So Much Stuff I Can't Recall

On a completely unrelated topic, I've reviewed The New Dare to Discipline by James Dobson. Be forewarned that I get a little sassy in my review, so plan ahead to either avoid or engage in a spit-take or two. Check it out.

Probably not even an inch, but it was still enough to stay home from work.

Unfortunately, since home is where I work, this caused a slight black hole to open up in the living room.

Fortunately, the snow didn't last long, so the black hole quickly dissipated.

Unfortunately, it sucked up the stack of Christmas Thank-You notes we had been working on, so it'll be awhile before we get those out.

Sorry about that.

• Almost 20% of the way to adulthood - Yay!
  
  
• Over a quarter of the way to the teenage years - Yipes!

I've received 100 helpful votes so far (and 3 unhelpful ones); let's keep that number (the one not in parentheses) growing!

Two new DVD reviews:

• Remo Williams - The Adventure Begins
  
  
• Jason and the Argonauts

Here are a few more pix of Phil. The studio shots we've had for awhile, but were waiting for Grandparents to open their presents. In the fourth picture, Phil is wearing the pilot outfit he got from Grammy and Poppa (Dina's parents).

Enjoy!

Studio Shot #1

Studio Shot #2

Phil & Tree #1

Phil & Tree #2

We had a great Christmas here at home. Things you can expect to see reviews of on Amazon, include this, and that, and the other thing. And a few surprises, too.

Among the many gifts that Phil got was a folding photo frame with a picture of Phil and Grammy on one side and Phil and Poppa on the other. There's a button below each picture which plays a message from Grammy or Poppa when pressed. Both of them start by saying "Hi Philip," to which Phil answers back "Hi." Poppa asks "How ya doin'?" Phil answers "Good." Sometimes Phil pushes both buttons at the same time and Grammy and Poppa race to say "I love you."

Hope you had a Merry Christmas. If not, there's always next year.

One of the LPs my brother had as a kid included T.S. Eliot reading "Jellicle Cats." I recently transferred the recording to CD (which I have since misplaced, or I'd upload the track) and discovered that T.S. sounds a lot like John Houseman. Who'da thunk it?

Feast of Fear was the 52nd book I've read since the beginning of the year (over 16,000 pages). There's still a week left in 2003; maybe I can finish a few more before the year is out.

They are:

• Failure to Appear
  by J.A. Jance
  
  and
  
  
• Hangman's Holiday
  by Dorothy L. Sayers

Click here or in the Gadgets drop-down menu.

Here are some snapshots of Phil, for your viewing enjoyment:

Ride 'em, Snailboy

When Rhinos Attack

Jammin' on the Xylophone

On the Train

Too Many Philips

Christmas Lights at McCormick-Stillman Railroad Park

Christmas Train at the Railroad Park

You could tell we were tourists from the NW since we were the only ones wearing short-sleeved shirts. The weather was in the mid- to upper-70s and there were people walking around wearing parkas.

I'll fill in the details later, but here's a snapshot of what we did:

• I golfed
• We went to the ZooLights at the Phoenix Zoo
• We hit a 50% off sale at Goodwill
• We ate at several fooderies we don't have here in Oregon
• We paid $13 for a movie Phil ordered using the TV remote
• We went to another Christmas Lights display at a train-themed public park
• I got the complimentary birthday sundae at the Outback, but managed not to get sung at

Actual snapshots will follow soon.

Where Am I? Dina is taking me away somewhere for my birthday, but she isn't saying where. I'll have a better idea tomorrow morning at the airport. Phil's coming with, so it's not likely to be Vegas again. If you know, don't tell me.

5 Games, 9 Bucks Computer Gaming World has included a DVD (not the standard CD) with 5 full commercial-release games. These aren't bargain-basement games either -- although they are a few years old. Top of the top-shelf games are Deus Ex and Thief II. A handful of demos are included including 2 Lord of the Rings games and XIII, the comic-book First-Person Shooter (only the multiplayer/bot deathmatch is included; no plot-based levels).

New Review Pending I have an Amazon review that's been in the system for a few days. Hopefully it'll get cranked out while I'm away so I can continue with a few more book reviews (I don't like posting a new review until the previous one gets published). My ranking is currently 20,279. Major re-rankings seem to be done Tuesday nights, so we have 2 more weeks to get me to #1 (or at least the low 5-digits)

Merry Christmas! Should the plane go down (which one? I don't know!), be sure to have yourselves a Merry Little Christmas, now.

Our Worship Team leader (and member of Beaver Nation) has provided an alternate image of Sr. Pastor Scot Williams for the homepage. Check it out before I get the take-down request (I asked Scot when I was starting up the site if I needed to ask permission to put stuff up, or ask forgiveness after the fact; we'll see if his answer to that changes now).

The star of the preschoolers was Phil (not that I'm a biased dad or anything). In the first number Phil accompanied the music with a bouncy dance; he swayed like a human metronome in the second.

Here are some pix:

Close-up of dancing Phil

Another close-up of dancing Phil

Wide shot of Phil and the group

Detail of the above wide shot

Phil mugs for the camera

Phil sways like a tree

Obviously we missed the memo about wearing red shirts.

Some people were shooting video of the morning's goings-on. If I can get a copy of Phil's performance I'll post it here.

Makes me wish I had bought a pack of Iraq's Most Wanted playing cards so I could stick the ace of spades on the end of a pike and wave at it like this: <raises right hand and wiggles fingers cheerily>.

Maybe telemarketers posing as pollsters will stop calling during dinner now.

Okay, it's not a doozy, but it's very nice.

Okay, it's pathetic, but please tell Amazon that it helped you (if only by making you feel better about your own writing skills).

See the horror that is my review of Dorothy L. Sayers' The Documents in the Case.

Ok, so the middle name needs a little help, but if we get separated at the store, the lost-and-found lady will be able to get the gist of what he's saying.

In other news, Phil just made the number "16" with computer magnets after talking about "16" for the previous few minutes. Then he spelled his name (he got the initial "P" by himself, and then help on which letters to pick next).

Genius.

Then I wrote up an Amazon review because I was sure you couldn't wait to find out what I thought about it.

Well, the wait is over.

The review is up and it's maybe the best thing I've ever written.

Probably not ... but you never know.

Have at it!

Definitely worth taking a look.

My review of Q is for Quarry is now online. Read. Rate. Rejoice.

Theodore Rex should be up soon; it took me almost a year to finish reading it—hopefully I can crank out a review in under six months.

Look for a review of Q to be out soon.

Visit and vote for my second review as well.

Help me recover from my recent devastating review (see below), and vote "yes" on this product review. Then buy one as a present for someone who can play with sharp objects. If they can juggle buy them three.

SCTV quote aside, I've received my first negative review at Amazon.

"Booga Booga!"

Phil Mauled by an Otter

Phil and Dina and Lights

Phil and some Penguins

Phil in the ZooLights Train

This time it's the 2004 Magnetic Tangram Puzzle-A-Day Desk Calendar. Amazon classifies it as a book, so that's where I've put the link at the right.

In other news, I led this week's Wed. night Bible Study at church. Tonight's topic was a general look at the Bible. Everyone was pretty much pro-Bible so things went smoothly. I brought Christmas sugar cookies as a group snack. There were a few left over and as Philip was carrying the container out to the car he offered them to some other kids. Way to share little man!

To all those celebrating today, Happy Pearl Harbor Day!

I checked it earlier this evening and it was in the 125,000 range.

I just checked it now and it's at 35,625.

Not too shabby.

All you voters out there: Thanks a bunch. Keep up the good work!

Not a bad product, but a seriously flawed one.

Read my review. It's cruel and unbalanced, just like me.

You can decide for yourself, but be sure to tell the folks at Amazon how much my review has improved your life (guaranteed to remove warts in 38 states, just not the 1-12 you're in/from).

Check out my review at Amazon (link at the right) and buy the book as a Christmas gift for the parents of any two-year-olds you know.

At Shore Acres Christmas Lights:
Rain Boy

Phil & Aunt Julia

Phil with Grammy & Poppa

Phil with Mom & Dad

Phil Says Hang Loose

Phil & Some Frogs

Taken 30 seconds before Gramma and Grampa left and we realized we hadn't taken pix with them:
Phil & "Aunt Belle"

Phil with Gramma & Grampa

Check 'em out.

This is not good. (I edited my review for the Sneakers DVD and all the votes disappeared, so that likely has something to do with it).

Help me out, and get in practice for next November at the same time.

Go and vote.

Since last Friday, Phil has also been spending all night in his bed, without being bribed with Hot Wheels. Double Yay!