Mushmouth

G'diddy was born in 1910 and raised in downtown Richmond, Virginia. He had a very distinctive regional accent, very Southern, but not with a slow, heavy drawl. Certain words he pronounced in ways I've never heard from anyone else but his brother.

One example is how he would say "Maryland". It wasn't "MAR-i-lind", as I was taught up North. It came out more like "m-RR-ln". It's like he removed all the vowels and just for good measure, took a big spoonful of peanut butter before saying it.

He was a huge college sports fan, so oftentimes there would be a basketball or football game he watched, involving the U. of Maryland, and it would give LBB and me ample chance to make fun of him. (One of G'diddy's most endearing traits was his ability to take it and dish it out.)

As TB got older, he began to join in, and he would giggle whenever G'diddy talked about Mrrln.

Fast forward to a couple nights ago. We were reading a Magic Treehouse book to the boy, one involving a wizard named "Merlin". See where this is going?

He's rapidly learning to read, but still stumbles over longer words that he may not have seen before. So after I said "Merlin" a couple times, he finally stopped me and said, "Daddy! Daddy! Daddy! That's not right. It's not Merlin, it's MAAARR-i-lind."

It's fascinating how kids learn and what they remember.

Blogrush

Bye bye now. Three hits in three weeks, and I wasn't seeing any interesting links on the widget. I canned it.

Mo' Hawks

Is it just me, or has anyone else noticed a sudden rise in the number of pre-teen boys with mohawks lately? What sparked this revival?

My Nerd Rating

Football Is Killing Me

Yeah, we lost again. The Southies are 0-6. This week, we lost our quarterback to a dislocated finger, two minutes into the game. So we also lost one of our short yardage guys, who drove him to the hospital (after unsuccessful and nausea-inducing attempts to pop the thing back in place).

The ripple effect was that our speediest receiver had to QB and we had only two extra players to sub in. I was nursing a tender ankle, which has never been 100% since a major sprain a couple years ago, so I begged light duty before the game, but under the circumstances that was not to be, since I'm also a short yardage guy. I did sit out a few defensive series, which wasn't much because our opponents scored often and quickly (and also ran back a couple interceptions for TDs).

Early in the second half, I suprised myself and everyone by sacking the opposing QB for a ten yard loss. I only got him with one hand, but the whistle blew and that's all that counts.

On offense, I tried to break my ribs on a short five yard reception by getting my legs tangled up and falling with the point end of the ball directly into my chest. I kept playing and had one more reception after that, but today I feel like someone beat me with a crowbar.

In the end, we lost 54-0. Not a good day for the Southies. Next week, we play a team that we almost beat in week one. They scored on the last play of the game to win 26-22. Maybe we can get one, if we can field a healthy team.

The Boy Ain't Right

Holy crap! My son is having the biggset conniption. He had some big ones at age three, but now he's six and for the most part he's been fun and mostly even tempered. Right now, he is losing it like never before. Screaming, kicking, wailing, and carrying on like nothing I've ever seen. He is completely losing his shit.

You know why? He went to a pirate party today, and he lost his eye patch. Then he found the eye patch, but he can't find our cat. Then I told him that the cat went outside and he's freaking out because he can't find his Star Wars book. Then we gave him some water but it wasn't "fresh water". For crying out loud!

Fifteen minutes ago, we were across the street with neighbors having a fine time. What in the world is going on here? LBB says he's just like me. Scary, but maybe true.

Thankfully, it's Momma's night to take him to bed.

Peggle: Harmless Fun or Hopeless Addiction

You know what's eating up a big chunk of my life lately? Peggle. It's one of those play online Pop Cap games. I got so hooked on it that for the first time I actually purchased and downloaded a game. My son is all up into it, too. It's like the first thing we think of when we get home in the evening.

My wife thinks we are nuts, but as long as we aren't underfoot torturing her, I think she's secretly happy about it.

Just In Time For A Crackling Fire . . .

. . . I've found a few more stories of dipshits getting stuck in the chimney, including one from 100 years ago! See left sidebar if you are are as puzzled by these fools as I am.

I'm going to keep looking for more until Christmas.

Movie Night

A friend of mine has started a movie club, an idea triggered by a loose association of guys that are into horror movies. Although I am a David Lynch fan, I'm not that big on horror, and frankly, I haven't seen many movies at all over the last five years or so.

Still, I was invited to attend, and it proved to be a pleasant way to spend a Thursday evening. The first selection was The Messengers. I think it was primarily chosen because it was a Blue Ray disc, and our host has a whopping huge TV and a Blue Ray DVD player. The display was amazing. I think watching eggs fry in Blue Ray would be captivating.

The movie itself was so-so. The plot was extremely thin and predictable, although it was a bit of a twist on the typical haunted house theme. The direction was an obvious homage to Hitchcock. The soundtrack and the ending reminded us a bit of David Lynch. I love the fact that one of the directors is "Oxide Pang". Exceptional name!

There were some definite jump out of your seat moments, so it held our interest. It seemed like a TV movie, especially with a cast including Dylan McDermott, John Corbett, and Penelope Ann Miller, and also considering the lack of profanity and gore. Still, it was suspenseful and proved that you can make an OK horror film with a PG-13 rating.

Kristen Stewart, who played the daughter and had the largest role, is a definite hottie, but she needs a sandwich.

I'd give the film two out of five stars.

So, I can't compete with the giant screen Blue Ray, but I do have a 32" set that will have to suffice when I host. Any suggestions for a good semi-horror movie? No zombies, no slashers, no teenagers at summer camp, please. I still haven't watched Inland Empire, but I think I'll preview that myself before throwing it out to the group. Maybe Jacob's Ladder. I remember thinking I needed to see that a second time to figure it all out.

Clambering Out Of A Pit

Wow, a six day gap. It's time to get back at it. I've been in a whirlwind of activity lately, and also suffering the crushing disappointment that sports can bring.

First off, my Mets finished off a historic tailspin and missed the division championship, and worse, the wild card spot, on the last day of the season - a season in which they led the division without being challenged, all year, until the last week. Sports journalists will be talking about this for decades.

At least the Yankees didn't get far. At this point, I'll have to pull for the Red Sox.

Then, Monday night, the Buffalo Bills allowed the dreaded Cowboys to score nine points in the last 20 seconds to blow a near upset. I've been a suffering Bills fan since the Jim Kelly, Bruce Smith, Thurman Thomas, Andre Reed era. At least the Redskins are looking good.

Finally, this past Sunday, the Southies were eviscerated by last year's league champions, 62-6. It was a bloodbath. Still, we could have won three of the five games we lost, so I think we will surprise someone before the season is over.

Slim Pickins

Posting will be weak over the next few days. We have a cub scout camping trip this weekend, which sounds great except for the camping part and all those cub scouts. LBB isn't going so she's all atwitter about have the joint to herself.

Then, another Southies football game Sunday afternoon, I have a Circle column due on Monday, and a dreadful work week coming up.

So, see ya' next week sometime.

3200 Miners

Oh my! This is really frightening, and you know why? If you look around the internet you'll find headlines saying that they are all feared dead. The link I gave you seems to tell of a more positive outcome, but you can't tell it from the headline.

I hope it's not the tragedy we've been lead to expect.

Infinite Foosball Update

I took the infinite foosball standings off the sidebar because the summer interrupted any serious play, but we got back into it tonight. I can't seem to beat a six-year-old. TB 44 - JSR 40.

We are playing to 100 games, so I have plenty of time to catch up.

Nam Prik Pao

This Thai chef in London was fixing a dish so spicy that it was mistaken for chemical warfare. I'm a major chile head, so this sounds like something I want to try!

Years ago my wife made a Mexican rice dish liberally laced with habaneros and serranos. I started sweating even before the first forkful reached my mouth. I accused her of trying to kill me, but it was actually quite good. We've not since reached that pinnacle of fire, but whenever we come close we have to say, "Naw, it's not as hot as that rice!"

What's the spiciest meal you have ever had?

Googled

It's always fun to see what type of Google searches people do that bring them to this site. Here are a few recent winners:

"Dyscordians"
"man who lived niagara fall in a barrel"
"oktoberfest hotties"
"light saber"
"ty pennington's waist size"

and this one is my favorite - "shrivel head"

Three Unrelated Failures, Personal and Otherwise

#1 - Remember my twenty pound weight loss goal, set in mid-August, and to be achieved by the end of September? Well, final results are in: I'm down three pounds. Clearly, I lost my way. Frankly, I just gave up on it about three weeks ago. It's time to refocus. One step in the right direction: we joined a new gym, which has a satellite location right in lobby of my office building. No excuse can supersede that convenience.

#2 - The Southies lost yet another tight one yesterday, 21-12. It was a lot closer than the score reflects, too, because our opponents busted open an 80 yard run for a touchdown with 1:45 left in the game. Other than that, it was a game we could have won. In fact, even though we are 0-4, three of those games could have been wins if just one or two plays went our way.

#3 - The Mets. Oy! The Mets. I've been quiet about baseball lately, because somehow, after they got trounced in two series by the Phillies, I knew how this was going to turn out. I know this major collapse was completely out of my control, but somehow, as an avid Met fanatic, it just hurts. This was a season they should have dominated in the National League. Instead, we have a historic free fall that sports writers and fans will be talking about 50 years from now. Gaaahhh!