Behind every smile hides another row of shiny teeth!

I'm returning from the Summer's regular-job-schedule-imposed hiatus (this was the first place I had worked at since Krogers - back in the mid/late 90s, mind you - that didn't have interweb access in the office), so I'm just going to throw out some updates.

The first is this simply wonderful music video that's been floating around Cartoon Network. The show that this comes from, The Adventures of Flapjack, isn't one that I watch regularly, but the times I've caught bits and pieces seem pretty funny, plus I think it's made in Sweden and just dubbed into English:



I just love the "but your mom has poor eyesight" line - perfect!



In sadder news: As of Wednesday, August 27th, I have officially given up on Wes Anderson. I was a huge fan of Rushmore, and very much enjoyed Royal Tenenbaums. Life Aquatic was tough, but I watched it several times (and own a copy) for my Bill Murray research. Hell, I even liked Anderson's American Express advertisement. But I got around to watching The Darjeeling Limited yesterday, and it was just too much I can't deny that he's got a really distinctive cinematic style (and one hell of an eye for diegetic space), but I found Darjeeling just honestly difficult to watch. The characters and dialogue almost seemed like someone was parodying the stuff that had worked much better in Anderson's other films.

My mourning was short-lived, however, as I have found my new indie film favorite - the Campagna brothers, whose movie Six Reasons Why is just plain awesome. It's a Western (technically it's set in a post-apocalyptic Western frontier, but it does't really affect the film noticably), but the best way to describe it is as someone trying (and pretty much succeeding) to capture the spirit of Sergio Leone and other spaghetti western filmmakers. There's also a fairly gutsy narrative complication, which I think is also pulled off successfully. In a perfect world, Six Reasons Why would be opening in hundreds on theaters this weekend instead of Disaster Movie.

Death by Pictures...

It's been many eventful weeks for us - all the best of summer, from the slightly mundane to the truly wonderful. Here's the rundown.

Hiking

We have been talking for a while about better utilizing our Metro Parks, so a few weeks ago Husband and I took the dogs on a little hike. What a beautiful way to spend a few hours. Good exercise for both us and the pups, and we got to enjoy the wooded landscape of Ohio. How refreshing! Here is a picture of the dogs. This was new dog's first experience off of pavement on the leash . He did pretty well.

Kimonos

The Nerds had a big nerd conference a few weeks ago. Apparently at these sorts of nerd fests people dress up in costumes like the characters they play in their games. Being the crafty wife I am, I got suckered into making a couple kimonos for some of the boys to wear. The kimono featured below was worn by one of the Nerds whose character is a young girl who is akin to the water??? Hmmm, a 220lb Nerd pretending to be a young girl via a costume in the colors of coral and water? I try not to figure these things out. It makes my head hurt. Besides, they pay me to do this and I can force husband to come to the fabric store with me to pick out the colors. I totally win in this case. Watching Husband wander uncomfortably through the fabric store is almost payment enough! I just wish I had pictures of the Nerds actually wearing the kimonos.

Vacation

We recently returned from our annual trek to the lake. What a great week! It was so relaxing - spending the days on water and chilling out to watch the Olympics in the evenings. The best part was spending so much time with my niece and nephews. They are a total trip! My oldest nephew has an odd sense of what is fun. For example, when asked whether he would like to wash dishes or go to the pool he pondered for a moment and said, "BOTH!" The boy loves to do the dishes...

He also likes to drive the boat with Pawpaw, but that makes a lot more sense to me.

My niece prefers doing anything that makes Husband say or do something funny. Sooner or later this usually involves thumb war. Husband is a super cheater at thumb war which the kids think is hilarious!

The water was really low this year which meant that a lot more of the banks were visible. From the boat my dad and I spied what looked like a foundation and possibly a fireplace on the banks of a cove. We decided to investigate. We went up on land and explored the area... There was definitely a house there at one point, probably before the valley was flooded by the damning of the river. The foundation and the rubble around it are all that's left. It was cool to see all of the bricks and stones and the distinct outline of the foundations of the house and the outbuildings. We also discovered what we thought was a fireplace was actually a cistern. Part of it had collapsed but if you looked down into it, it had rounded walls and the top had bolts in it where there had once been a lid. It was kind of cool to see the remains of some one's home like that. I wonder who lived there?

As usual, vacation went too quickly. I was not ready to come home. Neither was Husband...

Friends

This past weekend we got to see lots of friends! Some from high school, some from college - it was great to catch up with so many people. Some of the guys were in for the fantasy football draft which was hosted for the boys at our house. By 7:00 last night the pups were completely wiped-out and so were we!

Well, fantasy football means its almost fall again. This summer has gone way too fast, but I have to say it's been a really great one!

Oh, and a big CONGRATS to Tom! Not just for graduating, but for graduating at the head of his class! Just like the good Dr. Paul... Our friends are such super-overachievers!

He's made of Dolemite - that sweet black element that won't melt under heat!!!

Minor updates on Dog v2.0:

-After a morning at the groomers (which just a little more expensive when I'm paying double...), Dog 2.0 looks much better, and much, much skinnier. They were able to take care of all of the matted fur and get rid of the semi-ridiculous-mohawk that Dog 2.0 had going on there. Plus I learned that some dogs get so excited after going to the groomer/vet/etc that they can't help but pee all over my back seat....

-Dog and Dog 2.0 are getting along pretty well. The only real issue is when Dog intentionally torments Dog 2.0. She'll pick up a chew stick in her mouth, walk over to Dog 2.0 and drop the chew stick about 6 inches in front of him, then starts barking and growling as soon as Dog 2.0 so much as looks at it.

-Most of the time, Dog 2.0 finds the nearest leg/foot/arm and just plops down, going from 60 to Zero in seconds. Dog 2.0 also has a much more amusing manner of sleeping, where he'll just lay on his back with all four legs akimbo - he particularly likes airing his junk out in front of my fan in front of the TV (I have no idea where he got that idea)

-It should be noted that so far all 4 of the children (3 nephews/niece and Kronic III) like Dog 2.0 much better (probably becuase he doesn't immediately tackle them like Dog is wont to do)

That's about it for now; I'm sure there will be some non-Dog(s)-related posting in the near future, especially when the Fantasy Draft comes around.

Family Expansion

No... not a baby! A dog!

Husband and I have been debating getting Dog a playmate for about six months now. Poor Dog is always looking for someone to run in circles with and despite our best efforts at exercising her we can't possibly keep up with her energy level. So on Friday night after work we went to the Humane Society to see the dogs available. Lo and behold, there were two little scruffy dogs who looked surprisingly like Dog - one girl and one boy. The girl, we were told, does not play well with others so we focused our attention on the boy.

On Saturday we brought Dog to the Humane Society to meet him and they got along swimmingly! So New Dog is now at home with us as a foster-to-adopt dog. We have him until Tuesday when we can either give him back or sign the papers making him ours. I'm pretty sure we are going to keep him!

He is great with both of us. Over the weekend my sister and the kids were in town and he was great with the kids. Then last night the Nerds were over and he was good with them too. Good thing, because the Nerds are over a lot! Best of all he and Dog get along really well.

He LOVES to snuggle and has an all around good temperament. Today both Dog and New Dog are at the groomers as they both need a little work (New Dog especially!) I'll share pictures soon...

UPDATE:
New Dog BEFORE the Groomer...

New Dog AFTER the Groomer...