Gorman Journal

This should be a TV commercial for Galaxy Cafe

2010-01-19T23:06:00.005-06:00

We went to Galaxy Cafe tonight. A worker handed Andrew a sticker that said "I *heart* Galaxy Cafe". He was proud to report to me that he had stuck it onto his shirt himself.

Daddy: What does the sticker say?
Andrew: *Looking down at sticker on his shirt, and then up at me smiling* It says "I love you!"
Daddy: No, it says "I love Galaxy Cafe".
Andrew: *Frowns* I hate Galaxy Cafe.
Daddy: Galaxy Cafe is this place we're at right now.
Andrew: *Looks around, then back at me, smiling bigger than ever* Oh! I LOVE Galaxy Cafe!!

And Also It's What

2009-12-31T12:30:00.002-06:00

Grandma and Grandpa B bought the boys a pup tent and sleeping bags for their visit. The first night, we put the boys into their tent to go to sleep. I leaned into the tent and said to the boys "Is this awesome, or what!?"

Grant replied "It's awesome!!"

Andrew then replied "And also, it's what!"

Photographic Evidence

2009-10-05T07:06:00.002-05:00

Here's photographic evidence of me actually UP at a poker table. Things would only get better, since the guy in the foreground is about to dump all his chips on the table, most of them to me. Along the way, he is also going to knock that coffee over that is sitting behind him.

Anyways, this is what I look like playing poker.

How to Beat LA Limit Hold'em

2009-09-24T22:25:00.002-05:00

Limit games in LA have an interesting couple of characteristics...
1) Terrible players
2) Punishing rake

At the Commerce, they drop a dollar for the jackpot when you post, and then $6 at the flop. What this means is that you must be playing a table with large pots in order to overcome the rake. I learned this the hard way. I was actually very lucky to only lose a little last week playing limit hold'em.

So table selection is incredibly important. If the table isn't really loose, with large multiway pots the rule instead of the exception, you have to get up and look for another table.

I think you have to look for hands with good equity in multiway pots, commit to them, worry about relative instead of absolute position (so you can trap people for more bets when appropriate), and then you can overcome the rake.

Of course, this is going to lead to crazy variance, and I experienced that firsthand as well. But otherwise, I don't think you can win.

Gambling Update 3

2009-09-21T17:10:00.002-05:00

I gave back all my winnings. I was very patient, but the cards just did not cooperate. At one point, I didn't win a hand of any size for over 4 hours, and all the hands I was in resulted in a suckout. This reminds me why I wasn't in a hurry to go play poker again.

We met with Mike and Silvia for breakfast at the Farmer's Market on Saturday. I had crepes and Orangina. Then we went to dinner with Mike and Silvia Sunday night at Aroma in Silverlake. It was really really good. The best thing was this mushroom appetizer. I can't describe it, but it was amazing.

As we left the restaurant, I realized we were at the corner of Silver Lake and Sunset, right across the street from the Silverlake Lounge. The Silversun Pickups named themselves after the convenience/liquor store that is in the same building as the restaurant we ate at.

We didn't play much poker Sunday... about 90 minutes of 4/8 stud is all I played. I ran a flush into quads. I realized I could still win at stud, but I needed to shake off 15 years of rust. I should have just played stud the whole trip.

All in all, a fun trip. The lack of poker success was offset by getting to see Mike and Silvia.

Gambline Update 2 (West Pico != East Pico)

2009-09-19T01:57:00.002-05:00

We tried to go to this Japanese BBQ place called Gyu Kaku for dinner, but Google Maps has a bad address for it. Somebody accidentally typed in 10925 E. Pico instead of 10925 W. Pico on the BlackBerry Mobile version of Google Maps. The regular Google Maps has it right. The West Pico location is very ritzy.

So Barrett and I make our way to E. Pico. Let me tell you, E. Pico is not a place you want to be. We ended up eating at Denny's instead. I really feel that if the rented Dodge Caliber had decided to stop working at the moment we were cruising E. Pico, you would have never heard from Barrett or me again.

Poker went a lot better today. I started off at 3-6 at the Commerce, and lost about $50. I then moved over to a 4-8 Kill game because the rake at 3-6 is ridiculous... I mean, it's ridiculous at 4-8K, too, but there's really no way to beat the 3-6 game. I immediately suffered a terrible beat, so I was down another $50.

Then I flopped a set of Jacks in a kill pot, and probably made $150 on that one pot. I played very well, I thought, pushing others off hands and winning big pots with marginal holdings. I won $270 at this table total, so I was up $220 for the day, and about $100 for the trip at that point.

Then we went to the Bicycle Casino, which is a lot nicer than Commerce, but not as many games going. I played 8-16 half kill and again started off bad. I was stuck about $200 at one point, and then I went nuts. The big hand that turned things around was QQ vs. AA, and a I flopped a Q. Then we had a total LAG at the table. I failed trying to isolate him one time, and then backed into the nut flush. At one point, he pulled an angle shoot on me, and I screwed up and it cost me $16, but I got it back, because in the space of about 15 minutes, he dropped about $600... about $350 to me. At one point, I was up $500 on this table, but I got beat by a 2-outer in a huge pot on my last hand (78 vs. AA, K77 flop, A turn).

I had a really dry session at Commerce 8-16 half kill, lost $180. Still, up $460 for the day, up $350 for the trip so far.

Barrett has had awful luck. He bought a rally cap at the Bike, but it hasn't worked at all.

Gambling Update 1

2009-09-18T09:35:00.003-05:00

I played 4-8 with a kill at the Commerce Thursday. I wanted to start really low stakes to shake off the rust. We had an interesting table. Everybody hated me because I tend to raise preflop, and everybody else thinks this hurts your chances of winning the JACKPOT! Plus, I refused to show my hand when folks folded to me. I love to be hated at the poker table.

I had a hand where it was capped preflop and I had QQ in mid position. Flop was Q77, and three bets went in. Button had 76. He just called me on the turn, but he raised me on the river when a 6 came. That was a nice pot.

I had another hand where I had 55 and flopped A55, but I guess the Ace scared everybody, and I got no action.

I had KK cracked by 44, and I lost a really big pot with AK when a dude hit a river gutshot.

The real problem is that the rake is pretty high for that play level, so even though I think I played OK, I came out a little down... -14 bets. I'll give 4-8 another shot today, but I'll abort if the other players aren't really bad, and move up to a level that has a lower rake level.

Benihana was consumed and enjoyed. mmmmmmmmm

Gambling

2009-09-15T01:05:00.002-05:00

I am all set to go to LA to gamble this week with my buddy Barrett. I haven't gone on a gambling trip in a year and a half. I'm really excited.

Not that I have great success at hold'em at casinos anyway, but I expect to struggle a bit this trip. I am way out of practice. I'm hoping to stay at the lowest limits until I can shake the rust off, play some lock-down poker, and try not to dig too deep a hole.

We're trying LA instead of LV this time because there is more limit poker played in LA. I'm looking forward to eating some crepes at the LA Farmer's Market.

I've lost over 20 lbs recently, so I am also looking forward to a nice big meal at Fogo de Chao.

Wish me luck... I'll try to update my results here, as well as any entertaining stories that are sure to occur.

How to Fix OT

2009-09-11T07:40:00.002-05:00

When NFL games go to overtime, the first team to score wins. I hate this because of the emphasis it puts on the coin toss. Often, the first team to get the ball goes down and scores a field goal. By this late in the game, the defenses are usually out of gas, and the offense has a big advantage. Watching these games end on a FG is very anticlimactic.

I have a solution. Make it so that in order to win before the end of the 15 minute overtime period, a team has to win by 5 or more points.

If a team wins the toss and goes down and scores a TD... game over, and the winning margin is 6.

If the first team to score does it with a FG or safety, play keeps going. That team can now win with just a FG, and we get to see the other team have a chance on offense.

If a team is down by 3 and scores a TD, they would definitely go for a two-point conversion if there was much time left in OT. If they make it, then they win. If not, keep playing.

If by the end of OT one team has a lead of any amount, that team wins. If the teams are still even, then the games ends as a tie.

I think this approach would open all sorts of opportunity for strategic decisions that I think most fans would find entertaining to watch.

I'm glad somebody said it

2009-09-03T00:00:00.002-05:00

The coverage of Ted Kennedy's death this last week has disgusted me. Finally, here's someone who wrote what I was thinking.

Ballparks

2009-06-08T22:58:00.002-05:00

I went to the Yankees' new ballpark tonight to watch a game. It was really nice, but the concessions are CRAZY expensive ($9 for a beer, $9 for garlic fries), and the concession service is actually the worst I've ever encountered... and that's saying something, because for whatever reason, it's bad at every ballpark.

The network in the hotel is too slow to work, so instead, I'll make a list of the parks I've been to MLB games at.

Astrodome
Minute Maid Park
Arlington Stadium (Rangers' old ballpark)
Ballpark at Arlington
Old Yankee Stadium
New Yankee Stadium
Fenway Park
Chase Field (Diamondbacks' park... was Bank One Ballpark when I went)
Anaheim Stadium
Skydome (Toronto)
Tiger Stadium (Tiger's old ballpark)
Pac Bell Park (now AT&T Park, it's the Giants' new stadium)

I saw a Raider's game at the Colisseum where the A's play, but never a baseball game there. I've also been to a lot of the other parks but not for a game. For whatever reason, I seem to make a point of going by the parks when I visit a new city. I've seen the following other parks in person:

Shea Stadium and Citi Field (Mets)
Comerica Park (Tigers)
New Comiskey (White Sox)
Wrigley Field (Cubs)
Kingdome and Safeco Field (Mariners)
Fulton County and Turner Field (Braves)
Old Busch Stadium (Cardinals)
Dodger Stadium
Candlestick Park (old Giants' stadium)
Jack Murphy Stadium (old Padres' park)
Coors Field (Rockies)

If there's no New Haven style pizza to be had tomorrow, I may try to catch the Mets game at their new park.

Chuck

2009-05-28T19:12:00.002-05:00

I love Charles Barkley... but if you're this bad at golf, and you play all of the time, and you're still this bad at golf... maybe you should find some other hobby.

Art Show

2009-03-29T17:18:00.006-05:00

Last Fall, Grant won an award in a scholastic art competition for his drawing in marker called "Flight to Jupiter".

Today, we went to an exhibition of AISD students' art on display in downtown Austin. Grant had a painting on display that he made in art class, inspired by Juan Miró.

From AISD Art Show 2009

NYC trip

2009-03-17T22:30:00.008-05:00

We just got back from a trip to NYC. We took the boys and my mom. We stayed at "On the Ave", a hotel on the Upper West Side. It was very nice, with a large room and very comfortable beds. It is in a seemingly safe part of town, and there is a nice market across the street.

Pictures from the trip

Highlights of the trip:
Wed - We get into town and have Big Nick's Burger and Pizza Joint. The boys take showers (no tub in the room!) and think it's lots of fun.

Thurs - I take the boys to the Children's Musuem of Manhattan while Caroline and Mom go to the Martha Stewart Show. The guest is Jim Cramer. After the show, Caroline asks Martha two questions, one about banana pudding, and another about the cherry plants on her set.

Then Caroline and I go to a taping of The Late Show with David Letterman. The guests are Andy Samberg, Paul Teutel, Sr., and a performance by the cast of West Side Story. Caroline and I are seated right on the aisle, four rows from the stage. Before the show, Dave comes out to warm up the crowd. At the end, he asks if anyone in the audience has a question. Of all the people there, he picks Caroline! Her question is "After working so long with Paul, Biff, and Alan, is there anything they do that annoys you?" But she never gets the question out because she and Dave instead chat about Indiana.

That night, we eat at Vai, which is right across the street from our hotel. It was wonderful! I had a pork chop, and Caroline had Branzino, which is Mediterranean sea bass.

Friday - We take the kids to Toys 'R' Us in Times Square, and they have a blast looking at the Spiderman and Superman vignettes and all of the Legos displays. They ride the ferris wheel, and we see a real live Spiderman, and get their picture taken with him.

That night, Mom, Grant, and I go see Mary Poppins on Broadway. Grant LOVED it!! At the end, Mary Poppins flies away, out into the crowd. She came right at us and then over us.

Saturday - We take the kids to the American Museum of Natural History. We see the Butterfly Conservatory, and a show in the planetarium about cosmic collisions, which was really cool. We saw dinosaur fossils and a bunch of dioramas, and some very famous gemstones. Afterward, we took the subway down to Grand Central Terminal, and saw Melman's clock. We ate at the Oyster Bar. We also stopped at Crumbs cupcake shop on the Upper West Side. The Florentine cookies are REALLY good!

That night, Caroline and I went out and had dinner at BLT Steak. The food didn't blow us away. Then we went to Broadway, and saw a show called The 39 Steps. Our seats were in the second row, center stage. I joked before the show that we might get spit on, and indeed, Caroline did. The show was hilarious. I wish I'd watched the movie first.

Sunday - First we went to the Metropolitan Museum of Art, and then to Sony Wonder, which is a free museum about technology and media. It was pretty cool, well worth the price of admission. Then Mom and Caroline went to see Wicked on Broadway, while I took the boys to Central Park. We saw the Bow Bridge, where Mary Jane Watson breaks if off with Peter Parker. We threw the frisbee, and Andrew fell down and got a mouthful of dirt. We saw some neat fountains and performance art, then walked down the Mall, and over to the carousel, which the boys enjoyed immensely. Then they played on a playground. We walked a long way, but it was a blast!

Sunday night, Caroline and I went out for our 12th anniversary to Tony DiNapoli's on the Upper East Side, and the veal parm was super! Then we went to an old coffeeshop M. Rohr's and just relaxed.

Monday - We went on a Circle Line cruise from 42nd street on the Hudson, down past Battery Park to Ellis Island and the Statue of Liberty, and then up the East River past the 59th Street Bridge, and then back. We had lunch at Fraunces Tavern and saw the NYSE and Trinity Church. For dinner, we went to John's Pizzeria on Bleecker Street. The pizza lived up to the hype!

We packed a whole lot into just a few days, and the boys held up remarkably well! It was pretty cold most of the time, especially for us Southerners.

Pantsed!

2009-03-10T20:34:00.002-05:00

Tonight, I was putting Andrew in the tub, and when I took his shorts off, I yelled "Pantsed!" He thought that was hilarious, and when I took off his diaper he yelled "Diapered!" :)

Dope Taupe

2009-02-10T00:11:00.006-06:00

I found some improvements on the famous Obama "Hope" poster.

Tooth on the Loose

2009-01-29T14:29:00.002-06:00

It looks like it was one month to the day since I first reported that Grant had a loose tooth, and this morning, he indeed lost said tooth. He was really excited about it. He gets his name on the board in his Kindergarten classroom for two days, plus he can do this cool trick with the new gap and his tongue that he calls "stoplight". He simulates a blinking traffic light. I'm sure he learned that from his friends who have already lost teeth.

Plus, he's excited that the Tooth Fairy is going to come and bring him lots of money!!

I'll get pictures of the new smile up as soon as I can. When this happened this morning, Caroline uttered the exact words that I was thinking... "Man, I feel old!"

Loose Tooth

2008-12-29T10:15:00.001-06:00

Grant has a loose tooth, so we should be having a visit from the Tooth Fairy soon.

I hope everybody had a Happy Hannukah and Merry Christmas! The boys certainly did. My house got hit by a toy tornado.

Houston trip

2008-12-15T11:09:00.000-06:00

We took a trip to Houston this weekend to visit our new nephew and to watch the Titans play. Baby Kash was born 12/4, which was Baby Logan's first birthday, so this is definitely going to help me keep track. Kash's real name is Bert Kash Blevins IV.

The Titans game turned out to be a bit of a downer since they not only lost, but played badly as well. The game was close, and for that reason, somewhat exciting. Grant didn't think so, though.

The real excitement came as we checked into our hotel Saturday night. I found a great rate on a nice hotel near the Houston Medical Center, and as we pulled up, I thought I saw one of the Titans players. Then I saw a woman carrying a signed Titans football, and it clicked... The Titans are staying at this same hotel! We hung out in the lobby for a while and took pictures with the players who walked by. Above is Andrew and I with Titans linebacker Keith Bulluck.

I also got pictures with Justin McCareins, Daniel Loper, and Bo Scaife, and I saw Jacob Ford, Jeff Fisher, Albert Haynesworth, LenDale White, Mike Keith, and many other players, coaches, staff, and broadcasters.

I warned Andrew that he needed to be really quiet in the hotel room to not risk disturbing the players' sleep and costing the Titans the game. Since they lost by a score of 13-12, I blame the boy.

Snow in Austin!

2008-12-10T08:01:00.002-06:00

OK, it's not really snow, but that doesn't matter to Grant.

I have to wake Grant up for school every morning before the sun comes up, and Grant likes his sleep. I wish Andrew liked to sleep like Grant does. Anyway, it's usually a lot of work to get Mr. Grant out of bed in the morning, and it's a constant struggle to keep him moving towards being ready to leave for school.

Not a problem this morning. All I had to do was say to Sleepyhead "It snowed last night, do you want to see?", and he popped right out of bed. He had the biggest smile on his face all morning, and had a bit of a pep in his step.

It's just sleet, and it will melt by mid-morning, but it made Grant's day.

Online Shopping - Part II

2008-12-09T10:54:00.003-06:00

One of the sites that tried the hard sell tactic on me never did deliver my item.

The site is fotoconnection.com. AVOID AVOID AVOID

The listing on the site shows "In Stock" and "Usually ships in 24 to 48 hours". I placed my order 11/18. On 11/28, it had not shipped, so I called in. They said that it was not in stock, even though the listing for new purchases still showed "In Stock". They said that I had bought something slightly different than what was on the listing. I said "How could I have done that? I purchased from that exact listing!" They said that they would ship in 10 days, or upgrade me for free to an in-stock item (same model number, somehow better and different only in their minds.)

I wasn't very confident. 11 days later (today) I call in. I get handed off between 3 different calling queues before I can finally cancel the order. Then they have the nerve to challenge my reason for canceling the order! "Sir, we guarantee you will receive the camera before Christmas." I never said this was a Christmas gift. I was actually hoping to be able to use the camera at Thanksgiving!

Rude New York attitude is maybe charming if you're visiting NY!! It doesn't work over the web or the phone. I am in Texas, and I don't need to put up with the attitude. Avoid fotoconnection.com.

Look for my reviews of fotoconnection.com on Yahoo! Shopping, Google, Amazon, etc., coming soon! Now, I'm off to make sure this post comes up first when you search for "fotoconnection.com" on Google! :)

Online shopping

2008-11-19T11:05:00.004-06:00

I have a new pet peeve with online shopping. You place your order online, and then you get an email from the site saying you need to call in to complete the order. There is no real reason to have you call in, such as an unclear delivery address, or problem with payment info, or anything like that. They just want one more chance to upsell you.

What happens if the email from the online store instructing you to call in ends up in your junk mail folder? This happened to me, but I happened to notice it.

This trick has happened twice to me this week. Both were very hard sale tactics once I called in. They asked which upgraded battery I wanted with my camera, the 4-hour or the 2-hour? They didn't even want to mention the added cost. I said "Why would I pick the 2-hour?", and that's when the added cost came into the picture.

He also tried to upsell me on shipping, saying that if I did not upgrade, I would get "10-day delivery". I already knew from the site when I originally purchased the camera that I was looking at 5-7 days, and I wouldn't let him off the phone without recomfirming my delivery date, which turned out to be 5-7 days, of course.

I really hate this tactic, it makes me question the integrity of the site. Next time this happens, I'm just going to pretend to try to cancel the order, tell them I found it for cheaper elsewhere, and see if I can squeeze a discount out of these bloodsuckers.

Titans - Jaguars rematch

2008-11-12T10:23:00.004-06:00

The Titans play the Jaguars Sunday in a rematch from Week 1. I didn't get to see that game, but apparently, it went down like this:

Pre-Game Coin Toss Makes Jacksonville Jaguars Realize Randomness Of Life

iTunes Remote

2008-08-29T14:17:00.004-05:00

I have an ipod Touch, and I'm very happy with it. I recently installed an application that allows the ipod to remotely control iTunes running on a computer. This is very handy. I can control the iTunes on my desktop computer, which is attached to nice speakers in my office, from anywhere in my house. I have dreams of installing speakers all over the house, and having them all controlled by a single media server, and be able to control them with my ipod. Even outdoor speakers :)

All that being said, I have a couple of suggestions to improve the Remote app:
1) The Remote app is not sensitive to tilting of the ipod. Otherwise, the Remote app has a very similar look and feel to the native controls of the ipod.
2) The native ipod controls allow for play/pause, fast-forward, and rewind control without using the slider unlock control. You just double-press the home button and those controls appear on the screen. The Remote app can't do this yet.
3) When the ipod is locked, it should display the song info on the screen when you hit the home button, just like the native ipod does when playing music.
4) If Apple one day makes iTunes extensible to be able to control any appliance on your network (such as your TV, DVR, lights, A/C, washer/dryer, etc.), I would like the ipod Remote app to support them. That way, you could basically control everything from the ipod. The ipod would become the true universal remote.

Glass half empty: Austin SWAT team

2008-08-26T13:26:00.003-05:00

I've noticed a pattern with the Austin SWAT team. They keep having a SWAT situation, complete with guns, armored vehicles, tear gas cannons, evacuations of citizens from adjacent areas, etc. These SWAT situations drag on for hours, and at the end of it, it turns out that there was nobody holed up in the habitation to begin with. Apparently, the perpetrators have been fleeing before the SWAT team shows up. There's got to be a quicker way to find out that the suspect is gone.

Austin SWAT Successfully Raids Empty Hotel Room (8/25/08)

(This one was 3 houses away from my house)
Austin SWAT endures 7-hour long standoff with Empty House (4/26/06)

Austin SWAT paralyzes traffic for 9-hours as thieves escape (11/25/07)

SWAT Standoff Ends with Suspect Missing (11/19/06)

300 students stranded due to SWAT standoff with empty apartment (10/15/07)

Broken Water

2008-06-26T14:55:00.002-05:00

Here's a funny story from when Caroline was 8-months pregnant with Grant. We were in Lamaze classes at the time, one of the last scheduled sessions. The class was held at South Austin Hospital, and before class, Caroline and I stopped in the hospital cafeteria for drinks. Caroline got a 32 ounce ice water in a styrofoam cup.

Fast forward to the class discussion about labor. The instructor is talking about the onset of labor, and the many ways it may happen. As everyone is intently looking up at the instructor and her diagrams of reproductive organs, and as she is describing how to tell if your water is broken, in a room full of very pregnant women, Caroline's styrofoam cup collapses in her hand and she spills water all over the floor. Everyone quickly turns to look to see whose water has broken! That was a pretty inopportune moment for such a mishap, but everybody else (including me) thought it was pretty funny.

Jedi Mind Tricks

2008-05-14T10:52:00.000-05:00

Four Jedi Mindtricks That
Didn't Work Out,
and One That Did
by Syg Pound

Waitress: Here's your ticket. I'll be
your cashier when you're ready.
Me: This meal will be free.
Waitress smiles, then walks away and
whispers something to her manager.
They both watch me.
***
Bank Teller: It says there's a hold on
your account.
Me: There's no hold.
Bank Teller: It says right here that
Dewey at the fifty-first street bank put it
there yesterday, due to insufficient
funds.
Me: Oh.
***
Rick: I need you here at 7:30 tomorrow
morning.
Me: You need me to come in at ten?
Rick: I said 7:30. Why don’t you
open your ears, jackass?
***
Jared: I'm done proofing the issues.
Me: You're fired.
Jared: Yeah, right. I'll see you tomorrow.
***
Shoe Girl: Here are the shoes you're
looking for.
Me: These aren't the shoes I'm
looking for.
Shoe Girl: Oh! I'm sorry, I thought.
Me: Why don't you try looking in
the back?
Shoe Girl: I'll go look in the back.

Idiom Idiot

2008-04-10T08:47:00.001-05:00

Having lunch with my genious pal Jim yesterday, and the conversation went something like this:

Jim: ...that would make me happy as a camper.
Mark: Do you mean 'that would make me a happy camper'? Or do you mean 'happy as a clam'?
Jim: No, I don't think it's either one of those... maybe it's 'happy as a pig in '... something.
Mark: Slop? Happy as a pig in slop?
Jim: No... I think 'happy as a pig in a blanket'.
Mark: Maybe you mean 'snug as a bug in a rug'.

Jim sort of looked at me as if he'd never heard that one before.

Grant scores three goals

2008-03-08T20:27:00.000-06:00

This morning Grant had a soccer game and scored three goals! He played soccer last spring and he was the youngest on the team. He almost scored a goal in the last game; it went just wide.

Today he had the ball come free from the pack while he was perfectly positioned in front the goal and kicked it in.

Then shortly after, he took the ball away from an opponent down on his own end, then dribbled between all of the other players and broke all the way down the field and put the ball into the goal.

The third goal was another one where the ball came free from the pack and to Grant, but near the sideline this time. He kicked it in from about 30 feet away. It was a great kick.

After all three goals, Grant just stood there and smiled and looked for me on the sideline. He was very happy with himself, and I was very proud of him! His team the Incredibles defeated the Strikers by about 15 goals, although I don't think anyone knows the actual final score. :)

Grant also celebrated his 5th birthday recently. He had a party at Chuck E. Cheese, and many of his friends came. Grant really enjoyed Skee-ball.

Pictures

2008-02-23T09:05:00.003-06:00

Here's some pictures taken yesterday.

My letter to Mark Cuban

2008-02-15T16:44:00.000-06:00

Mark,

If Devean George continues to resist the Nets trade, and if for some reason you are unable or unwilling to use KVH's rights in the deal, I am available for a sign-and-trade to facilitate bringing Jason Kidd back to Dallas.

I am 36 years old, 6'0" tall, with a strong inside post presence. I am a little out of shape, but I could work on that. I have never used performance-enhancing drugs of any sort. I expect that I would have no trouble passing the Nets' team physical. I have spoken with my family, and we would be willing to relocate to the NJ area if it came to that. I also would hold no grudges against the organization for trading me away, and if things didn't work out with the Nets, I would consider rejoining the Mavericks at a future date.

I am willing to sign for the prorated league minimum, and I am my own agent.

Best of luck, and I hope to hear from you or your people soon!

-Mark Gorman
Austin, TX
MFFL

You heard it hear first!

2008-01-15T15:25:00.000-06:00

Taco Bueno is open for business!! Sorry to scoop any other reputable media outlets hosted on this same server.

Titans!!

2007-12-31T01:47:00.000-06:00

I'm happy tonight because the Titans made the playoffs, and also because I am just about done with a very big project for work!

Grant's letter to Santa

2007-12-07T00:25:00.001-06:00

Below follows a letter to Santa that Grant is working on. Note that it appears to be a work in progress, as there is an indication that a list of toys is to follow, and Grant has so far only listed a single toy. Plus, he hasn't signed it yet.

In case Santa is having a hard time deciphering Grant's writing, it says;
Dear Santa,
I have been a good boy. I would like these toys.
R/C Helicopter (which of course means "remote-controlled helicopter")

Welcome Logan Park Selby!

2007-12-05T19:04:00.000-06:00

Our new nephew Logan arrived 12/4 just before 9am. He and his mom are both doing great, and we're all excited to head up to Dallas to meet him!

Nephew on the way!

2007-12-04T01:43:00.000-06:00

My sister Stacey is on her way to the hospital right now... we should have a little nephew soon!!! I'm so excited for Stacey and Jimmy!

O Tannenbaum

2007-11-24T10:25:00.001-06:00

Today, I put together our 9-foot-tall artificial Christmas tree. It got me to thinking about a good story from 1999. At that time, we had just moved into our first home in Lewisville, TX, which featured a 2-story open living room. The ceiling was 18-feet tall, so Caroline decided that a 12-foot-tall Christmas tree seemed reasonable. Growing up Jewish, I never had a Christmas tree, so I really couldn't argue.

For reference, our current 9-foot Christmas tree fits nicely in our new sunroom, but it takes up enough floor space that we had to move a couple of pieces of furniture for the season just to make room. How much more floor space does a 12-foot tree take compared to a 9-foot tree?

Let's see, if the trees are of similar ratios in terms of height to base, then the height of the 12-foot tree is 4/3 that of the 9-foot tree, so the radius of the base is 4/3 of the smaller tree. The floor space can be computed by pi*r^2, so the 12-foot tree is pi*4/3*4/3 = 16/9*pi, and the 9-foot tree is just pi. So the larger tree is 16/9 that of the smaller tree, and takes about 77.8% more floor space.

When we started constructing this sequoia, we soon realized that it was consuming the entire living room. Fortunately, I tapped my engineering skills, and decided to remove the back half of the tree that would be in the corner. This created an unbalanced, 400-lb. leaning tower of spruce, a real danger to everyone in the house. So I constructed a system of ropes and weights to keep the thing upright.

I placed the bow on top of the tree from the second-floor balcony, and it took Caroline 5 days to decorate it. There was a lot of money sunk into this tree as well... the tree itself probably retails for about $900 today. Luckily, Caroline got a good deal on it at Bed, Bath, and Beyond. I don't want to think about how much we spent on lights, ornaments, etc.

Caroline's parents spent the holiday with us, so at least someone else got to see this Mall-sized tree in our house. We were fortunate enough to find some sucker (one of Caroline's co-workers) who thought "Hey, what I need is a 12-foot Christmas tree!" to take it off of our hands.

The most amazing thing is that I failed to record this monstrosity in a photo. I guess I thought we'd put it up year after year. Here's a close approximation of the tree.

Iron Scrapped!!!!

2007-08-27T16:36:00.000-05:00

YES!!! Can we finally get a decent manager now?

Andrew Walking

2007-08-10T12:07:00.000-05:00

Another milestone in the Gorman family this week... Andrew can walk! He has been cruising for quite a while (which means he will "walk" when holding on to furniture, or your hand, or the wall.) Yesterday he started letting go of the furniture, and by dinner time, he was walking all the way across the living room with no support. He is very happy with himself!

I'll get some video of this achievement up here as soon as I can.

A Little Ahead of Schedule: Part II

2007-08-05T12:09:00.000-05:00

I've mentioned before that Grant has a little bike with no pedals called the Skuut. He got it for his third birthday, and although he cried when we gave it to him (because it had no pedals), within a week, he was scooting all of the place, balancing on two wheels.

Fast forward to this past March when we moved next door to 4-year-old Patrick. Grant and Patrick trade bikes and BigWheels all the time. Patrick has picked up riding the Skuut as well. Yesterday, I was outside and started up a conversation with Patrick's dad Matt, who was holding a wrench in his hand. He has just removed the training wheels from Patrick's two-wheeler.

A few minutes into the conversation, Matt yells out "Patrick!", and I immediately think something bad has happened. I turn around, and Patrick is riding his bike down the driveway. No help from his dad, he just got on and started riding.

So Grant decided he needed to try as well on Patrick's bike, and immediately had the same success. Then it was my turn with the wrench, and I removed the training wheels from Grant's two-wheeler, and now both boys are able to ride around the neighborhood with no trouble on two wheels.

So we have two four-year-olds who learn to ride a bike on the same day with basically no assistance. I wonder how long ago they could have done it if we'd tried to remove the training wheels sooner! I hope people considering buying a Skuut find this testimonial. I even saw a cheaper version (about $45 at Target vs. about $70 for the Skuut brand we bought). I will say the Skuut might have still been the better bargain, because once Grant broke the handlebar, and Skuut sent us a replacement free of charge.

Pants

2007-07-31T17:29:00.000-05:00

This little nugget was texted to me today by one of my pals:

[3:23:26 PM] Jim Smith says: the longer i type, the more i'm convinced i'm a genious

A Little Ahead of Schedule

2007-07-18T01:57:00.000-05:00

Something happened tonight that was inevitable. I always knew this would happen eventually, but still I'm surprised by how soon it happened.

Tonight, Grant beat me at a video game. Not even 4.5 years old yet, he bowled a 216 on the Wii while I bowled a 140. I was trying as best I could... not to beat him necessarily, but to get the best score I could muster. I knew I was in trouble when Grant threw a 4-bagger and I fell 80 pins behind.

Just for the record, I came back to best him by 6 pins the following game. Wiiiiiiiiiii!!!

Good to know old Scrap Iron reads brickashaw.com

2007-07-16T16:36:00.000-05:00

Phil Garner has finally seen the light, probably thanks to reading this. Biggio will not start most road games going forward.

From my earlier post:
Also, it’s time for Biggio to go. He’s been a great player (although a little overrated in my mind) for a long time, but he is absolutely killing the club now. Over the past 3+ years, he is a .232 hitter on the road. Why do we even play him on the road?!? It’s not like he’s stellar at defense.

Vegas

2007-07-01T10:58:00.000-05:00

I'm in Las Vegas with the family, eagerly awaiting the arrival of Zorlock and Tennessee Slim. We're going to play some poker over the next few days.

So far it's been a great trip. We celebrated Andrew's birthday and Caroline made a cake. I would say the highlights so far have been the trip up to Mt. Charleston, where the weather was absolutely perfect and we hunted down some butterflies, going to the Rainforest Cafe, and Caroline and I going to see Penn & Teller. We poked our heads into the WSOP while we were at the Rio to see P&T. Crazy stuff.

It has been about 110 since we got here on Wednesday. Honestly, once the sun is setting up here in Summerlin, it isn't bad outside at all. Down on the Strip is another matter entirely. I noted a 15 degree difference last night when driving back from the Rio.

I've been tagged

2007-06-26T01:37:00.000-05:00

OK, here goes... 7 things you may not know about me from reading this blog... Thanks, Barrett.

1. My grandfather Dick Gottlieb was a pretty amazing guy. He was a city councilman in Houston when I was born in 1971, and the mayor decreed my birthday "Mark Willenzik Day" in Houston, TX. (There's another thing you might not have known about me.) He was a television announcer for the Houston Buffs, was involved in a televised live suicide (a man came up to him during the baseball broadcast and offed himself right there), was awarded a Purple Heart in WWII, ran for mayor of Houston and lost in a contested, and very close election, was the local on-air emcee for countless telethons (Jerry Lewis, Bob Hope, etc.) He had his own advertising firm, and I was cast in a commercial for Lone Star Television Rental (think Rent-A-Center). My line was "Even I've got ten dollars!". I was wearing a cowboy suit and waving a $10 bill. I was about 7 years old then. Every time we went out in Houston, people were constantly coming up to us and saying "hi" and asking for autographs (from my granddad... not me). My son Andrew's middle name Richard is to honor my grandfather.

2. I am obsessed with numbers. I think the number 19 is unlucky. I won't put the volume on my car stereo at 19... always 18 or 20. I am extra careful on the 19th of every month. I say the number "20" out loud to myself when I want to stop thinking about whatever it is that I am dwelling on. Numbers I like: 3,4,7,10,14,17,20,21,24,27. Numbers I don't like: 19,26,22 (in that order). Yes, I have noticed that the numbers I like are almost all common scores in football. I don't think that's why, though. I think about dates a lot, too.

3. I have a nervous tic with my shoulders. I think it happens about once or twice a week, and I know it's coming, and I can't stop it. I also can't do it on purpose. It is definitely triggered by anxious thoughts.

4. I once bowled a 276, and I've bowled several other games over 260. I once bowled consecutive games of 256, 210, and 248. I bowl without putting my thumb in the ball. I also bowled a 268 and a 267 on the Wii.

5. My nostrils are not symmetrical.

6. I started my first NCAA tournament pool in 9th grade (1987). Dan (or was it Tom?) Putnam won $100 when Keith Smart hit the winning shot for Indiana over Syracuse. I charged $20 for vigorish and did not buy an entry into my own pool.

7. I shoplifted a Now-And-Later (street value in 1979, 2 cents) from a convenience store, and had terrible guilt about it.

It's Time to Scrap Iron

2007-05-30T22:55:00.000-05:00

Fire Phil!!!

The Astros have lost 10 straight games. Of course, I was ready to can Phil long before then, even before they made it to the World Series in 2005 (and got swept).

Baseball is a game of percentages. You maximize your chances of success in every situation, and you maximize your chances of winning over time. If you constantly make decisions that are suboptimal, even if only by a few percentage points, those add up, and ensure that you will fall short of your potential. Any time Garner makes the high-percentage decision, it's a coincidence.

I am rooting for the Astros to lose as many games as it takes to get Phil canned. Even if they were to name Jose Canseco as interim manager, at least there would be a light at the end of the tunnel.

Also, it's time for Biggio to go. He's been a great player (although a little overrated in my mind) for a long time, but he is absolutely killing the club now. Over the past 3+ years, he is a .232 hitter on the road. Why do we even play him on the road?!? It's not like he's stellar at defense.

Update 6/04/07:
Hey, I know!!! Let's sit Biggio when we're playing at home, where his average is 60 points higher than on the road... and when people have traveled from out of the town possibly just to see Biggio play! If the whole point is to give him two days rest, then rest him on the first day of the road trip. Just another example of a bad move wrt the percentages.

Here's the story about this move.

I see your cuddly family of leperdillos...

2007-05-22T18:56:00.003-05:00

...and raise you a face-eating TARANTULA!!!!!

We found this seven-legged monster on the back of the house today. As he started moving toward the back patio, I was ordered to capture the beast. He's already been released back into the wild (i.e., Barrett's garage).

Comment spam

2007-05-21T09:11:00.000-05:00

Thank you to all you loyal readers that try to post comments, even on entries that are weeks and months old. I'm afraid the popularity of this site is forcing me, however, to put some limitations on the types of comments that you can submit going forward. Here is a list of words that will not be allowed in user comments from now on, and which will no longer send email to me to notify me that a comment is awaiting moderation. Thank you for your understanding.

-Brickashaw Management

cialis
viagara
phentermine
ionamin
fioricet
xanax
valium
zoloft
tramadol
ambien
levitra
ultram
meridia
nofollow
activan

Update: I've added some more
lexapro
viagra (some spammers can spell, some can't)
V14GR4 (this one because of joshvar)

Father of the Year

2007-05-05T10:47:00.002-05:00

Caroline's training for the triathlon Saturday mornings, so I have the task of getting the boys ready in the morning and taking them to Grant's soccer game. This morning I was all set. Boys were fed and dressed and we were headed out the door. I put Andrew into his car seat in my car, and he was not happy about it, so I jingled my car keys to distract him and handed them to him. Then I went around to the other side of the car to put Grant in.

Unfortunately, the car door wouldn't open. I tried the front passenger's side, and it was also locked. I reached into my pocket to get the key fob to unlock it again, and then it hit me. My keys were in the car with the baby. Baby Andrew had hit the LOCK button on the key fob in the 5 seconds it took me to walk around the car. I had no way to get back into the car. The house was locked, and Caroline was on a bike someplace and not due back to the house for a couple of hours.

Then Andrew hit the LOCK button again. I could hear the car re-locking itself. I peeked in and smiled at him, and he smiles back, obviously thrilled with his ability to make the locking sound by pushing the button. He hit it again, and I tried to open the car door, which of course was still locked. He must have hit LOCK about 15 times, but never UNLOCK. I really didn't know what to do to get him out of there. I think my options are waiting around until Caroline comes home, breaking a window, or calling the fire department. I also futilely call Caroline 10 times, but I know there's no way she's going to answer. The neighbor is out front to take his son to his soccer game, and Grant gleefully reports our dilemma to them. Luckily, I think only their 4-year-old is paying attention.

Andrew gets bored with hitting the LOCK button, and resorts to putting the key fob in his mouth. He's still very happy inside the car. A couple of minutes pass without him miraculously hitting the UNLOCK button with his gums. Then he puts the car keys down. They are sitting in the car seat next to him. Pretty much no chance he is going to somehow unlock the car now.

I think for a couple of more minutes, wondering if I would have been better off paying for On*Star service after all, and whether they would be willing or able to remotely unlock the car for me even though I don't subscribe to the service. About now I start to explain to Grant that we are not going to be able to make it to his soccer game today.

Then I hear a glorious beeping sound and the tail lights flash. That means the car has just been unlocked. I sprint to the door to open it before Andrew has a chance to hit the LOCK button again, and it opens. The whole episode all of the sudden seems very funny, and I am amazed at my luck that my 10-month-old was able to pick up the car keys and push the right button. Time to find a new toy to distract the baby rather than my car keys!

Mavs :(

2007-05-04T00:58:00.000-05:00

My former co-worker Trebor called it about 2 weeks left in the regular season, saying he hoped the Mavs didn't match up against the Warriors in the playoffs. I blame Trebor.

I watched a lot of the Mavs this season, and they were very good, but it was pretty clear the entire series that they didn't have any sort of edge against Golden State, and having the gaudy record and #1 seed meant all the pressure was on them. It's hard to believe that the NBA playoffs will still be going for another 6 weeks, and the Mavs are already out. The Astros are pathetic. Somebody wake me up in July.

New Pictures of Andrew

2007-04-30T01:21:00.000-05:00

Andrew is 10 months old now, so we took him to get some new pictures taken.

Here they are!

Barrett's new party trick

2007-04-18T23:18:00.000-05:00

barrett.cervenka: I just ripped a phone book in half

Mark: circle c phone directory?

barrett.cervenka: haha
no a real one - I watched this: http://youtube.com/watch?v=_pGvEGFkvNs
it's pretty easy actually

Mark: the things you'll do!
that's cool
i always figured there was a trick
but I thought the trick was working out a lot and taking steroids

barrett.cervenka: definitely a trick - it's not very difficult. i have a new party trick

Mark: very cool
i would try it, but we left our collection at the old house

barrett.cervenka: that's too bad
i'm out of phone books now

Mark: hahaha

Moving day

2007-03-14T23:19:00.000-05:00

Monday the packers came and boxed up all of our belongings. We also closed on the sale of our house that day. We are leasing it back from the buyers for a few days. They have been very flexible, and that's made things a lot easier for us.

Tuesday we closed on the new house and got the keys! We spent much of Tuesday night sealing the grout on the tile floor, which is easier to do when there isn't any furniture in the way.

Today (Wednesday) the movers loaded all of our stuff into trucks and brought it over to the new place. We are still in boxes, but at least it's all here!

Tomorrow is our 10th wedding anniversary. To celebrate, we'll probably spend most of the day cleaning the old house :) Maybe we'll get to celebrate for real in a few days.

Grant seems excited about the new house. He has a lot of room to ride his Skuut in the driveway and in the garage.

Grant's Birthday Party...Andrew starting to crawl

2007-03-08T08:22:00.001-06:00

Grant's 4th birthday was 2/27, and we had his party here at the house on Saturday. The theme was Lightning McQueen from the Cars movie. Lots of Grant's friends came to the party and brought all sorts of fun presents. We played musical chairs and "pin the headlight on Mater". Grandma Lenie and Grumps (and Sophie) came in, and Jimmy and Stacey came in after the party and spent most of the weekend with us.

On Sunday, Andrew started to crawl. He doesn't have it quite down yet, but he can move forward finally. I'll post some video of Andrew just starting to crawl and the Mater game to the Media area as soon as I can get it uploaded. In the meantime, here are some pictures.

Sold!

2007-03-03T02:55:00.001-06:00

I've been itching to get this picture onto the site. We close on the new house March 13th.

Addicting Game

2007-02-21T00:51:00.000-06:00

Be careful, this game is very addicting. See if you can beat my high score.

Also, you've really got to try Hashi!

Such Great Heights

2007-02-17T00:32:00.000-06:00

We were at a child's birthday party recently when I observed Caroline having this interesting conversation with a stranger:

Caroline: Wow, your daughter is very tall. (sizes up stranger) Well, you are tall as well so that explains it.
Stranger: Well her dad is very tall.
Caroline: Oh really? How tall is he?

At this point the stranger is very uncomfortable and pauses, looking up toward the sky as if imagining her husband or hoping the answer is written on the ceiling. After an incredibly long pause, by which time Caroline is surely wishing that she had not put this woman on the spot, the stranger replies:

"About 5 foot 9" Caroline and I both politely nod as if 5'9" is indeed tall for a man. I was not aware until this moment that some Americans have no concept of height.

October... duh!

2007-02-10T09:59:00.000-06:00

Caroline thinks the purpose of the online journal is to post anytime she says something ditzy. OK, I can go with that.

So my new coworkers are entertaining in the sense that they will spend half an hour arguing over something that can be looked up on Google. I was telling Caroline about one such occasion. My new coworkers' names are not really Manny, Moe, and Jack, but since I don't actually know their names at this point, we're going with those names.

Manny: How many sides does a hexagon have?
Moe: Eight.
Jack: No, an octagon has eight sides, a hexagon has six.
Moe: Actually, you're wrong. "Hex" means eight.
Jack: I'm sure about this. I play fantasy nerd games, and we use hexagons on our maps.
Manny: Nevermind, I'll look it up. How do you spell "hexagon"?
Jack: H-E-X-O-G-O-N

OK, 10 minutes later they still aren't sure. I am telling Caroline this story at dinner and she says "Don't they know the root of words? 'Oct' means 'eight', like an octopus has eight tentacles... and then there's October... duh!"

Um, Caroline... October is the tenth month, so I think that example is only going to further confuse my coworkers!

Random updates

2007-02-07T01:57:00.000-06:00

Lots has been going on lately. We finished getting our house ready for sale, and it went on sale Feb 1. We got an offer on the very first day! These things can fall apart before the closing, so I'm not getting too excited yet, but having an offer surely beats not having an offer.

Our new house is still coming along. They've added gutters, shutters, coach lighting, a front door, bathroom hardware, electricity, outdoor grill and fridge, and probably a ton of other things I haven't noticed since I first put up pictures. I did add a few pictures in the gallery. We should close sometime in the second week of March.

My last day at Traq was Feb 2. I worked there for a year and a half. I started a DBA contract this week. Starting a new job can be pretty slow, but that doesn't really translate to low stress. I try not to talk about work stuff on here because a) it's boring, and b) there usually isn't anything interesting to say that I would want to put in such a public place. I did some really cool stuff at Traq, especially lately, but I didn't feel that it was developing any skills that would further my career.

Andrew is doing great. He can roll over and get up on hands and knees now. He even rocks back and forth, but so far, he isn't crawling. Won't be long now. He has also sprouted two lower teeth. His eyes are still as blue as ever. I'm really hoping they stay that way because they are really striking. He is a big kid, too.

My good friend Barrett's wife Michelle had a daughter this week and they named her Megan. We're eager to meet her.

Grant's 4th birthday is coming up. We plan to have a party, but there are no specifics yet, other than it will feature Lightning McQueen and Mater.

Garage Sale

2007-01-28T10:01:00.000-06:00

We had a garage sale yesterday. We place an ad in the Statesman Classifieds, put a few signs out, and listed it on craigslist.com. The result was a dozen or so zombies standing in the dark on our driveway waiting for us to open up for business at 7am. They tore through everything, making piles on our lawn to "protect" their selections from the rest of the horde. There was a lot of repeat business as someone who completed a purchase would return for more stuff. They were also very non-commital to their purchases: when there was a dispute over who had dibs on Caroline's bike, I though there might be a throwdown, but one lady gave up very quickly. "Hey, I was going to buy that bike!... ... ... but he can have it." We had some Japanese girls show up looking for some vintage duds (based on what they were wearing), and one girl proceeded to take 50 pictures of the event. I have a feeling we are going to be the subject of jokes back in Japan.

It'll be worth it, though. We cleared about $300 and unloaded a bunch of junk.

New house

2007-01-20T22:56:00.001-06:00

Today, we purchased a house. It's still under construction and will be completed in a couple of months. I've uploaded some pictures.

Congrats to Stacey & Jimmy!!

2006-10-29T23:24:00.000-06:00

My sister Stacey got married in Plano on 10/21. It was a great time. Pictures are here.

Lucky 27

2006-10-23T17:29:00.000-05:00

Ever since we managed to have Andrew on the 27th of June to complete the "27 Trifecta", I've been noticing more 27-related things. Turns out, I have this in common with Weird Al Yankovic. Some of his nerd fans even have a site dedicated to noticing the recurring "27" theme with him.

Here's a contest. The 27th person to buy me this shirt (size XL please), wins the previous 26 shirts I receive!!!

More pictures

2006-10-09T00:38:00.001-05:00

Lots more pictures of the boys added to the gallery. Here's one of Andrew.

He's doing great. He loves to smile, and he's starting to use his voice.

We went to Sea World in San Antonio this Saturday. Grant rode his first rollercoaster, and he REALLY liked it. He was very nervous in line. I couldn't get him to say anything, and he wouldn't take his eyes off of the coaster as it went around. I was sure that we'd get up to the front and he'd chicken out.

As soon as the gate opened, he ran to the coaster and got in... still not saying anything. Then we started up the lift, and I asked him if he was going to raise his hands and he shook his head no. Then we started down the first "dip" (this is a kiddie coaster), and Grant starts this maniacal laugh that doesn't stop until the ride is over. He got off and RAN down the exit ramp to Caroline. I was having trouble keeping up. Once he got to Caroline, he was talking non-stop... very excited and ready to ride it again.

My sister is getting married in Dallas in a couple of weeks. I am responsible for putting together the music. Should be a lot of fun with Caroline, Grant, and me all in the wedding.

We lost Bailey today

2006-09-18T22:20:00.001-05:00

We are all very sad because our dog Bailey died today. He seemed fine last night and early this morning, but Caroline discovered him at 6pm today and he was gone, still inside his doggie bed. We really have no idea of what happened to him. I know that heart failure is common in the breed and is the most likely cause for his sudden passing.

We took hiim to the animal hospital for cremation and told him goodbye. I think the hardest thing is that he was gone with no warning at all. We'll all miss him. He was a sweet dog.

Hitori-san!!

2006-09-04T18:28:00.000-05:00

For those of you that enjoyed Sudoku and Kakuro, I present

HITORI!!!!!

Enjoy!

Snakes on a Plane!

2006-08-20T02:45:00.000-05:00

I saw Snakes on a Plane tonight. It was better than I thought it would be just in terms of being well executed. It was every bit as good as I thought it would be in terms of campy, guilty-pleasure enjoyment. This is the kind of movie that would be best enjoyed in a crowded theatre. I don't think it will translate to home viewing very well at all. SO GO SEE IT TODAY!

Grant builds a heliport

2006-08-12T12:39:00.001-05:00

Here's a picture of Grant and his latest creation.

Not a whole lot has been going on, which is why there have been no updates. It's hard to get out and about these days so there haven't been a lot of photo opportunities. Grant has been his happy self as usual, showing no emotional stress with the new addition. Bailey seems kinda down in the dumps, though. He just lies around all day.

Chad Vader

2006-07-25T18:08:00.000-05:00

Am I the last person to see these things? If so, I apologize...

Chad Vader

Almost 4 weeks

2006-07-24T00:57:00.000-05:00

It's hard to believe the little guy is already almost 4 weeks old. Time flies by very quickly in three hour segments, which is about how long he can go after eating before he wakes up hungry!! To those of you who might think Andrew is as elusive as Suri Cruise right now, here's a little taste of today's excitement at the photo place.

Felonious Monk

2006-07-15T23:53:00.000-05:00

Andrew is doing well. He is starting to take in what's going on around him... but mostly he still just eats and sleeps.

Grant has had two butterflies emerge from their cocoons and has one cocoon left. He has enjoyed releasing them.

Here's a funny Office Space - Superfriends mashup. Enjoy! (not for the kiddos)

More pictures

2006-07-05T10:10:00.000-05:00

Andrew came home from the hospital on Saturday. He had some trouble figuring out how to eat at first which is why he had to stay so long, but he's got it figured out now and he's doing great. Caroline's parents had to head back home on Friday, and my parents were in town Friday through Sunday. My mom is headed back to Austin today to help out some more.

Here are some pictures from the last few days.

Welcome Andrew Richard Blevins Gorman!

2006-06-28T10:31:00.001-05:00

Andrew was born on June 27th at 12:07pm CDT at Seton Southwest Hospital in Austin. He weighed 8 lbs. 4 oz. at birth and measured 20 inches in length. Baby and mother are both doing fine. Grant is elated to have a baby brother!

Bunches of pictures in the gallery. Also a movie just after he was born and another from later that night.

Grant, Andrew, and I all have our birthdays on the 27th (Grant is February and I am December). The name Andrew is just because we like it. Richard is for my grandfather Richard Gottlieb and Blevins (Caroline's maiden name) is to honor her family.

Edit: Just added some more pictures from the hospital and from today when Grant and I went to the Austin Zoo.

Baby tomorrow

2006-06-26T23:10:00.001-05:00

We are headed to the hospital at 8:30a tomorrow, and we should have a baby by noon or so. I'll have updates here.

Here's a picture Grant took of his Grandpa. Pretty darn good photo for a 3-year-old if you ask me!

Also, I added more pictures here.

Waiting patiently for baby

2006-06-25T19:09:00.000-05:00

We're still waiting for the baby to arrive. Caroline was due yesterday, but no baby yet. Bert and Sandy (Caroline's parents) are in town, and everyone is ready for something to happen. In the meantime, we are having fun. Sandy made a Crocodile Cake (almost as good as Barrett's work). Grant played T-ball out in the front yard. Pictures of both of these can be found here.

What a sham

2006-06-21T12:49:00.000-05:00

Here are some emails sent to espn.com by NBA fans... BEFORE last night's Game 6 debacle. I was right, the Mavs would win unless something freakish happened.

I do solemnly swear, this 19th day of June, 2006 that I will never watch an NBA game again. Everyone is supposed to say what a great game that was with a straight face? At least the WWE has the grace to give you a wink. If watching a man in a flak jacket and thigh pads repeatedly throw himself into defenders to draw foul calls is what passes for "competition," or better yet watching said man hit layups because no one can breathe on him, I believe I can live without [it]. Why would anyone follow a "sport" that employs Dick Bavetta and Stu Jackson? All that was missing was David Stern running onto the court with a steel chair, ABC execs in tow. Bill Simmons, I name thee prophet. It went down exactly as you said it would.
-- James, Richmond, Virginia

Twenty-five free-throw attempts is nonsense, not even MJ would have gotten some of those foul calls. And I'm not just saying this because I'm a bitter Pistons fan. Sixty-year-old officials should not be officiating 20-something-year-old professional athletes.
-- Paul, Detroit, Mich.

Have you ever, I mean EVER, seen a guy get more calls than Wade in Game 5? As staggering as it is to even think it, much less say it out loud, this surpasses the level of calls Jordan used to get in the playoffs. Simply AMAZING. I am a die-hard NBA fan, and I understand and accept the whole "stars get calls" factor, but this is an insane new level. Every time Wade falls down (even if not touched) he gets a call. You called it in your preview, the refs were gonna give some games to Miami, and they did.
-- Jonathan, Raleigh, N.C.

Please admit to everyone that the treatment Dwyane Wade is receiving is absolutely absurd. The final play in Game 5 summed it up: He commits a backcourt violation, pushes off on Terry, then goes wildly to the bucket and gets bailed out on a phantom foul call. Is what the NBA has to do to create its star of the future?
-- Mark, Chicago

I watch very little NBA basketball; however, as the playoffs have been playing out, I have found myself watching more and more games, becoming more interested. Then comes the Finals and I feel like I am watching pro wrestling, except I can fool myself into thinking those matches aren't fixed. At least it makes the NBA the easiest sport to gamble on.
-- Jeremy Louden, Cincinnati

I want to say something about Dwayne Wade, but I fear I may get called for a foul.
-- Warren, Ludington, Mich.

Unfortunately you were right that the NBA finals could come down to the officials. David Stern would rather choke to death on his own vomit than hand Mark Cuban the trophy. It's clear he instructed the refs to take an active interest in the outcomes of the games. Every time Wade drives the lane the refs call a foul on whoever is closest.
-- Jeff, Baltimore

After witnessing the Game 5 debacle, I am absolutely convinced that Stern is trying to fix the Finals for D-Wade and the Heat. Stackhouse's suspension, Dirk's phantom foul in OT, and then Joey Crawford's inexplicable call for a Mavs timeout -- it all adds up too perfectly. This could be a conspiracy as far-reaching as Watergate. I can already imagine the inevitable ESPN movie, "All The Commissioner's Men," where a stubborn, upstart young sports columnist brings down Stern and the entire NBA hierarchy. So, Simmons, the only question is: Will you be our Bob Woodward?
-- Robert P., Topeka, Kan.

All the comparisons between Wade and Jordan need to stop right now. There's no way Jordan would have gotten that call in the final seconds of Game 5.
-- Chris Richardson, Charleston, W.V.

10 Things I Hate About Commandments

2006-06-21T12:08:00.000-05:00

There are a few of these bogus movie trailers going around. I've seen "Brokeback to the Future" and a few others, but this one is pretty funny. Enjoy! (FYI, there's some profanity at the end of this, in case you are bothered by that sort of thing.)

Caroline at 39 weeks

2006-06-18T21:30:00.001-05:00

Here's a picture of Caroline at 39 weeks. Baby could come any day now.

Grumps visits Austin

2006-06-12T20:54:00.000-05:00

Grumps (my dad) was in town for business, so we met at Smokey Bones for dinner. Here are some pics. You can see me with my new shaved head. Not sure what I think of it yet. The old do had to go, but the shaved head is taking some getting used to.

6-6-06

2006-06-06T23:02:00.000-05:00

Here's another article about expectant mothers dreading 6-6-06. Looks like we're in the clear! I don't expect the child to arrive in the next 55 minutes!

More Mavericks fun

2006-06-06T22:21:00.000-05:00

I love Mavericks coach Avery Johnson... he is so entertaining. Man has the biggest hands and teeth relative to the rest of his body on the face of the planet, plus his voice is hilarious. In this clip, we find Avery surprising Josh Howard with a punch below the belt.

Passing time

2006-06-05T00:43:00.000-05:00

The Mavs are in the Finals. I think they have a very good shot at beating Miami. In fact, I can't imagine them losing unless something freakish happens, like an injury or a suspension.

Other than that, we've been getting ready for the baby. He's due 6/24. We've been cleaning up the house and getting the nursery ready. We'd like to get past 6/6/06. I'm not superstitious about that at all, but Caroline isn't the only expectant mother that would prefer another date. I do have a superstition about the 19th. I just decided when I was a kid for no good reason that 19 was my unlucky number.

More info on the helicopter incident

2006-05-27T14:35:00.000-05:00

A viewer on YouTube came across my video and researched the NTSB investigation into the accident.

The National Transportation Safety Board determines the probable cause(s) of this accident as follows:

The pilot's initial misjudgment of the wind speed and his decision to continue a downwind landing approach when his speed and altitude profile was inadequate, and his failure to maintain main rotor rpm, resulting in settling with power and a hard landing. The pilot said he made a downwind approach to an open area at a remote ranch for noise abatement reasons. He stated that he misjudged the wind speed and found himself slower and lower than he originally planned, as he turned base to final, and encountered a power settling condition. The pilot attempted to apply left pedal to turn the helicopter back into the wind, but the helicopter continued the descent and landed hard. The rotor rpm horn came on just prior to contact with the ground.

Very interesting. I was able to find the same thing online.

Pantheon of sports victories

2006-05-23T00:06:00.001-05:00

OK, so I am a big sports fan, and tonight, one of my teams came up big. The Mavericks finally broke through against their nemesis the Spurs and won Game 7 in overtime on the road. Everybody knows the road team is supposed to lose to the defending champs on the road in Game 7, especially when crowd-pleaser ref Dick Bavetta is calling the game. All of the calls went for the Spurs, as expected, but the Mavs overcame. I'm pretty pumped.

So this made me think of my top five favorite sports victories (with a nod to High Fidelity). This is for my favorite teams, with emphasis on beating a rival.

5) Dallas Mavericks 119, San Antonio Spurs 111 OT, Western Conference Semifinals Game 7, 5/22/2006: The Spurs had won three of the last 7 championships and had eliminated the Mavericks in two of the last 5 years. The Mavs are an adopted team. I've only been rooting for them for the last 7 years, as opposed to the Oilers/Titans, Astros, and Rockets, whom I have been following since 1979, 1980, and 1981. I lived in Dallas and they play an exciting brand of ball, and the Rockets were bungling away Hakeem's last few years. I still love the Rockets, too, but last year I had to choose between the Rockets and Mavs when they faced each other in the playoffs. I went to the game in Houston dressed in Mavs gear.

4) Houston Astros 12, Atlanta Braves 3, National League Division Series Game 5, 10/11/2004: The Astros finally win a post-season series, avenging three previous series losses to the Braves in which the Astros won only once in ten games. This one is a laugher. The Astros duplicated the feat one year later winning an 18-inning game to eliminate the Braves. I hate the Braves.

3) Houston Rockets 114, Los Angeles Lakers 112, Western Conference Finals Game 5, 5/21/1986: The Rockets break through against the Showtime Lakers on a miracle jump-catch-and-shoot by Ralph Sampson with 1 second left. The Rockets go to the NBA Finals after eliminating the heavily favored Lakers. I watched this with my Dad in our old house with my Mom sleeping in the room. When the Rockets won, my dad and I celebrated wildly, jumping around in jubilation - without making a sound.

2) Houston Astros 5, St. Louis Cardinals 1, National League Championship Series Game 6, 10/19/2005: Astros advance to first World Series with a 5-1 yawner over the rival and favored Cardinals that had eliminated the Astros in the 2004 NLCS. This followed the Astros choking classically in Game 5 on a mammoth Albert Pujols home run after being with one strike of winning the series. I couldn't stand to watch I was so nervous. If the Astros had lost, I might be dead now.

1) Tennessee Titans 22 Buffalo Bills 16, AFC Wild Card Game, 1/8/2000: The Oilers left Houston and moved to Tennessee largely because of the painful loss in 1993 to the Bills. They were the Oilers back then, and they blew a 35-3 lead to a backup QB, losing in overtime 41-38. So it was sweet, sweet, sweet redemption when they ripped the hearts out of all Bills' fans everywhere by winning on a crazy kickoff return with 16 seconds left in the game. Even sweeter, Bills fans refuse to believe that the play was legal. This win propelled the Titans to their only Super Bowl appearance, where they just fell short against the Rams.

Any I'm forgetting?

New pictures and movies

2006-05-18T23:03:00.000-05:00

I posted some new pictures of our backyard landscaping lit up at night.

There's also a couple of movies that Grant's teacher sent us. One of Grant winning a dance-off and the other of Grant and friend Evan singing their ABCs.

You can always get to the movies and music I upload using the Media link I added above. Keep in mind that some of these movies might take a while to load. If you have dial-up, don't even bother trying to watch them.

Beauty is in the eye of the beholder

2006-05-14T23:43:00.001-05:00

Happy Mother's Day to all you Moms out there!!

We live in Circle C in Southwest Austin, and today the neighborhood looked better than it ever has. We had a ton of rain a couple of weeks ago so all of the vegetation is very lush, and all the flowers are blooming right now. The housing market is back for the first time in 5 years, and people seemed more interested in sprucing up their houses. We were also blessed with a rare mid-May cold front this afternoon that dropped temps into the low 70s.

I took Grant with me to drive up to the new retail center in our neighborhood to pick up some dinner. There were birds everywhere. I said to Grant, "Isn't our neighborhood pretty, with all the trees and flowers and birds?"

He agreed. "All of the dump trucks and garbage trucks and garbage... It's beautiful!"

Pictures just added

2006-05-12T20:29:00.000-05:00

Grant's teacher sent some pictures home with him today. I added them to the Photo Album.

Video of helicopter incident in Maui 1999

2006-05-08T23:36:00.000-05:00

Here's the video of the helicopter ride Caroline and I took in Maui in August, 1999. At some point, I completely forget I'm even recording this. It isn't until several hours later that I even realize that I caught this on film. I thought it was a good time to share this since my buddy Barrett and his wife Michelle are headed to Hawaii next week.

Washing Grant's Hair

2006-05-07T22:06:00.000-05:00

Here's how Grant keeps the shampoo out of his eyes.

KKKK vs. 6666

2006-04-29T09:47:00.000-05:00

I promise not too much poker content on the journal. I don't really play much these days anyway. But this morning, I was dealt KKKK in 5-card draw, and my unfortunate opponent drew 6666. Good times. 6666 is the best hand I've ever seen lose a hand.

Game #xxxxxxxxxx - $1/$2 5-Card Draw - 2006/04/29
Table xxxxx -- Seat 5 is the button
Seat 1: 1lou1 ($53.75 in chips)
Seat 3: dryman ($79.75 in chips)
Seat 5: ManOfTheFelt ($14.50 in chips)
Seat 9: Mark ($41.50 in chips)
Mark: Post Small Blind ($0.50)
1lou1 : Post Big Blind ($1)
Dealt to Mark [ Ks ]
Dealt to Mark [ Jd ]
Dealt to Mark [ Kd ]
Dealt to Mark [ Kh ]
Dealt to Mark [ Kc ]
dryman : Fold
ManOfTheFelt: Fold
Mark: Raise ($1.50)
1lou1 : Call ($1)
Discarded by Mark [ Jd ]
Dealt to Mark [ 3h ]
Discarding...
Discarding...
Discarding...
Dealing...
Mark: Bet ($2)
1lou1 : Raise ($4)
Mark: Raise ($4)
1lou1 : Raise ($4)
Mark said, "pat quads"
Mark: Call ($2)
*** SUMMARY ***
Pot: $19 | Rake: $1
1lou1 lost $10 (showed hand) [ 2h 6c 6h 6s 6d ] (four of a kind, sixes)
dryman didn't bet (folded)
ManOfTheFelt didn't bet (folded)
Mark bet $10, collected $19, net +$9 (showed hand) [ Ks 3h Kd Kh Kc ] (four of a kind, kings)

Let's get this party started right

2006-04-27T00:30:00.000-05:00

Welcome to my weblog! It seems like a good time to start one of these because we have a kid on the way, and I want to capture this exciting time and share it with our friends and family. I'll have to get to the family stuff later, because...

Turns out, there is a lot of excitement around here tonight. A neighbor two doors down has decided to commit suicide by SWAT Team. He's barricaded himself inside his house with a gun. The SWAT Team and Austin Police are all over the place. We aren't allowed outside, and many of my neighbors cannot get back to their homes. We've heard about a dozen shots fired.

I wrecked my car on Friday, so I have a rental right now. I couldn't drive all the way home because of a police barricade tonight, so it's parked on the street a few doors down. There's a picture on the front page of the Austin American-Statesman site right now featuring my rental car!

Edit: Turns out, the guy was not even in the house. The "gunshots" we heard were probably tear gas cannons. Our neighbor is still at large.