You know how annoying parents can be when their kids accomplish something. Well, you will now. Austin and Justin brought home their first report cards of the year and both had perfect cards. Austin is reading and doing math at a 5th grade level (he’s in 3rd) and Justin is reading at a 2nd grade level and doing math at a 3rd grade level (he’s in 1st). In fact Austin’s reading comprehension test score puts him at an acceptable level for a 7th grader. Which actually works out nicely considering he looks like he should be in 7th grade anyway. Point being, I sure am glad I married that Jennifer gal, she’s a smart one.
Let’s Roll…
TV
Incredible interview with Tim Kring, who called EW from the picket line (Tim is writer/producer for NBC’s “Heroes”), where he basically admitted the second season has been boring so far and that he made some crucial mistakes in plotting (pronounce it plodding if you like) and execution (which is exactly what needs to happen to the seeping eye twins). If you ask me, I think it’s pretty cool for a head producer to come clean like this, hopefully the show can turn it around like Lost did after stumbling into season 2. If this week’s episode was any indication they are already heading in the right direction again.
Movies
Director extraordinairre Brad Bird had some cool stuff to say in a recent interview. You probably know him by his amazing work on Incredibles and Ratatouille, but he did a traditionally animated film called “The Iron Giant” that is a must see as well. Anyhow, he talked just a bit about directing a live action film to be released in 09. The dude knows how to craft a story and I, for one, can’t wait to see what he has up his sleeve.
Music
I just downloaded “Phase” for my Ipod. It’s a rhythm based game that takes your own library and creates “Guitar Hero” type paterns to play along with on your Ipod. As someone who loves music that would never appear in any major releases of these type of games it’s incredibly cool to have one that incorporates the music I choose. The effectiveness of it seems a bit sporadic (Chasen’s “Crazy Beautiful” and Inhabited’s “Hush” played amazing while Brit Nicole’s “Holiday” and Daft Punk’s “Harder, Better, Faster, Stronger” seemed a little off) but when it works it is incredible fun. It keeps high scores and has both single and marathon modes depending on how long you have to play. I never thought there would be an Ipod game worth the 5 bucks they charge, but being able to scroll my wheel to Toby Mac’s “Boomin'” and score points for it makes it hard to discourage.
Gaming/Tech
Nintendo announced that the planned “Check Mii Out” channel will be available for free download starting November 11th. Everytime they announce a new channel I think it sounds absolutely stupid and then I end up getting addicted (I swear the Ninty boys could make doing taxes fun). Anyhow, the new channel will allow user to upload there custom Miis and download others (Mii’s are the. It will also feature contests for celebrity Mii look alikes and votes on which Miis are the coolest. Basically it’s “Hot or Not” for the Wii crew. Here’s my plan: Ridicule it now and then set my alarm early on Sunday so I can download it before I go to church.
Faith/General Culture
I’m sure you have heard by now about the girl in India who was born with 4 arms and 4 legs (By the way, if I had a son born with 8 limbs there is no way you or anyone else would keep me from naming him Peter Parker Dicer). After reading about her successful surgery (Besides the removal of the extra limbs, her deformed pelvis and spine were corrected, and redundant extra organs removed) it really struck me how “Dr. Frankenstein” modern medicine has become. I don’t even mean that in a bad way, just that we understand the body so well that we can take it apart and put it back together in a different way. Here’s to wishing Lakshmi (which is the name for the Hindu Goddess with 4 arms, see I’m not the only parent with a sense of humor) a speedy and full recovery.
Randomness
I steal my children’s Halloween candy. Whew, I feel much better now that I got that off my chest. Bad parents everywhere are uniting in such admissions at truemomconfessions.com. When that piece of peanut butter toast fell PB side down on the floor, did you give it back to your 3 year old, even after seeing a few strands of dog hair in the midst? Just type it into the confessional and watch as other parents click “me too” so you don’t fell so bad. Here’s my favorite recent confession. OK, some things are just unforgivable.