Lost from Comic Con

I listen to the Lost Transmission, a podcast on. They are or rather were, just at Comic Con in San Deigo and watched the Lost a panel. They have audio from the panel in a special podcast which I recommend checking out. If video is more your speed, I found this blog post featuring video and audio from the panel.

I'm not quite done with the podcast, but so far just a lot of fun and not too many spoilers. They do seem to be indicating one of my pet theories about season 6 may be true.

It's good to get a Lost Fix.

1979 Klingon Happy Meal

Award Winning Art at the County Fair

My eldest son, who's just a week shy of 14 years old, entered four pieces of artwork in the Champaign County Fair. He earned three 1st place awards and one 2nd place award.

His oil painting of a lioness won 1st place in it's category.(the above picture of the lioness is old and is not complete, I'll post updated photos when I can.)

(this is the completed work at the fair)

His pastel drawing of a classmate won 1st place in it's category.



His charcoal drawing of a girl in an apple orchard won 1st place in it's category.



His oil painting of the eight cylons from Battlestar Galactica won 2nd place in the open category.


I will modify this post when I have photographs of the artwork.

Vinny's East Coast Pizzeria

I had lunch at Vinny’s East Coast Pizzeria today and was very happy. It’s been 15 years since I’ve had a slice of New York style pizza and they got it pretty darn close. I read the owner has 15 years experience in the food service industry and spent most of it in Manhattan. I’ve been waiting eagerly for this place to open. There has been other ‘East Coast’ or ‘New York’ pizza places in Champaign, but they were terrible.

I worry that there menu may be a bit too diverse, sometimes this causes problems when a restaurant tries to do too much. East Coast style pizza is unlike anything you can get around here, it may not be for everyone but it made me very happy. I talked to the cooks after having my slice of cheese and slice of sausage. I told them I grew up in NY and it had been 15 years since I had a real slice of pizza. They all cheered and enthusiastically asked me to come back and tell others. I assured them I would.

I highly recommend giving it a try. Pizza is available by the slice for lunch and dinner.

You can read a bit more in this News Gazette article

Birthday

My birthday was last Sunday. Thanks to all who made it very fun and memorable.

My day started off great. I was sound asleep at 6am then, "WHAM" the bedroom door is slammed open. My middle son (7 years) yells, "Happy Birthday", runs to the side of the bed, gives me a kiss, then sings happy birthday. Then he runs back out and "WHAM" slams the door closed.

I close my eyes and get comfortable again, very happy that the first thing he did was come wish me a happy birthday.

Then..."WHAM" the door slams open. My youngest son (6 years) is standing in the door. "Happy Birthday Dad", he yells. Then he sings happy birthday, trots to the side of my bed and gives me a kiss. He runs back out slamming the door behind him. "WHAM!".

What a great start to a great day.

My eldest son, wife, and the rest of my family all helped make it a great day, but that's the most I've ever enjoyed such a loud wake up call.

Second Saugatuck Trip

I just returned from Saugatuck, MI with Shannon and the boys. Shannon's folks rent a nice cabin up there twice a year and invite us up to spend some time. They took the boys last weekend and Shannon and I had a few rare days of one on one grown up time. We missed the boys dearly but it was a very nice break. Thursday we drove up and spent three nights in Michican resting and relaxing.

Our youngest (6yrs) cried when we arrived. It was all for attention, he wasn't really upset. Shortly thereafter he was smiling and telling me they were tears of joy. My middle son (7yrs) said it was good we came up because he couldn't remember what I looked like. My eldest son (13) had some stomach woes and was a bit subdued at first, but we got to take a boat cruise together before the visit was done for some quality father son time together.

Following are pictures from the boat cruise, "The Star of Saugatuck" and from around the town. If you have access to my flicker account loads of additional photos will be posted shortly.

i.Saw - The World's First USB-powered Chainsaw

ISA's president sent this to me and a few other people at work. It's really funny and worth a look. i.Saw - The World's First USB-powered Chainsaw

Old Time Meat & Deli

If you live in the Champaign/Urbana area I highly recommend checking out Old Time Meat and Deli. Their product is outstanding and the service is great.