"winds of change..."

Thats right...Its official Dub-yas out...Obamas in! Cue the Scorpions...Whistle along if you know it (and I know you do)...He's here and he brought the mutha-fuckin' doughnuts!!

"MLK Sled Ride Extreme-o..."

What to do with a day off when you live near a decent snow covered hill?!? Bust out the sleds, trash can lids, shovels, and shitty beer (not mine, I swear!), head on down to the "slopes" and bomb some hills. While I'll admit to getting pretty janked up early and really felling my age, after I was sufficiently cold and wet, I had my snow legs and was ready for some old school stupidity. The day was prompted by a call from the Sous telling me to get on down to the hill. I figured Hazel could do with some 'Fia time and we could test out those $4 snow pants that we scored at the Goodwill...It's interesting to see that sled technology has not strayed far from the old familiar and honestly the old school disk is the way to go. You can get some speed and theres always the unpredictable spin due to it being circular in nature. There were some pretty good collisions, some pretty sweet jumps, and I got stoked on feeling like a kid again for a minute. Not feeling so young today, however, as I'm all around sore and beat up. Hopefully I be ok for another trip soon before the snow melts...

"gettin' some culture 'n at..."

Got some free passes to the museum and decided to take a trek to see some dinosaurs and art. The last time I went to see the dinosaurs they hadn't finished...finally got to see the T-Rex...I was a bit disappointed that there wasn't more to see, but cool none the less. I also got a chance to see the international. I usually like to make it down for that every year. Life on mars was pretty cool, but more impressive than that was "worlds away:new suburban landscapes". It was all works related to the suburbs and the impact on art, blah, blah, blah...pretty good overall. Hazel had a chance to try out her new digital camera...

"Stuff I like:part 1..."

Been spending an inordinate amount of time lately looking for music. Finding new bands, and Rediscovering bands I used to love...one such band is The Dirtbombs. I had been turned on to them years ago, and just sort of forgot. I recently found they had a new album called "We have you surrounded" Check out the Amoeba records site for some cool in-store vids. Also check out this slick little film from Other Music heres a link... About as badass as it gets!

"Them dinosaurs look rill rill, n'at..."

Went to see Walking with dinosaurs live last week at mellon arena. It was pretty damn impressive. Hazel and my brothers kids went along and really seemed to enjoy it. I have to say I really thought it was going to be geared towards the younger set, but it really held my interest. As a fan of the BBC series I was curious to see how they would transform 2D into 3D. They did a great job...I guess 20 million dollars goes a long way when building life-like dinosaurs. If you get a chance, check it out.

"Major bakin' operation..."

I stepped away from the computer for a bit and tried to get down with some holiday stuff. I've been trying to help my friend Denise who owns a bakery in Sharpsburg called The Cookie Connection (featured in this months Pittsburgh Magazine...yes, those are her gingerbread men on the cover...don't get her started!) It's kinda fun to mess around in another kitchen that doesn't have any of the same time and speed pressures. I don't go in and worry about prepping up for a crushing night, no ones yelling...just the smell of anise and the sounds of Bob. Like a couple old ladies we make cookies and chat. Scooping hundreds of cookies and making more pizzelles than a hundred old babushka mammas. Thankfully this year she stepped it up and got two more presses. Last year I worked with only one. This go around it was an honest to god pizzelle station. I got alright at bangin' three presses at once. It's kind of relaxing once you get a flow...As it's almost Christmas, and Denise will be closing up shop on the 21st I guess its time to kick back with a glass of milk (read beer) and a cookie and watch a little Christmas Vacation..."Merry Christmas! Shitters full!"

"Givin' thanks 'n spinnin' cranks..."

I hope everyone was able to be with good people this turkey day...I was fortunate enough to get out for a nice ride through the city, and then make my way over to my cousin Tricia's place on the Northside. We had some excellent grub courtesy of her husband Chris, who is a fantastic cook. Turducken, turkey, stuffing...all the fixin's. I even wormed my way into the kitchen to do some cooking and had a blast. We talked about getting together next year to try and fabricate our own turducken...I can't wait! So thanks to them for out doing themselves once again...happy turkey day.