GRANDPARENTS (ON THE RIGHT)

Raise your glasses to the sky!

CONGRATS PRESIDENT-ELECT OBAMA

GOODLUCK MR. OBAMA

Make video montages at www.OneTrueMedia.com

INKED

Temple of Discipline

“My body is my temple” I think everyone has heard that before but very few of us manage to live it. When I read nutritional websites and books I often wonder how man people can really treat their body like a machine and feed it as such. How many of us eat to live more so than live to eat?
When it comes to my health and nutritional intake I do see the direct link between what I eat and how I feel. I am setting out to spend the next week treating my body as a temple. No junk in! is rule #1
I typically eat healthier than most, but I want to take my nutrition and fitness to the next level, and this requires strict discipline. Wish me luck!

TRACK SUITS AND CADILLACS!

The Great Schlep from The Great Schlep on Vimeo.

I AM NOT OBSESSED

Last week I read an article that talked about McCain supporters sending out 28 million copies of a video called “Obsession: Radical Islam's War Against the West”. The article proposed the videos were sent out in order to further the fear mongering agenda. The idea being, a more terrified American is likely to vote for McCain if they were previously undecided.
Today a coworker walked in with this video in hand, ready to share it with whoever wanted to watch. The coworker discovered the video stuffed inside a Jacksonville newspaper during a trip to Florida. A quick Google search confirmed that this is indeed happening around the country in areas that share Jacksonville’s demographics.
Shame on the republicans! Its bad enough I have to listen to the words Islam, terrorist and extremist come out of Sarah P’s mouth dozens of times in her brief and rare media interviews. I see the strategy of appealing to the plethora of idiots flocked across America; but I hope it will eventually get to a point where they realize you are insulting their intelligence.

PASTOR MANNING WILL VOTE OBAMA, UNDER ONE CONDITION....

Pastor Manning amazes me, the people who go to his church amaze me, but what amazes me most is this dude has made his way onto a Major Cable News Network. SHAME ON YOU FOX NEWS!!!!!

BEWARE, MCCAIN IS BANKING ON IT!

Bradley effect
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The term Bradley effect, less commonly called[1] the Wilder effect, refers to a frequently observed discrepancy between voter opinion polls and election outcomes in American political campaigns when a white candidate and a non-white candidate run against each other.[2][3][4] Named for Tom Bradley, an African-American who lost the 1982 California governor's race despite being ahead in voter polls, the Bradley effect refers to a tendency on the part of white voters to tell pollsters that they are undecided or likely to vote for a Black candidate, when, on election day, they vote for his/her white opponent.[5]

One theory for the Bradley effect is that some white voters give inaccurate polling responses for fear that, by stating their true preference, they will open themselves to criticism. This effect is similar to people refusing to discuss voting choice at all. If you state you are undecided, you can avoid being forced into a political discussion with someone highly partisan. The reluctance to give accurate polling answers has sometimes extended to post-election exit polls as well. The race of the pollster conducting the interview may be a factor into voters' answers. Some pollsters believe that they do not receive deliberately false answers from white voters. The Bradley effect, these pollsters believe, is caused by pollsters' failure to account for general political leanings among voters who are undecided between Democrats and Republicans.

SARAH SARAH

YOUR NEXT PRESIDENT

ILLEGAL LIFE

So, you can’t tell by looking at the picture, but my shirt says “Gangsta” and rightfully so. Why you ask???? Because I am breaking the law! What law am I breaking? Starbucks has a “8 shot LEGAL LIMIT”. What you see in my hand is a Grande Starbucks Doubleshot in a Venti cup; that is 4 espresso shots on top of the 8 I already had today. To add to my legal woes I proceeded to ride dirty. That’s right, I actually drove with 12 shots of espresso in my system. Wait, it gets worst, I then went back to work with 12 shots of espresso in my system. If I go another week without blogging it’s because PoPo caught up with me.

PIZZA, RED WINE AND THE COMPANY OF TRUE BLOOD FOR TRUEBLOOD

(noah wants to suck your blood)

Last night was the premier of Trueblood. Trueblood is a TV series based on a series of books my wife loves to read. To celebrate the premier we had pizza and red wine. While the bloke had no idea what we were celebrating, he made the best of it. The show was surprisingly interesting; the well placed sex scenes didn’t hurt either. Does HBO make a series that isn’t edgy in someway? Anyhow, a good time was had by all, and I was left looking forward to the next episode.

HURRICANE WHATS HER NAME

PRE STORMSTORM SHELTER
SURVEYING THE DAMAGE
Per my photoblog, we have been predicting “it’s about to storm” for quite sometime. Finally our prediction came true. Tropical Storm Hanna arrived and we were prepared. We spent the day prior enjoying as much sun and warm weather as possible. The night before we prepared our bunker in the living room, and when the storm came we were geared up to ride it out. Cheerios for the bloke and wine for the grownups proved more than enough to sustain us. In the end, the storm proved to be somewhat of a disappointment. We are currently in the process of evaluating our performance during the storm to see what we can improve for next time (maybe frosted cheerios).

GOODLUCK NEW ORLEANS!

“Someone’s worst nightmare realized!” that’s this first thing that came to mind when I saw reports of the new hurricane approaching New Orleans. It rained maybe ¼ of an inch when I was there just three weeks ago. I remember planning the trip and praying the storms would stay away. New Orleans is such a beautiful city; so much life, so much character. It's so very unfortunate that the people of the Big Easy live life with the thought of life shattering hurricanes lurking. I really do hope the city escapes this latest menacing storm without major damage. GoodLuck New Orleans!

GOOD TIMES

The last few weeks have seen some eventful moments. As I stated in previous post the wife and I flew down to the Big Easy to see the bloke’s godfather get married. We had a wonderful few days in the N-O before driving through swampland to Lafayette (the actual location of the wedding). I must say New Orleans is an amazing city from a scenery and setting standpoint. If the city is a shell of its former self, I regret not seeing it at its peak. Hopefully we can revisit the Big Easy in a few more years when it’s had time to regain its bluster.
Of course our little bloke seemed to age a few months in the few days we didn’t see him. We also theorized that the little guy grew a couple of inches. Typical parents reaction to not seeing their child for any amount of time…. But something actually did change with the bloke. Yesterday, as we sat at lunch, someone asked him his name, which usually causes one of us to reply with the answer in a follow along voice; instead, the bloke blurted out “NOOO AHHH”. The wife got teary eyed with pride. I happened to be away from the table at the time, and I couldn’t believe what happened as the wife recanted the story.

The wife said, “Watch!… What’s your name?”

“Noah!” the bloke replied.

The excitement of seeing your child reach major milestones! Momma Green tried telling us to write down the date and time of everything major the bloke does. We, like many other first time parents, didn’t head her advice. Who needs it scribbled somewhere when the moment is permanently branded in your memory? I guess a kids timeline guide of major milestones could server a purpose when they get old enough to ask, “Mom, Dad, when did I do ______ for the first time”

What a bad day in the office looks like….

I went into work Wednesday hoping for an easy day a day before I hit the Big Easy. Best laid plans of Mice and Men…. I was swamped from beginning to end. To make it worst I could not get in touch with my babysitter that was coming in from New York (AKA GRANDMA). Just as worked eased up, and I saw the possibility of spending the last hour of the day finishing the prep work for my trip, Grandma Gee-Gee called to let me know they were already in DC (sigh). I left work early with barley enough time to print my trip itinerary and headed to the District to pick up the Bloke sitting staff.

Hey Jim, your not JACK!

I usually like to fly with a friend. Even though my wife is great, she reads and does her own thing and she doesn’t provide the level of comfort that my friend Jack provides. Being that our flight to New Orleans was around noon, I figured I would do without Jack for once. Right after I ordered my diet coke the four gentlemen to my right all let Jack’s name come out their mouths. I had no choice; I sprung into action and let the steward know that I too would enjoy Jack’s company. The steward served Jack in a tiny plastic bottle next to a cup of iced ginger ale. I mixed Jack with the Ginger ale and threw the combination across my palate only to find the taste very unfamiliar. I immediately looked down at the plastic bottle to see if I had been fooled by a generic knock off, and too my surprise I saw the name JIM! Oh plane liquor gods why have you forsaken me. I find myself cozying up to a bottle of Jim Beam, not as tasty but just as effective.

IN FLIGHT , NOW TYPE

Take off was successful and I now find myself cruising at thirty thousand feet. The preflight instructions were quite entertaining. This is the first time I’ve been on a plane without video preflight instruction. I felt like I was on “That 70’s show” as the steward and stewardess flapped their arms about. I cant help to feel like I should of taken an airborne as the air quality of this plane seems suspect at best.
I have not been a consistent blogger of late. I hope the 2 hours or so I have on this plane will allow me to blog a bit before hitting the streets of the Big Easy.

Jalapenos Kryptonite

Jalapeños jalapeños, I think I have you fooled. You thought you were going to make your way into my salt and pepper squid, and after being consumed, you planned on terrorizing my stomach for hours on end. You laid there cut in to cute circular pieces plotting your tumultuous trip through my digestive system. You watched as squid and its new friend shrimp got bathed and dipped in cornstarch. You watched as the bath of golden oil heated up waiting for squid and shrimp to be tossed in. You chose not to warn shrimp and squid as they lay in the brown bag with no view of their impending doom. You smirked as shrimp and squid drowned in the scorching hot oil. You thought you were safe, but little did you know, the oil now littered with cornstarch crumbs, had one last victim. That victim was you! You looked dumb founded as your ride along the cutting board took a turn for the stovetop. By the time you felt the touch of the oil you were already soaked in your own sweat. Your stay in the golden bath would be brief, but your powers to terrorize were neutralized and you found yourself feeble upon emergence. I devoured you with a little help from the misses. I went to bed with a cozy squid filled belly, and awoke in the morning discomfort free, I believe I have solved the mystery of the hellish jalapeño, I have found your kryptonite mister Jalapeño, and its name is HOT OIL!

OH Jalapeños!

There has been so much talk in the news lately about Jalapenos, The little peppers have become impossible to buy in your average grocery store, especially on the east coast. You mention salmonella and the whole country starts treating the infected produce like the plague. I too have shunned the peculiar shaped pepper, but for a whole different reason, and not totally by choice (by the way I have a whole bag of Jalos in the fridge thanks to my father-in-law sending them from Cali via the Bro-In-Law)
I love salt and pepper squid. I use to have it for lunch once a week, despite knowing that I would be keeled over with stomach pain the following evening. I never really knew what about the dish didn’t sit well with me. The dish contained things I normally ate separately with no negative reaction; squid, oil, and peppers. I figured the stomach pain a small discomfort for such a taste sensation. After the restaurant I ordered the dish from closed down, I set out to learn how to make the dish. I was successful, but found the same digestive discomfort with the homegrown version. For a while I stopped eating the dish as I had grown weary of the risk reward factor.
So I recently cooked S&P squid. I happened to have all the ingredients available, and was looking to go a few weeks without eating red meat. I made the dish with a pepper other than the Jalapeno it usually calls for. The taste was slightly off but, I suffered no digestive issues. As I mentioned earlier, an unexpected shipment of jalapeños arrived at the house, so I made the dish again with the proper ingredients. BAM! I was keeled over with stomach pain a few hours later. DING DING! WE HAVE A SUSPECT!
Basically I have made the dish several times over the last two weeks, anytime I use Jalapenos I get sick. Any other pepper renders no ill reaction. The problem is, other peppers don’t quite complete the dish like Jalos do. I am saddened by these developments, but I will continue my quest for a Jalapeno substitute. There is no shortage of pepper species and with at least 2,500 new species of pepper being created each year, my perfect “Salt and Pepper Squid” Pepper is out there somewhere.

DID YOU KNOW…. (from wikipedia) The Scoville scale is a measure of the hotness or piquancy of a pepper. These fruits of the Capsicum genus contain capsaicin, a chemical compound which stimulates chemoreceptor nerve endings in the skin, especially the mucous membranes. The number of Scoville heat units (SHU) indicates the amount of capsaicin present. Some hot sauces use their Scoville rating in advertising as a selling point.

Scoville scale
Scoville rating
Type of pepper
15,000,000–16,000,000
Pure capsaicin[5]
8,600,000-9,100,000
Various capsaicinoids, such as homocapsaicin, homodihydrocapsaicin, and nordihydrocapsaicin
2,000,000–5,300,000
Standard U.S. Grade pepper spray[6], FN 303 irritant ammunition
855,000–1,041,427
Naga Jolokia [7][8][9][10]
350,000–580,000
Red Savina Habanero[11][12]
100,000–350,000
Habanero chili,[13] Scotch Bonnet Pepper [13]
100,000–350,000
Datil pepper, Capsicum chinense
100,000–200,000
Rocoto, Jamaican Hot Pepper [6], African Birdseye
50,000–100,000
Thai Pepper, Malagueta Pepper, Chiltepin Pepper, Pequin Pepper
30,000–50,000
Cayenne Pepper, Ají pepper [13], Tabasco pepper, some Chipotle peppers
10,000–23,000
Serrano Pepper, some Chipotle peppers
4,500–5,000
New Mexican varieties of Anaheim pepper,[14] Hungarian Wax Pepper[15]
2,500–8,000
Jalapeño Pepper, Guajillo pepper
1,500–2,500
Rocotillo Pepper
1,000–1,500
Poblano Pepper
500–2,500
Anaheim pepper [16]
100–500
Pimento[6], Pepperoncini
0
No heat, Bell pepper [6]

LIVING TO 100

Dan Buettner of The Huffington Post wrote an article pointing out nine healthy habits that’ll help get you to 100. Here is an excerpt….
For the the last five years, I've been taking teams of scientists to five pockets around the world where people live the longest, healthiest lives. We call these places the Blue Zones. We found a Bronze-age mountain culture in Sardinia, Italy, that has 20 times as many 100-year-olds as the U.S. does, proportionally. In Okinawa, Japan, we found people with the longest disability-free life expectancy in the world. In the Blue Zones (Sardinia, Italy; Okinawa, Japan; Loma Linda, Calif.; and the Nicoya Peninsula, Costa Rica), people live 10 years longer, experience a sixth the rate of cardiovascular disease and a fifth the rate of major cancers.

Move naturally: Be active without thinking about it. Identify activities you enjoy and make them a part of your day. Cut calories by 20 percent.

Cut calories by 20 percent: Practice "Hara hachi bi," the Okinawan reminder to stop eating once their stomachs are 80 percent full.

Plant-based diet: No, you don't need to become a vegetarian, but do bump up your intake of fruits and veggies.

Drink red wine: In moderation.

Plan de Vida: Determine your life purpose. Why do you get up in the morning?

Down shift: Take time to relieve stress. You may have to literally schedule it into your day, but relaxation is key.

Belong/participate in a spiritual community.

Put loved ones first/make family a priority.

Pick the right tribe: The people surrounding you influence your health more than almost any other factor.

At first glance most of these habits seem pretty simple; the problem is very few of us practice these habits. I submit our upbringing as Americans lead us astray from these habits. To deprogram may be the first step to aligning yourself to these healthy habits.
I take particular interest in habits 8 and 9. How many of use have negative people in our lives? Who really eliminates the rift raft from their life? I believe that 8 & 9 are intertwined, too often we see family as automatic members of our tribe and we neglect to vote them off the island no matter how toxic they become.
I really hope people come across Dan’s article and walk away practicing at least one of the habits (and not the RED WINE one, that is far to easy).

EATING GOOD (and I mean good)

I couldn’t imagine raising a picky eater. The bloke will eat anything put in front of him (there are occasions where he is just not hungry). I cannot blend a shake with out the Bloke running into the kitchen to get a taste. Above you can see the ring around the face results from the bloke indulging in a homemade shake. The ingredients were as follows;

2/3 cup (5.1 oz)Fruit, Fresh: Blackberries, raw, edible portion
8 cherry (0.2 oz)Fruit, Fresh: Cherries, sweet, raw, edible
4x Vegetables, Fresh: Carrots, baby, raw
3 leaf (0.4 oz)Vegetables, Fresh: Spinach, raw, edible portion
1 serving, 50 berries (2.4 oz)Fruit, Fresh: Blueberries, raw,
1tbs of bean sprouts and lentils

I watched the Katie Couric clip and was 100% in agreement with her views. Check out the maps below.

READING RAINBOWS

My wife should appreciate this post….
We were driving down the road when we came across a new Jeep Wrangler driven by a baseball hat and tank top clad surfer looking dude. Par for the course in Fairfax?
Not quite, dude had a medley of rainbow items throughout the interior and exterior of Jeep. He had everything from rainbow bumper stickers to a rainbow licenses plate holder to rainbow air fresheners.
Something tells me he wanted people to know he was GAY and PROUD!
The excessive display of rainbows prompted me to turned to my wife and ask , “What if you just like rainbows?”
What if someone just really grows up loving rainbows? I don’t think kids are taught the pop culture representation of rainbows in grade school. What if you go “back to school shopping” before you first day in high school and you buy a rainbow shirt or hat because you love rainbows so much….. Good luck on your first day in high school my friend.

Sedentary Sunday Swag

You know, I really wouldn’t mind working Sundays if my job didn’t involve sitting on my ass for countless hours. I’m not a sedentary person by nature. I would so love a job that involved some type of movement. We took a family trip to the national zoo and all I could think about is how cool it would be to make the $ I make and work there.
Since I live in the “real world” the best I could do was ask my boss to request a “standing desk” from facilities (my fingers are crossed).

UPDATE: I changed the pictures because my brother-in-law told me I looked pshyc0.
Can you see the smile on my face

Been a while!

It’s been awhile since my last blog, partially because my week was pretty busy, mostly because I was without my camera charger. My lack of picture taking left me un-blog-inspired.
In my last post I talked about my quest to spend 30 days eating nothing but whole foods. I thought it best to update the blog with one caveat to that plan; I do use the very unnatural pink sweetener. Since I refuse to use sugar, I have to settle for what I see as the best of the artificial sweeteners. I don’t say sweet and low is the best because of its taste, rather “MY” research indicates it is the lease harmful to ingest.
After one week on the whole food plan, I have regained my pre New York feeling of good health. I hope to improve on this feeling with healthy eating and daily exercise , even if that exercise consist of taking the bloke on an evening stroll.

Sidenote: I know all about Stevia and the other Natural sugar substitutes, but I have yet to find a good producer of these alternatives.

Healthy Choices

I have always prided myself on my strength of will and self-discipline. These are characteristics I developed in adult-hood and continually try to improve on.
I spent last week in New York and took in all the NY delicacies that I miss living in Virginia. By day two I felt very unhealthy, but the voices in my head told me to continue to satiate my taste buds. Those damn VOICES!!!! To make matters worst, I went the entire week without exercise for the first time in about a year. I came back from New York feeling atrocious. As a result, I have presented myself a challenge. Over the next 30 days I will harness my will-power to eat a totally “whole food” healthy diet. This is not a diet to loose weight; this is more of a cleansing, an exfoliation of the body and soul.
I am interested to see how a diet of completely whole foods will affect me. I hope to see improvement in overall health, mental focus and energy. I am typically a healthy eater, but like most Americans my diet contains a good sum of processed foods. I hope the elimination of these processed foods will yield a conspicuous result.
BTW- by “whole foods” I do not mean the store.
Main Entry:
whole food
Function:
noun
Date:
1970
: a natural food and especially an unprocessed one (as a vegetable or fruit)

Good movie characters are hard to find!

Toby Jones plays Ollie Weeks in "THE MIST". After watching the movie last night Ollie has become one of my favorite all time movie characters.

Some of Ollie's great lines;

"[after David tries unsuccessfully to convince Brent of the danger outside] Leave it alone, David. You can't convince some people there's a fire even when their hair is burning. Denial is a powerful thing. "

"As a species, we're fundamentally insane. Put two of us in a room, we pick sides, and start dreaming up reasons to kill one another. "

[Mrs. Carmody is preaching to her 'cult' and they're repeating expiation] "Welcome to Sesame Street, kids. Today's word is 'expiation'. "

"Those of you who aren't local should know that Mrs. Carmody is known in town for being unstable. "

WHAT THE CLAN IS UP TO NOW

do I really even need to comment on this?

Stoop Stare

Trips back home allow you to see your children in the environment you were raised in. I good portion of my life was spent on Colgate Ave in the south Bronx. Great Grandma still lives there and we went to visit her yesterday. The bloke climbed the stoop and tugged on Grandma’s gate as if he was familiar with the house. It was fun to watch the bloke run around and great to see all the family that we rarely get to visit.

Blue Moose HANGING LOOSE

Blue Moose is enjoying his stay in New York. The heat and humidity of New York is somewhat of a concern for Mr. Moose. Last night he took a break from keeping young Noah company and enjoyed a sink bath. After the sink bath, Blue Moose went hanging out and enjoyed the New York air until the wee hours of the morning.

Arrived

The Buddha mobile, aka Kermit, had a checkup before our trip to New York. After a few hours in the mechanics bay, Kermit got a clean bill of health. The Green Chariot carried us safely to New York, even negotiating a drop off in the pothole-ridden streets of Sound View.
We arrived at the parental units’ residence at 12:30am; Grandpop was waiting patiently downstairs. He carried the sleepy bloke upstairs where he somehow mustered up the energy to run around for three and a half hours before going down with a record setting bedtime of 4am.

CAKE LOVE

Do you remember what it was like to be young? Can you think back to how excited you were when you knew you were about to spend the day with that special relative or family friend that allowed you to get away with anything and spoiled you with every thing your parents forbade?
The bloke has been enjoying the presence of Uncle “Good time” and future Aunt Sally. Over the last 72 hours the bloke’s palate has experienced a medley of flavors that were previously alien. The bloke’s stomach has been the unfortunate sufferer as it has struggled to digest the likes of Cool Ranch Doritos and Remix Birthday Cake Cold Stone Shake. The list of non-Organic / Father condemned foods is too long to type. Lets just say, cheesecake chased hotdogs, a happy pamper does not make!

UNCLE ALEX IN THE HOUSE

The bloke celebrated the arrival of his Uncle Alex and soon to be Aunt Sally by breaking curfew and rolling around Harris Teeters with a farmer hat on!!!! This will be an interesting weekend as he tends to see his uncle as the gateway to rule breaking fun!

"WHO YOU SHOULD LISTEN TO" -Week 2 - Ayo

Nigerian father + Romanian Gypsy mother= Seductivly Soulful Music

NOAH NOAH NOAH the EXPLORER

My son likes nothing more than the great outdoors. Whether in the woods or on the balcony, the boy wears a smile ear from ear when he is allowed to roam free.
I’m going to find him a shirt that says FREE RANGE KID!
My boy’s love of running free does put in perspective some parents choice to use a “kiddy leash”. I couldn’t even imagine strapping my kid into one of those harnesses, but I find joy in chasing the bloke around. I see some parents get so frustrated when their child doesn’t stay in place like a well-trained puppy. Do we as a society go overboard, and as a result stunt our children’s natural extinct to explore?

THE FACE OF A BULLY?

Yesterday my wife blogged about her morning trip to the children’s section of Barnes and Nobles. She vented about the embarrassment caused by the Bloke behaving like a bully. She was mortified after seeing him push kids and snatch toys. This could not be! Noah? Buddha Bear?
I have been to the children’s section of B&N with the bloke before and he never behaved in such a manner. The Wife has taken him there numerous times and his previous behavior has always made her proud.
So what got into the bloke? What caused this bad behavior?

Here is my theory…. Noah is normally a very patient young man, but on the morning in question, as he walked up to B&N he realized , “Its about to storm!”. Noah knew his playtime would be cut short as mom would soon realize the change in weather and hence rush to leave in order to beat the storm home. Noah felt he had no time for politeness, grabbed Thomas the Engine, and tried to complete as many trips around the train track as possible.

Even if my theory is true, Noah’s behavior was unacceptable. I have already had a conversation with him about his behavior. Sadly, I think he only understood 70% of what I said.

To commemorate this unfortunate but educational event, I have created a new photoblog called “ABOUT TO STORM”. The url is abouttostorm.blogspot.com . The site is still under construction.
Publish Post

SCREAM TO BE CLEAN

The bloke enjoying a bath lastnight.

Toxic People

I try to live my life based on the teachings of Buddhism. One Buddhist principle I have some trouble with at times is, “May I reckon those who betray me as sacred teachers.”
In the long-term I believe I learn from every wrong or betrayal I face. In the short-term I still battle the initial anger that occurs.
“May I be moved with compassion for the pain behind the spite others may show me.” I hope I can start embracing the aforementioned principle with less trepidation.

Weekend family photobooth fun