Clancy's View

GF Need A New Moniker!

The Big Reveal

Thanks to Jim’s contest for snooze points, I seem to have started something with this post. But unfortunately for all the players, the only person collecting snooze points will be Jim himself.

There were two parts to my surprise. And Jim got both of them in his first two comments. I confirmed the first one in Jim’s comments – I was hoping someone would echo Jim’s second comment and thus collect some points. But alas, no one did and I am therefor still in the top 5 for the snooze points race! Whoo Hoo!!

Anyway – back to the news. First, yes – we are expecting. After the first attempt didn’t work out so well, we decided to try and keep this one a little more low-key. It’s been hard – hard to keep your emotions and excitement in check, and maybe even a little disappointing in that we didn’t allow ourselves to believe it as much as we did with Thumper. As of last Wednesday, we surpassed the 14 week mark and landed firmly into the second trimester. We are happy and excited! (and Tiffani – it’s just one – I’d be seriously freaking if it were twins)

The second part of the story is GF’s (which has always stood for Gorgeous Fiancée) need of a new moniker. Fiancée is no longer the proper way to address a married woman. I hinted about our plans way back in September with this post.

Last weekend, we went to Vegas. Alas, we didn’t do the drive-thru and there wasn’t a pink caddie in sight. But Elvis was there and he helped seal the deal. In fact, he wrote and led us in our vows:

I, [Clancy], swear to be all shook up, and love you tender ‘cause I’m stuck on you. I promise I won’t be cruel, I won’t have suspicious minds, and I’ll be your hunka, hunka burning love so be my little good luck charm.

I, [the soon to be Mrs. Clancy], will never treat you wrong, I will love you daddy all night long, I will be your teddy bear, I will wear your ring around my neck. If you treat me nice you’ll always be on my mind ‘cause you’re my tiger man.

Needless to say, the entire ceremony was a hoot. And not nearly as cheesy as you might expect. More kitchy, than cheesy.

So... after much debate, I think I've settled on simply calling the "woman formally know as GF", "Mrs. Clancy." She seems to really like the Mrs. part.

Coming Up Next...

I'd planned on posting the rest of my teaser below today, but in light of Jim's little contest below I'll hold off for one more day.

Please stay tuned...

...we went on a little trip and have some news to share. More later...

Twitney

Further justification on why I dislike award shows: Britney Spears Wins First Grammy. Who knew they were giving out awards for “biggest skank.”

Romantic Pictures

A couple of weeks ago, Helen was writing about how romantic it would be to fix up an old house. Since Valentine’s Day is around the corner, I thought I share our "romantic" old home. Remember this?

Well, after a lot of hard work, this is what it looks like now:

Removing the sub-floor revealed some structural issues that has necessitated re-routing and re-plumbing everything. The good news is that we've turned the corner and we're actually re-building at this point.

Other “romantic” thoughts go something like this: I was cleaning up from cutting some lumber in the garage this evening, and I thought – I need to put the extension cord I was using back in the living room where I’m sure to need it soon. Only in our house does putting an extension cord away mean moving it from the garage to the living room.

Nature vs. Choice

Here’s a news story that’ll get you thinking. Offered without comment.

A German zoo has imported four female penguins from Sweden in an effort to tempt its gay penguins to go straight. … Keepers at the zoo ordered DNA tests to be carried out on the penguins after they had been mating for years without producing any chicks.

It was only then they realised that six of the birds were living in homosexual partnerships.
…
She said that the birds had been mating for years and one couple even adopted a stone that they protected like an egg.
…
But introducing the Bremerhaven penguins to their new Swedish friends may not be as successful as hoped after earlier experiments revealed great difficulties in separating homosexual couples.

In case they show no interest, the zoo has also flown in two new male penguins "so that the ladies don't miss out altogether", Kueck added.

Found this via the blendler of all things puppy…

Drive

I did my share of underage driving when I was younger, but this is crazy:

A 4-year-old Michigan boy took underage driving to new extremes by slipping behind the wheel of his mother's car for an overnight visit to the local video store. … He drove about a quarter mile from his home to the video store without incident, Hayden told Reuters.

The store was closed. On the boy's return home, he hit two parked vehicles before backing up into a police cruiser, Hayden said.
…
"What he was doing was jump down, hit the accelerator, and get back up so he could see where he was going," Hayden said, explaining how someone who was too short to reach the floor pedals was able to drive a car.

"It looked like a drunk passing in and out."

Stupid Kids – Who is to Blame?

There was a real interesting article in my local paper last week.

High-schoolers are largely indifferent to the First Amendment and misinformed about the rights it guarantees, according to a survey of 112,000 students released this week.

Nearly three-quarters say they take the First Amendment for granted or don't know how they feel about it, and a third say it goes "too far" in the rights it gives Americans. Half wrongly believe the government can censor the Internet.
…

The $1 million, two-year study also found that half of American high school students think the government should be able to approve newspaper stories before readers see them, and three-quarters mistakenly believe flag burning is illegal.
…

The survey "confirms what a lot of people who are interested in this area have known for a long time," he says: Kids aren't learning enough about the First Amendment in history, civics or English classes. It also mirrors recent findings of adults' attitudes.

The last line above (emphasis mine) places the blame pretty squarely – stupid adults. Probably their parents.

I’d also like to point out the author choice of words in the 2nd paragraph quoted above – the “…it goes "too far" in the rights it gives Americans” line. This too is a common misconception. See, the Bill of Rights doesn’t grant us any rights, it Protects them. We already have them – they are those ‘inalienable rights’ the Declaration of Independence talks about. The Bill of Rights (and the rest of the Constitution) is designed to protect those rights.

Well, I talk about it, Talk about it, Talk About it

I love music. I think I’ve written about that before. GF loves music too. And we always play the “Who’s that?” game when we’re listening to the radio or whatever together. Now, when it comes to 80’s music, GF is second to none. Really. I’m more of a classic rock kinda’ guy, but I can generally hold my own w/80’s stuff.

So last night we’re having dinner in a TGI Fridays and they must have had the ‘Forgotten 80’s tunes CD in their system, because they played some real ‘winners’. A new song started and 3 beats into it:

Me: “Funkytown, but I have no idea who…”
GF: “Lipps, Inc.”
Me: “…it was.”
GF: “That’s Lipps with two ‘p’s”
Me: [stunned look]
GF (continuing): “It was redone by the group Pseudo Echo around 1986
Me: [Still stunned, although I know I should know better by now]
GF: “I think I have the remake on a 12” vinyl.”
Me: [reaching for palm, opening it and composing myself a note]

[long pause]

GF: “Are you playing a game or something?”
Me: “No, I’m taking notes. I’m blogging this!”

(A quick, unscientific internet search said that the remake was released in 87.)

Hallelujah

Ever now and then it is possible to find a shred of truth in the MSM. The only problem is that the truth is so often hidden and twisted that it gets missed. Today’s Wilmington News Journal features this headline Biden: 'We're going to get hit very hard' and predictably it goes on to lament on how Dubya’s budget cuts are going to steal food out of staving children’s mouths (OK, maybe I’m exaggerating). Anyway – back to my point. In the middle of the article lies this little gem (emphasis mine):

Many of the projects Bush is targeting have been targeted before and survived, including Amtrak. The president can propose a budget outline, but only Congress can spend the government's money, and in the past Congress has restored funding for programs that presidents have tried to kill.

OK – did you catch that part I thoughtfully highlighted above? Can I get an Amen from anyone? Anyone? Yeah, brother, Hallalujah to you too. (We can argue the point of “the government's money” too – it’s not, it’s OUR money, but I’ll let that slide for sake of argument right now). That simple little line – “only Congress can spend the government's money” is something any 6th grade social studies student really should know already, but it has been largely lost on the American public. Well, OK, maybe only on the leftward leaning part of the American public. Those on the side that remember Ronald Reagan as this counties biggest deficit spender. Those that think Reaganomics was a mistake. Those same people who don’t remember the state of our economy that President Reagan inherited. And the same ones who think our prosperity in the 90’s was due to President Clintons economy planning.

Which party had majority control of Congress while Reagan was in office? Hmmmm? And WHO spent the money? And who had majority control of Congress during (the last 6 years) of President Clintons tenure?

SuperBowl Ads

Here's a link to most of the ads. On retrospect, there were more than a few cute ones:

Here are the one you want to watch again (or at all, if you missed the game)

Frito Lay, "Hammer Time"
All of the CareerBuilder.com commercials
Ameriquest, "Bad Kitty"
Anheuser Busch, "Honoring Our Troops" (Click Here).

Honorable mention:

Pizza Hut, "Muppets"
Ford, "Frozen Mustang" (would have been funnier if they hadn't repeated the same commercial 3 or 4 times!)
FedEx/Kinko's, "Top 10"
GoDaddy.com, "Hot Committee Meeting"
Bud Light, "Picture Phone"
Ameriquest, "Costly Mistake"
Michelob, "Mood Music"
Bud Light, "Protective Bird"
Emerald Nuts, "The Unicorn"

Go BIRDS!!!!

This will be the first Superbowl in I don't know how long where I actually care about the outcome (and not just the commercials). I've been a closet Eagles Fan for a while. It's finally safe to come out of the closet, but I'm not ready to hop on the bandwagon.

I really think the Birds have a good shot at this one. They've got the heart, they've got the talent, they just need to keep their heads and execute.

Predictions:
I predict that Jevon Kearse and Tom Brady will be spending some time in the grass this evening. The Eagles secondary will be the key to shutting down Brady. Then it's just a matter of McNabb finding his rhythm and his receivers.

In the end, Eagles 31, Pats 23.

Just don't remind me of this?

UPDATE: It was the most exciting Superbowl in a long time. Just not quite as excited as I'd have wanted it as an Eagles fan. Oh Well.

Regarding TO - Probably the most talked about person on the entire field was Terrell Owens, and yet, why is it that none of the commentators could say his name?

And the commercials sucked worse than I can remember. 2.4 million a pop, and most of them were standard fare. (OK, there were 2 or 3 good ones.)

Catching Up...

Catching up on my blog reading and I found this:

I entered the school and the supervisors showed me the way to were I should vote. They and the ING guys were so polite and gentle. I cast my vote and got out, not in a rush at all. This is my Eid and I felt like a king walking in his own kingdom. I saw the same look of confidence and satisfaction in the eyes of all people I met. As I left one of the gurads said to me as he handed me back my cellular phone,"God bless you and your beloved ones. We don't know how to thank you. Please excuse any inconvinience on our part. We wish we didn't have to search you or limit your freedom. You are heroes" I was struck with surprise and felt ashamed. This man was risking his life all these hours in what has become the utmost target for all terrorists in Iraq and yet he's apologizing and calling us heroes. I thanked him back and told him that he and his comrads are the true heroes and that we can never be grateful enough for their services.

Read it all. There’s really nothing else to say. (Well, except perhaps smacking the whole bunch of antiwar apologists up-side the head.)