10 Days

That's how long Liam's pediatrician said we have to keep his hand mummified from last week's burn. The reasoning is sound, the new skin growing is very fragile and needs to be protected, but it was a bit of a bummer to hear it ourselves. At least Rebecca is getting quite good at rolling gauze and using athletic tape. She's all set to be a UGA trainer this fall!

Here's the 7/27/09 MMM:

GET BLOGGED DOWN:
Cake Wrecks – Wrecktastic, LLC
I have Rebecca to thank for showing me this wonderful diversion of high comedy. It’s the worst of the worst in cake decorating snafus, misspellings, and otherwise inappropriate frosting creations.

DOWNLOAD THIS:
“Life In Technicolor II” – Coldplay / Prospekt's March
Following the release of their very successful Viva la Vida, Coldplay put out an EP at the end of 2008 that serves as a coda to Viva, while offering some other remixes. By far, LIT II (as it’s know) is the best cut on the EP and a great follow up to the instrumental LIT on Viva la Vida. Makes you wonder if they were saving LIT II so you had to spend more money on another album? Nah, bands wouldn’t do that! Would they?

EXTRA EXTRA READ ALL ABOUT IT:
Why Are Southerners So Fat? – Time (originally ran 7/9/09)
Well, at least there’s no dancing around what the article is about! Lots of reasons why are provided, and the author is not very optimistic that things will get better. Right in my dry sense of humor wheel house.

POP SOME CORN:
The Happening
Like any good reviewer, it would be unwise to say every movie I’ve seen is good. This movie, unfortunately, falls into the disappointment category. It started out great, but I got the sense this would have made for a great hour long concept on a show like Fringe. The movie, even at a quick 90 minutes, seemed like it dragged. And the big twist payoff M. Night Shamalyan is known for was a bit hokey and lacked that all important “a-ha!” quality. Not sure what his next step will be. Seemed like he was on a good run with Sixth Sense, Signs, and The Village. Hope he can get back in the groove, because it’s always nice to see Philly and PA representing in movies.

(QUASI)REALITY-TV:
I Survived A Japanese Game Show – ABC, Wednesdays, 9:02 PM
In keeping with this week’s theme of “titles that fully describe the linked media item”, ABC has come back with a second season of this summer reality offering. It’s pretty formulaic with teams competing against each other, and interpersonal issues getting in the way of team harmony. But I like the reward/punishment feature each week where the winning team gets to do something nice while the losing team gets punished, and then has to eliminate someone. Not bad all in all. Everyone, hai, MAJIDE!!!!!!!!!!!

Relapse

We've had a relapse here in the house. Nothing serious, but it involved a 7 AM trip to the attic. Allow me to explain. Zachary has been instructed NUMEROUS times that if he happes to wake up before anyone else in the house, he is to stay in his room and read or play quietly. I know comprehension skills are tough at age 4, but he seems to have a really hard time grasping this request. A while back it got so bad that we reinstalled a baby gate outside his room to keep him limited to his room and the bathroom. Zachary improved so the gate went down. With this morning being the 4th straight morning he's woken me up to "tell me something" or to inform me that "I went to the bathroom", we reached a breaking point. So up I went this morning and retrived said baby gate. It's now installed, but Zachary is much smarter this time around, so he's already figured out how to open it. Rebecca and I are formulating a punishment plan should he choose to ignore our request to stay in his room for nap and bet time.

Liam's hand is doing better today. I think the mummy-fication of the hand is healing it faster. He did well with it in the church nursery (today was our turn on the volunteer schedule). We'll need to definitely keep an eye out on it tonight at dinner, however. We're heading back to one of our favorite restaurants, Maggiano's! We love the food and the fact that they give you a ton for what you pay. We are using an anniversary gift card present from my presents and a Facebook free dessert offer. I hope the guys do well, they did OK last time we went, but we had an extra adult with us to help defray the fact there are no balloons, cows, or crayons.

So That Explains It

Survived another treacherous commute today. Ah, who am I kidding, its Thursday and its my telecommute day for work. Very thankful for that recent accommodation from work.

Liam came home today with what appeared to be burn blisters on three of this right hand fingers. In trying to solve the mystery as to how he got them, Rebecca and I switched into “Memento” mode and worked backwards. After first determining it did not happen at daycare, then we thought about this morning, last night, bath time, dinner, and then Liam’s arrival home from school yesterday. Rebecca remembered he fell down at one point in the garage, which triggered his inconsolable hour-long crying fit. She also recalled him rounding the car at one point and getting his hands dirty. It then hit us, he must have touched the exhaust pipe with the outside of his hand. Poor guy, and shame on us for totally missing it. Of course it now makes total sense why he was so fussy and couldn’t be calmed down yesterday. We’ll give his pediatrician a ring tomorrow to see if we need to do any extra treatment. At least Liam doesn’t seem too bothered by it.

As the college football season fast approaches, you’ll probably notice that the Cahill US Blogger blog will take a more decidedly red & black tone in the coming weeks. The recent cool mornings we’ve had here in Georgia are only adding to the anticipation. I’m fast at work on some Dawg research and will be sharing some thoughts on the past, the future, and most importantly the 2009 season. So be on the look out for that!

Happy MMMonday

Hello out there, another busy weekend. We had some awesome ribs at Rebecca mom's house on Sunday, and Liam ate more meat than Zachary! That's my boy!

Tonight marks the 40th anniversary of our landing on the moon. Still a remarkable accomplishment to this day. Just think that some movies from the 80s thought it would be a foregone conclusion that we’d colonize the moon and have an outpost there:



Anywho, on to the MMM:

GET BLOGGED DOWN:
UniWatch – Paul Lukas
There are people who are passionate about their favorite things. For Paul, it is the subject of sports teams logos and uniforms.


DOWNLOAD THIS:
“Home” – Marc Broussard / Canencro
Very good singer/songwriter from Louisiana. Great mix of rock, blues, and soul. Also recommend “Lonely Night in Georgia” from the same album.

EXTRA EXTRA READ ALL ABOUT IT:
The Power Game – Wright Thomson, ESPN (originally ran 6/18/09)
While basketball ranks outside of my top 5 sports, this writeup by ESPN’s investigative arm, Outside the Lines, provides a pretty insightful look at how Washington DC insiders are suddenly enamored with basketball now that the occupant in 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue likes to play.


POP SOME CORN:
Slumdog Millionaire - Fox Searchlight Pictures
2008’s Best Picture winner was screened recently in the Cahill house. I thought it was well done movie, and enjoyed the mechanism used that allowed the story to be told out of order (won’t spoil it for those of you who haven’t seen it). That being said, Rebecca and I agreed that we are very lucky that we did not grow up or live in India after it was over.

(QUASI)REALITY-TV:
The Soup - E! Network, Fridays, 10 PM.
OK, so I’m cheating a bit by having a show about making fun of reality TV. But Joel McHale and his trust group of support staff (go Makini!) do great job of providing just the right lighthearted commentary. Plus they found this solid gold clip:

Another Milestone

Last night, we tried omitting giving Liam his paci at bed time. Woudln't you know it worked just like it did when Zachary went cold turkey at around 18 months! So the paci/binki/etc. is no more (we hope). Someone once told me that the best time to ween off the pacifier is before they can name it and ask for it. Hypothesis successfully tested twice here.

Rebecca has a girls day activity planned tomorrow so I get birthday party duty with Zachary getting a double dose of them. I can already taste the frosting...

Not much else is happening around here. Don't want to get too excited about the upcoming bliss that is college football until at least the calendar turns to August. I may start compiling some ideas for UGA football posts, since everyone seems to be publishing "best of" lists, why not me. Look for those beginning next month. Until then, goodnight blogdom...

The Walk and The MMM

I have a stunning revelation to share with you: children are sponges and will remeber EVERYTHING you tell/show them. Case in point, a couple of week's ago I was joking around with Zachary about the Braves and Phillies. I jokingly started walking with a limp and said, "Hey look, I'm Chipper Jones!" (alluding to his recent habit of stints on the disabled list). At least 2 times since then, one as recent as yesterday, Zachary came up to me and said "Daddy, watch me walk like Chipper Jones!" and then proceeds to hobble on over. Very funny to me (not to Rebecca and I'm sure other Braves fans - promise it's all in good fun) but a visual reminder that I need to watch what I say/show him, lest he makes a snide remark about the Gators or other enemy sports team that will leave me embarassed.


On to the MMM, or the Monday Media Mix. Rebecca wins the renaming contest with the winning (only) entry!


GET BLOGGED DOWN:
Touring Plans - The Unofficial Guide to Walt Disney World

Absolutely indespensible website for those of you planning a trip to WDW in Orlando. Alot of the site is free, but for an $8.95 annual subscription fee, you can access personalized touring plans of each park based on your specific day, your family's makeup (small kids, teenagers, young/old, you name it), and gives detailed reseach into crowd patterns. We leveraged the findings to avoid many many long lines on our last trip and will be using it again. Can't recommend it highly enough.


DOWNLOAD THIS:
“Big Whiskey and the Groo Grux King” – Dave Matthews Band

DMB's June 2009 release, a positive return to form after a few "OK" albums. Sounds more like the late 1990's DMB I first came to love.

EXTRA EXTRA READ ALL ABOUT IT:
One Last Toss for the Dooze - Bill Simmons, ESPN (originally ran 1/22/09)

OK, OK, I promise I'll link something happier or more uplifting next week. This is one of my favorite writers and overall personalities I read/listen to. Normally, Bill is all about showing the fun side of being a sports fan (despite his Boston team leanings). However, he shows real skill as a writer detailing the life and the sad final days of his dog. A sports fan's Marley & Me.

POP SOME CORN:
Into The Storm - HBO Pictures

Another "Free Preview" capture, the film chronicled the ascention of power by Churchill in the early days of World War II and his unparalled leadership of Britian from 1940-1945. The world would be a much different place had he not been in charge and used his leadership position to rally a nation.

(QUASI)REALITY-TV:
Dinner: Impossible - Food Newtork, Wednesdays, 10 PM EDT

Now that Robert Irvine is back in charge, it's back to the the thirlling, near impossible cooking challenges that he and his staff face. One question I do have: Why does it take 3 hours on average to get to a store, get the food, and back to the cooking area?

Saturday In The Park

Although it's a week past the 4th of July, that is where we are heading later today. We're meeting up with a couple of Rebecca's long time friends from mighty Joseph E. Wheeler High School (class of '94) and their respective families. We found a park and sports complex about half way between Kennesaw and here with a nice little play area and some fields. Hopefully it won't be too hot out there.

Had movie night again in the house last night with another showing of "Bolt". Zachary earns pennies for doing some basic chores and listening, and if he earns 10 pennies he gets a movie night. Bolt was from the regular animation arm of Disney, and while the animation is comprabale to Pixar, you can definitely tell where all the talent from a story making perspective has flowed. The stories Pixar has cranked out in the past decade have dwarfed anything Disney has done since "The Lion King".

Finally, a quick shout out to my cousin Chris back in Levittown, PA. He pitched in the deciding game of a playoff series for his first American Legion baseball team and went the distance for his first win. Oh, did I also mention he's only 15 and was doing this against 17 and 18 year olds? Pretty impressive to say the least. Perhaps I need to get my aunt to get some video of him sent down this way so UGA can take a look at him in a couple of years....

Miscallaneous

Some random musings:

1. For the longest time, I came down in the Pepsi camp of the Coke vs. Pepsi debate. That said, Coke Zero is the best carbonated beverage on the market today, hands down.

2. My new favorite game with Liam is a call and response conversation that starts with me going, “Liiiaaammmm!!” and him responding “Daaaaaddddyyyyy!!!”. Can easily burn 20 minutes with that game.

3. It was my turn to get the weekly groceries this past weekend and we had some unused coupons for Publix (we’re a Kroger family due to the $.10 off gas deal they have). It took me twice as long there with the unfamiliar surroundings to get done. Frustrating. At least they make a mean sub sandwich.

4. I need to find a way to find more time to be productive during the day. Podcasting helps during my longer commutes, but I need to try to get more organized at home and not waste so much time.

5. #4 is of course dependent on finding days/nights where I’m not bringing home work or trying to catch up. It’s the price I pay to working normal hours and making quality time for the family.

Monday Manifesto

We had a great 4th of July weekend. Rebecca has some great videos posted up at her site, check them out when you get the chance! Back to the grind today, at least we had some rain to make the grass less Dust Bowl-esque

In an effort to get in a more regular pattern of blogging, and since I’m the president/emperor/almighty ruler of this blog, I’m making an executive decision to provide a once a week list of items that I’ve been seeing/listening/reading that I like and I think you might like too.

For now, we’ll call it the Monday Manifesto (at least until I or one of the 2 other readers out there) have a more snazzy title. But here goes:

GET BLOGGED DOWN:
David Hale – Macon Telegraph
David has a great and insightful blog about UGA athletics. Just the right mix of insight you don't get in the regular news, personal commentary, and pop culture nuggets.

DOWNLOAD THIS:
“Careless Whisper” – Seether
Darn those guilty feet, they have no rhythm!

POP SOME CORN:
“WALL-E” – Disney/Pixar

Finally got around to viewing this during a mega channel free preview on DirecTV a couple of weeks ago. Great, great movie. The two robots (EVE and WALL-E) were presented in a better love story than 99% of what Hollywood churns out. Probably the most “adult” G rated movie I’ve seen since The Andromeda Strain.

(QUASI)REALITY-TV:
Kendra – E! Sundays at 10 PM EDT
It would be an A- even if she weren’t marrying a member of the Philadelphia Eagles. Go Kendra, Go Kendra! You’re on your own now!

EXTRA EXTRA READ ALL ABOUT IT:
Final Salute – Rocky Mountain News (originally printed 11/11/05)
Speaking of the aforementioned David Hale, he posted this link back on Memorial Day. Although I’m one patriotic holiday late in passing this along, I hope you take the time to read this and have this sink in as a reminder of the price some of us pay to live in America. It's long but well worth it.

I’ll try to update this weekly, and be on the look out for exciting new categories. Enjoy, or feel free to dispute!