Omnium-gatherum
Matt Hanson’s Brain Archive
December 19, 2005
Rick Charrette and the Bubble Gum Band
Rick Charrette is a bit of celebrity in Maine, at least amongst the kid circuit. For years he has been singing and performing his songs for kids. I personally don’t remember Rick Charrette from when I was a kid, but there are others my age that do. Perhaps his fame never quite made it to the sleepy town of Hampden. Kaley and I were first introduced to him when he played last Christmas at the Portland tree lighting. It was a very cold and crowded square of people that squeezed in to see the lighting of the giant 60′ tree and Bubble Gum Band in action.
This past November we were invited to take Kaley and see him in concert at York High School. But not only that kaley was invited to go up on stage with several other kids during his “Alligator in the Elevator” song. She was the yougest of the kids and we met Rick before hand so he could meet the kids and tell them what they were to do. Kaley was a bit scared and I really didn’t think that she would end up going up there. But when the time came around I just nudged her in the direction of the other kids and away she went. She got to stand next to Rick and had a great time as can be seen in the pictures.
December 6, 2005
The HUB in the Parade
Dover, NH has a holiday parade every year at the beginning of December. This year we marched in it as part of the HUB, a community resource center and also where Kaley goes to a daycare a couple times a week. Maizy went in the baby backpack that I carried and I got a chance to take pictures of a parade from in it rather then from the outside.
November 28, 2005
She’s 3
We had a kid birthday party for Kaley last weekend, the theme of which was ’shapes and colors’. Cake, ice cream, presents, and games were the order of the day. Also in this gallery are pictures of Kaley on her actual birthday, the day after Thanksgiving this year, when we were at Me-Meres house.
The Terrible Two’s?
While the age of two is usually called the ‘terrible twos’, the time between 2 and 3 was when Kaley underwent an amazing transformation from baby to an independent communicative toddler. This ia an amazing time of language development where they start off with perhaps a couple words at the age of two, and by 3 they have an extensive vocabulary and talking in complete sentences. Kaley continually uses words that I wonder where she learned them from. She knows colors, shapes, can count by rote to 20, and can actually count things to 3 or 4. It’s amazing how far she’s come in a single year.
Potty training is another big devlepmental milestone and I cannot stress this enough…take your time and you will have less problems in the long run. We waited until Kaley was showing an interest, about 2 and a half. In about a month she was fully potty trained. The terrible two’s are present in all children I’ve ever met - referring to the tendency of them throwing tantrums and the difficulty in communicating with them. Encourage them to use words and don’t respond to communication via whining, or tantrums. But perhaps we just had it easy. Despite the occasional difficulty I am looking forward to watching Maizy through her two’s and am curious what the similarities and differences will be.
November 19, 2005
Mr. E.
Of all my years of grade school one stood out the most. It was 5th grade at Weatherbee School in Hampden, ME and my teacher was Mr. Edinger. Of course we were 5th graders so we made fun of the guy quite a bit. He was a bit of an old coot, but that is precisely the reason why I remember him so much. For all I know he had died years ago, but he didn’t. Jason C. sent me the obituary link and it was with a bit of sadness that I read Mr. E. died Monday.
In reading the obituary link I learn of all those things that as kids, we never knew, or would have cared about. He was a WWII veteran, had 2 sons and 2 daughters. He was from Jersey. He was 83.
To us he was just crazy old Mr. E, source of many stories and memories that I and my friends still share from time to time. Mr. E.’s life from the obituary was all news to me, it’s like I didn’t know him. But for many other readers that short newspaper clipping summed things up nicely. Kids memories aren’t used to write obituaries. Here the things you won’t read about Mr. E in the newspaper.
One night, in his youth, Mr. E. had car problems and he found himself under the hood. A passing truck driver tapped his horn, perhaps due to a deer…Mr. E., startled, lost his right pointing finger to the second knuckle in an engine fan. As a teacher, Mr. E. couldn’t exactly point - so he used his entire hand to point to things which became the Mr. E. symbol amongst our impressionable young minds. This (along with the Atari Boxing and the mind of Paul Bradley) brought about a whole new kid past-time - Mr. E. Boxing. I will not even attempt to explain the intricacies of that inside joke.
Mr. E. was the easiest teacher to imitate - one merely gestured with his hand (and pointing finger folded in) and said one of the many Mr. E. catch phrases, “Stay on the MacAdam, son”, or “I’ll be giving you a Think About Recess sheet”. Yes, the Think About Recess sheet, Mr. E’s answer to the more normal recess detention. In this version you would stay inside and fill out a worksheet that asked questions such as “would you rather be outside playing?” and “how does being inside during recess make you feel?”. But alas, I cannot tell you stories about how I answered such questions as I think I may have gotten one, once (i think), and if so it probably was probably because I was hanging out with Bruce Simeoni.
Fifth grade in Hampden, ME, in 1983, was the year that the the whole 5th grade was divided into girls/boys and we got our first introduction to puberty. Mr. E. was in charge and gave the talk to all us 10 year old boys.
Mr. E.’s favorite group, in 1983, was Air Supply. At the end of the year the whole class pitched in and we bought him the (vinyl) album The One That You Love.
Mr. E. was also found of singing - he had a whole collection of historical songs we sang in class. One civil war era song Cumberland Gap had always partially stuck with me.
Cumberland Gap is a mighty fine place,
three kinds of water to wash your face.
Cumberland Gap is a mighty fine place,
three kinds of water to wash your face.
Lay down boys and take a little nap,
fourteen miles to Cumberland Gap.
Lay down boys and take a little nap,
fourteen miles to Cumberland Gap.
Check out the complete lyrics and historical context info, or a listing of recorded songs.
My best to Mr. E.’s family and friends.
November 14, 2005
Kung-Fu Hustle
There are three main styles of the Wuxia, or “Kung-Fu”, film. The Bruce Lee style is real, or as a real as it can be and still be a good movie. There there is a more fanciful style that frequently uses “wire-fu“. The characters in the film perform amazing physical feats, such as jumping/flying, running up walls or tree limbs. The popular Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon is such a film, as are countless others. The third style of Wuxia film takes the fantasy element one step further. Heroes and villians, no longer content with amazing feats of physical prowess, are now endowed with supernatural abilities. They are the Chinese counterparts to Western Superheroes.
Kung Fu Hustle falls into the third camp with it’s Super-Heroes, and Super-Villians, who can fight, jump, fly, destroy city blocks by yelling, grab bullets from the air, and even get knocked into outer space and survive a fiery re-entry through the atmosphere. Kung-Fu Hustle has amazing special effects and a unique story. Perhaps it is the fact that I am a Westerner but in many Wuxia films I am unable to even guess what will happen next. Kung-Fu Hustle is like going to the circus as a bright-eyed, naive young kid, continuously amazed at the sights and sounds, no preconceptions about the end, and giddy with the plain silliness of at all.
If you are not a fan of the genre you may very well think it’s a horrible piece of drivel, non-sensical, stupid, and with no redeeming qualities. For the non-fan here’s the litmus test: If you thought “Big Trouble in Little China” was stupid then stay away. If you liked it, and you like the western super-hero genre, and think The Tick is funny, then it will at least entertain you.
As a fan of the Kung-Fu genre, and of bizarre films in general, Kung-Fu Hustle is an amazing film, and among the best of it’s kind. I would give it a rare 5/5.
November 10, 2005
The Pumpkin People
I’m back from another work trip to Port Jefferson, NY. It’s been busy and I hadn’t gotten a chance to post the rest of the Pumpkin day pictures - the pictures of everyone with their pumpkins. Except this year it’s not just the people and their pumpkins, Beady the malformed scarecrow has also gotten involved. These are the important pictures as it helps me keep track of Who’s Who in the land of pumpkin carving.
Who seems most pleased with their pumpkin ? Who seems upset with their performance? Can you see the pure madness on the faces of the practioners of this barbaric ritual?
October 31, 2005
Pumpkin Voting
Happy Halloween! Vote for your favorite, and least favorite pumpkins for the 5th annual Pumpkin-Fest. This year there are 29 gourds to choose from.
See the pictures of Pumpkin-Fest day.
UPDATE (Nov 5, 2005)
Congratulations to Nicky Conner for becoming this years Pumpkin-Master with her pumpkin, Bushman. And a congratulations to Rob and Zola Braswell for their pumpkin, Angry, with which they won the coveted title Pumpkin-Head.
Continue reading to see the voting results.
October 30, 2005
There are three things I have learned never to discuss with people: religion, politics, and the Great Pumpkin*
The 5th annual Pumpkin-Fest was all about Pumpkins, dangerous tools, and crazy new technology.
Friends, family, and neighbors arrived all day to cut open pumpkins and carve new designs. Unfortunately we had our first pumpkin related ER visit - it involved a sharp knife followed by 5 stiches, but Liam was a trooper. Some of us got to try out the amazing Segway that Sean brought along. We had a record number of pumpkins, 29 entered the contest and even more were carved.
People occasionally ask me about pumpkin carving tips and since I’ve never been a Pumpkin Master I may not be qualified to lend advice. But I will try: Sheet Rock saws work the best for cutting the top (or bottom) hole and are good for making large cuts. Ice cream scoops work the best at scooping out the insides. Scrap away as much as the inside of the pumpkin as you can, you want the walls thin so they are easy to work with but not too thin so they sag. For detail work those small saws in pumpkin carving kits work pretty well. Other then that, have fun carving.
Come back tommorow for pumpkin voting!
* Linus, It’s the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown (1966)
October 28, 2005
She likes to eat, she loves to scream
I have started taking more Maizy pictures to make up for my poor performance in past months. She definitely has a more active personality then Kaley ever did. Not that Kaley was lackadaisical, she was just able to stay in one spot for more then a few minutes. Not so with Maizy. Showing no interest in television or sitting still, she’s always on the move and when she’s not on the move but wants to be she screams.
We’re not talking about a normal baby scream or crying here. No, this is a harsh guttural scream that pierces the brain, then gets louder and louder until it drives you out of your mind, or you set her free to roam once more. But other then the scream factor she’s a pretty easy. She goes to sleep on her own, sleeps through the night and happy most of the time.
She’s now getting old enough where we can let Kaley play with her more without fear. She’s not as fragile as she once was and in another few months she’ll be able to pick up Kaley over her head like the twig she is. It’s actually a pretty good combination for siblings. One of them is older so has seniority, but the younger one is tougher and stronger. Kaley’s still learning to keep her hair out of grabbing range as it’s always fair game.
October 27, 2005
Among other things, a Cassie Tibbetts
The real end of warm weather. This year instead of watching the fall foliage we watched the rain. No real leaf colors - not until the end of the month when most of them just turned to brown and dumped on the ground over a couple days. Not a good fall - no apple picking for us this year or much outside activity. However…
I want to congratulate the Tibbetts on the birth of their baby daughter Cassie. She was actually born at the end of last month but we got down to see them early October…pictures inside. we brought dinner for the family and said our Hellos to the new gal, new parents, and grandmother. Hope things are going great in Cassie town.
We made a quick trip to Bangor, ME about mid-month. Rain canceled our planned river boat outing. But we visited with Kim’s long lost cousin Sara and her hubby in Winterport. She’s in the middle of cyclo-cross racing season as she trains to go pro. Best of luck! See pictures of a cyclo-cross race.
Kim and I worked on a couple pumpkins one night. Kaley and I did one that molded up pretty fast. Just recently Kaley and I put together our traditional scarecrow, Beady, to sit watch at the front of the house. He came out looking a bit more goofy then normal.
Must get ready for this weekend, the pumpkins are coming to town…
UPDATE (Oct 30, 2005)
Pictures add of Kaley doing Pumpkin crafts and trick or treating.
October 22, 2005
Shaun of the Dead
Ok who doesn’t like a good zombie movie? Especially one as entertaining and quirky as Shaun of the Dead. Most cult horror movies aren’t obviously funny, Shaun of the Dead breaks that mold. It’s advertised as a zombie comedy while it pokes fun at all the zombie movie stereotypes. In fact, the official tagline calls it a romantic comedy, with zombies. See the official website.
There are two particularly noteworth scenes in the film. 1) Shaun and Ed chat about which albums are ok to throw at two oncoming zombies and 2) a series of cut scenes where Shaun and Ed run through the plan on how to rescue Shaun’s ex-girlfriend, kill his step-dad, and wrap it up with a few pints down at the local pub while the zombie thing blows over.
If you’re a bit put off by zombies, or the occasional limb being ripped off, or oozing brains, then perhaps Shaun of the Dead isn’t for you. If you think all those things are good fun then Shaun of the Dead will definitely please. If you think that movies without zombies are boring, and more movies should have gratuitous zombie gore thrown in (even if just during the credits), then Shaun of the Dead will be a favorite for sure.
October 12, 2005
The Pumpkins are Coming!
Grab yer knives, bring yer wives, this year the pumpkins are coming to Dover. Come see the past Pumpkin-Masters and laugh at old Pumpkin-Heads.
The 5th annual Pumpkin-Fest will be held in Dover at our house this year on Saturday, October 29th from Noon-Night. To see pictures of past years have a looks in the Pumpkin category. This year it’s B.Y.O.P., with pot-luck foods (bring somethin’ to eats), and typical barbaric carving activities.
The rules?
- No power tools (for entries, feel free to power one up anyway if you’d like)
- No templates (ditto)
Come back to vote the week starting Oct 31st for the best and worst pumpkins. Hope to see you at Pumpkin-Fest 2005, if you dare… (sorry, absentee pumpkin entries not allowed)
“I laughed, I cried, it was better then Cats” - anonymous attendee at Pumpkin-Fest 2004
October 1, 2005
Teeth, Family, and little tiny houses
I got some great pictures of Kaley and Maizy together this month and must try in the future to do more. It really started cooling down this month so no more pool pictures. Kaley started going to “school” (playgroup) 2 days/week and also got her first dentist appointment. Kim took the girls to see their great grandmother, and last weekend we went to Portsmouth to see faerie houses spread out across the the city. These are small individually built small houses..the whole idea was started by some childrens book. Some of the houses were neat but the best part was just walking around Portsmouth on a brisk fall day.
I won the Fuzzy Wuzzy
My wife went to the fair last night and I dreamt of Motley Crue posters. Let me explain. But first let me describe the biggest carny scam ever - the game known as Ring Toss.
The ring toss pulls you in with the “throw till you win” tagline and prizes fall into two categories - junk and non-junk. The goal is to toss the ring onto one of the posts, you get as many tosses as it takes to get the ring on a post, then you win what’s on that post. The non-junk is on posts that the ring can barely fit around, but here’s how you win. You need to toss the ring so it is perfectly aligned over the top of the post then, since the ring is flying forward through the air, you need to instantly increase gravity by 10 fold to make the ring suddenly fall downward over the large post. It also goes without saying that all the posts remotely near one of the big posts are all junk posts.
It was the Bangor State Fair, circa 1983, and I was there with Bruce Simeoni. I was playing the Ring Toss game determined to win a super (non-junk) prize - a $20 bill. I was totally convinced that I could do this and convinced myself for years that I had gotten close to winning. My ring bounced off the top of the $20 post and went around one of the (exceptionally narrow) nearby junk posts - I had won a fuzzy wuzzy. But wait, the carny, in a unusual bout of generosity, saw that I was less then pleased with my prize.
“you win a fuzzy-wuzzy, want something else instead?”
“yes”
“want a motley crue poster?”
“no” motley crew sucks
“you win a fuzzy wuzzy then”
And there you have it. I was very nearly a super winner at the ring toss game, a few scant millimeters from an elusive non-junk prize - but in the end I was given a choice between a Motley Crue poster and a fuzzy wuzzy. I chose the fuzzy wuzzy. What makes this even more of a sad story was that I kept that fuzzy wuzzy for more then 20 years until I threw it out last year when we moved. If only I had kept it a year longer I could have included a picture of the infamous fuzzy wuzzy. In picture absentia I will describe the fuzzy wuzzy: 4 inches long plastic, covered with brown fuzz and a sticker face on it. The sticker face had long since fell off so it essentially looked like a small piece of furry poop.
Kim and Kaley went to the Deerfield fair last night but I stayed home with Maizy since she was sick and I had my broken toe. The idea of the fair must have brought back memories of the Bangor State fair because that night I dreamt about winning Motley Crue posters. They were the black and white, color yourself with marker type of poster. And this time, I didn’t win just one - I won a lot. This time I really was the big winner.
September 30, 2005
The poor pinky toe
I’ve entered a new era of being accident prone. Last night I stubbed my poor small toe on the side of doorway - it hurt pretty bad, swelled right up and turned purple. A trip to the hospital and subsequent x-rays confirmed it was indeed broken. The funny thing was that it was the same emergency room doctor that stiched me up last month.
Any picture would pale in comparison to my last crash, so I just put up the x-ray instead. I barely got a chance to get back on the bike and now I’m off again. It’s a very poor way to end the season.
I’ve got to buddy tape my little toe to the next one for the next month, hopefully it will be better sooner then that - at least enough so I can cram it into a cycling shoe.
