TVLN Music Club – Simply Irresistible
In 1989 Robert Palmer won his second Grammy for Simply Irresistible. His talented voice, his snappy style of dress, and his apparent gratuitous pandering with his misogynistic videos, made him very popular with the MTV crowd.
The snazzy British singer was christened “Best Dressed Male Artist” by Rolling Stone magazine in 1990. He passed away of a Heart Attack in 2003.
Friday Focaccia
It is here, the day is finally here. No, I don’t mean the release of the overhyped iPhone, I couldn’t care less, other than maybe I won’t have to hear about it as “news” any longer. I’m talking about the release of Ratatouille. When I first read about this, “a rat in Paris” movie, I honestly didn’t think all that much of the concept, but I have to admit that after seeing the trailers, I have to admit I am now looking forward to seeing this movie.
On the opposite end of the enthusiasm spectrum, I saw the first video from High School Musical 2. Now, I know based on the sucess of the first one, and the amount of time Disney will spend hyping it over the summer that there will be a huge audience for this. But, I have to admit having more than just a little fear of this becoming a Grease 2 type of disappointing failure. (Yes, I have read and realize that Grease 2 has become some sort of cult favorite, but Disney isn’t producing this to become popular 20 years from now).
Sadly, on Tuesday, a 14 year old girl died while riding the Rock-N-Roll Roller Coaster at Disneyland Resorts Paris (formerly Euro Disney). My condolences to her family. A similar incident happened at the MGM Studios in Florida almost a year ago. In that case, the 12 year old that died was found to have congenital heart problems. So, while the ride in Paris is currently closed pending an autopsy on the girl, my guess will be that a similar type of health problem will be found to be the cause, and the ride reopened fairly soon.
Of course the raises the question of, safety. I mean technically the ride is not at fault since it did not malfunction. But what can you do, how much care to you need to take, and how many test can you have run to ensure that if your child (or you) go on a “thrill ride” that the thrill is not your last?
Mullets for everyone – Lately LatteGirl has been seemingly consumed with all things Hannah Montana. But I guess it is not just her. “Hannah” took 5 of the top 15 shows of the week (week ending June 24th). TheWife thinks half of the kids that watch the show do so because their mother’s had (or have) an achy breaky heart for Billy Ray Cyrus… hey who knows, she may be right.
Pig out – Newsweek has an (uninspired) article on what not to eat during the summer if you don’t want to be busting out of the bathing suit. Since I am already there, it is too late for me, but may be of interest to those that are trying to watch their waistline, though there are few suprises and most of the items listed are either no-brainers or the same type of items that are listed in EVERY article about “hidden calories” (is there really anybody left in the world that doesn’t know a Frappacinno from Starbucks with Whip Cream has eleventy bajillion calories?… fine just under 700, but you get the point).
A Warning for my Fellow Northerners - I forgot to mention this earlier (thanks to BusyMom for the reminder). When you go down south, if you are an Iced Tea drinker like I am, remember that down there, “Ice Tea” = “Sweet Tea” and if you are an unsweetened tea drinker like I am, you are in for quite a shock. I know this, I joke about it often, and yet the first time I sat down for lunch,I just ordered an “Iced Tea” and when I had that first sip, I thought I was going to go into immediate sugar shock. You can’t say you weren’t warned.
Picture Perfect Thursday – Beaming
For the most part, I have heard from people that are looking forward to going (or returning) to Disney World, as well as those that remember with great fondness trips they have taken. But I have also encountered several that have made statements like, “it is overblown” or “if I never go back it will be too soon.” And to be honest, it baffles me. I can’t help but wonder how it could draw that sort of response.
Yes, Disney World is expensive, but there are ways to cut corners and keep your expenses to a minimum if you try. Yes, it can be hot (it was in the mid 90’s with high humidity the week we were there), but you can also plan your trip when it isn’t as hot (Heck Wendy was complaining how COLD is was when she went back in February). Lines can be long for some rides, but thanks to FastPass (this wikipedia entry is a bit dated, but gives a good overview of FastPass), you can get a ticket and return at your specified time for the ride later allowing you to explore more of the park. So what is it really? What did I get to experience that these people didn’t?
The only thing I can come up with is, that beaming smile.
We had just stood for a half hour (to get a good seat) in the sun, we had been walking through the park for about 4 hours by this point, she was hungry (because we were going to lunch after this show), and yet look at that smile. Look at the anticipation as she was awaiting the appearance of some characters (in this case from the Playhouse Disney Shows). Yet hot, sticky, sweaty… it didn’t matter.
Now, I will admit, I had a great time in my own right, so that only makes it better for me, but even if I found Disney less that what I had anticipated, I can say for sure that no matter how much I spent on a vacation, it was all worth it, to see that smile. To experience every morning the sheer joy of her unbridled enthusiasm of the upcoming days events. To listen to her regale others with her journey’s. Even people that we knew were at the same park. In amazing detail she could recount every step, every character she met, and of course how much fun she had in doing so.
So, were other people not paying attention? Did they miss this with their own kids? How could something that brings that much joy to a child be something that you don’t crave again and again? Sure for some reasons, financias, time constraints, whatever, I may not be able to do this “all the time,” but anything that can bring that kind of smile to her face… Yeah, I want as much of it as I can. Because I am addicted… to her beaming smile.
Blogspotting
Well, I am still trying to get caught up with all my favorite blogs, so this week, rather than the new, I present several of my tried and true favorites that have been a staple in my blogroll.
DadCentric – the are plenty of Mommy groups around, but there are precious few good Multi-Writer Dad Blogs that I have found so far, but this is an excellent one. A consortium of top quality Dad Bloggers, all in one place.
Clare’s Dad – I’m not sure what is a bigger draw for me to this blog, Darren’s writing, or the fact that when I am reading his posts, I feel like I am just flashing back to 2 years prior. It is downright eeery sometimes.
Honea Express – I am not sure if I found whit through DadCentric, or I found DadCentric from his sight. The only thing I know for sure, is that he is a staple in my must read daily.
Lightning storms are pretty intense around here tonight, so I am cutting this short. Blogspotting should be back to normal next week. Of course as always if you have or know a post or blog I should be checking out, please leave it in the comments.
Pinned
One thing a few friends warned me about before going down to Disney World was to watch out for my daughter getting hooked on Pin Trading. And I will pass this warning along to everybody else as well, because if somebody gets hooked into this, it can become a fun, but quite expensive hobby, real quick.
As it turns out, I didn’t have to worry about the little one getting hooked on the Pins. Nope, she wasn’t interested in the least. I however got reeled in hook, line and sinker. I actually did very little trading, but started looking through, and buying various pins at all of the parks, as well as the Downtown Disney marketplace.
I started off solely with Lilo & Stitch pins, but TheWife and LatteGirl decided I needed to expand a bit, and purchased a couple of pins for me for Father’s Day from Cars as well as High School Musical.
As hobbies go, it is not a bad one. And since the pins are small, they are easy to collect without needing to take up a lot of space. Heck, you could collect several hundred and not need any more space than you would need for a photo album. I suspect that this is the reason TheWife did not mind me getting hooked on this as a hobby, it is one that can be kept “out of her sight” and not have to worry about shelf space for.
However, at $7 to $14 for the majority of the pins, the cost can spiral up real quickly if you aren’t careful. Don’t say you weren’t warned.
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