Clara and Dad watching the Jungle Book

Clara and Dad watching the Jungle Book
Originally uploaded by gatchamark

Just a quick update, to prove I'm doing this again. This was what I did with Clara, right before bed. Gotta share the love of Disney, right? She was named Monkey in the womb, right? So, what do we do? We watch the song "I Wanna Be Like You" from Disney's The Jungle Book. That's the best part of the movie. Sung by the ever popular, King Louie, named after the voice provided by Louis Prima.

Still, not a better movie than Raiders of the Lost Ark, nor does it have better opening credits than Superman.

Perhaps it's time to revive this thing

Well, it's been almost a year since I've posted anything, and I think I'll take this back up. Stay tuned for new posts!

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!

The Zipper

Best ride ever invented = The Zipper. You'll find it at any real carnival. If there's no Zipper, it's not a real carnival. You've been duped! Deonn, she hates anything that makes you inverted. Still, the Zipper isn't for everyone. I remember the first time I went on that. It was at the Camp Pendleton Rodeo in California with my friend. We must have been in sixth grade or something. When you're that young, that ride is intimidating! They have one at the Evergreen State Fair, and they'll have one at the Puyallup State Fair. Anyone up for some fun? I'll meet someone there, and we can ride it! w00t!

What makes the Zipper the best ride, you ask? Well, it's the pure randomness. It's never the same ride twice. The G's you experience are intense, and if you time it just right, you'll flip over and over like there's no tomorrow. Plus, it's pretty to look at. For example:

Gatchamark's Mail Bag

I've received many emails, so I figured I'd answer a few:

An interested imaginary reader writes:
Hey Gatchamark!

You have THE BEST BLOG IN THE WORLD! Anyway, I was totally fascinated by your Ariel vs. Belle post. I'm totally in the Ariel camp too. Belle, she's too intelligent and likes to read. I like the chicks with no legs and red hair. Keep writing awesome things, bro!

Your avid reader,
Mr. Bob Imaginary Reader

Why, thank you for the kind words, Bob! Readers like you are what makes this blog function! I'm so pleased you agree with the Ariel thing, but I must admit, I have to revise the order of Disney chicks. Deonn and I watched Tarzan last night (and I know most people haven't seen this), and I've determined that Miss Jane Porter is now the hottest Disney chick. Why is she better than Ariel? Well, she's human (has legs), has this sweet British accent/voice (provided by Minnie Driver), and wears this cool yellow dress with a butt pad. She is now #1 in my book. See Tarzan if you haven't! To see this fascinating lady who has replaced Ariel at #1, click here!

Email #2:
Gatchamark!

That post on Commodore 64 music was super wicked. I loved C64 games as a kid. I'd kick your butt at MULE! We should meet up and play on a C64 emulator someday. Those would be some good times... good times... You know, you could show me some of your moves in Commando too!

Signed,
Your Nonexistent Dream Girl

Once again, thank you for the kind words. It's not often one finds women who played Commodore 64 games, let alone, one who loves the music! Anyhoo, I found this awesome site that has ample mp3s to satisfy your C64 music fetish. Click here.

Email #3:
Might Mr. Marky Mark-

I hear you're having a baby girl. What are some good names for a baby girl?

Thanks,
Someone who doesn't really care

A truly intiguing question. I think the baby will be named something like Ariel, Belle, or Jane. Perhaps Xanadu. I've also been fond of Siobhan, just for the Celtic background. If the baby somehow ends up being a boy, we've decided on Hasselbeck. No better name than that.

Email #4:
Gatchamark is the coolest! You're so awesome! How can I be like you?

Answer: You can't. It's not possible. There can only be one Gatchamark.

Thank you for reading! Perhaps we'll answer more emails in another post, if and when I actually receive any.

*Publisher's Note*: These emails are not real.

Movie Box Office

For some strange reason, I've always had this fascination with the box office. Here are two sites I hightly recommend if you have the same interest:

http://www.boxofficeguru.com

Box Office Guru summarizes the weekend's box office totals. It puts it in nice readable terms. The best thing about this site, in my opinion, is his amazing prognosticating abilities. I've not seen another website online that makes as accurate of box office projections as Gitesh Pandya.

For a great box office database, you can do no better than:

http://www.boxofficemojo.com

This site has it all. Daily box office summaries, box office showdowns, rankings via genre, and any other box office statistic you could think of. I could spend hours at a time on this site.

What is it that fascinates me about the box office? I don't know, really. It's just one of those things that interests me. This has been a great year of box office wonder. The Dark Knight opens to the largest weekend total in history. Then, people actually wonder if it can beat Titanic's impossible gross of $600.8M (in case you're wondering, the answer is a resounding "NO!"). The Dark Knight will have to settle for the silver medal and be the only other movie to ever break $500M.

This reminds me of a website that used to exist years ago called Mr. Showbiz. They used to run a game twice a year called the "Box Office Challenge". It was run like a stock market based on movie buzz. You bought movies low, sold high, but eventually, you needed to hold as many movies as you could that grossed as much money as possible in it's first two weekends. Sounds confusing, I'm sure, but if you were interested in the box office, this was the ultimate challenge. I was always a top 20 player, and proud of it.

Anyway, this is yet another one of those traits that makes Deonn go "huh?". I wonder how long it will take for her to realize what a freakazoid she married. That reminds me: "Can Freakazoid come out and play? Can Freakazoid come out and play? Can Freakazoid come out and play? Can Freakazoid come out and play? Can Freakazoid come out and play?...." Does anyone remember that commercial?

Commodore 64 Music

For one reason or another (and it might mostly have something to do with the Bushmill's Irish Whiskey), I was reminiscing about the good old days of the wonderous Commodore 64 computer. In my honest opinion, that was perhaps the best computing system ever created. They had the best games with the best music. Come on, now, y'all know what I'm talking about. Really, for a chip (you may remember this as the SID chip) that only had 4 channels, what the C=64 did with music was simply amazing. Who could forget the classic soundtracks to games such as Aztec Challenge:

or Archon:

or Forbidden Forest:

Now we're getting to the big boys of the best music for a video game. These last ones have perhaps the best video game themes EVER. The runner up is M.U.L.E.:

How can one ever forget loading up MULE on a floppy disk and hearing the wonderful theme song appear? Such great music for what was probably the best multi-player game on the Commodore 64. However, in terms of the best music on the C=64, I would have to say that it was the Ultima series, hands down. The pinnacle of video game music came from Ultima III: Exodus.

Yes, I could play that game for hours and never have to toggle the music off!

Does anyone out there remember the glory days of the Commodore 64? Am I forgetting another game that had a masterpiece theme? Am I the only old person that remembers this era?

The Riddle of the Leaky Fridge

So, our refrigerator had been leaking water for some time. You'd just open the fridge, and boom! There was a puddle of water on the bottom shelf. Tonight, I had finally had enough of this nonsense. Deonn phoned her Home Depot savvy mom and asked what might cause this. She suggested a clogged hose that should drain at the bottom of the fridge. It should be under the produce drawer. I remove the produce drawer... Nothing! Well, I didn't know where to look, so I pulled out the fridge from the wall. Never in my life had I seen such a dirty floor/wall. It was pitch black, as if someone had spread coal dust everywhere back there. "Great!", I thought. After a massive cleaning project in which we had to scrub the disgusting floor and wall, I proceeded to look for a hose. Success! In a cage at the back of the fridge is a hose. I remove the cage. What has been causing us all this grief for all these months? Nothing more than a chunk of dust blocking the drainage hose. I try to remove it, but I push it down the hose instead. Oh no! Now, I have to take the freezer portion apart to see where the hose begins! After clearing out the freezer and cleaning it, we find the entry to the hose. It's impossible to blow air down or anything, so I have Deonn pour a glass full of water down the drain to see if the hose is still clogged. I smile as water drains out this hose. Problem fixed! Hose unplugged. Now, we just wait and see if there's another puddle in the fridge later this week. If not, we have succeeded with this puzzle.

Moral of the story: Refrigerators are lame, especially if getting clogged by dust causes major leakage inside the fridge. We should get a better one, but if this fixes the problem, then it's saved us a chunk of $$$.

Second moral of the story: I'll blog about anything and try to make an exciting story out of it.

BTW, anyone see that stud Justin Forsett tear up the Chicago Bears? If the Seahawks can't find a place on the team for this guy, they're just lame, and I will lose more respect for them. He's a stud. Keep him. Find a role for him.

Tiger Mountain Grill

I just need to put a plug in for what I consider the best restaurant in Issaquah, the Tiger Mountain Grill. It always seems to be empty when we go in, and I don't understand why. They have impeccable service, excellent food, and brilliant original cocktails. I ordered the "carnivore" pizza today. Nothing but meat and cheese on a deep dish crust. It was wonderful. Deonn ordered the French dip, which she devoured. So, why is this place always empty? I can't say, and I don't think it's right, so I need to get the word out. GO EAT THERE if you're ever in Issaquah. They are in Gilman Village. Let me know what you think if you go. I'm sure you'll agree with me.

In the Heat of the Night

So, this flood that we had at our condo sucks. In case you need the play-by-play, this is what happened.

The side effect of the flood? Our condo is being heated and fanned and de-humidified. The plumbing people or whoever they are are supposedly drying our walls. However, until tomorrow night, we get what I can only describe as anti-air conditioning. Instead of nice cool air circulating, we have ridiculously sauna hot air flowing through the condo. As they say in Avenue Q, "It Sucks to be Me" (and Deonn). Aren't you glad you aren't us? Aren't you more glad you read this?

2008 Whidbey Island Highland Games

Crazy Scottish Mark
Originally uploaded by gatchamark

Well, I'm still trying to be Scottish. There's no Scottish blood in me at all, but this wig/beret thing gives you a picture of what I'd look like as a Scot. Charming, no?

So, as a quest to become as Scottish as possible without actually being Scottish, Deonn and I attended our second Highland Games of the season, this time on lovely Whidbey Island! This one was much smaller than the Seattle one (which takes place in Enumclaw), but it was kinda cool to have the laid back atmosphere. I did find out that my name belongs to the Clan Hunter. That's a stretch, if you ask me. I don't see how Hunt is related to Hunter at all... So, then, I tell my father the good news over the phone, and he says, "No, you're not part of Clan Hunter. The only Scottish people in our family are named Brockie." I need to look that up now. I liked the Clan Hunter tartan...

Look! I befriended another not-Scottish, yet trying to be Scottish person. Let's call him not-Scot:

On another note, Deonn and I managed to take some time out to listen to some bands. We really enjoyed this group from Seattle called Ockham's Razor. They had a very energetic sound with a total Celtic flair. They're not as hard as a Flogging Molly or Dropkick Murphys, but they play a mean beat and have great songs. We ended up buying their CD "Ten Thousand Miles to Bedlam". It's really good. Check them out on the web. I have hyperlinked their name.

If you get a chance, they have upcoming performances in the Seattle area at El Corazon and Kell's Irish Pub. If you like Celtic rock, you'll love Ockham's Razor. They ended their show with a rendition of "The Devil Went Down to Georgia". It was sweet. 'Nuff said. The fiddler, Katie, was highly skilled, and we chatted a little afterwards. She's really nice too. That's my shameless plug for the night.