Like usual, I awoke first. La Quinta has a complimentary breakfast bar, so I wandered over with the MacPro, logged on, and tucked in to a light meal, then brought back some coffee and muffins for the family. I know they sometimes sleep right past the breakfast window. (There was a Denny's next door if needed, but "free" is such a better price for breakfast.)
The one webpage I made sure to review was for the San Antonio Zoo, which was our day's destination. Unfortunately, we didn't get started until late morning, and it turned out that, since it was spring break week for much of Texas (but not, apparently, for San Antonio, which had taken its break the week before), the Zoo was the destination of many, many other people as well.
Finding the Zoo was not difficult, but the parking lot was full -- so I dropped Val and the kids and continued on. The next two parking lots were also full. Finally, at a large municipal building up the street, I found some parking space at the far back of the lot. I hiked back toward the entrance, where the family was almost up to the admission booth. (Good thing I got there before they did, as I had the web discount coupon.)
Once inside, we rented a double-wide stroller, which is still a good idea even at our kids' ages (7 and 4). It greatly improves out team mobility. With the kids saddled up, we struck out through the Zoo.
The crowd was immense -- which was little issue for the exhibits, but ghastly for concessions. Even at a late lunch hour, we had to wait a long time. Thankfully, the cafeteria had a fruit salad to go along with burgers and chicken nuggets (I ordered a veggie burger, which wasn't bad, but took much longer to cook than the hamburgers, which were being cranked out, so that made the delay even longer.)
That was all just capacity issues, though (and reportedly, the Zoo had a significantly larger crowd on Monday -- so glad we didn't go then). The animals themselves were great. There was only one elephant, always my favorite (they're just so big), and all it did was walk about and eat hay (as it should) -- but I loved watching nonetheless. The Zoo has a large bird collection, with an enormous amount of cranes, many of which nest in the trees -- and with leaves not quite blooming yet, they were easily visible. It was an impressive sight.
We also saw crocodiles, lying so still the kids didn't believe they were real. A large indoor exhibit of toads and frogs, which Carson loved. A sleepy grizzly bear. Various primates. An enormous anaconda. Zebras, rhinos, a giraffe, ostriches. Many, many exotic fauna from far-flung places, which otherwise we never would get to see live.
The Zoo is not especially large, but we whiled away the entire afternoon, never moving urgently, and at 5:00 -- admissions stop, but an hour short of closing time -- we were back near the gate. The kids got a tour of the gift shop, and finally we stepped out. I hiked off for the car, we loaded up, and headed for home, 75 miles north.
Both kids fell asleep on the drive.
Wednesday, March 25, 2009
Tuesday, March 24, 2009
The Short Road Trip: San Antonio, Day 1
March 16-20 was AISD's spring break week, giving Amalie five days off. Carson's Montessori follows the AISD schedule, as well, so we all decided to Do Something, and an overnight trip to San Antonio seemed the best choice. It's close, and there's fun things to do.
We got out of Austin (surprisingly easily) late Monday morning, and in less than two hours were at our preferred La Quinta, on the western side of SA near Sea World (which was open, but not in our plans for this little trip; both kids have seen it recently). We hadn't made a reservation, and with much of Texas taking spring break simultaneously, no standard rooms were left. We took a suite, which the kids immediately loved -- two televisions, a tiny kitchenette, a sitting room with couch and comfy recliner. It was spacious. My only complaint was that the in-house wifi signal was almost nonexistent; I had to go to the lobby to access it. (In fairness, La Q. gave me a $20 credit when we checked out.)
Our evening plan was to head downtown for dinner and the Riverwalk, leaving a few afternoon hours open. The kids wanted to hit the pool, so Val suited them up and off they went. It turned out, though, that the water was quite cold. Only Amie enjoyed being wet (which is always a good thing, as nothing wears out a kid like swimming).
After a bit I called time, and we readied for dinner. A short highway drive brought us to the Rivercenter, and since there was still plenty of daylight, we parked and walked the few blocks to the Tower Of The Americas. Built for the 1967 World's Fair, it is still the most distinctive item of the San Antonio skyline (and, by local law, nothing can be built taller than it). A Chart House restaurant sits atop, which is on a turntable, giving about a full rotation every hour, and this was our dining destination.
We were seated quickly. The menu is excellent, primarily seafood. The prices are not quite as high as the dining room, but one does pay for the privilege of eating high in the air with a fantastic view. The ladies were facing westward as we sat, so were getting the full force of the setting sun, but half an hour later, it was Carson's and my turn to stare into it, even darker orange. The major compass points are marked on window struts, and Amalie enjoyed watching them approach and reading them off.
After dinner, we went up to the top level, the observation deck, and walked around outside. It was now dark, with comfortable and cool breezes. San Antonio glittered below us. One long elevator ride later, we decided to take a cab back to Rivercenter, which included an underpass of I-35 lit up with changing colors; very pretty.
Upon alighting from the cab, Val found a live bullet in the street. Yeesh. I pocketed it carefully and began looking for a police or security officer. We dropped off some things in the car -- items the kids had wheedled at the Tower gift shop -- and then walked into the Rivercenter proper, a shopping mall which surrounds a developed tributary of the San Antonio River, the heart of the famous Riverwalk. (Notable features include the adjoining Marriott Rivercenter, primary hotel for the 1997 WorldCon/LoneStar Con 2.)
Our goal this night was the Rio San Antonio passenger boats that traverse the tributary and an adjacent loop of the River. Tickets secured, I held our place in line while Val and the kids milled a bit, but the boats come around quickly and we were welcomed aboard before too long. Even at a late hour -- it was nearly 9:00 pm -- the boats keep going, until the tourists dry up, apparently.
The ride takes about half an hour, with the captain/tour guide providing historical notes about various features along the Riverwalk, plus some bad jokes. The weather was perfect, the ride relaxing. It was Carson's first time (Amalie had ridden the boats at age 2), and he was on his knees, looking out over the gunwales, practically the entire ride. The upper part of the loop is populated with many restaurants and night spots, and even for a Monday night, was booming. We alighted back at the Rivercenter, just down the steps from the ice cream parlor. I had kinda-sorta promised the kids ice cream in lieu of dessert at the Chart House (which would have been excellent, but high priced), so that was fulfilled. As the kids licked furiously -- the night was warm enough to encourage melting -- we returned to the car, cleaned faces, and headed back to our hotel. And, eventually, got the kids to drop off, though it took a DVD movie on the laptop to finally drain them.
The bullet? Prior to embarking on the boat, I went to use the restroom and found that the Security station was adjacent. I stopped in and dropped it off; it was nothing I wanted to keep.
We got out of Austin (surprisingly easily) late Monday morning, and in less than two hours were at our preferred La Quinta, on the western side of SA near Sea World (which was open, but not in our plans for this little trip; both kids have seen it recently). We hadn't made a reservation, and with much of Texas taking spring break simultaneously, no standard rooms were left. We took a suite, which the kids immediately loved -- two televisions, a tiny kitchenette, a sitting room with couch and comfy recliner. It was spacious. My only complaint was that the in-house wifi signal was almost nonexistent; I had to go to the lobby to access it. (In fairness, La Q. gave me a $20 credit when we checked out.)
Our evening plan was to head downtown for dinner and the Riverwalk, leaving a few afternoon hours open. The kids wanted to hit the pool, so Val suited them up and off they went. It turned out, though, that the water was quite cold. Only Amie enjoyed being wet (which is always a good thing, as nothing wears out a kid like swimming).
After a bit I called time, and we readied for dinner. A short highway drive brought us to the Rivercenter, and since there was still plenty of daylight, we parked and walked the few blocks to the Tower Of The Americas. Built for the 1967 World's Fair, it is still the most distinctive item of the San Antonio skyline (and, by local law, nothing can be built taller than it). A Chart House restaurant sits atop, which is on a turntable, giving about a full rotation every hour, and this was our dining destination.
We were seated quickly. The menu is excellent, primarily seafood. The prices are not quite as high as the dining room, but one does pay for the privilege of eating high in the air with a fantastic view. The ladies were facing westward as we sat, so were getting the full force of the setting sun, but half an hour later, it was Carson's and my turn to stare into it, even darker orange. The major compass points are marked on window struts, and Amalie enjoyed watching them approach and reading them off.
After dinner, we went up to the top level, the observation deck, and walked around outside. It was now dark, with comfortable and cool breezes. San Antonio glittered below us. One long elevator ride later, we decided to take a cab back to Rivercenter, which included an underpass of I-35 lit up with changing colors; very pretty.
Upon alighting from the cab, Val found a live bullet in the street. Yeesh. I pocketed it carefully and began looking for a police or security officer. We dropped off some things in the car -- items the kids had wheedled at the Tower gift shop -- and then walked into the Rivercenter proper, a shopping mall which surrounds a developed tributary of the San Antonio River, the heart of the famous Riverwalk. (Notable features include the adjoining Marriott Rivercenter, primary hotel for the 1997 WorldCon/LoneStar Con 2.)
Our goal this night was the Rio San Antonio passenger boats that traverse the tributary and an adjacent loop of the River. Tickets secured, I held our place in line while Val and the kids milled a bit, but the boats come around quickly and we were welcomed aboard before too long. Even at a late hour -- it was nearly 9:00 pm -- the boats keep going, until the tourists dry up, apparently.
The ride takes about half an hour, with the captain/tour guide providing historical notes about various features along the Riverwalk, plus some bad jokes. The weather was perfect, the ride relaxing. It was Carson's first time (Amalie had ridden the boats at age 2), and he was on his knees, looking out over the gunwales, practically the entire ride. The upper part of the loop is populated with many restaurants and night spots, and even for a Monday night, was booming. We alighted back at the Rivercenter, just down the steps from the ice cream parlor. I had kinda-sorta promised the kids ice cream in lieu of dessert at the Chart House (which would have been excellent, but high priced), so that was fulfilled. As the kids licked furiously -- the night was warm enough to encourage melting -- we returned to the car, cleaned faces, and headed back to our hotel. And, eventually, got the kids to drop off, though it took a DVD movie on the laptop to finally drain them.
The bullet? Prior to embarking on the boat, I went to use the restroom and found that the Security station was adjacent. I stopped in and dropped it off; it was nothing I wanted to keep.
I hate home repairs (including computer repairs)
Just hate them, hate having to do them, hate the guys on TV who make it look super-trivial because they skip the 30 steps in the middle that only four decades of apprenticeship to an international master would only begin to address, and especially hate how, no matter the repair, the things involved will fight me every damn step of the way.
Here's me doing home repairs: http://www.videosift.com/video/Burn-E-Pixar-Short
...minus the "woo-hoo!" moment of elation. I just move right on to the "collapse from exasperation and disbelief" part.
Here's me doing home repairs: http://www.videosift.com/video/Burn-E-Pixar-Short
...minus the "woo-hoo!" moment of elation. I just move right on to the "collapse from exasperation and disbelief" part.
Monday, March 23, 2009
Curses upon all PC technology
I'm not entirely sure how I did it, and it was far from trivial, but my primary PC box is alive again, booting to real Windows 2000. The working environment is bare-bones, there's a lot of stuff I have to reload to get back to "my" machine, but hot damn, I did it.
I torched two power supplies along the way. And apparently I'm going to need a power jumper of sorts, or perhaps I need to switch the PSs between their towers.
This has been a ROYAL pain in the ass, but it appears -- appears, mind -- that the very worst is over. And it took, oh, eight, nine days. I've lost count.
How the hellfire this crap became the dominant technology platform is a complete mystery.
Generally agreeable when it works, non-anesthetic self-dentistry when it doesn't.
I torched two power supplies along the way. And apparently I'm going to need a power jumper of sorts, or perhaps I need to switch the PSs between their towers.
This has been a ROYAL pain in the ass, but it appears -- appears, mind -- that the very worst is over. And it took, oh, eight, nine days. I've lost count.
How the hellfire this crap became the dominant technology platform is a complete mystery.
Generally agreeable when it works, non-anesthetic self-dentistry when it doesn't.
Sunday, March 08, 2009
Movie Review: Watchmen
This past Friday, I went to see Watchmen. Geekiness overruling common sense (and satisfying some practical timing considerations), I went to the 11:00 am showing. There was 25, 30 people, and I prefer small crowds, so that was good for me.
I don't expect films to exactly match their book sources. Honestly, that wouldn't be interesting -- no surprises, no creativity. As one recent and sterling example, Peter Jackson's The Lord Of The Rings trilogy was not the same story J.R.R. Tolkien wrote, but it was a very interesting, very immersive interpretation that held true to the source material in most places. Film is a different medium and it has different strengths, different weaknesses, different demands. As a film, and being familiar with the novel, I think Jackson essentially nailed it. A fisking comparison between film and book would be nitpicking pedantry; the existence of a film version does not invalidate, corrupt, supersede, or abolish an existing book. If done well, it simply expands the available experiential choices. If one does not like the film, the book is still, always, there.
That said, Hollywood has not been kind to Alan Moore's works, and Moore has developed a complete "hands-off, go away, do what you want, don't pay me" attitude because of this. I don't fault him this. I haven't read his The League Of Extraordinary Gentlemen, but I am familiar with the quality of his works, and the film was dreadful all on its own. Likewise, V For Vendetta was an interesting story, but very little was Moore's story -- it was a different story told with some characters he had co-created.
And now we have Watchmen.
The original comic books -- a 12-issue series -- came out in 1986-87. I read them in real time. I don't care if this buys me geek cred or not, but the series arrived at a propitious time for me personally. I was almost done with college and, in some ways, I was almost done with comics. I had been an avid reader for most of my life to that point, and I think that my reading habits were very influential on me (it probably does explain a lot; those of you who know me will probably understand, though you're free to interpret the influence of comics on me any way you want). In a very short time, DC Comics published three seminal works, which collectively served as a personal coda, a way of saying Good-bye to comics and the universes I had known so well. (To be certain, I still read comics today, but far fewer than I did then. I was able to leave much of those worlds behind me. Of course, I still have the actual comic books.)
One was Crisis On Infinite Earths -- DC's attempt to "clean up" their primary multiverse continuity. It was a bold plan that, frankly, was too vast for the creators and the practical publishing schedule they had to work within. It was a good story, and well told, and it destroyed (or "rebooted") several universes into one which, while it was supposed to be coherent and unified, just couldn't quite get there. (DC has since rebooted at least once more -- which is fine -- but the original notion of "let's get rid of all this" really wasn't a very good idea, because the existing multiverse worked and worked well. Rebooting wasn't necessary.) But it closed the superhero continuity in which I had grown up.
The second was The Dark Knight Returns, a highly stylized, apocalyptic, and grimy "last Batman story". If Crisis closed the familiar superhero continuity, this showed where it was going to end up anyway, a dark albeit fascinating world, in which Batman's particular hard-edged and inflexible morality cut through a lot of noise. He did things his way and his way only... and it would all turn out all right, more or less.
And the third was Watchmen, a story which asked, what if there was one, just one, genuinely super-powered being in the world? What would happen? That being, Dr. Manhattan, was used as a political pawn to keep the world stage tilted in favor of the United States -- while Manhattan, since his transformative ascension to near-godhood, increasingly grows uninterested in the doings of humanity (neutrinos being more interesting) -- until dark plans remove him from the world, unclogging all sorts of military and political intrigues, and suddenly everyone is circling the drain and on the brink of nuclear war. The murder of one of his skilled but unpowered colleagues sets the others to try and discover if there is a conspiracy ongoing, and they find that Yes, there is, and so they try to stop it. Watchmen takes many of the tropes and traditions of superhero fiction and twists them into a more realistic world picture, and in the given scenario, it leads to disasters.
After Crisis, Dark Knight, and Watchmen, each of which delivered a different message, there just didn't seem to be anything left to be said about superhero fiction, not as it had existed up to that point, nearly 50 years after the debut of Superman. There's been plenty of good stuff since then, yes; but the convergence of these three series, each a complete story, and a transitional point in my own life, left me feeling like I had been given a rather good ending to my deepest indulgences into superhero works.
Foo, I still have said almost nothing about the movie. I'm not surprised -- Watchmen was a genuine landmark, and it has that sort of effect on readers, especially comics readers. And, yeah, I was there, man.
Watchmen was long considered "unfilmable", and I suppose that was based on two notions -- one, the requisite special effects were not available (though now are), and two, it is a complex and layered story, even generational, and so demands a lot of background in order to really grasp it in full. Moore was able to do this in over 300 pages; a movie, even approaching three hours, is a lot more challenging to accomplish and still deliver the goods.
Zack Snyder has filmed the unfilmable.
Watchmen is not perfect. A lot of the detailed work of the graphic novel had to be stripped down to bare minimums, or even sacrificed, in order to bring it to the screen (though a longer version will be available on DVD). That doesn't bother me; the core of the story is there, the primary characters are excellent in both casting and performances, and on the whole the film delivers on its promises. Watchmen the movie doesn't have to be the novel; it is its own work.
The story integrates Dr. Manhattan more tightly (albeit unknowingly) into the conspiracy. He is, to a degree, the world's biggest problem (or rather, how he is manipulated and used -- and he is used, because he doesn't really care much), and is cleverly turned into the world's best, albeit unimaginably harsh, solution, as well as made not a problem. Nite-Owl finds his groove again, after hanging up his tights years ago, both because of the murder of the Comedian and Rorschach's insistence that it hints at a larger plan, and his romantic reawakening with his developing relationship with Silk Spectre. There are flashbacks, a dream sequence, brilliant opening vignettes, Dick Nixon (in his fifth term as president), Lee Iacocca, and enormous amounts of details, visual and aural, that will reward repeat viewers time and again as they find more and more. The special effects are spot-on, particularly the appearance of Dr. Manhattan, who glows an ozone blue throughout, and builds a clockwork castle on Mars. Several major characters, and the world, experience reawakenings, climbing from the depths to reach for new and better heights.
There is violence, and it is extremely bloody and brutal (the audio, at several points, sounds like a deliberate assault on the audience). Indicative of a world that, perhaps, had to get that ugly before it could be purged and begin its redemption.
But there is also love (and loving sex) and true friendship and hope. This world is not yet a lost cause.
The soundtrack provides a number of well-known songs, almost like it is trying too hard to identify a point in time (which can confuse the unfamiliar, because of the many flashbacks). The selections work, but I think this aspect will have to grow on me, because some of them pop up without warning, an aural kick to the ear, and not a smoothly flowing experience. (Ah well, I can deal with this. I still consider Kubrick's bone-to-spaceship cut a masterpiece moment.)
Three and a half stars (out of four), but then, I'm a comics geek. Watchmen rocks.
This is not your father's superhero movie.
I'm gonna go see it again.
I don't expect films to exactly match their book sources. Honestly, that wouldn't be interesting -- no surprises, no creativity. As one recent and sterling example, Peter Jackson's The Lord Of The Rings trilogy was not the same story J.R.R. Tolkien wrote, but it was a very interesting, very immersive interpretation that held true to the source material in most places. Film is a different medium and it has different strengths, different weaknesses, different demands. As a film, and being familiar with the novel, I think Jackson essentially nailed it. A fisking comparison between film and book would be nitpicking pedantry; the existence of a film version does not invalidate, corrupt, supersede, or abolish an existing book. If done well, it simply expands the available experiential choices. If one does not like the film, the book is still, always, there.
That said, Hollywood has not been kind to Alan Moore's works, and Moore has developed a complete "hands-off, go away, do what you want, don't pay me" attitude because of this. I don't fault him this. I haven't read his The League Of Extraordinary Gentlemen, but I am familiar with the quality of his works, and the film was dreadful all on its own. Likewise, V For Vendetta was an interesting story, but very little was Moore's story -- it was a different story told with some characters he had co-created.
And now we have Watchmen.
The original comic books -- a 12-issue series -- came out in 1986-87. I read them in real time. I don't care if this buys me geek cred or not, but the series arrived at a propitious time for me personally. I was almost done with college and, in some ways, I was almost done with comics. I had been an avid reader for most of my life to that point, and I think that my reading habits were very influential on me (it probably does explain a lot; those of you who know me will probably understand, though you're free to interpret the influence of comics on me any way you want). In a very short time, DC Comics published three seminal works, which collectively served as a personal coda, a way of saying Good-bye to comics and the universes I had known so well. (To be certain, I still read comics today, but far fewer than I did then. I was able to leave much of those worlds behind me. Of course, I still have the actual comic books.)
One was Crisis On Infinite Earths -- DC's attempt to "clean up" their primary multiverse continuity. It was a bold plan that, frankly, was too vast for the creators and the practical publishing schedule they had to work within. It was a good story, and well told, and it destroyed (or "rebooted") several universes into one which, while it was supposed to be coherent and unified, just couldn't quite get there. (DC has since rebooted at least once more -- which is fine -- but the original notion of "let's get rid of all this" really wasn't a very good idea, because the existing multiverse worked and worked well. Rebooting wasn't necessary.) But it closed the superhero continuity in which I had grown up.
The second was The Dark Knight Returns, a highly stylized, apocalyptic, and grimy "last Batman story". If Crisis closed the familiar superhero continuity, this showed where it was going to end up anyway, a dark albeit fascinating world, in which Batman's particular hard-edged and inflexible morality cut through a lot of noise. He did things his way and his way only... and it would all turn out all right, more or less.
And the third was Watchmen, a story which asked, what if there was one, just one, genuinely super-powered being in the world? What would happen? That being, Dr. Manhattan, was used as a political pawn to keep the world stage tilted in favor of the United States -- while Manhattan, since his transformative ascension to near-godhood, increasingly grows uninterested in the doings of humanity (neutrinos being more interesting) -- until dark plans remove him from the world, unclogging all sorts of military and political intrigues, and suddenly everyone is circling the drain and on the brink of nuclear war. The murder of one of his skilled but unpowered colleagues sets the others to try and discover if there is a conspiracy ongoing, and they find that Yes, there is, and so they try to stop it. Watchmen takes many of the tropes and traditions of superhero fiction and twists them into a more realistic world picture, and in the given scenario, it leads to disasters.
After Crisis, Dark Knight, and Watchmen, each of which delivered a different message, there just didn't seem to be anything left to be said about superhero fiction, not as it had existed up to that point, nearly 50 years after the debut of Superman. There's been plenty of good stuff since then, yes; but the convergence of these three series, each a complete story, and a transitional point in my own life, left me feeling like I had been given a rather good ending to my deepest indulgences into superhero works.
Foo, I still have said almost nothing about the movie. I'm not surprised -- Watchmen was a genuine landmark, and it has that sort of effect on readers, especially comics readers. And, yeah, I was there, man.
Watchmen was long considered "unfilmable", and I suppose that was based on two notions -- one, the requisite special effects were not available (though now are), and two, it is a complex and layered story, even generational, and so demands a lot of background in order to really grasp it in full. Moore was able to do this in over 300 pages; a movie, even approaching three hours, is a lot more challenging to accomplish and still deliver the goods.
Zack Snyder has filmed the unfilmable.
Watchmen is not perfect. A lot of the detailed work of the graphic novel had to be stripped down to bare minimums, or even sacrificed, in order to bring it to the screen (though a longer version will be available on DVD). That doesn't bother me; the core of the story is there, the primary characters are excellent in both casting and performances, and on the whole the film delivers on its promises. Watchmen the movie doesn't have to be the novel; it is its own work.
The story integrates Dr. Manhattan more tightly (albeit unknowingly) into the conspiracy. He is, to a degree, the world's biggest problem (or rather, how he is manipulated and used -- and he is used, because he doesn't really care much), and is cleverly turned into the world's best, albeit unimaginably harsh, solution, as well as made not a problem. Nite-Owl finds his groove again, after hanging up his tights years ago, both because of the murder of the Comedian and Rorschach's insistence that it hints at a larger plan, and his romantic reawakening with his developing relationship with Silk Spectre. There are flashbacks, a dream sequence, brilliant opening vignettes, Dick Nixon (in his fifth term as president), Lee Iacocca, and enormous amounts of details, visual and aural, that will reward repeat viewers time and again as they find more and more. The special effects are spot-on, particularly the appearance of Dr. Manhattan, who glows an ozone blue throughout, and builds a clockwork castle on Mars. Several major characters, and the world, experience reawakenings, climbing from the depths to reach for new and better heights.
There is violence, and it is extremely bloody and brutal (the audio, at several points, sounds like a deliberate assault on the audience). Indicative of a world that, perhaps, had to get that ugly before it could be purged and begin its redemption.
But there is also love (and loving sex) and true friendship and hope. This world is not yet a lost cause.
The soundtrack provides a number of well-known songs, almost like it is trying too hard to identify a point in time (which can confuse the unfamiliar, because of the many flashbacks). The selections work, but I think this aspect will have to grow on me, because some of them pop up without warning, an aural kick to the ear, and not a smoothly flowing experience. (Ah well, I can deal with this. I still consider Kubrick's bone-to-spaceship cut a masterpiece moment.)
Three and a half stars (out of four), but then, I'm a comics geek. Watchmen rocks.
This is not your father's superhero movie.
I'm gonna go see it again.
Monday, March 02, 2009
Fourth Birthday
Dang, it's already March, and Carson's birthday was in February, a quick two weeks after Amie's. Well, onward.
After the success of Amie's present scavenger hunt, I asked Carson if he wanted to have clues as well, which we all would help him read. No, he said -- he just wanted to run around and find everything. So that's what we did.
Val and I wrapped all his presents in Pixar Cars giftwrap -- a post-Christmas discount find -- which made it easy to spot everything. One, it was thematically consistent, and two, he's got a real eye for the Cars characters. Eventually there were 29 items wrapped and scattered around the homestead. Everyone came home from school pickups -- Val, Amalie, Carson, and special guests Grandma Nana and Grandpa Jack, stopping by as one of their final waystations before returning to Alaska for the first time in three months.
Carson couldn't wait -- but had to. We needed to prep the cameras, settle in, and then spell out The Rules: no opening until everything was found. (This pretty much is the only rule.)
And he was off!
Score!
Most gifts were small, being scale model cars, but there were some bigger ones as well. They were up and down the house -- front room, family room, every bedroom, the office, the bathrooms, the kitchen. He was briefly stumped in the master bedroom until he looked up and saw one perched atop the stationary fan. A flip of the switch got that one down quickly.
Minutes later, the total stood at 28 gifts -- Grandma Nana helped double-check the count -- and, since I hadn't written down locations, we all had to poke about for where the last one was. I found it quickly -- tucked inside Carson's bedroom door car holder. And the hoard was completed at last.
Counting the goods.
And then the ripping began. Carson went into auto-mode -- tear open paper, briefly observe gift, toss aside and move to the next one. The scrap paper mounted so high that, while picking it up a little later, we found an unwrapped gift mixed into the mess. There were about 20 toy cars in the whole cache, so many that Carson didn't even open all of them until the next day.
Then it was on to the cake. As did Amalie, Carson had specified how he wanted his birthday cake customized. He wanted, of course, a car -- a green car. Having selected a chocolate cake mix, I pre-purchased some 9" round cake pans for the purpose. I baked about 2/3 of the batter in one 9" pan and the rest in a small Pyrex storage bowl, as the special glass can take the heat. This gave me two differently sized circles with which to work.
I cut the big circle in half, tried to trim the top of one half to flatten it, and frosted that semi-circle. The second semi-circle went on top. The smaller circle was cut in half and placed flat sides against the larger semi-circle. The overall effect, with the right amount of squinting, resulted in a highly stylized Volkswagen Beetle (or as we call it, a Jenny Beetle, since the kids' Aunt Jenny owns one). The car was frosted green, the tires a sort of dark gray, and nonpareils were sprinkled to simulate wheels and a windshield. Carson then mentioned he wanted more colors, so I just salt-shakered the entire thing with all the colors we had, and some stuck. It didn't look the greatest, but Carson was quite pleased, and it tasted great nonetheless.
A "Jenny Beetle" cake. Green, of course.
After cake, Val asked about another present -- had I forgotten to get it? Oy! No, foolish me, I had stashed it well enough to forget about it. I quickly recovered it and, without bothering to wrap, gave it to Carson as a final bonus gift -- a 100-car Hot Wheels storage case, with wheels and a pull handle for your on-the-go collector. So now he's got even more storage capacity. Alas, if only he would use it, rather than have them loose and all over the place. Such is life at age four.
One last present, a huge car storage case.
After the success of Amie's present scavenger hunt, I asked Carson if he wanted to have clues as well, which we all would help him read. No, he said -- he just wanted to run around and find everything. So that's what we did.
Val and I wrapped all his presents in Pixar Cars giftwrap -- a post-Christmas discount find -- which made it easy to spot everything. One, it was thematically consistent, and two, he's got a real eye for the Cars characters. Eventually there were 29 items wrapped and scattered around the homestead. Everyone came home from school pickups -- Val, Amalie, Carson, and special guests Grandma Nana and Grandpa Jack, stopping by as one of their final waystations before returning to Alaska for the first time in three months.
Carson couldn't wait -- but had to. We needed to prep the cameras, settle in, and then spell out The Rules: no opening until everything was found. (This pretty much is the only rule.)
And he was off!
Score!Most gifts were small, being scale model cars, but there were some bigger ones as well. They were up and down the house -- front room, family room, every bedroom, the office, the bathrooms, the kitchen. He was briefly stumped in the master bedroom until he looked up and saw one perched atop the stationary fan. A flip of the switch got that one down quickly.
Minutes later, the total stood at 28 gifts -- Grandma Nana helped double-check the count -- and, since I hadn't written down locations, we all had to poke about for where the last one was. I found it quickly -- tucked inside Carson's bedroom door car holder. And the hoard was completed at last.
Counting the goods.And then the ripping began. Carson went into auto-mode -- tear open paper, briefly observe gift, toss aside and move to the next one. The scrap paper mounted so high that, while picking it up a little later, we found an unwrapped gift mixed into the mess. There were about 20 toy cars in the whole cache, so many that Carson didn't even open all of them until the next day.
Then it was on to the cake. As did Amalie, Carson had specified how he wanted his birthday cake customized. He wanted, of course, a car -- a green car. Having selected a chocolate cake mix, I pre-purchased some 9" round cake pans for the purpose. I baked about 2/3 of the batter in one 9" pan and the rest in a small Pyrex storage bowl, as the special glass can take the heat. This gave me two differently sized circles with which to work.
I cut the big circle in half, tried to trim the top of one half to flatten it, and frosted that semi-circle. The second semi-circle went on top. The smaller circle was cut in half and placed flat sides against the larger semi-circle. The overall effect, with the right amount of squinting, resulted in a highly stylized Volkswagen Beetle (or as we call it, a Jenny Beetle, since the kids' Aunt Jenny owns one). The car was frosted green, the tires a sort of dark gray, and nonpareils were sprinkled to simulate wheels and a windshield. Carson then mentioned he wanted more colors, so I just salt-shakered the entire thing with all the colors we had, and some stuck. It didn't look the greatest, but Carson was quite pleased, and it tasted great nonetheless.
A "Jenny Beetle" cake. Green, of course.After cake, Val asked about another present -- had I forgotten to get it? Oy! No, foolish me, I had stashed it well enough to forget about it. I quickly recovered it and, without bothering to wrap, gave it to Carson as a final bonus gift -- a 100-car Hot Wheels storage case, with wheels and a pull handle for your on-the-go collector. So now he's got even more storage capacity. Alas, if only he would use it, rather than have them loose and all over the place. Such is life at age four.
One last present, a huge car storage case.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
