Author Archives: admin

Massholes at Their Finest

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The Dude spent the majority of his life growing up outside of Boston.

Boston has a rep for having a pretty rough citizenry. Very aggressive drivers, fast paced lifestyles without much patience, direct even when you shouldn’t be, sarcastic sense of humor, and usually show love by busting chops.

In fact, people from Massachusetts are often referred to as Massholes. As in Massachusetts + Asshole = Masshole. It’s even become a term of endearment for many Mass residents.

Here’s the definition on Urban Dictionary.

I’ve been out of Mass for a while, and the Southern hospitality has smoothed most of my rough edges, but the Masshole can never be fully removed. I’m a lifer to some degree, and Mrs. Dude has married into the fraternity.

However, I think the Masshole attitude bit misunderstood. Mrs. Dude was prepared for the worst and pleasantly surprised by the kindness when we went to visit. There’s a lot of goodness under the rough exterior, and Massholes tend to take care of their own kind.

Here’s a great example of Massholes at their finest. During Disability Awareness Day at Fenway Park, an autistic man sang the National Anthem, and when he was tripped up a bit, the crowd joined in and sang along.

A small piece of kindness from a lot of people all at once. Pretty cool to see.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NhcZRFcjbhw[/youtube]

The Kid Should Definitely See This

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I think I just found my N.F.B. – new favorite blog.

www.TheKidShouldSeeThis.com.

Classic videos that entertain Dudes and Little Dudes. Short videos approved by a 3 year old co-curator that will make you smile…and forget that you might be learning something new.

Great description from the site:

There’s just so much science, nature, music, arts, technology, storytelling and assorted good stuff out there that my kids (and maybe your kids) haven’t seen. It’s most likely not stuff that was made for them…

But we don’t underestimate kids around here.

I’m amazed by the wide selection of videos. Kudos to the curators…keep the radness coming.

I didn’t know elements could be so entertaining:

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Uy0m7jnyv6U&feature=player_embedded[/youtube]

Hard Work

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Hard work is an important lesson to pass on to the kiddos, but it seems like a strong passion for what you’re doing is, at least, equally important…if not more…probably more.

I wonder how many people said riding a bike or skating was a waste time. Looks like art to the Dude.

1. [youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ShbC5yVqOdI&feature=player_embedded[/youtube]

2. [youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pd3TlkitmAk&feature=player_embedded[/youtube]

And a great example of hard work is Mr. Rogers.

Who woulda thunk it? The Dude’s second reference to Mr. Rogers? I didn’t know I had such an affinity for the kind hearted soul.

3. Fred Rogers was amazingly dedicated to his craft.

Wild, I know.

P.S.  – You should check out Kottke.org. A great blog covering a wide variety of topics. That’s where I strolled across 1., 2., & 3. at different times.

1 Year, 9 Weeks: The Yin & Yang of Toddlerhood

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1 Year, 9 Weeks: Yin & Yang of Toddlerhood

1 Year, 9 Weeks: Yin & Yang of Toddlerhood

Science is amazing. With a little ingenuity and some perseverance, there doesn’t seem like much we can’t accomplish.

For example, did you know that science has discovered the most annoying sound?! I thought Jim Carey presented these findings in Dumb and Dumber, but it turns out his theory wasn’t backed by science.

It almost seems too basic, but I guess simple is good. So, what could it be? Whining, of course.

Makes sense right? Kids needs something so they whine, and adults jump through hoops to quiet the beast asap.

Seems like evolution was on to something. Would have been tough for cave dudes to save little cave dudes from wooly mammoths if the whine didn’t bother them.

So here we are in 2011 still tortured by the whine, but at least science has finally proven what we’ve all known for millennia; whining sucks. Unfortunately, it’s a necessity, and toddlers are really, really good at it. Little Dude is a natural.

We’re now past the first year mark, and we’ve entered an entirely new frame of reference; toddlerhood. Yep, it’s as scary as it seems. We’ve gone from cute and cuddly to hell on wheels…well, still cute and cuddly, but much more mobile and destructive now.

Along with the mobility and destruction comes the whine. Little Dude has had teeth popping through for what seems like two months, so he has really had an opportunity to perfect the whine. But more than a mere complaint about that aggravating dull pain that he’s dealing with, the whine has become his form of communication. Actually, it’s much more than a whine; it’s a whine that has developed into a scream – a horror movie scream. And he is not afraid to use it.

His mind is always working…and his feet are always moving. Darting from one spot to another, grabbing, throwing, tasting…and screaming. I can only imagine how frustrating it is to be thinking and processing but have no way to communicate wants or desires. The young fella is stuck in that predicament. And his solution is a Freddy-Kruger-is-chasing-me-scream.

So, I’d actually like to challenge science’s whine findings with a recording of this ear piercing scream.

Along with the whining/screaming, toddlerhood also brings the joy of hitting and throwing food…well, throwing anything really, but food is a favorite projectile. The perfect toddler trifecta; screaming, hitting, and throwing. Little Dude has perfected them all.

Sounds agonizing, right? Not really. In fact, it’s amazing to witness the rapid development. The world works in mysterious ways, and any “bad” is generally accompanied by an ample dose of “good.” While it can be fun to complain, there really is a great balance of yin and yang with toddlerhood.

Sure he’s whining and screaming, but that just leads to words; more, Marley (Mar mar), Dada, Mama, Bubba (also referring to Marley…and every other animal), hi, bye bye. Plus, it’s pretty fun to watch a crazy little dude running and screaming. He’s just figuring out this whole communication thing, and it’s pretty cool to watch the process.

Sure the throwing of food and every other object in his path may be a bear to keep clean, and a bit destructive, but he’s just exploring (or so I tell Mrs. Dude). Plus, he’s developing quite a throw!

Sure the hitting is uncalled for, painful, and a bit embarrassing in public, but it’s leading to some incredible new skills; skills that are worth every bit of pain and frustration – hugging, squeezing, holding hands, and my all-time favorite, kisses! Mmmm-aaaahhh. Hearts melt, seriously. Didn’t know hearts could do that, but they do with teeny, tinnie little kisses. Rad.

The yin and yang of toddlerhood is awesome. And the Dude is enjoying every millisecond.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v-IKXqC68IA[/youtube]

Wow! We’re Small.

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Rather than paraphrasing a relatively short post from another blog, I’m just going to do the old copy and paste routine. Below is a post titled “The Tiny Humanity Bubble” on the jackadamblog that offers some potential mind-blowingness.

“Mankind has been broadcasting radio waves into deep space for about a hundred years now — since the days of Marconi.

That, of course, means there is an ever-expanding bubble announcing Humanity’s presence to anyone listening in the Milky Way. This bubble is astronomically large (literally), and currently spans approximately 200 light years across.

But how big is this, really, compared to the size of the Galaxy in which we live (which is, itself, just one of countless billions of galaxies in the observable universe)?

To answer that question, I put together the following diagram of our galaxy with the “Humanity Bubble” embedded within it. You’ll need to click on it to get the full resolution image and zoom in on the highlighted region.”

Wow, we’re tiny! Nature is so much more substantial than we commonly give it credit for. We are a just a tiny, tiny piece of the ever-expanding big picture.

It seems to me that aliens/intelligent life should be a foregone conclusion given the sheer magnitude of the known Universe. How could we be arrogant enough to believe that we could be the only game in town?!

The World is Full of Amazing Ideas

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The world is full of amazing ideas. All we have to do is tap into our creativity, or the “collective” creativity, and great things happen.

It’s easy to trick ourselves into thinking that all of the good ideas have been taken. Here we are in the “technology” age; a time where great ideas have blossomed into instant access to information in the palm of our hands. What could possibly come next? How could I come up with an idea that could impact such a progressive time?

How about a hole in a roof, a plastic bottle, water, and bleach?

Instant, and free, light for an otherwise dark situation.

Amazing. As the Guinness commercials are fond of saying, “brilliant!”

Thanks for reminding us there are still plenty of amazing ideas to be found.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a9fpolCvM-8[/youtube]

Rock N’ Roll

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Tattoos and guitar are very rock n’ roll; so in the spirit of enjoying a great Saturday rockin’ out with the fam, I have a couple tidbits to pass along.

  1. Kids love temporary tattoos…there’s something great about seeing artwork on your body. And to be fair, the Dude loves some ink too. So, you can imagine my excitement when I stumbled upon these super awesome designer temporary tattoos.

Designer Temp Tats

Designer Temp Tats

2. Numero dos: Sweet perspective of a guitar being strummed.

Hope you’re enjoying your Saturday. Rock on!

Say It Ain’t So: TSA for Kids

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A few weeks ago, I threatened to start a series of posts categorized as “Say It Ain’t So,” where the Dude could wax poetically about the ridiculousness of the world we live in. I was half joking, but I continue to be amazed by ridiculous ridiculousness, so I’ve decided to follow through…for at least one more post.

First it was Kidazania, but now The Man is pulling out all the stops with his craftiness.

Fan of TSA? Like being faced with the great choice of walking through copious amounts radiation so dudes in a back room can look at a naked version of you OR being forcibly groped, just so you can sit in a tin can banging elbows with the dude next to you and not being offered free peanuts?!  Seems like a blast, and definitely something free Americans who demonstrate no threat should be forced to endure in order to travel on a plane.

Right, the terrorists. They attacked by taking over planes before; I’m sure they couldn’t come up with another way to attack if they want to. Perhaps attaching bombs to themselves and blowing up public facilities (without TSA) like they do every day in the Middle East?

We’re so reactionary. Uh oh, caught a shoe bomber. Everyone take their shoes off from now on. Dude, they already tried that…and somehow you stumbled into stopping them. My guess is he must have had a big sign that said “I have a bomb in my shoe.” How about you try to stay a step ahead rather than continually trying to build fear in the populace to cover up your inept attempts to keep people safe.

Or maybe that’s the evil plan. Keep people scared and slowly remove their rights in the name of keeping them safe until we lose the ability, and the will, to say no.

Good luck stopping the “bomb implants” they  are now scaring us with (and by “they” I mean The Man, not the terrorists). How far can we take this? Will we all be getting a surgical procedure in order to board a plane?

If the “terrorists,” whatever that actually means, want to hurt people, they can…in a million different ways. The high school dropouts running the TSA checkpoints are not going to save us.

But they sure as shit will steal your stuff and/or make your grandmother remove her Depends to give a full search…of a clearly dangerous 105 pound, 95 year old woman, in a wheelchair.

But I digress…Say it ain’t so. A toy TSA scanner so every child in America can enjoy the fun it is to scan and search other free, unarmed, and non-dangerous children! Awesome!…and only $14.41 on Amazon!

Seriously, please say it ain’t so. Is the world really this crazy? Then again, that little punk in the picture sure does look like he’s having fun getting searched…maybe I’m the crazy one.

The Man sure is crafty. Is Kidzania using these yet?…they must be.

Update: It’s seems like a full-time job reporting on the blunders of the TSA, and I’m not looking for another job, but this news item was well timed, and too juicy to pass by this morning. Less than 12 hours after writing the above post, this morning’s headline reads: “Lawmakers Blast TSA Over 25k Security Breaches.” Yes, that’s 25,000 security breaches from 2001 to 2011. I feel safer already…good thing we’re giving up our liberties.

Here’s to Our Version of Danny & Annie

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June is a busy month around the Dude casa. School’s out, so that’s adds to the crazy. There are also a few special days for us to celebrate. A bunch of family birthdays…Lady in the Shoe has like 25 kids. Close to home, we have the Princess and Little Dude celebrating their big day only five days apart…great for duel bday parties!

But beyond the cake and candles, me and the Mrs. share our anniversary early in the month. We celebrated with a great dinner at a local restaurant, but I let time slip by without a post to commemorate the day.

I had a video saved to share, but I filed it away where I couldn’t find, so here we are three weeks late after I stumbled upon it. I considered saving it for next year, but clearly my filing system needs some improvement. So I figured I’d share now. Better late than never.

Happy belated anniversary Mrs. Dude. Here’s to our version of Danny & Annie…