Why I Hate Homework...

My son's homework that is. Every night it's at least three assignments, and on top of it, they're also taking their CBE's this week. Part of the problem is time management is not something a nine-year-old grasps intuitively. TV, internet, video games, Harry Potter all fight for his attention and homework comes in a distant second. Our only rule on homework is it has to be done before dinner. I'm sure there's a way to show mathematically the time allotted divided by homework load equals a very small number of minutes.

That, and much of it is writing -- lots and lots of writing. I try to stay out of the way, available for spelling checks and missing words, but some nights are better than others. He gets stuck or I have to nudge him in the right direction, or sometimes even do part of it to show him why this works and that doesn't. I don't remember 4th grade being this hard... and I know it's only going to get worse. I'm dreading the day Algebra starts...

Thankfully my daughters 1st grade homework is a little easier (plus she has the same teacher as my son had, so I'm prepared). She wants to do it right when she gets home so she can play afterwards. Check back with me in three years...

Everyday Is Halloween

As mentioned below, I've been rehearsing for a show at The Hi-Fi Club in Lakewood on Halloween night.
If you'd like a copy of the flyer Patrick made, go here.

Last Monday's practice went well -- we went through the set twice and knocked off the rough edges
on a couple of tunes and nailed others down -- we're probably 90% there with one more rehearsal to go.
The set contains songs from Bauhaus, Joy Division, Ministry, Misfits, Echo and The Bunnymen, Talking Heads and Concrete Blonde... it's been a great deal of fun to play with a band again, although my fingers might not agree. ;)

Cubs Fan Witness Protection Program

Woe to the guy who possibly cost the Cubs their shot at the World Series. They'll have to put him in the witness protection program, but the Feds would probably off him too.

Or as Craig put it -- "That wasn't a baseball game. It was a lost Seinfeld episode, with George in a front-row seat."

OK, tack this one on to my holiday list...

The Bass Station is one jacked up boombox, yo

802.11b, a 120GB hard drive, and an MP3 decoder, and that is controlled using a web browser. Besides being able to play MP3s, it can also stream audio to other devices in its local area network, double as a file-server for file-sharing. Sure to come in handy for our next breakdancing battle.

Yet More Wine Tasting

It's time again for the big Holiday wine trade shows with four scheduled last Sunday alone. Logic and logistics indicated we could only hit two shows in the time frame and still spend some quality time at each tasting. First off was the Vintage show at their huge warehouse -- 26 tables including some really nice single vineyard Zin's from Ravenswood (Monte Rosso, Barricia, Big River, Teldeschi), including the tightly allocated Old Hill Zin. Bonus points for the tchotchkes (clock, buttons and antenna balls). Also got to try some of Markko's Select Reserve Chardonnay (Late Harvest) and Pinot Noir as well as see Arnie Esterer again.

Other highlights included the Burgess "Enveiere", Domain Drouhin Pinot Noir, Mount Veeder 2000 Cab, Franciscan Meritage Magnificat, Franciscan Simi Valley Lanslide Cab, Veramonte Primus, Kenwood Jack London Cab (and bonus taste of the first Ohio pouring of their "Artist Series"), Dominus, Chateau De Pez, Pride Mountain Merlot, Mayacamas '98 Cab and the fabulous '90 Cab.

Then after a quick trip across I-480, we rolled into the Private Reserve tasting. Once settled in after receiving our "tasting tour t-shirts" we headed straight for the Shingleback (shiraz and cab) and Gatekeeper (shiraz) table (both are brought in from Precept -- and we were not disappointed. Keep an eye out for those two Australian's plus their third wine, Red Knot (shiraz and cab).

Other Hightlights: Chateau Caronnes Ste Gemme Cru Bourgeois Haut-Medoc, Domaine Jean-Marc Bouley (Volnay) Pommard 1er Cru Les Rugiens, Domaine Robert Arnoux Nuits St. George 1er Cru Les Corvees Pagets and Nuits St. George Les Poisets, Domaine Paul Autard Chateauneuf du Pape Cuvee la Cote Rhonde, Franco Cesari (Verona) '98 Amarone Classico Superiore "Il Bosco" DOC. Bridlewood 2000 Arabesque and Syrah, Milliaire '99 Clockspring Vineyard Zin Port, Stuart Cellars '98 Zin Port (even though there's half a case in the basement already) and Duck Pond 2001 Port which is made from Merlot grapes, which is unusual...

NP: Jassen -- Juno 106's Swan Song

It's October 2nd, Right?

Liz got all the plants in off the deck on Tuesday and Wednesday in anticipation of the clear cold night (and the threat of frost), but we awoke to f'ing snow flying past the window. Then, in typical Ohio weather fashion -- the sun came out. It did look interesting on the radar though, striaght-line lake effect snow streaming off the lake, right to my house!

Cat Town. Go. Now.