Lots and lots of turkeys

Well true believers, it’s time to put a post up which means I’m probably putting off something I’m supposed to be doing instead. Oh well, blogs don’t wait forever I suppose. I find that I either feel like typing a lot of stuff or I feel like typing almost nothing and just letting the pictures do the communicating. I guess some of this ought to have an explanation but I don’t have too much to give you other than I’ve been seeing things more and more in black and white lately…not like most people do I mean, I mean actually black and white, like old film.
Someone once said that every black and white photograph is a work of art just because it is such an automatic distortion of reality but it’s so similar, it’s captivating. You look a half a second longer if for no other reason than to think, “Hmm, so that’s what that looks like without color.”
By the way, if anyone has a connection to the Smithsonian people, they really should offer Todd (aka Elwood) a monster grant to add a wing to one of their museums just for cultural relevance. He could single handedly educate future bomb shelter kids in important art appreciation that includes Solomon Grundy, Boba Fett, Kilowog, and probably even Piotr Nikolaievitch Rasputin. Of course like most things I really like, I can’t recommend his blog to anyone since it’s rated R or maybe PG-13. Oh, and by the way, beware the ides of March. And the March of Dimes. And the March of the Penguins. Really anything marching ought to be checked out I’d say.

This is how we party hard on Friday Night!

Slightly Overpriced

I know this is kind of a lame post but since I haven't posted in a couple weeks, I thought something would be better than nothing. Here's what I think might be a little bit overpriced:

Season for crowds

What would Christmas be without the lines and kids who want to be carried after 2 minutes? Boring says this true believer! Silver Dollar City isn't supposed to be quick. It's no place to get right in without waiting to park for 45 minutes and waiting for a ride to parking lot F for another hour on the way out. The wait makes it so much sweeter, right? Well, it's a good attitude anyway. I guess that's why I have a propane grill instead of charcoal.

No really, it's great and we had a great time the other day. Actually I was a little surprised to find out that I don't fit in the kiddie roller coaster ride. The operator just looked at me like I was dangerously out of touch with reality when I tried to get the bar to lock.

Sigh.

Yay Christmas! Go economy go!

What's your soundtrack?

This took a little while but I was utilizing down time so don't judge me.

So Elwood recently posted the whole pick 5 cd’s to take with you on a desert island for 5 years bit on his blog. Anyway, I thought it would be interesting to do that again only where you could only take soundtracks from a movie or show. So don’t laugh or anything, but here’s my 5:

1. Batman-by Prince.

I loved this when it came out and I recently dusted it off and played it for Alec who has a good appreciation for the Dark Knight. Erin says that she did some kind of routine to “Lemon Crush” in high school. This album reminds me of Noah Guertin, Bow & Arrow Bible Camp, Jeanie Paden thinking they weren’t saying “funk” every 2 seconds, and High School. I was especially intrigued when this album came out to find out that “Batdance” is a melting pot of all the other songs on the album. Anyway, like most of Prince’s stuff, it’s timeless because it’s so alienish.

2. The Music Man.

I think somebody gave us this movie on VHS when we first got a VCR and I wore this movie out. Probably the high-tech Wyatts with their ham radios and flux-capacitors and all. Anyway, I’ve noticed that Family Guy has tons of song references from this movie and I figure I must be as cultured as a medical lab to know them all. Of course Jon Miller in Chicago knows every line as well. My favorite is Lida Rose.

3. Reservoir Dogs.

You know how if you’re like drinking orange soda when something traumatic happens, and then orange soda forever tastes a little off to you? Well, that’s what Quentin did to the songs “Stuck in the Middle with You” and especially “Coconut” in this film. What’s really warped is, now I like those songs better. Sorta like how you can never hear “Singing in the Rain” the same after watching A Clockwork Orange only not quite so damaging.

4. The Wall.

I guess this is probably a given for a Floyd Fan. 520 consecutive weeks in the Billboard Top 200 Charts. And go ahead and try to find a classic rock radio station that can go for more than an hour and a half without playing either “Comfortably Numb” or “Another Brick in the Wall”. My favorite on this album is “Nobody Home”. This movie is always playing in somebody’s dorm room in America.

5. The Blues Brothers.

These songs will never get tired. This movie will always be the symbols of everything that is pure and good about America, music, soul food, rocket launchers, Princess Leah, and the ends justifying the means. There’s not enough room in this blog for me to say everything I feel deep down inside about this movie and this music. It always makes me wonder how much a good microphone costs and how big of a bucket you would need for four fried chickens. And a coke. My favorite is “Sweet Home Chicago” which could go on forever.

Pre-Mythology Days

When I was a younger lad, I could stay up to 3am Friday, Saturday and even Sunday nights and be fine and dandy Monday morning. Sure, I probably got more naps back then, (I had some boring professors) but I don’t understand how 9 little girls having a slumber party can wipe me out for a week.

December is a busy month for the Amundson clan. We usually have 3 Christmases and we have 3 of our biggest birthdays of the year (grandparents included). But it’s also really great with the kids still in the “Santa Years”. You never know if it’s going to be the last year before St. Nick becomes mythology to your tikes. And the older they get the harder it is to mislead/deceive/ignore their legitimate questions.

I suppose I should be happy they haven’t pressed about how it is that babies come from the hospital (yet).

Fleeting Fall

Ahh, Fall. It’s been fun. We’ve only got a ew days left and after that, I’m probably not going to finish the yard-work until next spring. It’s been cool finding old friends on Facebook lately and making new friends at the Landing.
So Aunt Linda really did make it up for Thanksgiving which is incredible! You may recall not too long ago, she was pretty laid up. So how cool is it that she keeps defying the odds and recovering from everything that’s been thrown at her. Random thing about Aunt Linda that you may or may not already know. She gave me a board game when I was a kid called By Jove anybody have it? It was like monopoly but not exactly and it was based on ancient Greek mythology. You might end up in the labyrinth or Hades or have to fight medusa and you’d collect heroes which made it more likely for you to win. Anyway, it was a really super-cool game and I loved it!
She also wrote me a letter a few years ago encouraging me to get out there and work on my photography. I was really teetering at the time and it made a big difference.
My sister Angie and her husband Erin also made up and that made it even better. They’ve got this weird fascination with going to every Hooters restaurant in the world. I asked my Erin if we could make that one of our family goals too but she didn’t think it was the best plan. I’ll have to work on her on that one I guess. I was going to post a funny photo to really make the whole hooters thing a real gas but everything would probably get me into too much trouble.
Well that’s all for today, but I’ll try and add something tomorrow. Serious.