Here's to Class Clowns

Offspring #4 in all her glory.



ok...so the picture was taken the day after graduation cuz she had to be at school for pre ceremony stuff at 8:30 in the MORNING, and she really didnt have a tee shirt and shorts on under the gown, but who's counting.

And yes...she was voted "Class Clown".

Down came the rain and washed the party out

Son of a bitch!!! It never rains when I have a party.....NEVER!!! Till yesterday that is. Well...I guess theres a first time for everything and why, I suppose, I should never say never.

We thought we'd have one last big blowout party for Offspring #4's graduation,since we're now done with the whole high school thing. Nice idea, crappy weather.

This is Offspring #2's Fiancee's foot.


Why yes...he does have toes...you just CANT SEE THEM CUZ MY YARD WAS A MUDPIT!!!. And that was UNDER the tent!!! Damned good thing we ordered sides for the tent, considering that at one point the rain was coming SIDEWAYS when the wind whipped up and the lightning was flashing and the thunder was shaking everything and stakes were being pulled out of the ground and a pole was falling off the tent and the thing looked as if it were ready to fall right down and Offspring #3 and I were out there trying to prevent that and I really suck at hammering tent stakes. And that was right after we got done setting everything up all nice and pretty.

Damn you Weather Gods!!



It did kinda clear up a bit....but the mud....the mud was incredible.



I finally got all that mud off my toes this afternoon. Major pedicure work there....I soaked and I scraped and soaked some more. Eh...I needed a pedi anyway. Of course I had to wait till my head stopped throbbing to do it. I only had a few beers. Who knew jello shots packed such a whallop? I think those kids...they kept bringing them over to me...wanted a rerun of #3's party and me drunk jumping in the pool fully clothed. No need for that this time since I was pretty much soaked the whole day anyway. Did I mention that it rained?

Get a load of this cloud action...looks like something out of a horror movie...not that I watch a lot of horror flicks...but if I did...this is what a cloud in it would look like. Lots of lightning and thunder up there.



The rain started about 5 minutes after that shot.....then the hail came. Not quite so much as they had in the northtowns this afternoon, but still...it came.



Whats that look like...marble size? Glass eye size?? Packed a whallop too...got hit by a few as I stupidly stepped out of the garage.



Not much accumulation...the crap didnt last more than 5 minutes. And WTF...its not right to be talking hail in the middle of June.

It's Festival Time!!

Allentown Arts Festival Time, that is.

Offspring #3 and I headed down earlyish to beat the crowds. As you can see...foot traffic isn't too bad. What a gorgeous day it was for browsing and people watching.



This was the scene outside the Buffalo Homecoming Event, which will take place in a couple of weeks.



Crowds are getting deeper


See that church spire there in the middle of the pic? Thats Ani DiFranco's 'Babeville'..where Righteous Babe Studios are, and The Church..an awesome venue..my cousin had his wedding reception there a couple weeks ago. But I digress... The festival stretched all the way down there...great event.




I bought a couple of these little wind chime guys at AllenWest which happens, ironically, on the west side of Allen Street. Kind of an Artsy-Fartsy meets Kitschy dimension.

My Iris are beginning to bloom!

And So It Goes

Today is Offspring #4's last Monday of high school....and in her words..."the end of the B's dynasty" at DHS. She's making sure everyone know that too.

Its also so the 30th anniversary of captivity wedded bliss for the Spouse and I. I'm getting brakes put on my car after work...he's off to his golf league. Quite a celebration. Thats just how we roll.

My Personal Hero Award

For Service Above and Beyond the Call of Duty....I hereby announce that these two smart, caring and beautiful young ladies are officially presented the title of....

My Personal Hero

They saw a travesty and took action to right the wrong.

They saw a friend in a dire domestic circumstance and removed her from it in a brilliant, well thought out, completely legal manner.

They saved a life.

Ladies...I am unbelievable proud of you both.

And not to brag or anything...but the one on the right is Offspring #4

Well...Its the last day of my 40's....

...*and I'm alright with that* and this is what I'm turning into tomorrow..

and I hate it when there's commercials on these clips. Pardon that...its the best clip I could find.


Saturday Night Live - Sally O'Malley

Good news! i just picked up the computer....wooohooo! And I'm $238 lighter in the pockets. Next computer I buy is gonna be a Mac.

Right now I'm sitting in the car watching Offspring #4's softball game....its frigging freezing...and the computer is sitting in my back seat.

I'll be fixing this up later when i get back online.

Soooo...

...this has been dental week. offspring #4 had the old wisdom teeth removed. She now has dry sockets. Ouchie. And I developed an infection in the tooth under my crown. Double ouchie. Seriously...I'd rather give birth than do the dental pain thing.

Needless to say the two of us have been miserable.

Oh....and I dont have my computer back yet.

Curses!!!

so....the computer has issues. She's in therapy right new....aka...getting fixed. Posts will be coming to you from my trusty Blackjack for the time being. And just when i was gonna post some pictures from Offspring #4's prom. Yes..the "baby" has just gone to the senior prom.

Seem like just last week when she was taking her first steps. No, wait...it was just last week that I got my AARP card in the
mail. Curses!!!!

What a week for local law enforcement!!

First you got this goofy woman getting thru security at the airport by walking in thru the exitway and then telling the person at her boarding gate "why no, I didnt go thru security" so I dont have whatever it was you get when you go thru security, prompting the evac and rescreening of EVERYONE in the airport. What a nightmare.

Then...last night you get this guy. Spotted beating on his female companion whilst driving and brandishing a gun when he gets pulled over. This leads to a 3 hour standoff on the now shutdown I-190....during rush hour!!!



yes...I did park my arse in front of the tv and I watched. All 3 hours.

I'm an ambulance chaser from way back.

This is weird

I feel like I'm sitting inside a ginormous blue bubble.

The roofers are here...yeah...a Saturday morning at 7am...happy dance time. They've dropped a huge blue tarp over everything whilst they do the tear off. Everything's got a blue tint to it. I dont like it.

Another Installment of ..You Know Its Spring...

.....when it's Opening Day of Softball Season. Wildcats 7----Will North 1. Good way to start off.



Thats Offspring #4 catching behind the plate

You Know Its Spring When....

.....the turkeys come home.

What??? Turkeys??? What the hell am I talking about???

I was driving down Clinton St. when I saw them...A ginormous flock of turkeys. Wont be long before they're on my porch, or flying in the general direction of my windshield.

True story......couple years ago I'm driving down Southwestern Blvd..actually Transit Rd. where it turns into SWB...and I have this Arthur "As Got as my witness, I thought turkeys could fly" Carlson moment when this big huge black turkey comes lowflying right at me. missed my windshield by this much!!! And I was in Big Red....lots of window space on that old van. And you know what I'm thinking as I'm watching this bigass bird lumber its way thru the air in slo-mo towards me??? I'm thinking of Les Nessman It's a helicopter, and it's coming this way. It's flying something behind it, I can't quite make it out, it's a large banner and it says, uh - Happy... Thaaaaanksss... giving! ... From ... W ... K ... R... P!! No parachutes yet. Can't be skydivers... I can't tell just yet what they are, but - Oh my God, Johnny, they're turkeys!! Johnny, can you get this? Oh, they're plunging to the earth right in front of our eyes! One just went through the windshield of a parked car! Oh, the humanity! The turkeys are hitting the ground like sacks of wet cement! Not since the Hindenberg tragedy has there been anything like this!"

Seriously..I'm not thinking about the two lanes of traffic coming at me or anything...I'm thinking of Les and Arthur...sheesh!!!

Fast forward a year later and to my front porch....Offspring #2 is minding her own business coming into the house via the front door, and all of a sudden she starts screaming and runs around and into the house thru the garage. "Whats with you? I ask and she starts babbling about a turkey on the porch. So I open the front door and sure enough..theres a friggin turkey!!! And its PEEING on my porch. I open the door and scare him off the porch and chase him half way down the street. Now, I understand that turkeys arent the smartest creatures on God's green earth, which would explain why....a few days later...this damned thing is on my porch again. Perhaps it was the same one...perhaps another who picked up the turkey pee scent...I dunno.

So...like,....dont try to call me or anything on July 1st!!! Take a guess where I'll be!

I stood in line at Shea's for an hour and snagged some tix.

Giddy-ness has set in.

She's Fat and She's Singing

And so ends the 07/08 Buffalo Sabres Season.

Bummer

So much for the mojo of my world famous chant...

...it sure didnt do much good Tuesday night, damnit.

I wonder which team will show up tonite...the one that can get it done or the one that stands around waiting for the damned puck to come to them...or for someone else to go get it.

Very frustrating. We've been quite spoiled the last couple of years with the hardest working team in hockey. This year, too many of them have been lackadaisical about the whole thing. Whatever will we be doing this April and May now that it looks like we wont be having Parties in the Plaza....tailgating parties before games...rocking electric atmospheres in the arena or anyplace thats televising.

This one is for tonite...

Lets Go Buffalo
*clap clap clapclapclap*
Lets Go Buffalo
*clap clap clapclapclap*

*tosses some Blue and Gold Glitter around*

I'm grasping at straws ...

.... big hockey game tonite. Its a must win in the playoff hunt. From Presidents Trophy winners to maybe not making the playoffs in 9 short months.

Sheesh!!!


Let's Go Buff-A-Lo
*clap clap clapclapclap*
Lets Go Buff-A-Lo
*clap clap clapclapclap*

*tosses enormous amounts of blue and gold glitter all over the place*

Ok..so tonite is the full moon...

....when you go out to bark at said moon...see if you can see the moonvertizing. That's right...Rolling Rock is supposed to beam its logo up there by the way of a laser.

I first became aware of on night on our way home from a hockey game. There's this billboard on the 190 that caught my eye...a 3 dimensional 'moon' with the Rolling Rock logo jutting out from the billboard...big "MOONVERTIZING look up on the next full moon" off on the side.

Who thinks this stuff up?

Here's the website *edit 9.14.08...apparently this website is no more*

Here's my theory....there is no laser shooting an image to the moon, its just a gimmick. And a good one that seems to be working since I'm sitting here like a loser talking about it.

I can picture it now...all those ingenious ad men sitting around laughing at all the suckers out there looking at the moon. Too bad its too cloudy here now to even seen the moon.

Thats right...I looked.

Sucker!!

Just In Time For Easter...

...The Ultimate Peep Show






Thanks Scott

WHAT?????????

This is preposterous!!!

According to The News....there's probably gonna be a shortage of pussy willows this upcoming Dyngus Day!!!

A winter-related shortage of pussy willows may take the sweet sting out of this year’s Dyngus Day fun.

Icy, snowy weather over the last month has delayed the budding process, meaning that there probably won’t be enough locally grown switches for the flirting ritual that highlights the traditional Polish celebration.

You know, the one where girls swat boys with pussy willows to win them over, and boys respond by dousing them with water.

Without the willowy whips “there might not be as many romantic outcomes,” fretted Marty Biniasz, founder of Dyngus Day Buffalo.

It doesn’t help that the Easter Monday celebration falls on March 24, the earliest date in 95 years. The availability of local pussy willows for Dyngus activities usually depends on the plants’ “normal springtime develop-

ment,” said Sharon Webber, a horticulturist with Cornell Cooperative Extension.

“Unlike many plants, growers cannot force willows to bud,” Webber said. The fuzzy buds, called catkins, “need to develop naturally on trees and shrubs,” stimulated by rising early spring temperatures.

The next time Dyngus Day arrives so early will be 2228 — 220 years from now.

Enduring damage from the Oct. 12, 2006, snowstorm, which destroyed or damaged tens of thousands of trees that were still in full leaf, may be another contributing factor, she said.

“Plants are still in a recovery mode and may not be producing yield at prestorm levels,” Webber said.

Area florists may have to import pussy willows from warmer climes to meet the demand.

Maureen Bartley, who owns Maureen’s Wholesale Flower Market on Washington Street, already has ordered 300 large pussy willow bows from North Carolina for the Dyngus celebration at Central Terminal. They are due to arrive by truck this week.

Bartley also expects to import 600 to 1,000 large stems, but is not quite ready to scout the South for more.

“One week of warm weather can change everything. I’ll wait and see,” she said.

Regardless, Biniasz and other organizers who tout Buffalo as the “Dyngus Day Capital of the World” are forging ahead with this year’s celebrations — pussy willows or no pussy willows.

The fun will begin with the second annual Dyngus Day parade through the city’s historic Polonia district, starting at 5 p.m. outside the Broadway Market.

Foul weather will not impede the march, vowed “Airborne” Eddy Dobosiewicz, parade chairman and comedian.

“Why do you think it’s called the North Pole?” he said. “Poles are a hardy bunch. A little wind chill won’t stand in the way.”

Shuttle buses will carry revelers to more than 40 locations free of charge. Among the destinations, in addition to Central Terminal, will be Adam Mickiewicz Library, St. Stanislaus Catholic Church and numerous family-owned taverns.

Here's the link to the article....just to keep things all legal and stuff. It'll only be there for a couple days...then you'll have to pay to read it. I hate that

This is Offpring #1's windshield.......

.....after a big ass sheet of ice, from last nights ice storm, came off of a van that was in front of her when she was driving down the I-290 this afternoon. She's tooling down the road at 55 when the piece broke loose from the roof. She managed to take defensive action to miss most of the ice but one of them caught her. She's one lucky gal that she didnt get hurt, or loose control and crash. Thats her in the backround next to the tow truck that brought the vehicle to the glass place.

This is very interesting!

A short but poignant independent film on government sponsored healthcare systems. Everyone who plans to vote for our new President in 2008 NEEDS to see this. Regardless of the person for whom they would vote.

Have a gander

This is incrediblely awesome

Thanks to Scott for sending this to me

*Edit....the two videos I have down below dont seem to work anymore. This here should take you to one. Be warned...its a bit graphic.*

Great news about Richard Zednik today. If you dont know, Richard is the Florida Panthers player whose neck was slashed and carotid artery severed by a skate Sunday night at the hockey game. Today, he asked for chicken wings. Yeah, baby....if wings cant cure what ails ya...what can???

If you hadn't seen it theres a couple videos. I have to warn you..this first video is kinda gruesome. Not quite as graphic as it was in person, but if you have a weakness for things like this..dont watch. This video , although 10 minutes long, doesnt show too much carnage and gives you a sense of what it was like to be in the arena.

The Spouse and I were sitting just above the Panthers bench....*if you notice, in the second video, the banner ad sign that says 'veins veins veins'...quite ironic, huh? is just where my seats are*....anyway, when they took him off the ice he went kinda limp..I thought he was dead right there. I dont think I'll ever forget the silence of 18,000 people in shock. Very eerie. It was flashback time for a good majority of us Sabres fans. 19 years ago we saw almost the same thing when Clint Malarchuk's jugular was cut. He too survived that injury.

Lucky Weekend?

On a whim, The Spouse and I went to Fairgrounds Casino last night after dinner. We headed right to the bank of Joker Poker machines we had a bit of success with on New Years Eve.

JACKPOT!!!

I won 2 Grand with a royal straight flush. I'm still quite giddy about the whole turn of events.

I'm hoping my luck carries over to a couple of the SuperBowl pools I'm in. Wouldn't that be nice!!!!!

For The Undecided

Vote-chooser- a good site to help you see the candidate's views on what's important to you!

Since it's so hard to decide who to vote for, maybe this can help.

Thanks to Jo for that.

I've been neglecting my boys in blue

Time to shake off this whole Presidents Trophy hangover thing we've got going. Pop a few asprins and drink a can of Pepsi, boys, and.....

Lets Go Buffalo
*clap clap clapclapclap*
Lets Go Buffalo
*clap clap clapclapclap*

*tosses massive amouts of blue and gold glitter all over the place*

Record Temps in WNY

I know what you're thinking...it's January, it's Buffalo, so, it's like 20below, right?

WRONG!!

Right now, at 7:20 pm...it's 64 degrees. Above zero. There's even a heat index of 65. That's correct....no wind chill factor tonite.

Record day again tomorrow...supposed to be 60. The old record is 59.

I know!!!! This is just crazy.

And...Lake Erie is at 36. This could be trouble down the road if we get any cold over that 'warm' water.

Happy New Year!!!

This was, quite possibly, THE BEST sporting event I've ever, or ever will, attend!!! The Ice Bowl...aka NHL Winter Classic.

A little slideshow from Christmas Eve

Been Busy Being An Elf...

or more correctly the ONLY Elf around here.



Christmas MySpace Animations



I have to agree with my friend Diane. Two days before Thanksgiving she starts muttering and jumping into her "In my next life I want to come back as a man" mantra.

Ice Bowl Update

Remember back here when I was talking about the Ice Bowl....I mean...'Winter Classic'?

Well..we got our letter which contained not the 40 tickets we paid cash for, but 3..yes..count 'em, THREE measly tickets for the event. How's that for sucking???

Oh, well. Thats the way the puck bounces I guess. We weren't really happy, but what can you do? Since there were only the 3 tickets we decided to use them as a prize for the Buffalo News Neediest Fund party/fundraiser that Al puts on

At least we got our money back the same way we put it in....cash. That kinda surprised me. Thought they might try the old 'we'll credit your season ticket account' trick.

Great pic from Lisa

Thought I'd share, so everyone can have a great evening!

Went to the mall today...Walden Galleria Mall to be specific.

What the hell was I thinking???

The MALL???? on a Sunday????

Don't I know about the Canadian Invasion that happens every weekend?

Don't I know that getting a parking spot is almost hopeless??? Although, I did notice that there were hardly any Ontario plates in the upper level parking deck over by JC Penney. Hmmm.. perhaps they haven't found that place yet.

It's just crazy over there, what with the new found strength of the Canadian dollar and the close proximity to our friends in the great white north, the busses full of shoppers can't get over here fast enough. More power too 'em. Lots of sales tax generated. Bed tax from the hotels over there by the mall where the bus loads of shoppers stay. That Galleria addition will be paid for in no time.

There is a little problem with these invaders. Garbage. Here's the story from Channel 2 News.....

With the value of the Canadian dollar rising against the dollar, shoppers from Canada are spending big at the Galleria Mall. But, it's what they're leaving behind that's the problem.

Carla Avery is the manager for Hurley Corporation. They manage the trash at the Galleria Mall.

"It's just the garbage. The trash is unbelievable, keeping up on trash alone," said Avery.

She says the company has added 15 people in the last month to deal with all the extra work Canadians are causing. And you might be surprised at what they're leaving behind.

"They just change here, leave their old stuff here and put their new stuff on and leave boxes and bags and it piles up," said Avery.

2 On Your Side didn't believe it, until we saw it for ourselves. Canadians taking off their old shoes and throwing them in the trash. Then, wearing their new ones right out of the mall. Some shoppers even changed outfits and threw the rest away.

Canadian Robin Kostyscyn, "I think when they get to the border they're trying not to get busted there, so they take everything off. They wear probably old shoes over here and then change them out, put on their new shoes."

So we approached several groups of Canadians to find out if they're trying to avoid duty on the way home. Most tried to avoid our cameras, but one couple admitted it.

Reporter, "We've heard some people are trying to avoid paying the duty on it, so is that what it is?"

"Yes, that's true," the woman admitted.

Others say they just want to ditch the boxes because they're too bulky. With the value of the Canadian dollar rising against the dollar, shoppers from Canada are spending big at the Galleria Mall. But, it's what they're leaving behind that's the problem.

Carla Avery is the manager for Hurley Corporation. They manage the trash at the Galleria Mall.

"It's just the garbage. The trash is unbelievable, keeping up on trash alone," said Avery.

She says the company has added 15 people in the last month to deal with all the extra work Canadians are causing. And you might be surprised at what they're leaving behind.

"They just change here, leave their old stuff here and put their new stuff on and leave boxes and bags and it piles up," said Avery.

2 On Your Side didn't believe it, until we saw it for ourselves. Canadians taking off their old shoes and throwing them in the trash. Then, wearing their new ones right out of the mall. Some shoppers even changed outfits and threw the rest away.

Canadian Robin Kostyscyn, "I think when they get to the border they're trying not to get busted there, so they take everything off. They wear probably old shoes over here and then change them out, put on their new shoes."

So we approached several groups of Canadians to find out if they're trying to avoid duty on the way home. Most tried to avoid our cameras, but one couple admitted it.

Reporter, "We've heard some people are trying to avoid paying the duty on it, so is that what it is?" Yes, that's true," the woman admitted.

Others say they just want to ditch the boxes because they're too bulky.

Yeah...thats right..the boxes are too bulky. *wink wink* Maybe the Galleria staff could put out collection bins for all those old items and they could take the stuff down to the City Mission. Or GoodWill. Or Amvets. Damn...that's a great idea.

this kid had the best costume last night...

...looked even better in the dark as she was walking down the street

My pumpkin turned out pretty good too!

Happy Halloween!!

Full Moon Fever

Full Moon tonite. Everyone.. up off your butts and bark at the moon.

AAHHHOOOOOOOOWWWWWWW OWWWW OWWWWW OOOOOOWWWWW

Try it..it's very theraputic!!!!

I love this sign

On This Date...

...in 1985, Offspring #2 made her grand entrance!

Happy Birthday Shell!!!

On This Date in History...

...Offspring #1 entered our universe on this date in 1983.

Happy 24th Melissa!

Also...that pesky little storm came sweeping across Lake Erie one year ago today.

If you are a mom...or you have a mom...you need to watch this

Autumn?

What a glorious start to October!! Lots of sunshine during the day, temps in the high 70's, low 80's and absolutely perfect sleeping weather at night.

As far as the leaf change goes....its not been too spectacular. I dont know if its because of the damage from last year or from the relative dryness over the summer. Some trees have all but changed and some havent started yet. Perhaps when there's more of a crispness in the air the colors will begin to be brilliant, but I dont know. This time last year, two weeks before he big storm, there was crimson and gold and brown everywhere.

On a scary note, this time last year we were having the same kind of weather. I guess we should just enjoy it whilst we can, cuz in two weeks, who knows whats gonna happen. I'm just sayin.

Clever

Animator vs. Animation by *alanbecker on deviantART


Thanks to Scott for this one!

On This Date...September 20, 1988

....Offspring #3 made her grand entrance into our little universe.

Happy 19th Emily Kay!!!

One of the coolest things....

...that will happen around here is set for January 1st. The Sabres will be playing the Penquins in the second outdoor hockey game,(first one in the US...Edmonton being the home city in 2003) put on by the NHL. 74,000 people in The Ralph for an outdoor hockey game. Way cool!

Tickets went on sale this morning at 10:00. The event was sold out at 10:11. I guess they put out 34,000 tix for general sale. We got ours! Being season holders, Justin bypassed the line at the ticket office and went right over to Guest Services. The woman in the window said "how many you want?"...he says "40" hands over the cash, and voila!!..we're in. There's gonna be one hell of a tailgate party before this game. I'm giddy.

What the??????

I had to run into the mall this afternoon. Parked the car outside Penney's cuz I'm gonna dash thru their store to get where I'm going....and what are they doing in the center of the store???? Putting up friggin' Christmas trees and decorations!!! It's September eight-frigging-teenth!!! Halloween is, what, 6 or 8 weeks away??? Thanksgiving is 10 or 11???

Does it seem like every year the holiday prep starts earlier and earlier or what?