Detroit vs. Pittsburgh 2: frozen boogaloo....

...and this time, it's personal!

Tonight is the first night of the Stanley Cup Finals. In a rare occurrence, the two competing teams are the same teams that played in the finals last year. Detroit won last time 4 games to 2, using their experience to beat the younger Penguins (led by "the next one" Sidney Crosby). It's a similar story this time around, but with one difference that I hope gives us the edge... Marian Hossa.

Hossa played for Pittsburgh last year and became one of the most sought after free agents following the '08 season. He turned down multi year, multi-multi million dollar contracts with other teams (including Pittsburgh) to sign a one year, 7 million contract with Detroit. He picked a team that he thought he could fit well with and win a Championship, and the Penguins will want to make him pay for leaving them.

Marian Hossa as a Penguin, putting the hurt on Detroit in 2008.

Marian Hossa with a new look in 2009

But I think that gives him extra motivation to step up and prove that he made the right choice. Watch Hossa tonight, I think he's going to be one of the keys for Detroit to win (along with some more great goal tending by Osgood).

Zoo Review

Our family went to the Detroit Zoo today and we had a great time. The weather was nearly perfect, but we happened to pick the same day to visit as every elementary school in metro-detroit (or so it seemed).

Pros: Reasonable price
Plenty of animals to see

Cons: Dated facilities
Lots of walking between exhibits and main entrance
Sparse restrooms

I've never been to the Detroit Zoo and I wasn't quite sure what to expect... it is, after all, the Detroit Zoo. Part of me expected to see most of the animals running around free range and they just pass out tazers at the door. I was pleasantly surprised by our experience. While the zoo facilities were quite dated (it's not like Detroit has much money to spare) the enclosures were all in good repair and clean. I didn't feel like the animals were trapped in unsafe or inhumane conditions.

But the bathroom facilities were few and far between. You notice those things when you take 3 small kids with you.

Would I recommend it? Yes and No. I would not recommend it as a one day experience. The cost for our family for a one day pass would be about $35 (including parking) which is a decent deal, but the Toledo Zoo isn't much further away and I would say that it is a better one day value.

But I would recommend it if you are willing to purchase year round membership ($64 for us). It not only covers all family members for a year, plus parking, but it they have a reciprocal program that allows our membership to cover zoo fees at dozens of zoos across the country (including the Toledo zoo and the Ft. Wayne Children's zoo); so as long as you visit more than once it's a great deal.

What 2 watch

Longer days, shorter nights, and a new American Idol can only mean one thing... the summer T.V. schedule has begun! Back in the '80s and '90s, this meant no original programming outside of soap operas and syndicated game shows. Then reality T.V. was born (or summoned from the depths of hades) and we were overwhelmed with quality programming like Big Brother and Temptation Island.

But there is one show actually worth watching this summer: Wipeout.



Ripped off from Japanese "reality t.v." it features people competing to win $50,000 in challenges designed to make people fall in hilarious ways. [It's mXc that the whole family can watch]. They just had the first episode and I can't wait to watch the rest.

However, there are two T.V. disappointments. Psych is another show I'm looking forward to, but it doesn't start until August. and there's no American Gladiators. How did that show not get picked up?



Wondering how the season premiere of Jon & Kate plus Eight fared? An amazing 9.8 million viewers. (source) That's double the season 4 finale (which had been the most viewed JK8 episode). I'll probably watch that all summer too (cowering in fear, peeking between my fingers)

Go Wings!

The Detroit Redwings just scored a thrilling goal in overtime to take them to the Stanley Cup Finals.



Back to back baby!

Jon & Kate plus... hate??

"So what do you think of the whole Jon and Kate plus 8 stuff?", Becky asked me as we were driving home from visiting her folks over the weekend. I said that I thought things were probably being blown out of proportion; that it certainly must be extremely difficult to raise such a large family; and hopefully the new season would show a clearer picture of what is going on in their lives. Becky added that they are Christians so not only should they have their faith to rely on, but that they would also have people giving them Godly advice/assistance as well.

Then we watched tonight's Season 5 premier of Jon and Kate plus Eight. Oh my. It looks bad. Like really, awkwardly bad. (if you didn't see it, here's a pretty accurate review of what happened) I can't say that I'm a huge fan of the show, but I've followed it over the years. Becky watches every episode and I've seen most of them with her, and full disclosure, I read their book (multiple blessings) when she borrowed it from the library. I've become less and less interested in the show as it has changed from "how this couple handles the real life challenges of marriage and parenting" to "jon, kate, and the kids go on product placement adventures". But no matter my feelings of the show, it was really sad to see the poor status of their relationship.

Obviously there has been alot of public attention surrounding their family and the tabloids/paparazzi/scandals regarding jon and kate and their marriage. I know that I am not in their shoes and it has got to be incredibly difficult to keep that family together and raise those kids in a loving and responsible way, but both Jon and Kate appear to be totally missing the point in their family right now. Both of them, repeatedly, said that they are totally focused on the kids and they will always love them, but someone needs to tell them that they need to show their kids what love really is by loving each other. Love does not mean giving everything to one person or group at the exclusion of another. You don't teach your kids anything by telling them about it, you teach them by living it. Loving their kids should mean showing the kids how to love another person when times are tough.

I really hope Jon and Kate can save their marriage. So they can teach their kids what love really is. So they can learn what love really is. So America can see what love really is.

At The Red House!

This is the best commercial I have ever seen. I may drive to North Carolina just to buy something from this store.

See more funny videos and Funny Videos at Today's Big Thing.

It's not fake, check out the Redhouse website.

Denim Impossible

I went jean shopping again today. (you can read about my last jean shopping experience here)

I thought it would be really easy this time since I had synthesized the correct jean formula last time out, but i forgot about two critical components: brand and size. Unfortunately during this season, most stores are stocking up on shorts so the jean selection is a bit thin. The jean identification key that I had formulated only works with one particular brand and there were only a few pairs of that label available... and none of them were in my size. So I had to start from scratch with a new brand. Trying the clothes on in the fitting room became an even bigger chore when Evan and Aaron started play-cagefighting in the cubicle we were in (Aaron has some MMA potential). Thankfully, Becky was able to take the boys, but I ultimately left the store emptyhanded.

Just when I think I've got clothes shopping all figured out...

Movie Review - Star Trek

I really liked it.

I should say up front that I am a fan of the 'Star Trek' universe, but I wouldn't categorize myself as a trekkie or trekker or whatever they call themselves. I've only seen a handful of episodes from the original series, but I've seen all the original 6 movies. I've watched alot of 'The Next Generation' and a couple of those films, but I haven't followed 'Trek' outside of that. I probably fit right into the demographic this movie is targeted at (male; 18-35; fiction fan, but not too hardcore).

To my surprise, I found myself really sucked into the film during the first 10 minutes. They did a fantastic job setting up the characters while still progressing the story (unlike xmen:wolverine) and there only a few moments, as a whole, where it dragged. It felt fun, but not too lighthearted; I was invested enough to ignore the logical jumps and criticisms that can often pop-up in movies like this (I'm looking at you, Indiana Jones and the Crystal Waste of Two Hours).

I continue to be impressed by director J.J. Abrams. He has a great feel for action and skillfully telling a complex and compelling story. He has mastered working with ensemble casts (LOST, Mission Impossible III, Cloverfield) and does a fantastic job of casting the right actor for the right characters (Alias, LOST, Fringe). Here in Star Trek, each character feels right and gets a few moments of screen time that fit both this film and the established history of the franchise.

I think that was what stood out to me most as I watched the movie; it felt uniquely 'Star Trek' (as opposed to Star Wars, or other "space" films) but it still felt fresh and exciting. If Abrams and the cast are on board for sequel... I'm there.

the Incident

WOW!


LOST was at it's mind blowing best last night. Just when you think you've figured out where this show is going they throw in new tricks and twists that make you even more excited about what's happening; it's what LOST does best. I loved last night's season finale and I'm so amazed at how the show has evolved over the past 5 seasons.

Season 1 was a character study about each person: who they are, what they did prior to the crash, and how those events influenced their choices and actions on the island. We were introduced to the mythology and history of the island, but the focus was always on the motivation of each character.

Season 2 explored the struggle between faith and science. How can a person (Locke, Desmond, Mr. Eko) believe in something that they've never seen? How can a person (Jack, Sayid) disbelieve something they've never seen? The focus began to change more to the mythology of the island with more revelations about the stations throughout the island and a good look at the smoke monster.

Season 3 was about relativism and morality. Who are the good guys? Who are the bad guys? Who chooses which group or individual is good or bad? Each different clan (crash survivors, the others, the dharma initiative) saw themselves as good and right. The show explored much of the history of the island as we found out more about the others and the dharma initiative.

Season 4 looked at destiny and fate. Where they meant to leave or meant to stay? Or similar to season 2, was there no meaning at all, just action and reaction? This is where the show fully embraced the sci-fi underpinings with the introduction and use of time-travel.

Season 5 lead to, and ended with, Free Will vs. Determinism. Do you have the freedom to choose? or has your destiny already chosen? Time travel and mythology take central roles as the story moves forward.

The show has morphed and changed over the years (while maintaining and continuing to add to a gargantuan cast), but it still retains the same intensity and excitement and heart that it had in the beginning. 2010 cannot come fast enough.

cubism

Have you ever see a car that you thought was just plain ugly? Which models/makes are on your list?

I'm not old enough to has seen such classic disasters such as the Edsel, but there are plenty of vehicles on the road that I think are design failures: PT Cruizer, Chevy HHR, and the worst offender, the Pontiac Aztek.

Early Aztek Engineering Design

Now there's a new polarizing design on the horizon... the Nissan Cube. It is reminiscent of the boxy styling of the Honda Element or Scion xb. The windows have rounded frames and the rear hatch opens via side mounted hinges.

Forward design or huge mistake?

Where a kid can be a kid

I just uploaded a couple hundred photos from our camera when I came to the realization that waaay too many of them are located within Chuck E. Cheese. Someday our kids are going to look back through all these pictures and think that they were raised inside of one.



It is one of our family's favorite places to go, especially when the weather is cold or rainy. You can sign up on the chuck e cheese website to get a "buy 40 tokens get 60 free" coupon which really sweetens the deal.

Aaron loves skeeball. He could play that the whole time. Evan likes the racing games. Becky is the wheel spin queen. and me? Fast Fingers World Champion!! It's a game where you trace a LED maze with your finger against a 15 second clock. I usually beat it the first or second time, but then the prize ticket count resets and it's not worth doing again. Plus it kills your finger to drag it across the surface as fast as you can more than 4 or 5 times.

But now that the weather is finally warming up we'll take some more pictures outdoors (and maybe even spend some time out there while we're at it).

I'm Baack

Hi. I hope my extended absence hasn't driven you fine readers away. I was having some serious PC troubles and it took quite a while to figure things out.

As mentioned in my previous post, my folks were in town and we spend several days in Canada visiting my Grandparents in Niagara Falls. However, just before that trip we started having some serious problems with our laptop (actually, the churches laptop). It turns out that it had become a large collection of viruses contained within a plastic shell. We got it back several days later after it was wiped clean and rebooted. Then the power cord stopped working. Since I had received the laptop secondhand the battery had very little usable life (and by very little I mean 5 to 6 minutes), but it was not a big deal because I always had the power cord in order to use it. Until now. So I had to order a new power cord, which got to me several days later. The laptop worked great for 1 day... and then it really broke. Gone. Dead. Garbage.

I spent about a week shopping around. I was really hoping to get a mac. but our church doesn't have much budget for technology and price drove us to go with a Dell Inspiron. I'm sad the mac didn't work out, but someday it'll happen.

I'm glad to be back in the blogosphere. Hopefully we can get back in the ongoing conversation that is 'the best 3 minutes of your day'.