And on Christmas morning, the kids yelled 'Wiiiiiii'

Seems silly, I haven't actually owned a game console since the Sega Genesis - and even that one might have been owned by Mike, I don't know for sure. But this I can tell ya - the new Nintendo Wii - by itself is the greatest revolution in home video games since Pong.

So the deal with this is, you get to play body english on a video game. That sounds straight forward enough but let me tell you, this makes watching others play just as fun as playing yourself. Plus, it is immediately playable by pretty much everyone.

It comes with a little Sports Pak that includes tennis, boxing, golf, bowling, and baseball. Each opportunity for cuteness is in the game, the little playskool like figures running around but not so much as to make you think this is a girlie system. It may not be as powerful graphically as the PS3, but its cheaper and loads more fun. Heck, as it is you might not want to buy another game as the Sports Pak is more than enough entertainment.

It does require a warning, however - and believe me, I am sore in my back and arm from baseball and the bowling game. Crazy at it sounds - it wasn't just me, even 20 year old Jillian is sore! So - if you happen to have a Wii, please send me your friend code so our Wii peeps can see each other - heck, even challenge each other in some sports...?

If you can't stand the heat

Boy - what started as the easiest little project became a new kitchen. For those who have never seen the place, here is the way it looked before. Note the big hood hanging down on the right.

Yes sir, that is an under cabinet hood, only there are no cabinets so lets build a gigantic freakin' hood and block the sunshine from getting in. Yeah, that was all we wanted changed at the time.

Then came Tug. "Hey, its T-uuuu-G" (you have to hear it from him to know how to read that). Tug builds restaurants and what nots, cabinets, etc. He came out to pull this down and replace it for us. Then he didn't like that wall on the right "To high" and "needs a bar top" and while he ripped it down, might as well stretch it longer - makes more counter top space.

Well, here is that same view now (ok, so I don't have the same lens so its not *quite* the same view). Yup, red lacquer cabinet and stainless steel fronts (you can get away with this in a warehouse loft), virginia mist granite counter tops and a travertine bar top in a squash/pumpkin/woodlike grain finish? dunno how to describe it. New hood, new 36" commercial quality stove with a griddle in the middle of 4 huge burners (pure cooks delight). New commercial sink and sprayer, subway beveled tile backsplash - the list goes on and on. All for that new hood. Oh well, what else are stock options good for :-?

Some more smaller pics:

The i's have it

Eye can't believe that eye haven't yet blogged about the ol' LASIK eye had done a couple of months ago.

After much hemming and hawing, eye decided to get it done back in July (eye think anyway) by Dr. Bliss (real name) who is world-renown for his technique. Boy oh boy - currently at 20/20 and then some (ok, -.25 in the right i) but can get 50% on the 20/15 line and with out any of the normal side-effects. Eye went all the way in and had WaveFront done (special 3d mapping of the i) for more accuracy.

For those of you who know me (and if you don't, why in the world would you read this blog?) eye had -5.75 in both i's for the past 8 or so years (with little change anyway). So no more contacts or glasses since eye was in 6th grade!

The real reason was a life/death matter. Read the first post about going to Ireland and in that eye mention going to the Aron Islands. Eye was not kidding when eye said that it was very windy and almost fell off a cliff. The reason was that the wind was ripping off the Atlantic and putting a ton of salt into the air. This in turn landed directly in my i's and eye didn't have any saline (how is that for irony) to wash the i-balls out.

Got back to the hotel and was down to a single pair of contacts. Put them in and all was well...Until eye went swimming the the very nice hotel pool and had one contact wash away. No problem, put on the glasses - THAT EYE FORGOT back in California! Oh no MrBill! After this, Maddie pushed me to get over the fear of the surgery and embrace the chance for perfect vision.

Badda Bing! My great i-doc (and brother in-law) told me about Dr. Bliss and the rest is history. So after 3 months by recent check-up had Brandon still marveling over the wonderful job that Dr. Bliss did and the i-chart says that eye C very well now.

Ok, sorry about the transposition of the eye and i's but eye...I couldn't help it. Had to make up for not letting you know. But now you do.

NYC, return to Manhattan

It's been a loooooong time since I was in NYC. Something on the order of 12 years. A lot has changed for the city but not my 'idea' of what the city is or was for that matter. Yes, Maddie and I went to Ground-Zero. Not a lot to see, a big construction fence around a deep hole.

The area itself doesn't look all that bad - except one of the surrounding buildings that was clearly part of the WTC complex itself. It took what looks like a bunch of shrapnel. Anyway, it wasn't all the eerie or somber but there were reminders of all those who lost their lives all around NYC. While waling in Central Park, a Fire Engine passed by with a plaque of those heroic firefighters that were lost on Sept. 11. Memorial signs and well wishes were also in evidence. My best to the families who still live in that tragic moment - may you one day find peace.

But the more cheerful version of why we were there - the 1986 NY Met's 20th Anniversary of their World Series Win! It was an early Christmas gift for Maddie. Her team was brought together for an exclusive deal through the unique By Invitation Only circle. We were two of 100 tickets allowed to be sold to mix and mingle with the team at the world famous 21 Club

So most of the team showed up - minus Doc who is *somewhat* unable to attend. But the best picture we got was when Maddie asked Davey Johnson to "take our picture" which at first he thought take a picture with him but then he got it, she wanted him to take our photo. So here it is a picture from the winning manager of the '86 World Series:

Just a tad on the 'to the left' side but good enough. Later on I will make more pictures of the event available but suffice it to say Maddie and I had a great time. Maddie got to meet and hang out with numerous players from her most favorite team, from their best year, and I got to see her have a great evening she never would have had without me!

There was a ton of buildings that caught my eye in Manhattan, of course there is that seriously tall one and then there is the super pointy one and there were several that just didn't belong but again, you will have to cruise on by my picassa picture spot later on after I upload them. for now let me leave you with this: Sure the W Hotel is generally a hip place to stay but their service was horrid (typical for NY?) and the room was a touch tiny - even compared to many of the European hotel rooms I have stayed. Stay across the street instead.

PS - a toasted corn muffin is one of life's simple pleasures and 'just a few more blocks' in New York can mean you are walking for 3 miles and never catch one of those damn cabs.