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Another Sports Talent

You’ve already seen evidence of Thing 1’s sports knowledge. He reads the sports page, knows all the standings, players, and scores. Now it’s gone to a new level.

Thing 2 looks up to his big brother and copies whatever he does. So it isn’t too surprising that he has been studying under the tutelage of the sports master, otherwise known as Thing 1. Whatever sports information Thing 1 spews, Thing 2 absorbs it.

Sometimes the information source is faulty. For example, I heard Thing 1 tell him the Cowboys are 7-3 but they are really 8-3. A small discrepancy.

Sometimes Thing 2, in his imaginative 4 year old way, creates his own information. On Monday, he was going around saying the Redskins were playing the Bills on Monday Night Football. In fact, Monday’s game was between the Saints and the Patriots. He has also said that Jason Campbell, the quarterback for the Redskins, can run as fast as a cheetah.

Before Monday night’s game, I had Thing 1 (aka The Greek) and Thing 2 (aka The Swami) make their predictions for the outcome.

Thing 1’s pick: Saints 39-26
Thing 2’s pick: Saints 30-12
Actual score: Saints 38-17!

Not only did they both pick the correct winner (something SuburbanDaddy and SuburbanUncle, two self-professed sports experts could not do), but the scores they predicted showed a keen knowledge of New Orlean’s high powered offense.

I need to test if this was a fluke, or if there is some innate talent at work. So expect to see score predictions here each week from The Greek and The Swami. Be sure to check back in a few days for this week’s featured game: Giants vs Cowboys

KidsMobile Stops in Washington, DC

Washington, DC is a great destination for kids.? You probably already know about the world class museums and American history attractions.?? But you may not know about everything else that Washington, DC has to offer.? Check out these lists from local bloggers? for tips on more Washington, DC popular attractions.

Trekaroo?s growing community of families from all across the country have pitched in with their votes for the most kid-friendly stops in Washington D.C. Here?s the line up for 2009!

Continue reading KidsMobile Stops in Washington, DC

Sneak Peak and Review – Men Of A Certain Age

Yesterday I received a sneak peak video of Men Of A Certain Age, premiering December 7 on TNT. The series follows the bonds of friendship between three college friends ? Joe, Owen and Terry ? who are now in their 40s. Joe (Ray Romano) is a slightly neurotic divorced father of two who hoped to become a pro golfer but now owns a party store. Owen (Andre Braugher) is an overstressed husband and father, who is a car salesman at his dad’s dealership. Terry (Scott Bakula of Quantum Leap fame) is a struggling actor dating a much younger woman.

I was a big fan of Ray Romano’s previous show, Everybody Loves Raymond. So I was very curious how Romano would pull off another show where he is a middle aged slightly neurotic father.

Actors from successful sitcoms have a hard time breaking away from their well known roles. See all the actors from Seinfeld or Friends as examples. Sure, Jennifer Aniston was able to establish a different identity in movies, but not in another television show. Have you seen Courteney Cox in Cougar Town? I rest my case.

After just a few minutes of the pilot, I was surprised how well Romano was able to make himself into a different character. I didn’t feel I was watching Ray Barone. Part of this could have been that he has aged since Everybody Loves Raymond went off the air in 2005. He looks older.

The other reason is because the show is not a sitcom. It’s billed as a comedy-drama but I’d put it as more drama than comedy. There were a few trademark Romano chuckles as he pokes fun at himself or his two buddies. But I get the sense these characters will have dramatic scenes sprinkled with just a few comedy one liners. I kept expecting the jokes to come but most of the scenes were serious dialog.

If the goal of the show is to make viewers feel the despair and tediousness of a man struggling with middle age, then it succeeds.? You can meet the characters and judge for yourself.? I’ll probably give the show a try for an episode or two, if only because I am such a fan of Ray Romano.

Thanksgiving Football

In the spirit of Thanksgiving football, here is a recent game of pillow football between Thing 1 and Thing 2. The game is played by charging your opponent with a pillow and attempting to knock them down. It isn’t very complicated. Usually the game ends when someone gets hurt and cries.

While the game is going on, Thing 3 plays his own game of try to touch the video camera.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Spreading The Word For A Good Cause

This winter, Neediest Kids is working with the Washington Wizards to offer some amazing auction packages, the proceeds of which will directly help even more school children in the Washington, DC area. The online auction is live now through March 14, 2010 and many of these packages are once-in-a-lifetime experiences. The purchase of a single package could help hundreds of students. Some sample packages are:

Gimme Five:
Bid for Ten “High Five Kids” to line the tunnel and give a high five to Wizards as they enter court for Indiana vs. Wizards game. Also includes watching the game in a great suite for 18 fans; two Parking Passes; catered food; Wizards Swag and recognition on Jumbotron for your special event.

Rock n? Roll in Cleveland:
Win 2 Round Trip AA tickets to Cleveland to enjoy an astounding Wizards vs. Cavaliers game with 2 club level seats. Have a smashing good time with this package that includes 2 nights at a Cleveland Marriott, dinner for 2 and 2 tickets to Rock n? Roll Hall of Fame.

For those unable to bid, but still interested in helping, Neediest Kids also has a text campaign for $5 donations directly through any major U.S. mobile carrier. To donate, text “NEED” to 90999, or use the widget on www.neediestkids.org. Also, Papa John’s is donating $1 for every pizza ordered online when you enter the promo code “NEED” before ordering at PapaJohns.com (great for an office or classroom pizza party that helps more than just the hungry attendees).

More information on the organization and these new campaigns can be found at www.neediestkids.org.

Taking The Long Way Home

A guy I know, who is in “the business”, and performs as a stand-up comedian, once told me that when a joke takes a long time to get to the punchline, when it starts as a seemingly unrelated story but at the end reveals the connection, it’s referred to as “taking the long way home”. Well, in this post, I will be taking the long way home.

You may recall the Seinfeld episode where Newman explains why postal workers sometimes go crazy. He talks about how the his job is never finished, there is always more mail to deliver. And a new batch comes each day. The mail never stops!

Here is the scene in case you never saw it, or need a refresher.

I’ll bet you are wondering where I’m going with this one. Stay with me.

I’ve started to feel like Newman. For me, it isn’t mail, but laundry. Now that they are getting bigger, and their clothes are bigger I guess, the Things are making more and more dirty laundry. We always have more to do.

I think we’ve done at least one load of laundry every day for the last two weeks. And it only gets worse as the weather gets colder. Long sleeve shirts and jeans instead of shorts and t-shirts. And the socks! How is it that we can do an entire basket of laundry and not one sock matches?! And we’re never, ever done. As soon as one basket is washed, dried, folded and put away, there is another dirty load ready to go. When laundry never stops!!!!

And that, my friends, is what we in the business call taking the long way home.

Halloween Tradition

If two times establishes a tradition, then we have a new Halloween tradition. Plenty of people go to pumpkin patches, carve jack-o-lanterns, and decorate the house for Halloween.

Thing 2 started his tradition last year of handing out candy with no pants on. Well, this year it happened again. We didn’t plan it. Didn’t ask for it. But, whoomp there it is!

Of course, I was close by with the video camera so you can see for yourself.

New Project

Because I have so much free time, I’ve taken on a new web project. It’s one of the reasons blog entries have been sparse the last few months. It’s called Kidburst and the idea is to help parents find local activities for their kids. Right now we’re mainly in Northern Virginia but hoping to expand to other places (maybe with your help). Check it out and let me know what you think.