Rise and Shine --- Storm chasing

Good Morning and how about that Sandy!
So, while talking about the upcoming 'SUPER STORM,' I mentioned at the breakfast table Sunday I was going to become a storm hunter.
You know, those people who drive around in SUVs and get some cool video of tornadoes and hurricanes.
"Good luck with that," said the teenager.
"Uh, I'm not going with you," said the 7-year old.
"Yeah, right," added the 10-year old.
OK, how about if I just do storm hunting from the backyard? That would be safer.
"Like anybody's going to pay for that," came the quick retort.
Yeah, but it will be better than driving into work through a storm. I could set up a camera under an umbrella and sit there as Sandy comes in.
"First, the umbrella would blow away," came the 2nd-grader's logic. "Can I watch TV?"
OK, so my first attempt at garnering excitement didn't go so well. Let's see what happens tonight.

Rise and Shine --- Movie night?

Good Morning and how about those Giants!



The movie viewers in the house range in ages from 13 to 7 (almost 8). Up until this weekend, I didn't think that matter too much.

After all, we kind of all agree on most movies we watch. There is a lot of animation and mostly dumb comedies that are family friendly. You know, like those goofy Eddie Murphy movies with talking animals or the latest Pixar fare.

So, while riding around Saturday afternoon, we were talking about movies we could watch later that night.

How about Abbott and Costello Meet Dracula? That's a good one for Halloween!

"No, that's stupid," said the 13-year old.

Yeah, but it's funny.

"I want to watch 'The Terminator,'" the teenager continued.

Well, I think that's a little intense for the little guys. What do the other kids in school watch?

"They are watching 'The Terminator' or 'Friday the 13th' or good movies like that," came the complaint. "Nobody in school watches Abbott and Costello."

Well, that's their loss. I'm trying to show you some of the classics.

"They are just dumb. Nobody watches those movies. Nobody watches 'Duck Soup.' Nobody's even heard of it."

Now, as a way of explanation, a few months ago we were looking for something to watch and we stumbled on a showing of the Marx Brothers' great movie called 'Duck Soup.'

It's a major anti-war movie and it's laugh-out-loud funny, like most Marx Brothers movies. Apparently, though, it's lost on the teenage crowd.

Well, I said, maybe we should invite some of your friends over and watch 'Duck Soup.' We could even have some pizza.

"Nobody will come over. Nobody wants to watch that. Nobody's even heard of those movies. It's embarrassing."

OK, I'll call your teachers and see if I can come in and show the movie during school.

"Ahhhhh..."  

Rise and Shine --- Holiday overload

Good Morning and welcome to the only place on the Internet you want to be!
Like mostly everybody else, I like holidays. OK, that's not exactly the pull-you-in kind of opening loyal readers are used to, but I thought I would throw out some truth.

What I don't get is how we've advanced the holidays so far that there are pre-pre-pre-Christmas sales in July.

I like holiday shopping the old-fashioned way. Which means, I want to think about Halloween in October; Thanksgiving in November and Christmas in December. (We'll discuss Arbor Day some other time).

So, while thinking about how to decorate the house for Halloween this year, I went out to a couple of local stores over the weekend.

That's when I found out I was behind the times. Halloween had been reduced to one aisle in most places. In one store, Halloween had been reduced to one end of the aisle and most of that stuff was broken.

So, I went home and pulled out the box of decorations before I thought, "Wait, I have over a week until Halloween. There's no rush."

So, I'll start to put the stuff up this week (as long as I get help from my helpers). Yeah, I guess I'm late. By the time I get all the ghosts floating the witches flying, I'll probably see commercials for bathing suit sales.

Rise and Shine --- Dealing with it

Good Morning and, really, frost today? It was like 70 yesterday.


Everybody deals with things differently. Some people go into a funk when something happens. Some people just ignore it. Some people try to find solutions.

So, when my Mom was rushed to the hospital after falling and banging her head, I didn't know how to feel. Should I rush down there, you know, just in case it's really serious. Should I wait around for updates. Should I just plug ahead.

After a couple of minutes of thinking, I jumped in the van and drove as fast as I could to to the hospital.

Once it became apparent she was OK, I couldn't help myself but try to find the humor in the situation.

Actually, we all did. We thought it was funny when the nurse asked if she used a worker.

We thought it was funny when the nurse was shocked Mom was still working full-time at 70.

We joked about getting one of those Hoverounds with the goofy commercials.

That's how we do it in our family. Try to find the light side and, bad taste and all, try to laugh a little bit.

Rise and Shine --- Politics and sunshine

Good Morning and, you know, sometimes you have good weekends and sometimes you have GOOD weekends!



Usually I leave this political talk to legends like Spencerblog, but, with another presidential debate just a day away, I'd thought I'd chime in on the subject.

OK, here goes: I hate political ads.

They bore me. They make me want to not vote for the person in the ad.

The worst this year are the ones being blasted on our TV screen by Tom Smith. Look, I don't know Tom Smith. Seems like he could be a nice enough guy, but, really, I don't care if you worked in the coal mines. I don't care, Tom, that you started your own energy company. I do know, Tom, like most corporate owners these days, I'm sure you're not paying your workers what they are worth.

That's neither here nor there, though. What I really want to know is who is swayed by these ads? What are their target audience?

Are there actually some who are watching TV, see a Tom Smith ad that says Bob Casey is a career politician and think, 'Hey, he's right. I never thought of it that way.'

Who you vote for should be based on what these candidates really stand for, what they really believe. Hey, I know it's hard. You are basically begging for your job every couple of years, but, come on, get out of the commercial business.

Rise and Shine --- Soundtrack for the week

Good Morning and how about that rain?!?

Here's a little music to get you through the week (Yes, you're welcome):

Rise and Shine --- Shiny, red apple

Good Morning and here we are back again in the same place.
It's always kind of cool during the changing of the seasons.
You know, when you can catch the first whiff of flowers in the spring. When the grill is going (and the mosquitoes are biting here in Delco) during the summer.
Now that we are really into fall (I don't care what the calendar says, fall starts Oct. 1), it's apple season.
OK, OK, now that we have year-round deliveries to super markets, we can get apples any time during the year. It's the fall, though, when they seem to be the best.
So, it being the first weekend of fall, we all were looking forward to some fresh apples. Well, at least I was, the rest wanted to hunt down the perfect pumpkin.
We jumped in the car and went out to Linvilla Orchards (seems like everybody had the same idea Saturday). That's where we picked up four different kinds of apples.
The next morning, breakfast was apple pancakes, apple doughnuts, apple cider and apple coffee (yes, there is such a thing).
So, after eating it all, the first comment I got was: "Dad, this is good and all, but I'm kind of sick of apples."
Get used to it. Apple tacos Tuesday night.