Labor Day

Here is a sampling of our Labor Day Parade. The girls are getting the candy. I took video of the band---Carl marching, and Lara one of the parent boosters. Below is the photo slideshow.

The recent storm...

Hi all. I haven't had time yet to post the Alaska pictures. However, here are some photos of the huge limb that came down out of our tree in the backyard after a storm in June.








Since then, my band played at a local infamous party, Craig and Roberta's 4th of July bash. We had a blast. Check out my band's page, or my facebook page for pictures and video.

Sorry about no updates lately....

Here is the quick update on family news....sorry I have been so long between posts. I have been working feverishly each weekend on papers for my Ph.D. classes, and it simply takes me a long time to churn these things out, so literally, everything else has to wait until I'm done. Well, I'm done!

Here are some pictures:

Maggie, doing great in soccer this year!
On the prowl!

Carl's Band Performance, and accepting his award for First Superior, and sticking the award to his shoe.

Carl, receiving several school awards, including Beta Club, Scholar Bowl, Honor Roll, Match Club, and Music. He was recognized for winning the Region wide Math tournament, and setting a new record for the number of problems correct. Nerd power rocks.

His awards, including Scholar Bowl, Math tournament, First Superior on saxophone, and the several school awards.

Football and a Party

Tonight, we attended a Massac County Football game, at which Carl played in the band. Maggie and Katie had a great time. After the football game, Carl went to an overnight birthday party for his best friend, Joey. Lara and I look forward to a quiet night.

Tomorrow, Carl will spend half the day with his friends, the girls will have a morning soccer game, and I will be at a huge tailgate party my work puts on during family weekend at SIU.

Labor Day

Carl marched in the Labor Day parade, which was fun to see. At the beginning of the parade, there was an emergency call, and an ambulance and fire truck in the parade had to hit their lights and sirens for real, and then raced down the street. It was weird to see.

Carl is the little guy playing saxophone. The band practiced Led Zepplin's "Immigrant Song." How cool is that?

State Musical Competition...

Last weekend, Carl competed in the state musical contest, and got a First with his saxophone. He really has talent, and has improved greatly over the last year of playing. I hope he stays with it, because he could truly be great.

I Got the Music In Me!

This month, I received a nice write up in the local paper for my latest record, "From Obscurity To Global Domination In Three EASY Steps." I was recognized on the street as that fat bald guy in a band by some dork I didn't know. It made me feel special.

Next, out of the blue, I was asked to play bass for the pit band for the high school's production of "Little Shop Of Horrors." We've had a practice already, and the guys I'm playing with are really talented, so I feel a little out of place. Okay, that was me smiling to myself cuz I rock! No, a little humility is needed because these guys are seriously talented, and have played together for years and you can tell it. However, I think I fit in pretty good, and we seem to all have the right idea.

Anyhow, I'll let you know how that goes.

Nut Doesn't Fall Far From The Apple Tree...

or something like that. Carl went to the regional concert band contest, and played a solo piece on saxophone. He was rated a first, which means he will move on to state, which will involve playing the piece from memory. He is excited and a little nervous about that.

When he played his piece, he really displayed a good control over note, tone, and phrasing. That is hard to do at his age. I was really proud of how well he performed.

They wouldn't allow pictures or video of the event, so you'll just have to take my word for it. On the way back home, I took him out to eat, and then let him buy some Heroclix superhero figures. That made the whole trip worthwhile for him.

Winter Band Performance

Carl was part of the Winter concert band performance. He is hard to see, but he plays saxophone, and is seated next to the tall kid in blue (his best friend, Joey). He played well.

Kids In The Christmas Parade

Maggie and Katie marched with the Girl Scouts in the Christmas Parade on December 6th. Carl played in the band. I marched with the Cub Scouts, Lara rode in the fancy convertible behind the Cub Scout float, and Dee escorted the girls to the parade line up area with the other Girl Scout leaders. Here are some pictures of the events:

Schroedinger's Fish

Well, I had to go to work on Saturday, primarily because I needed to continue medicating my fish, Afrika Bombatta. Unfortunately, when I arrived, I could immediately tell that Afrika was dead. There was a certain smell throughout the office, and when I searched and found the little guy, he was not moving.

I cleaned up the tank, and then took him to an outdoor trash can. I just couldn't flush him, he was like seven inches long, and I didn't want to have him get stuck in a pipe somewhere before it left the building.

For the remainder of the day, I worked on some music, which you can check out at my band's page Twin Rockets Are A Go, Baby!

Off and on, I thought about just when my fish died. Until I went there and gathered the evidence, the possibility existed that the fish was alive and well. There was some chance that this would happen. So, I wondered about probability and quantum mechanics on my ride home.

Afrika Bombatta
RIP
2000-2008.

Man, we've been hell on pets this year.

Parade....

Saturday, November 1, the girls and the boy marched in a parade. The girls were there as part of their girl scout troop, and Carl was there marching in the junior high band.