Tight Band Alert!

Went to see the best local band going right now Saturday Night. We braced the cold and wind, jumped into the SUV and made our way to First Ave for a great CD release party.

By pure good fortune, I was given a pre-lease copy of the CD the day before and had the pleasure of shoveling to it all Saturday afternoon. If you check out one new local band in 09 give these guys a try. Hints of They Might Be Giants, maybe a little Pink Floyd, a big Styks finally on one song... just great get up, dance around have fun... and awesome cowbell. "I need more cowbell!"

Here's a link to their myspace:

http://www.myspace.com/thehopefulsmusic

You must check out, buy, download and enjoy.

DJ says go now.

Long time no post...

... What with Facebook, job boards, Christmas shopping, Holiday cards, shoveling, hockey practices, hockey rinks, school plays, school concerts, school science fair projects, basement plumbing overhauls, more shoveling, laundry, informational interviews, resume sending, home video editing, hockey games, post office runs, dishes, and that was yesterday.

Cessica's media buying has been going great gonzo, so I've become Mr. Mom so to speak. We've traded roles to a certain extent and honestly, it's not an easy task. I'm use to having a task to tackle, and then go about working on until some form of resolution. Usually that involves a bunch of multi-tasking, but this house/family upkeep is multi-tasking to the extreme, especially tying in the basement renovation. 

Projects: Remove the work bench from the basement and all the tools and painting equipment and move it to the garage. That then makes way for the walls to go up in the basement. Once the vapor barrier and the studs are up, I'm thinking I'll need some insulation and then some type of paneling. I'm thinking a thin bead-board instead of drywall, as I really have no desire to mud and tape, plus I'm hoping the bead-board will look cool. Then, about 20 years of clothes stored in the basement need to find their way into plastic bags and then off to goodwill with a few pieces going off to a consignment shop.

You accumulate a lot of shit, when you're making money and now that the budget's a little tighter, I find I really need to purge the excess. I thought, since the economy sucks and hardly any company is looking to expand anytime soon, I'd have the time to get some of these things accomplished, but the lists are never ending.

Quick sports update: My fantasy football team, the JackRynos, who took the CHFFL title last year, are instead headed to the toilet bowl; the consolation bracket of the CHFFL. A dubious honor to lose the toilet bowl game, as the loser of the losers buys the 1/4 barrel at next years draft.

Superstar's Highland Capitals Squirt B Blues team took one on the chops from the B-Reds. Jack netted the only goal, but our team plays with very little heart and for a guy who's made his way in the hockey world playing with far more passion then skill, it's hard to understand how to help as the assistant coach. I really would prefer to be the head coach this year, I would do things a little differently that's for sure, and hopefully before our next game, I'll be able to give the "GottaWanna" speech. 

Meanwhile the Entertainer's, Edgecumbe Mite team is too huge. 30 kids on the squad, broken up into three sub-section teams. The organization could have easily fielded a mini mite team and probably aided the development of all the kids much more. Jay and I have spoken and he has the best interest of the kids at heart, but the organization's not helping. 

On a brighter note, the Stoneridge Falcons are off to their best start in AHA Hockey history. (Course that's not saying much as last year we didn't even win a game) But right now we find ourselves a half game back of first place. And although I'm not leading the team in scoring like I did last year, I'm having a lot more fun. Playing on the checking line and seeing some of the young guns lose the attitude and play with their heads, it's been a better season.

Rockstar, has his Snowboarding pass to Afton and he's been ripping it up on the slopes as often as possible. Hopefully this weekend he can get out to the hill for some quality shredding now that all the runs are open. 

And in order to stay in shape, we've now joined the YMCA and left the International House of Fitness... aka Bally's. Cessica's been getting in some workouts, but I have yet to make it over there to even get my picture taken. Maybe when I make the goodwill run.

Well, try to keep your holiday season stress free and get some sleep. I know I could use both. 

Happy Holidays: It's time for a little rhyme

So it's the holiday season and all through the land

People are laid off and thinking of starting a band.

A group set to rock out and show they got fight,

Tired of the bullshit and sick of their plight.

Let's all commiserate on linkedin and facebook,

A Jeff Covey push is really all it took.

But cyberspace reality pales in comparison,

To the harsh state our country is in.

It's hard not to question, where all the change?

And not trying to shift blame...

But 350 billion is quite a big chunk

Is wall street just a pit, CEOs just drunk?

No money is moving, stores cry no fair,

Who will be shopping, does anyone care?

For it's the season of giving, or for some maybe making,

A wood working project, or maybe some baking.

Or maybe some artwork, or perhaps just time,

And that's my thought to end this holiday rhyme,

It doesn't have to be big, it doesn't have to be rich.

Just something from the heart, cause unfortunately sometimes life's just a bitch.

Week before Thanksgiving - AND WE'VE GOT ICE!

Amazing... after a little of afternoon rink maintenance, the ice was ready for action and as soon as the kids returned home from school, the kids hit the ice. Here's some of the action...

The Eldest - ROCKS!

Last night was The Eldest's big rock concert... acoustic style. 

THIN ICE! Water is freezing... and I almost fell in

So the rink is in. Water is poured. Leaves were added, (not intentionally) Right now we're looking at about an inch thick ice, but in my attempt to tight-rope walk the boards up against the garage so I could shovel off some of the late falling leaves, I was one bent index finger away from complete splashdown. 

It's the first time I've ever tried to squeeze by on that side of the rink, and I think it might also be my last. I'm hoping that after this weekend the ice will be thick enough to stand on. The opposite side from the garage, where the ground is the highest, I need to do a little fill in with ice. It would be nice to get the whole surface around a couple inches thick and then have a blanket of snow fall, which I could then shovel into the gap.

Trying to start the rink as early as I did, it's really been a learning experience. If the leaves create a huge problem, I might have to hope for a thaw out, or really work the Zamboni as the season gets into full swing.

Rest of the news:

Couple of job resumes off to various HR folks.

Trained as a recount challenger for the Senate race.

Learned how to edit with iMovie and iDVD.

Transition team announces focus on renewable energy.

Falcons craw back into contention

I can't be beat at the Air Hockey game I added to the bottom of the blog.

The eldest performs in his first Rock Concert at HarMar Mall Thursday... he rocks! A shot of some of his finest guitar work.

Ice Time!

Folks it's not even December and believe it or not, I might already be suffering a small amount of hockey burn out. No, it's true. I wasn't able to update the blog this weekend, cause it's hard to type with hockey gloves on. Let's see, Friday evening, coached Top Dog's squirt team, then had a late night game with the Highland coaches that lasted late into the wee hours of the night.

Saturday, Top Dog had his first game. Although he didn't rip the twine, as he is often want to do, he was named player of the game in a 3-1 lose. At the same time, at the same arena, but in a different rink, Snow Princess had a practice of her own... then later that night, after a rousing game of couples Bunco at some friend's house, I had a Falcons game out in New Hope. The Falcons won, 8-3 and although I netted no points in the contest, I did get into it with the opposing goal-tender, and it wasn't until after I started messing with his head that he started letting in goals. I did take 2 penalties for my transgressions, but sometimes you have to take one (or two) for the team. For more on the Falcons, check out the AHA website at www.ahahockey.com Check out the B2 pool for stats and schedule.

Sunday rolls around and again Snow Princess had early morning practice. I had the pleasure of running part of the practice and there's nothing more enjoyable than helping and watching Mites figure out the game. Many are just learning the very important aspect of hockey and that is stopping... it's a slow process, but critical as the kids are finding that crashing into the boards is not the best way to stop their momentum.

Then after the Packers destroyed da Bears and the defending Fantasy Football Champion JackRynos notched a win from the front-running Blowfish in the CHFFL (Cheesehead fantasy football league) the J-5 jumped in the minivan, headed off for Top Dog's second game of the season up in Shoreview. (about 25 minutes away) The problem, we arrived at 3:50pm, only to find out the game was NOT at 4:20, as I thought, but instead at 6:40. So we turned around, had a light dinner, only to pile back in the minivan to return to the arena a couple of hours later. 

The team played better and netted a 5-5 tie and should have had a win had it not been for a slight mental lapse with :49 seconds left to play in the game. Still scoreless on the game, Top Dog had some nice chances, and made some nice plays, but like his papa, only showed up on the stat sheet after getting a penalty for slashing. It was a bad call as it was hustle that put the play in motion. They were on a breakaway and he tracked down the shooter and stick-checked the kid, the way he's been taught by lifting the stick from underneath. Bias, but it was a bad call. He lifted the stick, which is the proper way, but used some force and I think the sound of composite stick on composite stick is what caused the call.

With all the hockey excitement, The Eldest now wants to play this year. He hasn't played organized hockey yet, but is a good skater, and indicated he now wants to play this year AND wants me to coach his team. Oh boy, more ice time. Details are sketchy as to weather I can still get him on to a team, but I'd love to see him have a sport to get into and if you haven't guessed it by now, I think hockey is one of the finest.