cereal that little crunchy sweet barrels of corn. Man, those things were good! They were kind of like Capt. Crunch but I think they had twice as much sugar so they could compete with the ol' Capt. There was a game on the back of the box that looked like the video game, and you would use to cereal pieces to go through a maze. Awesome!

See, when you bought a Nintendo you got a cartridge that came with the system that had Mario Bros. and Duck Hunt on it. So the cereal based on the video game system had two kind of cereal in it! You could pick out just the one box of cereal, but you actually had two different choices each morning. Then after a week or so, you'd just go for it and pour BOTH flavors into the same bowl! It was like creating your own cereal! I don't think the cereal was really that good...but it was just cool that it came in two flavors!

Chocolate Chip Cookie Crisp is still around today, and they just added Peanut Butter flavor too. But when Cookie Crisp was first introduced I was partial to the Vanilla Wafer flavor. My brother liked the Chocolate Chip kind, and would always pick that as his cereal and that I would get the Vanilla Waffer box and we thought it was pretty cool that we had two boxes of Cookie Crisp in the cupboard. ( We were obviously easily entertained.) The vanilla flavor didn't last long, and I always resented the chocolate chip flavor surviving all these years! By the way, Jarvis the wizard could kick the crap out of the Cookie Crook and the Cookie Dog thing!

I couldn't possibly find a smaller picture of this cereal if I tried, however I also couldn't find a bigger picture. I don't remember which came first: Nerds Cereal or the Nintendo Cereal, but either way one of them was just created to get more use out of the "two sided box" machine at the Ralston plant. These were really good...they looked like the Nerds Candy and the box was just like the candy box. Execpt after using the complicated two sided box top for a week, the whole top of the box was so beat up you couldn't close either side! That's when you just poured them both into the same bowl! (That was power!) I don't think there were too many other Orange flavored cereals out there!

I can't believe I couldn't find a decent picture of Gremlins brand cereal anywhere on the internet. I did however find this scan of a coupon that never expires, so if one year my birthday wish comes true and Gremlins cereal finds it's way back onto our grocers shelves, we all save fifteen cents! Whoo-hoo! Seriously, this cereal and I were a match made in heaven! I was obsessed with Gremlins in the summer of 1984! I ate a big ol' bowl of these bad boys every morning before I put on my Gremlins painters cap and went outside to trade Gremlins trading cards with the girl across the street. The cereal was shaped like little Gizmos. It would have been cool if you only had to put one piece of cereal in your bowl and then add milk and the cereal would multiply...but it didn't work out that way! Still, a great cereal and If I recall correctly they kept making it long after the popularity of the movie fizzled out. Because it was so damn good!

Comment on some of your favorite childhood cereals!

Easter Weekend

All kinds of Easter festivities this weekend! Saturday we went to an Easter Egg Hunt with Pop-Pop and Marie which was sponsored by their church. Elias had a great time running around looking for eggs and playing with his cousins. Tanner just enjoyed being outside.

Sunday morning was, of course, Easter Basket time! Elias was thrilled to find a brand new light saber of his own! Now he doesn't have to steal Joey's! Tanner had fun with all the cute little things
he got. Joey is too cool to care about Easter baskets!

Later in the morning, we went to Jen's grandma's house for a delicious breakfast of quiche, bacon, and fresh baked English Muffin Bread. Good Eats! After breakfast was another Easter Egg Hunt that Elias wasn't too interested in because there was nothing inside the eggs!

In the afternoon we went to Grammy's (my mom) house for a fantastic Easter dinner! We had ham and macaroni and cheese and more fresh baked bread. Later on, Elias had his third Easter Egg Hunt of the weekend. He had fun looking for eggs with Grammy!

We had beautiful weather all weekend long! Hope you had a great Easter weekend as well!

Tax Break

Not to throw too much Tanner at ya in one week, but Tanner got this nice new bib as a gift when we took him with us to get our taxes done today. I thought it was kind of funny.

By the way, it took over two hours for H&R Block to do our very simple tax return. That might seem like alot of time, but considering the guy that did our taxes had only seen a computer keyboard for the first time that morning...we did pretty good!

Tanner Thinks It's Funny

There's not a whole lot Tanner can do at 4 months old, but growing up in our household he's learned to really chuckle at an early age! Here's a quick little video of Tanner laughing at mommy.

Big Tuesday

Well, yesterday was the big day for Tanner's appointment at Johns Hopkins. First of all, let me say, were more people at that hospital then the entire population of Hanover, PA! Anywho, we met with a very nice doctor who asked us a million questions and checked Tanner out from head to toe. (She even gave him a little baby rectal exam!) She told us 100 things that usually cause babies to have excessive spit up and that none of those things seem to be in play with Tanner. Basically, we're just going to have to ride it out. The doctor did give us some new medicine to see if that changes things.

Even though we really didn't get any answers, we were satisfied with the visit. I mean, we're at Johns Hopkins! You got doctors there that are at the top of their field and this doctor took her time and really talked to us and pretty much spelled everything out for us! So for now, it looks like we will have to continue to carry Tanner around with beach towel and always be prepared to be spit up on! The good news is that in most babies the spit up dies down between 4-6 months and Tanner just turned 4 months, so maybe the end is in sight!

All kidding aside, it really makes you appreciate your health and your children's health when you see some of the other kids that were sitting in the waiting room. It makes a spit up problem seem pretty insignificant!

On a lighter note, last night a group of us went to the comedy night at Rafael's in Westminster where my friend Jimmy Meritt was performing. The show started off on a pretty rocky note. The MC wasn't very good and didn't really get the audience all that excited. Then the first comic sucked which made it even harder for the second comedian to win over the room. He was funny, but the crowd just wasn't with him. Luckily, the show organizer took over the MCing duties and got the room's attention and back in the mood for comedy. Jimmy took the mic and rocked a fairly long set. Our table was all the way in the back, and we were all laughing hysterically and trying to get the rest of the room in the mood but between the drunks at the bar talking as loud as they could, and the TV's showing House and CSI, it was un uphill battle for Mr. Meritt.

In the end, Jimmy made the best of the tough crowd and he closed the show on a good note! Jimmy was a little disappointed that I finally was able to bring a table full of people to a show and this was the show we came to! But we all had a good time, and that's all the matters in the end! Hopefully Jimmy will do better next week when he opens for Kevin Nealon at the Improv.

As always, you can see lots of silly pictures from our evening in the Photo Album. I was really there, I just snapped all the pictures!

Why I Hate Koala Bears

Everyone thinks Koala Bears are cute and cuddly, but I hate them. First of all, they aren't really bears. They are marsupials. I don't have anything against marsupials but you should never trust an animal that pretends to be something it isn't. Panda Bears are cute too, but they aren't bears either...they are raccoons. In my book, raccoons are evil and a raccoon the size of a Ford Festiva is even more evil. If Koalas really wanted to be bears they should at least try to eat some honey.

Many people would like to hug a koala because they are so cute. Well, have you ever looked at a koala's hands!? They have huge sharp, razor-like claws that would pierce into your flesh if you tried to hug one of those things! That's not fair! You're just trying to show the koala a little love and he digs into your internal organs. That just doesn't seem right.

Koalas also have two thumbs on each hand! What do they need four thumbs for!? People have gotten along with only one thumb per hand for years, and we're doing fine! The extra thumb is probably for extra grip when the koala is digging into your skin and drawling blood while you're trying to hug it!

Koala bears live on a diet of eucalyptus leaves. Eucalyptus leaves contain dangerous poisons and toxins that make them inedible to most mammals, but the cute ol' devil koala has no problem chomping them down. Perhaps the most telling sign of the koala's unearthly powers.

Then let's get to the beak thing. Is that a beak or a big nose? I'm pretty sure it's a beak and I don't think animals should be allowed to have beaks. Animals are pretty careless with their beaks and have no respect for human eyes. Why do you think so many pirates wear an eyepatch!? True, it's their own fault for putting parrots on their shoulders, but you'd think a parrot would be a little more respectful to someone who gives him crackers all day! Either way, I'm not getting anywhere near a koala mouth anytime soon.

In summary: Koala Bears - liars, two many thumbs, immune to acid, irresponsible with beaks, and sent straight from the devil! Next time you go to hug a koala bear and you get ripped to shreds, don't say I didn't warn you!

Bunnies & Dummies

We did the Easter Bunny thing at the mall the other day. Elias was scared at first, but then we couldn't get him to leave when we were done. Tanner had no idea what was going on...the whole nine yards! Nothing new! Now, instead of trying to sell you a ton of overpriced pictures, they try and talk you into paying for the copyright release form so you have their "permission" to make copies of the picture...OF YOUR CHILD...yourself! That's idiotic! You don't snap a picture of my children sitting on some guys lap in a lame rabbit costume and tell me YOU own the copyright on it! You wanna own the copyright on my children's memories then you can pay for college!

There are some more Easter Bunny photos in the photo album.

In the Dummies Department: If you've been reading along here you know that we've got an appointment to take Tanner to a Pediatric GI specialist at Johns Hopkins to find out why he spits up everything he eats. Our FORMER doctor told us in January that the earliest he could get us an appointment was April 11. So, we've been waiting for April 11 to roll around so we can get some answers. Earlier this week, I called down to Hopkins to find out what time the appointment was, because the (FORMER) doctor's office never bothered to tell us what time the appointment was. Well, guess what I found out when I called down there...? That's right, our stupid doctor never made an appointment for Tanner. They didn't have Tanner anywhere in their system. Everyone at Hopkins was very nice, and they transferred me to three different places trying to find if there was an appointment for Tanner anywhere...but there wasn't!

Of course, we explained our story to someone on the phone at Hopkins and we weren't mad with them...it wasn't their fault. The next day someone called us back from Hopkins and said they had heard what happened and they would be able to squeeze us in on April 11, even though this doctor doesn't usually take appointments on Tuesdays because she doesn't have office hours on Tuesdays!

So, our (former) doctor's office swears they made the appointment on April 11. Isn't it funny that they think we had an appointment with a doctor who doesn't take appointments on that day of the week. And it's odd that in January, April was the soonest they could get us in, but here it is April and they can see us next week!!?!

DUMB!

100 Movies I Love!

Here's a list of 100 movies that I love. They are not ALL the movies that I love, but this list is probably close to what my list of 100 Favorite Movies would look like. The first ten are my 10 Favorite movies, after that they are just in alphabetical order. Feel free to print the list and let it guide you through your next visit to the video store.

1. The Cannonball Run (1981)
2. The Little Mermaid (1989)
3. Gremlins (1984)
4. Spice World (1998)
5. Popeye (1980)
6. Adventures in Babysitting (1987)
7. Wild Hearts Can't Be Broken (1991)
8. UHF (1989)
9. Cry Baby (1990)
10. Who's That Girl (1987)


-Ace Ventura: Pet Detective (1994)
-Airplane! (1980)
-Airplane II: The Sequel (1982)
-Amazon Women on the Moon (1987)
-Amy (1981)
-And Now For Something Completely Different (1972)
-Angel (1984)
-Attack of the Killer Tomatoes! (1978)
-Back to the Beach (1987)
-The Barefoot Executive (1971)
-BASEketball (1998)
-Beauty and the Beast (1991)
-Blackbeard's Ghost (1968)
-Blazing Saddles (1974)
-Blind Date (1987)
-A Boy Named Charlie Brown (1969)
-The Brady Bunch Movie (1995)
-Caddyshack (1980)
-Center Stage (2000)
-Chasing Amy (1997)
-Cheetah (1989)
-C.H.O.M.P.S. (1979)
-Cinderella (1950)
-Clerks (1994)
-Clueless (1995)
-Ducktales The Movie: Treasure of the Lost Lamp (1990)
-Dumbo (1941)
-Ernest Saves Christmas (1988)
-Ernest Rides Again (1993)
-The Flintstones (1994)
-Freaky Friday (1976)
-From Justin to Kelly (2003)
-Goin' Coconuts (1978)
-A Goofy Movie (1995)
-The Great Muppet Caper (1981)
-Gremlins 2: The New Batch (1990)
-Gus (1976)
-Herbie Fully Loaded (2005)
-Hexed (1993)
-History of the World part 1 (1981)
-Honey, I Blew Up the Kid (1992)
-How to Beat the High Cost of Living (1980)
-In & Out (1997)
-The Incredible Shrinking Woman (1981)
-Jawbreaker (1999)
-Jaws III (1982)
-Jetsons The Movie (1990)
-Jimmy The Kid (1982)
-Johnny Dangerously (1985)
-Josie and the Pussycats (2001)
-Joysticks (1983)
-The Jungle Book (1967)
-The Kentucky Fried Movie (1977)
-Kidco (1984)
-Lilo & Stitch (2002)
-Little Shop of Horrors (1986)
-The Love Bug (1969)
-Man in the Moon (1991)
-The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh (1977)
-Masters of the Universe (1987)
-Monsters, Inc. (2001)
-The Muppet Movie (1979)
-The Muppet Christmas Carol (1992)
-National Lampoon's Vacation (1983)
-National Lampoon's European Vacation (1985)
-National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation (1989)
-9 to 5 (1980)
-Office Space (1999)
-Police Academy (1984)
-Police Academy 3: Back in Training (1986)
-Prancer (1989)
-Psycho (1960)
-Return of the Killer Tomatoes (1998)
-Return to Neverland (2002)
-Rollercoaster (1977)
-Rustler's Rhapsody (1985)
-Serial Mom (1993)
-Sesame Street Presents: Follow That Bird (1985)
-Smokey and the Bandit (1977)
-The Smurfs and the Magic Flute (1982)
-Snowball Express (1972)
-Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (1937)
-Spaceship (1983)
-Speed Zone (1989)
-St. Helens (1981)
-Starhops (1978)
-Summer Magic (1963)
-10 Things I Hate About You (1999)
-Top Secret (1984)
-The Vanishing Prairie (1954)
-A Very Brady Sequel (1996)
-The World's Greatest Athlete (1973)
-Xanadu (1980)
-Young Doctors in Love (1982)

Those are some great movies! How many have you seen!? Have you even heard of half of them!? Leave your comments about the films on this list!

Disney World Plug

As you may or may not know I am an Authorized Disney Vacation Specialist which basically means that I specialize in planning and booking trips to Disney's U.S. Vacation spots! From time to time I'll have access to some great deals that Disney only offers through travel agents. I thought this would be a good place to share some of the deals I can get, but don't worry...I'm not turning this blog into a business website for me to make money off of.


This package price lets you stay right in the middle of the magic of Walt Disney World. You'll get Theme Park Admission tickets for one of Disney's four theme parks every day of your stay. You'll also get resort benefits like Extra Magic Hours and Disney's Magical Express. And best of all...you'll get the Disney Dining Plan FREE!!! That's one counter service meal, one table service meal, and a snack every day of your vacation....FREE!!!

The Disney Dining Plan is a great deal at it's full price, so it's an even better deal when it's FREE!!!

This special price is for vacations traveling between 8/13/06 and 9/30/06. To take advantage of this special deal you must book before June 4, 2006.

If you are interested in finding out more about this Walt Disney World Resort Vacation Package, just drop me an e-mail. I'll be glad to answer any questions or give you a call, if you like.

Ed South's Comedy Spotlight Tour 2006

Ed South's Comedy Spotlight Tour 2006 is rolling into Westminster, MD! Ok...I'm not actually in the show, nor did I have anything to do with putting it together or ever booking it in Westminster...but I know a handful of World o' Blog readers are already planning on going so that's my contribution and therefore I'm calling it Ed South's Comedy Spotlight Tour 2006!

My good friend Jimmy Meritt is bringing his fantastic stand-up comedy act to the new comedy night at Rafael's Restaurant in Westminster on Tuesday, April 11. The show starts at 9:00pm, but Jimmy told me that you should get there at least a half hour early as the room was packed by showtime the last time he played there.

I met Jimmy several years ago when we both worked for a horrible company that will remain nameless, The Picture People. I knew Jimmy and I would be good friends on his first day of work there. A song was playing over the music system and Jimmy says to me, "Isn't this the song that was playing when the Stay Puft Marshmallow Man attacked in Ghostbusters 2?" Well, I knew a movie reference like that could only come from a kindred spirit! Jimmy and I later worked together at Crayola Works, where we labeled the boxes in the store room with Saturday Night Live jokes.

Jimmy's stand-up career takes him all over the D.C. and Virginia area, he doesn't do a whole lot of dates this side of the beltway, so it will be cool to have him doing his thang in Westminster for the evening. He's also performed a few dates in New York and has opened for the "Whose Line is it Anyway" tour. In a few weeks he'll be opening for Saturday Night Live's Kevin Nealon at the D.C. Improv.

If you're in the area and interested in going and meeting up with us before the show, you can zap me an e-mail or if you work with my wife you can talk to her about it at work.

Rafael's is located at 32 W. Main Street in Downtown Westminster, MD. Their telephone number is 410-840-1919. Hope to see ya there!

Saturday & Sunday

Saturday night we went to a wedding reception for one of Jennifer's co-workers, Stephanie. The wedding itself was actually in February in Las Vegas so they had a hometown celebration for all their friends and family that couldn't make it. That's really a good idea and Jennifer and I should have done the same thing as we were married in Vegas and only three people came. (And we didn't get any presents) The reception was fun. There was lots of great homecooked food and plenty of dancing and other hijinks!

After the reception, we went to a bar with a bunch of Jen's friends and we had a good time. It's been a long while since I hung out a bar...too long. Anywho, there's a handful of pictures from the evening in the ol' Wonderful World of Blog Photo Album. In case you didn't know, you can always access the photo album through the new link in the sidebar of this page. Just scroll down!

Cute little Elias story from Sunday for ya. Elias and my mother and I went to lunch at the Hanover Diner that afternoon. Elias was eating his lunch and looking a little tired. He took a french fry and smothered it in ketchup and then started sucking on it over and over again. This continued for a while, until his sucking started to slow down and he eventually fell asleep while working on his fry. Then he woke up very suddenly, as if startled, smothered the soggy fry in ketchup all over again and went back to repeatedly sucking on it. Again this continued for a while until he just passed out cold, sitting up in his chair with his french fry in his hand. He was out for the next 2 1/2 hours. Maybe it's just one of those stories you had to be there for!?!

Three Amigos

One of the cool things about having multiple children is watching them interact with each other. Elias loves Joey so much! He's always excited when Joey gets home from school, he always wants to go down to Joey's room and play video game with him. Whatever Joey is doing, Elias wants to be a part of it. When Elias was just a baby, only Joey could make him laugh. That was pretty neat.

Now, Tanner looks up to Elias in the same way. If Elias walks into the room, Tanner focuses in on him and just watches him with wide eyes. And if Joey and Elias are playing around, you can see in Tanner's face that he wants to be a part of the horseplay. It's very sweet.

And of course, Elias helping to take care of his baby brother is priceless. Elias likes to help give Baby Tanner a bath, and give him his bottles. Elias gets upset when Tanner starts to cry. "Oh No! Baby Tanner's crying!" Elias shouts. But when Tanner spits up, Elias backs up and stays clear. "Oh No, Baby Tanner...he spilled!"

Having an infant, a toddler, and a teenage can be very trying and exhausting. It's also very rewarding!