A Day at Archie McPhees

What a cool store. Full of useless stuff that you can't help but want to buy. That's a pic of Clara with her siamese twin brother.

More pics of us swatting giant bugs, dodging archers, poses with giant chickens and gorillas, and sitting on a dentist chair. Good times had by all at this Ballard institution.

Yatterman

OMG! If only I still lived in Japan, then I could see this next spring!

http://www.yatterman-movie.com/

I watched this as a TV show (cartoon) in the late 70s when I lived in Japan. I loved it. Best TV show ever about a robotic dog. No question.

Clara update: She's been home and jaundice free for over a week. Check out the flickr pics on the left side of the blog and click on a picture to hit my flickr site. It has many pictures of her and the family.

Clara at "In-Home Phototherapy"

Clara at "In-Home Phototherapy"
Originally uploaded by gatchamark

Great news on the baby front. Clara's blood levels went up this morning, meaning they had to put her back under the lights. Now, that may sound like bad news, but the doctors at the hospital said that it was still good enough to take her home and do "in-home phototherapy". Thus, Clara is now at home (finally!) and enjoying her new life. She needs to be lit up as much as possible, but she's at home, and that's all that matters. This is a picture of her at home in her snazzy bassinet!

Clara Under the Lights

Clara Under the Lights
Originally uploaded by gatchamark

Apologies for the lack of postings on the blog, but as you can tell by this picture, Deonn and I have been busy of late. We had been busy preparing the condo and our lives for the arrival of our daughter.

Please welcome Clara Gena Hunt into the world. She was born on Sunday, October 12 at 2:33pm. She is a precious little girl with a slight jaundice problem. Hence, this picture of her under the awesome blue lights! She has since been removed and will have her blood tested tomorrow. If everything checks out OK, we should finally be on our way home. We are super excited and can't wait to bring her home.

The Waiting is the Hardest Part

Sorry I haven't blogged in a while. Been doing my husbandly duties. Gotta stay with the wifey as she is expecting any day. Yep, any day. She's got a Dr. appointment tomorrow, and they may "strip the membrane", whatever that means. That's technical Dr. speak. Supposedly, that may bring on labor. This blog will certainly have pictures when the big event happens.

So, right now, Deonn's tired and getting fairly immobile. We have big plans tomorrow. We're going to watch the VP debates. We're calling it a party and having "The Hong" come over and watch with us. Then, we're hitting Jack in the Box for a wonderful dinner. Ultimate Cheeseburger. Mmm. I know I do burger reviews periodically, but thus far, my fave is still the Ultimate. Meat, cheese, bun, and nothing else. How do you beat that?

Conversation of the Day

Ghost Puppets in Glow Room
Originally uploaded by gatchamark

So, on Saturday, we celebrated Luke's 6th birthday party at the Everett Imagine Children's Museum. Personally, I think it's the best children's museum in the Puget Sound area. They have such cool activities and great attention to detail. This photo is taken from their "Glow Room", which has awesome fluorescent colors with glowing blacklights. We set up some ghost puppets in front of a mirror and took this really colorful picture. Pretty spooky, eh? Just like Halloween!

Anyway, it was the next day that we had the conversation of the day with Luke. It was Seahawks football Sunday, and we had just gotten off the ferry at Bainbridge. There was amazingly a person wearing an Arizona Cardinals jersey, to which Luke said, "Remember the last game against the Cardinals and we (the Seahawks) scored 41 points?"

I reminded him that we scored 42 points that game, and we had an endless argument about this. He insisted 41, but I knew it was 42. He was getting frustrated and threatened me by telling me that "he was going to tell mommy." In response, I said, "Oh yeah? I'm going to tell my mom too!"

His response to this? "Grandma's not going to care! She's probably just gonna kick you!"

Classic.

Joker, Joker, Joker!

No, I'm not talking about Heath Ledger in the Dark Knight. He seems to be brought up frequently on this blog.

No, if you know that phrase, you know I'm referring to the game show called The Joker's Wild! Don't really have much to say about it, except I was watching old YouTube clips of it, and just finished watching the shortest match on the Joker's Wild ever. It just reminded me that that was actually the BEST GAME SHOW EVER. That's it, nothing more to say.

You can find anything on YouTube. We were watching all the openings to TV shows we used to watch. But hey, those pale in comparison to The Joker's Wild.

Oh, yeah, and Real People. Y'all remember Real People?

Karma

I've always been spiritual in some form or another. I don't know what's out there, but I typically believe that justice will be served in its own way.

I don't know if you've heard, but Tom Brady of the New England Patriots may be out for the season. We should know for sure in the next couple of days. I feel as though I need to apologize for this on behalf of my friend, because he caused this. You see, we play fantasy football in a league. He dropped Michael Turner (the new running back for the Atlanta Falcons) in our league, and I had put in a claim for him. Granted, I should have NEVER told him I intended to pick him up, but nonetheless, I did say that to him. So, what does he do? He tells someone else in our league to pick him up before me so that I can't get him. He does this simply out of spite. He even admits this.

So, what does Karma have up its sleeve? Well, as punishment for blatant interference in the normal flow of a fantasy football league, Karma decides to injure his star player for the season. And yes, as you've probably guessed, that player is Tom Brady. He also owns Randy Moss. I don't think he will get the ball as much anymore either. So, if you care about Tom Brady and why he's done for the season, now you know. Please send me your hate mail, and I will make sure to forward it to him with your blessings.

Let's hope Tom Brady recovers quickly. I hate to see these things happen because someone can't be honest in fantasy football...

Shrek: The Musical

I'm usually excited to see new musicals. Tonight, Deonn and I got to see Shrek: The Musical at the 5th Avenue here in Seattle. There were 2 problems with this musical going in. First, I'm not really that big of a Shrek fan, so I wasn't excited to see it. Second, I've had this back and neck ache, and sitting for long periods of time is extremely uncomfortable (although not as bad as standing for long periods of time).

So, the first thing I can say is that the musical is too long. My neck didn't appreciate it. They managed to make a 80+ minute movie into a 2.5 hour musical. That takes talent... and not the kind I like. My opinion? They could probably cut 5 or so songs. They could shorten the musical. The flow is not good, sort of like this blog, but with more ballads. Really, there are some really funny and clever moments. The problem is that they are few and far between. Just when you think the pace is quick and fun, they throw in a ballad. Shrek sings many ballads. Wouldn't you think his character would sing some up beat comedic hoe-down? Nope, he gets ballads.

The best thing about this musical? Lord Farquad. Holy moly. That guy is freakin' hilarious. His role is well done. You get some major laughs every time he's around. His costume is wonderful! His songs had very clever lyrics, although none of the music in this musical is particularly memorable. Still, there are good laughs with Farquad. Space Invaders. Hilarious!

Donkey - less annoying than Eddie Murphy, and to me, that's not a good thing. He was not used well, in my opinion. Fiona - she was OK. I mean, I liked Sutton Foster in Young Frankenstein, but I think they wasted her talent. She's good, and they didn't really give her great songs. She can sing, but they don't let her. Shrek - wasted again. I mean, he's good, but he's not loveable. Too much potty humor. When you do a "fart dance", that's too much for me.

Funny thing is, the crowd loved this. They hooted and hollered. So, I didn't think it was that great, but the crowd sure seemed to. How will it do on Broadway? I don't know. Really, it's not that good. But, if it's like The Little Mermaid, people will go just because it's Shrek. It will appeal to people who are fans of Shrek but are not musical theatre goers. To those who see lots of musical theatre, I imagine you will be disappointed. It's probably a little better than The Little Mermaid, but only cuz Farquad is so good and they're not on Heelys.

I don't think it's easy to make Shrek into a musical. They took the humor out of Shrek, just like they took the heart out of the Little Mermaid. People really need to learn to leave well enough alone.

Overall: D+

Since I really haven't rated other musicals, here's my quick rundown so you can see if you should listen to my review:

The Little Mermaid: D
Young Frankenstein: B
Xanadu: A
Avenue Q: A-
Damn Yankees: B- (but Sean Hayes is super funny)
Mary Poppins: C-
Curtains: C
Me and My Girl: A+ (it is my favorite musical, and this was the Roosevelt High School production, but I saw it at the 5th Avenue a long time ago)
Les Miserables: A
Phantom of the Opera: C+
Cats: C
Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat: B+
Parade: A (gotta love Jason Robert Brown)

OK, I've seen way more than that, but I'll stop there. Take this for what it's worth (as Buffalo Springfield would say).

Burger Review: Twede's

Ever been to North Bend, WA? It's out there, for sure. But, being that I live in Issaquah, it's not too far. You know it's far when you can drive 70mph on the freeway here in Washington State. We only go to North Bend for two reasons. Either we need to visit the factory outlets (hence, meaning I need pants), or when we want to get a great burger at Twede's (which I believe is pronounced "tweeties", only cuz there are so many stuffed animals of Tweety Bird in the place).

So, I had never taken my son there, and have talked it up a bit. The original Twede's burned down, but they have re-built it, and it's pretty nice inside. It has the feel of a 50s diner. Nice blue vinyl booths, so cocktail arcade machines, and lots of Twin Peaks memorabilia. Heck, the first time I went there, I had the "Twin Peaks Burger". That has 2 patties, cheese, and stacked with ham. It's sizeable, and delicious. Tonight, I had the "Dog Burger". I was in the mood for hot dogs and hamburgers, so why not combine the two? Once again, quite a delicious burger, and the fries are great.

What's impressive is the sheer number of burgers they have on the menu! Take a look at some of their offerings here.

So, if you're in North Bend, WA and are hankerin' for a burger, stop by Twede's! Excellent burgers, and if you're into Twin Peaks, you'll love the history that goes with this cafe. It also offers excellent views of Mt. Si from the parking lot. When you're done, head to the Factory Outlet Mall to get some pants a few sizes bigger. You'll need it after you munch on the food here!