Category Archives: Daughter

Allison is no longer a Baby so she needed a new category.

Two years and then a Podcast?!

Yes, it has been over two years since I published anything new to this blog and over a decade since I did anything with the website. Life! Ya know?

Unapologetically, I’ll skip the catch-up review and just say that there are two things going on right now that motivated me to jump back in:
1) I’ve begun the journey of finally getting paid for talking. Like every kid under 20, I’m officially a voice-actor now!
2) I’m looking to finish up my Level 4 project on my way to becoming a Distinguished Toastmaster.

To facilitate voice-over practice, I chose to produce a Podcast for my Toastmasters project. Both of these goals require me to learn to talk to a microphone, record the talking, and edit the recorded talking until it is pristine. If I wanted to produce my own demos or auditions and maybe even get paid, I was going to need to learn these things eventually. Why not have some fun while practicing?

That’s where it all fell apart. I could bore the world talking about something I’ve already talked about here or try something silly. Movie reviews where I’m obviously mixing up two or more movies. How to fail at 3D printing in 27 easy steps. Wife Hacks – how I learned to say “Yes, dear” and mean it! I couldn’t think of anything that I could actually do for the required 100 minutes. I could just document my voice-over journey as I go but that’s too obvious and wouldn’t be much fun. Then it hit me. . .

Involve the family! I started bouncing ideas off of the fam-fam and learned that the kid wanted to be a part of this journey. This could work! We brainstormed some ideas that were silly, creepy, unnecessary and just plain stupid… and of course we’re doing the stupid one. 🙂

We decided to host a series of reaction videos without video showing off fantastic sights, super-cute animals, magic tricks and illusions, incredible feats of strength, world-record setting stunts & visual how-to instructions … all sight unseen. We had fun mixing intro/outro music and recording our first episode – The World’s Ugliest Animals. I figured it would take all of 5 minutes but I actually learned a good deal doing some research for the episode and it filled out nicely to around 15 minutes and then got longer when I brought in a surprise “guest” at the end. We sat down one night this past week and recorded the entire thing in one take without any reviewing or redoing. We even spontaneously invented a catch-phrase and a sign-off on the fly.

And so, without further review… the proof-of-concept Sight Unseen podcast, starring TMEricles and the Monster-Truck!

Easter Egg: “Mrembo” was the name of the stork we used and she came from Kenya where her name is Swahili for “Beautiful”.

I spent significantly more time in research and editing than we did recording but I’m sure I will cringe at this when I listen to it again in a few years. Perhaps we should have redid some sections but I like the feel of a “live” broadcast so I think I’ll stick with it.

Up next will be creating a better recording “studio” so we can record without the background noise & figuring out a way to correctly balance out the exceptionally loud portions without harming the quiet sections. I’ve much to learn and all the time in the world to learn it. I look forward to seeing you on the next Podcast!

Family Biking and Binge Watching during a Pandemic

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I promised in a previous entry that I’d talk about what we did during The 2020 Pandemic. At least I thought I did. Regardless, I’m doing so now even if you were not forewarned!

I guess the best thing that came out of the spring of 2020 was Allison finally getting comfortable on her bike. For most of the summer she enjoyed just riding up and down our street learning how to hit the bumps and how fast she could go before her little bike would start to wobble. Of course we had to go on some bike ride adventures too – including hunting down the Easter Bunny who was riding around our neighborhood on the back of a firetruck. In the past year Allison little bike has been upgraded to a “big girl” bike but still prefers her original.

But there are days that are cold, lazy. dark or wet. Sometimes all four. Bicycles are not appropriate. You need to kill some time during lockdown? Forget a measly 8 seasons of Game of Thrones. Try binge-watching 706+ episodes of The Simpsons! It took a year and a half watching an episode or two or four a day but we made it through all 32 seasons available at the time. Not all of them are available on DVD so we had to pick up a subscription to Disney+ for a few months to finish it off.

Along the way Allison was introduced to hundreds of cultural references. Often I would stop the show and google up some explanations, maps, videos or movie clips. Off the top of my head, The World Trade Towers, the World Wars, The Flintstones, Tom & Jerry, various world religions, Busch Gardens, Orson Wells, Lassie, 2001: A Space Odyssey (Daisy, daisy…), Hitchcock, Twilight Zone, Raiders Of The Lost Ark, Star Wars, Rain Man, Planet of the Apes (Rock Me Dr. Zaius!). So many movies and songs! Watching episodes of The Simpsons directly led us to then watching Gremlins, The Nutty Professor, Mary Poppins and Kindergarten Cop. Homer’s love of the song Funkytown led to Allison rediscovering her love of the Lipps Inc’s one-hit-wonder.

While the show does excel at low-brow humor, we did occasionally raise our brows with discussion of some of the many literary references in the show. Ayn Rand, Goodnight Moon (read by Christopher Walken no less), Harry Potter, Charlotte’s Web, Robert Frost, Kurt Vonnegut. The last was accidentally timed perfectly as I just happened to be listening to “Slaughterhouse 5” at the time it came up. Allison listened in for a while before deciding the poetic prose wasn’t her style.

Probably the most interesting part of (re)watching the shows for me was picking out the voice actors and guest stars… or just Frank Welker’s animal noises. We enjoyed watching clips of the actors doing their various voices and impersonators doing what they do… often poorly. My voice is naturally closest to Hank Azaria’s so I can impersonate the characters that he voices… often poorly, but good enough that Allison would recognize Comic Book Guy or Professor Frink if they showed up in one of her bedtime stories. I enjoyed cross referencing guest stars with other movies/shows she might recognize them. She enjoyed when I’d be quiet and let her watch the funny cartoons. 🙂

Two dozen seasons in Allison started to lose interest. I hadn’t seen any of the episodes after season 23 when we dropped cable TV so, while I still enjoyed the episodes, they were clearly not the classics that held up to the test of time. We both agreed that Season 29 should have been final season – and in fact I believe the writers set it up to be. It features flash backs to classic episodes and characters from the early years – all the way back to The Simpsons first appearances Tracey Ullman show. The last episode of the season shows how several of the characters meet their final end including many subtle references to the glimpses we’ve had into how the family would grow up and grow old. Bart dies wearing his Supreme Court Justice robes (Season 4 Ep 6). Marge does eventually marry Ned (Season 4 Ep 2, Season 15 Ep 10 & Season 21 Ep 5). Lisa is still pursuing Buddhist enlightenment (Season 13 Ep 6).

It’s not the best episode but it felt like reminiscing back to the golden age of the series. My favorite scene featured all of the “dead” characters – including Sherry Bobbins and Bleeding Gums Murphy. No Frank Grimes though. Now that I’ve watched the next 3 seasons I can really see the change. Season 29 was the last season under Fox’s creative control, still had the original voices for characters and still featured fan favorite Apu. It would have been a fine time for the series to fade to black. I wouldn’t mourn the loss but I will treasure the memories – from my own childhood and those I’ve made with my family.

Next up… Futurama!

Yep! Yet another day in the life…

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Every few years or so I get the notion to journal my day. Rather than micro-blogging or uploading a score of photos to Instabook.com I’m consolidating them all here for your condensed and concentrated consideration. Crikey!

05:?? The cat is reminding me that he’s nocturnal and nobody has offered play, grooming or food in hours. I tossed a blanket over him and fell back to sleep.
06:45 Hello world! Yet another rainy day. At least I’m scheduled to be indoors most of the day.
07:30 Morning discussion with the daughter: skid marks vs poop streaks. She decides she wants her bedtime story to be about “poop paint”. Hey, you can’t make this stuff up folks!
08:20 Daughter is spooning out canned cat food wearing a dust mask scented with essential oils. “This cat food is toxic.” she remarks. The cats agreed. No more of that brand.
08:30 Running late again. One bite of my English Muffin tells me it had gone moldy. Blech. Opt for some blueberries and peanuts to break my fast.
08:45 Finally leaving for work. Car reports 47.1 MPG on this tank so far.
09:10 Arrive at work safe and sound. 46.8 MPG now. The parkway is inefficient unless I can tuck in behind a bus or truck.
09:11 The Geese Police are checking out the office pond to make sure the Canadians haven’t invaded over night. The side of the truck says “Get the flock out.”
09:15 Only two immediate tasks await me in my inbox. A good start!
09:50 A coworker lets me know that Bitcoin is up yet again. Since nobody knows who started it Bitcoin is probably Skynet. I refuse to fund the future War of the Robots! Unless it looks like they are winning… then I for one welcome our new Robotic Overlords.
10:12 Thinking about a future redesign of the NJNG bills and comparing to other utilities. The JCP&L graph looks exactly like ours. Imitation/flattery and all that… but we splurge on color. 🙂
11:45 90 minutes filling in a spreadsheet documenting servers of which I am responsible. This is not exciting work but it’s better than putting out virtual fires – my usual morning routine.
11:50 The Lunch. Ham & cheese sammy, crackers & a green apple. #GourmetDining.
12:00 Heading to Red Bank for long meeting. My commute within my commute.
12:20 I stop off at Brookdale Community College to replace the missing second stage of the Jim Gary tribute cache stashed on campus. The rain held off until I was on my way back to the car. Usually a nice view but day was dreary. A woodpecker was drumming above when I took this.

A dreary view of the Swimming River Reservoir

14:00 I’m wearing Purple today to support one of the business resource groups at the office. We all line up on the office steps and have out photo taken for the corporate newsletter. Unfortunately I’m not in that office this afternoon so my purple has gone photographed.
16:46 Co-workers are talking about this new Corona Virus thing. Let me spoil it for you: The news outlets will milk it like a bloated heifer. It will reach New Jersey. Sheeple will freak out. In the end it will be a typical viral flu season. If the stock market catches a virus just buy early and buy often. Stay calm and carry on people.
18:18 Home at last! I got the gas mileage up to 47.2 MPG but I think I can do better.
19:00 Looking at output from the Christmas Gift night-cam. I spy with my little electronic eye… A few cats, a skunk and two fat raccoons at half-past-midnight.

Scampering Bandits — Two fat raccoons retreat after exploring the wonders of our trash bins.

19:10 Daughter and Wife return from “The Little Gym”.
19:30 Like ships in the night, the wife is off again. Working in the public sector requires working when most folks are not. But can I get the kid fed and to bed on time? Of course!
20:05 A late dinner of left overs and more left overs. Beef & bean chili over rice, a few carrots and some home-made chicken soup. Not a bad mix really. More #GourmetDining. Bon Apetite!
21:00 Bedtime story! A story about a white kitten with brown streaks that likes sleeping on the toilet but gets stuck in the bowl. The cat’s name? Poopoopaint of course. The cat goes on to star in a series of toilet commercials to the delight of my single audience member.
21:30 Laundry. The tip of my finger is scorched off by static discharge. Dryer balls no bueno. I’m going back to dryer sheets! Or bribing the kid to wash her own clothes.
22:00 Watching a second season episode of “Game of Thrones” via a borrowed DVD. For a wonder nobody died in this episode. I can guess how the whole series ends: Dragons burn some zombie wights… but all of the people already killed each other so the zombies start a new civilization based on cooperation, peace, equality and a brain-based economy. Tourists visit “The Great Wall” and everyone lives forever in bliss and harmony.
23:20 I’ve uploaded all of the images for today’s entry. Now to head to bed and edit this thing later. Today wasn’t my most interesting day but I enjoyed it. 🙂