The Dude’s New Chopper – You’re Never Too Old for a Toy

I can’t resist the chance to share a Schwarzenegger clip…

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xs_OacEq2Sk[/youtube]

Classic Arnold. 🙂

Nothing creates family bonding – and tantrums – like a remote control vehicle the size of a small bird.

The living room at the Dude Casa has a tall ceiling. Perfect for flying vehicles.

Inexpensive remote control helicopters have been on the scene for a few years, but my experience has been that these little bundles of joy are pretty delicate. As a result, I’ve resisted my urge to perfect my flying skills in the Dude air zone.

Until now.

Dude Chopper

Dude Chopper

I came across this sweet whirly bird on Huckberry, and it was a perfect match. A bargain and described as “practically indestructible.” I knew we’d test that description, but worth a $20 bet.

And this beauty has paid for itself in smiles, giggles, and tantrums when the batteries run out…which is every six minutes… literally

A few points…

  1. What, you haven’t heard of Huckberry?! It’s the shiz. Go sign up for the awesomeness. Here’s how they describe themselves: Huckberry is a bi-weekly web magazine that brings you unique apparel and gear at members-only prices along with the stories behind the products. Our emails are awesome and infrequent.
  2. Yes, the batteries actually run out in six minutes, and it takes about an hour to charge. But, honestly, we don’t need more than six minutes with it at a time. It’s a short burst of awesome, and we leave the kids wanting more – i.e. Little Dude kicking and screaming. 🙂 But he gets over it quickly, and he’s jazzed when “Daddy’s helcopter workin’!”
  3. Indestructible? Eh…for the most part. We did break the on/off switch off in the first day. But nothing a MacGyver fix with the back of an earring can’t remedy. And to be fair, it is for 14+ and we’re rocking it with a 2 & 7 year old. So, yeah, pretty much indestructible.

Now, GET TO THE CHOPPA!!!!!

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4-VKfVwy3t0[/youtube]

That’s Tight! (TGT) The Dude Can Finally Grow Up.

My Mom’s prayers have been answered. The Dude can finally carry a wallet.

Here’s the “wallet” I’ve been carrying for years.

Dude's Wallet - Not Tight

Dude’s Wallet – Not Tight

Sweet hairbands, right?

Momzilla has tried numerous times to buy her bambino an actual wallet. But it’s just not my thang.

I’m not a fan of clutter, and I don’t dig a lot of stuff in my pocket. The Dude is a simple man.

Thank you TGT for making the Dude and my Moms happy. The perfect wallet. At 35, I can finally graduate to an actual wallet.

TGT Cowman 2.0

TGT Cowman 2.0

Support this KickStarter campaign. It’s pretty great, and Jack Sutter seems like a pretty rad dude.

Nice work Jack.

Darn right I have a sweet TGT Cowman 2.0 headed my way!

The Dude Has Always Wanted To…Blow Glass

If I have an idea, I tend to give it a whirl.

Thanks to a wise sage (Mr. S. Barry :)), I tend to live by the motto of “Be the Expert.”

Wise words, right? We’re all just faking our way through life. Regardless of how smart we might think we are, we have no clue. Zero. Nada. Zip! We are all just making it up as we go, so we might as well “be the expert.”

I love to tell Mrs. Dude that everything is easy….she loves it too. 🙂

I know that lots of stuff is pretty darn difficult, but a huge part of me does believe that everything is pretty easy when we put our mind to it. If someone else did it, odds are, you can too.

As a result of this can-do attitude, I tend to latch onto ideas that I have no business holding on to. Like blowing glass.

Blowing glass seems awesome, right?! Shaping molten glass into gorgeous designs. Awesome.

Where do I sign up?

Then I watch a video like this that reminds me that sometimes it’s ok to leave it to the “experts.”

Who knows, someday Mrs. Dude may end up with a mis-shapened glass vase crafted by the Dude in an overcrowded garage utilizing dangerously hot materials in dangerously hazardous ways, but for now, I’m cool with watching this dude create an awesome glass blown horse in all of 90 seconds…

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JFSB3-SzgoQ[/youtube]

Hat tip to The Kid for sharing the love.

The Real Dude – i.e. The Dude Behind The Dude

A little music to introduce today’s post…

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QVS3WNt7yRU[/youtube]

The Dude Abides

The Dude Abides

Welcome back. The Dude took an unexpected hiatus for a while. An end of summer vacation, I guess.

Almost a month and a half without blogging. No strong reason other than my attention was focused in other directions. The Dude Family enjoyed a nice August, and everything is copacetic. I’m in the process of moving to a great new job, so we even have some excitement afoot.

But it’s nice to be back. I’ve missed my virtual “Man Town.” I’m well rested, and I have a plethora of posts eager to be written.

Let’s get back to our roots to get us back on track; The Big Lebowski. The Real Dude.

Actually, we’re going beyond The Dude to the Dude behind The Dude. This is a video of the real man The Dude was modeled after. Classic.

Here’s a quick description from the video, and then we’re off and running:

Meet the dude behind The Dude! Sundance Award winning director JEFF FEUERZEIG, (THE DEVIL AND DANIEL JOHNSTON, ESPN 30 for 30’s THE REAL ROCKY), reveals the inspiration for the beloved central character in the Coen Brothers’ cult-favorite film THE BIG LEBOWSKI. This documentary short follows Jeff Dowd to a Lebowski Fest offering a glimpse into this fascinating subculture and colorful real-life character behind the iconic mythical Dude and the secret to how he always abides.

Update: Unfortunately, the link to the video is private now. However, you can still see it under “Staff Picks“…but I can’t embed it here.

But not to disappoint, here’s a documentary look at the bizarre (in a great way :)) world of Big Lebowski “fests.” Enjoy.

 [vimeo]http://vimeo.com/32576846[/vimeo]

Hofstadter’s Law: Why the Dude’s Projects Always Take Longer Than Planned

Douglas Hofstadter

Douglas Hofstadter

The Dude has been on a slow blog roll for a couple weeks.

A week or so ago I mentioned that Mrs. Dude has me working a 2nd job as a painter, and the sun room painting project has been consuming my extra time. Hence the slow blog roll.

In that post I said, “We should be able to drop the brushes soon and get back to life without painting.” Nice and vague Dude, good work.

I didn’t anticipate this lack of commitment to a deadline and getting “back to life without painting” would still be dragging on almost two weeks later!

Why do Dude projects always take longer than expected?!

Turns out I have an answer to this question. Hofstadter’s Law.

Hofstadter’s law, conceived by the cognitive scientist Douglas Hofstadter, goes like this: any task you’re planning to complete will always take longer than expected – even when Hofstadter’s law is taken into account.

Yep, sounds like every project the Dude takes on.

Here’s a quick read about Hofstadter’s Law from the Guardian. It’s worth 5 minutes to read (although, I’m sure I’m underestimating how long it will take :)), but I’ll pull out a couple quotes I dig…

  • How to get around Hofstadter’s Law? – The unlikely trick is to plan in less detail: avoid considering the specifics and simply ask yourself how long it’s taken to do roughly similar things before. ‘You’ll get back an answer that sounds hideously long, and clearly reflects no understanding of the special reasons why this task will take less time. This answer is true. Deal with it’
  • Better yet, where possible, avoid planning altogether. Use the “ready, fire, aim” approach, and correct course as you go along.
  • Sometimes, the secret to getting things done is just to do them.

So, as I spend my kid-free Saturday inside painting rather than enjoying the summer sun, I’ll keep Mr. Hofstadter’s Law firmly in my mind to help me remain realistic.

I’m going to finish today – says the painter who will finish sometime next week…maybe. 🙂

PS – The image included here is from an article/interview Hofstadter had in Wired magazine…also worth a quick read. This Hofstadter dude seems like a cool cat.

Blogging is More Important Than Ever

Monopolies are no bueno. Parker Brothers taught us this a long time ago with the board game.

We all know that by the end of a game of Monopoly – once all the power has been consolidated in the winners hands – Mom and Dad aren’t talking, Uncle Jim is no longer welcome at the house, and the kids are rolling around on the ground scratching each others eyes out.

It never fails, consolidation of Boardwalk and Park Place in the hands of the thimble leads to decisions made for the benefit of the few and a mass unrest for those on the losing end. And the board game is a decent corollary for the real world.

Yet, some how the masses tend to miss the formation of real monopolies…or more likely, fooled into missing the real monopolies.

Check out the below “Illusion of Choice” infographic.

  • 6 major companies dictate about 90% of the media we have access to.
  • In less than 30 years the number of companies providing our media has dropped from 50 to just 6.
  • The six companies consisting of GE, New-corp, Disney, Viacom, Time Warner, and CBS.
  • One media executive to every 850,000 subscribers.
  • To add to the craziness, check out how much GE paid in taxes…how about zero?!
    • 57,000 page tax return and paid the big donut on $14 billion in profits.
The Illusion of Choice

The Illusion of Choice

So, this leads me to my main point. Blogging is more important than ever. Mass media may be monopolized and homogenized, but the interwebs is wide open.

Turn off the TV, stop reading mainstream media, and open your eyes to the rich information on the intertubes.

I’m a blogger, so I’ll admit I’m a bit biased, but I am amazed at the quality and quantity of independent media at our finger tips. Far more than we can keep up with, but choose your interests and pursue with vigor.

Let The Man have the monopolized media. The people have each other.

Quick tip: Between work and home, I currently follow 316 blogs. Crazy, right? How do I keep up? It’s pretty easy…and fun because it’s information I’m into.

  1. Get a Google Reader account – this allows you to consolidate all of your blogs in one spot. With the magic of RSS feeds, there’s no need to go out and look for new posts
  2. Setup an IGoogle page with Google Reader, Facebook, Twitter, weather, a surf report – anything you look at on a regular basis – and make this your homepage. Every time you get on your computer, you’ll see new blog posts that you dig.
  3. Don’t get caught up in reading every post. Scan headlines, and only dig into posts that catch your attention.
  4. To take it to the mobile level, you can get apps for your smart phones and tablets that give you the ability to check your Google Reader – I use “MobileRSS” for my IPhone and “Feedler” for my IPad.

As an example, here’s a look at my IGoogle homepage…

 

Dude's iGoogle

Dude's iGoogle

Thanks to Frugal Dad for the great infographic.

Dude’s Workout

Happy belated Memorial Day. Hope you had a great unofficial start to the summer.

Memorial Day is one of the best holidays – other than the whole memorializing dead people thing – because of the all the promise the upcoming summer holds. It will go quick, it always does, but it’s a given that the next few months will be filled with all sorts of greatness.

To help kickoff the summer, The Dudes welcomed The Lady in the Shoe and her family – all 27 kids. Luckily, her husband – the Dude’s brother-in-law – tagged along as well. And he helped me accomplish a major task, cutting down a couple big trees.

So, to start this post, I want give a huge thank you to the bro-in-law for all the help. And this big task is part of a bigger discussion we had over the extended weekend, workouts.

I could stretch this workout discussion in all sorts of directions, but I’m going to keep it simple – with the thought in mind that I will circle back with some more workout/health related ideas later.

As I’ve mentioned in previous posts, the Dude has been dabbling in health and fitness for a long time. Many moons ago I was even a certified personal trainer, but my main interest over the years has been to develop an efficient training and health regimen for myself. And I’m closer now than I’ve ever been.

I’m always looking for ideas to improve my systems, methods, exercises, etc., but my current regimen is very streamlined and effective.

I get into workout discussions from time to time, and I’ve shared my ideas on a number of occasions; so after a workout discussion with the bro-in-law this weekend, I figure it’s worth a blog post to toss out my thoughts.

This is already dragging on longer than I hoped, so let’s get to it. Below is a down and dirty on the Dude’s Workout. Keep in mind that my goal is to get results, be healthy, and do it as quickly, as effectively, and as fun as possible.

Oh, and no gym membership, done at home.

Before I dive into it, I need to point out that general health and desired results depend heavily on diet. I estimate as much as 80%, in fact…maybe more. Yes, diet is that important. My diet discussion will most likely spiral in all sorts of directions, so I’m not going to hit it YET, but if you want to do a little research on your own, check out Mark’s Daily Apple. I can’t suggest that site highly enough. I dig Mark’s ideas big time. Snoop around, you’ll be amazed, and much of my thoughts incorporate Mark’s ideas.

Here we go….the Dude’s workout for a week:

  • 2 days of heavy lifting
  • 4 days of movement
  • 1 day of sprints

Heavy Lifting – I use a dive belt with 28 pounds for weight:

  • Weighted push-ups
    • 16 reps –  failure
    • Exhale up and down, hold for a full inhale at the bottom.
  • Weighted pull-ups
    • 16 reps – failure
  • Squats or lunges
    • 20 reps
  • Shoulder press
    • 10 reps
    • Kneel on a bench or chair (I use a piano bench), bend over and put your hands on the ground, push. You’ll be amazed.
  • Planks
    • 35 seconds. Front, and each side.
    • If you don’t know planks, do a quick search, and you’ll get all you need to know. Basically, get in a push-up position, but on your elbows, and hold it.

A Few Notes:

  • Only go to about 80-90% range of motion for each exercise. In other words, keep tension on the active muscles at all times; don’t fully extend and give your muscles a chance to relax in between reps.
  • I’d love to do lower reps, but it’s tough to have enough weight at home.
    • Lower reps – 6-8 – are best for building muscle.
  • It is amazing how great the workout can be at home. It’s just a matter of the right exercises – and the right diet.
  • I have a couple other routines I’m working towards, but I haven’t gotten there yet. I’ll share when I do.

4 Days of Movement:

  • This can be anything; just get out and move. Walking is great, ride a bike, kayak, jump rope, play on a playground – anything you can do to move.
  • I do yoga a couple days a week, and I also incorporate deep tissue massage with a lacrosse ball, as I’ve mentioned in a previous post – this massage will blow your mind.
  • I also work in walking, riding a bike, kayaking, gardening, surfing, chasing the kiddos, yada, yada, yada. Basically, get outside, move, and have fun.

Sprints:

  • This is a key ingredient. Drop the long runs. They are not healthy or good for you. Again, read Mark’s Daily Apple.
  • However, I must admit, I’m a bit slack here. I was very consistent for a couple months, but I’ve been stretched in other directions recently.
  • My routine is 6, 120 yard sprints – a full football field including end-zones. Sprint – as in as fast as you can – one way and walk back to catch your breath. Repeat 6 times.
  • There are a wide variety of options thought – swim, jump rope, kayak, ride a bike – anything that you can sprint with.

There it is the down and dirty Dude workout. Be flexible, but be consistent. Have fun, save money, and get in shape. The summer is full of promise; so now’s a great time to start.

Before I roll, how about a couple great pictures of the tree cutting. Which brings me full circle, and gives me a chance to make a final note. Life is full of exercise, we just need to find it. Cutting down trees and hauling wood all day is a great example of a day full of heavy lifting. Sure, it’s not a specific routine, but damn straight that counts as one of the two heavy lifting days for the week.

Thanks for the workout and the lack of trees bro-in-law.

Practical Tips from a Burglar

The Dude has been burglarized on a few occasions; a few cars, a couple houses, and an array of locations. I recovered some goods, lost some, but overall none of the instances were earth-shattering. I did feel a bit unlucky – karma?…not sure for what.

While my life did roll on normally, I can say that it does leave a creepy, violated feeling that lingers for a while. However, I really don’t think of it much, and I don’t view the world as a negative place with thieves around every corner. Although, I do consciously lock my doors, and I have a baseball bat next to my bed – as a dad, these precautions just make practical sense.

These anomalies to my everyday life don’t come to mind too often, but I saw a neat post on swissmiss.com, and since I can relate, I figured it was worth sharing. Some common sense ideas that we should all have lodged in our mental space.

Tips from burglars. And after reading the list, I can say that if I followed these, I probably could have avoided some of the violations.

Worth a quick read…

13 Things a Burglar Won’t Tell You

Finish Strong

I’m a big fan of the story of this dude Nate Ebner.

I spent a large portion of my life living outside of Boston. And as a result, Boston sports have been ingrained in me.

Boston is a pretty crazy sports town. Die-hard fans of all sorts. I’ve had the luxury of cheering for some  amazing teams, but I am happy to say that now that I’m removed from the daily sports talk, it’s nice to be a casual fan rather than a die-hard. There are more important things in life to think about.

However, you can’t remove the fan altogether, and I’ve already started to brainwash the kiddos. Although, considering we don’t have TV, there’s really not much sports watching happening anyway.

So, what does all this Boston sports talk have to do with Nate Ebner? Nate is a new draft pick by the New England Patriots. He was a standout rugby player, and went on to play special teams at Ohio State as a walk-on.

Not all that impressive considering amazing NFL athletes, but Nate has the “intangibles.” He’s got a great attitude and an amazing work ethic. He may have spent most of this time on special teams for Ohio State, but his coach says that he was without a doubt the most valuable player on the team.

That’s the type of person you want on your team, and that’s the type of player Boston fans love to root for. Underdog with the heart of a lion.

So, I’m looking forward to seeing how Nate does in the NFL. But more than that, Nate’s story struck a chord with me.

I’ve carried a “finish strong” mantra with me since I was a kid. As I was playing sports, my Padre would remind me to finish strong. He helped me understand that this simple mindset is what makes someone a leader and pushes you above the pack.

It’s easy. You’re going to finish anyway. Just put in that last bit of effort to finish strong.

This mantra has stuck with me. I still say it to myself when I’m working on a challenging task, physical or mental, and now I’ve caught myself passing these sage words onto the kiddos.

It turns out that these are the same words that Nate lives by. Nate’s dad instilled these same words in him. Unfortunately, Nate’s dad has passed away, but “finish strong” has lived on in Nate, and he’s brought that message to all of his teammates as well.

It’s also great to see how much love and respect Nate has for his father. Great people finish strong, and they make other people great along the way.

Here’s a nice video about Nate. Looking forward to seeing you on the field Nate…when I visit someone that has TV. 🙂

Finish strong.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZIq-MaR5rCM[/youtube]

It Will Bring a Tear to a Dude’s Eye…

This time-lapse video of a young girl aging from zero to 12 has been shared quite a bit the past couple days – gone viral as the cool kids like to say.

It is very cool to watch how kids progress. But it brings a tear to the Dude’s eye. Kids grow up too fast.

I’ve been using an app on the IPhone called “Everyday” to take a picture of me and Little Dude…almost everyday. The idea is that the app will take the pictures and put it into a video. I’ve been doing it for over a year.

It’s amazing to see how much he’s changed in a year. And how much the Dude’s facial hair has changed. 🙂

I keep thinking that I’ll turn it into a video. But I always decide to wait for another deadline. The reality is that it’s kind of scary to see how fast the Little Man is growing.

But the beauty of watching a child grow is the next stage is at least as fun as the last. Although, we’re seeing hints of the terrible two’s, so I reserve the right to retract that last statement.

Zero to 12…

[vimeo]http://vimeo.com/40448182[/vimeo]