Blue Man Group Upstaged

Recently, my wife scored tickets to Blue Man Group here in Phoenix, at the recently poorly-renamed "US Airways Center" (Formerly America West Arena, or "A dubya A." Does that make it the "USAC" now? Icky.) We had lower-bowl tickets, so we got the full experience (including eardrum-shattering bass thumps).

The Blue Man Group ("BMG") is great. You should all go see them. I highly recommend the show, called "How to Make a MegaStar." It's very funny and involves the crowd. It's also family friendly, which is a rarity any more. I saw all ages, from 8 to 88.

I write not to simply say "BMG was great!" but to note that the opening act was FABULOUS. When we arrived, all but the first 10 feet of the stage was draped in a white sheet. Came to find out that it was used to display a very large video screen (i.e. a projector shooting images on the sheet.) The opening act was a lone D.J., Mike Relm. This guy mixes beats with popular music, all the while mixing in video clips that are set to the music. He has figured out how to link his turntable to the video clips so he can "scratch" the video clips back and forth.

If this guy is ever in your city, and you can enjoy mixed beats (i.e. if you don't absolutely HATE rap and hip-hop) you owe it to yourself to see him.

If you need further encouragement, check out these YouTube clips:

One, Two, and Three. My favorite: the "oh face" clip remix. Absolutely classic.

The Beautiful Simplicity of Children

We eat 3, sometimes 4 (if you believe Taco Bell's new ad campaign) a day. We don't think twice about it. We slam down food, usually in the midst of conversation or, as I have found, in the midst of continuing to work. Somewhere along the line food become just another item of our daily progress. Sometimes, we have a "dining experience" but more often than not, it's merely the ingestion of sustenance.

Not so with a child, especially a one-year old. Jack relishes (no pun intended) the opportunity to eat. Not only does he know how to tell you that he wants something to eat (pointing to his mouth, seriously) but he'll spend a good 30 minutes in his high-chair examining pieces of various fruits and vegetables, slowly consuming each piece with gusto. Usually, he sings, chatters, as temptation for his two feline friends, and, if we're lucky, uses the food items as projectiles. Some of our best pictures of Jack have come during meals. Here's a trio to enjoy:





Peekaboo!


If a kid throws food in a restaurant, it's humorous. If a grown-up throws food in a crowded restaurant, it's called assault. Oh to be a kid again.

Ethan Goodall is... "The Flash!!!"

Apparently, we have a superhero in the family: Jack's cousin Ethan recently was spotted saving lives and running faster than the human eye could detect. He was caught on camera during a recent media event and WE have the pictures to prove it:


Can you smell what the FLASH is cookin'???


Those are some SERIOUSLY awesome white shoes.


Concentrating on speed.

Killing Time? Fun With Wikipedia

Have you ever needed to kill about five minutes but didn't want to completely write the time off? Enter Wiki: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:Random. You'll burn some minutes and learn something in the process. Wikipedia is an online collection of submitted articles, collected as a general knowledge base of information. Interested in learning about the Artist Formerly Known as Prince (or 0(+> as he's now known)? BAM: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prince_artist. How about Marcel Proust? No, I don't know who he is either. BAM! Now I do.

Friday at the FBR Open

Spent the day relaxing and strolling around the FBR Open at TPC Scottsdale. What an incredible venue. Rolling hills that give you views of two holes at once, a festive crowd and plenty of tickets to be found "floating around" the business community. Had the good fortune of spending the day with some good friends and family.

These were taken with my camera phone (1.3 megapixel Motorola Q) so they aren't the best. In fact, they downright suck, in my opinion. But then again, I haven't spent minute one trying to dial that bad boy in for quality. I'll add that to my ever-growing to-do list.

Aaron (Bro-in-law) and Christian.

Jen and Tina (Sis-in-law).

Jack and mom (Ashley).