Another Delco Guy In South Jersey

Emma Has Curls!

Emma Has Curls!
Originally uploaded by Cavalier92

One of the things that Emma has been begging for while here mother has been away is to let her hair grow. She really wants Dora hair, and I am partial to Suri Cruise's look, but it's only been a month, so today we tried to create some curls. She's really excited. I think the little feathery curls are a bit reminiscent of a 70s look.

Very cute!

Palatine Hills 2004 Icewine

It's syrupy and fruity and a great reminder of a fun trip to the Niagara region of Ontario.

Walmart Weirdness

Did you know that there is an 800 number for Walmart Employees to call in sick?  Yup.  Walmart is so massive it has a special, national 800 number for calling in sick.

It's 1-800-775-5944 in case you are wondering.

There is even a blog about it.

I'll be doing a real blog entry later.  It's just hard with all of the stuff going on around here this weekend.

Sick

Toast and
Jello

Gatorade and
Ginger ale

Friday Fantastic Four

Well the Oscars are Sunday night.  I'll admit I watch the pre-show, but I am long in bed by they time they do the Best Picture award sometime after 3am in the East.  The pre-show's got it all from famous celebs dissing the host, to people you have never heard of, to Isaac Mizrahi feelin up Scarlett.  You have to wait for the actual show to start to see major stars slurring their way through speeches and the more banal and mundane remarks interspersed with interminable montages of people who we thought had died years ago.

But I digress - what we're really here for today is to ...

Name Your Four Favorite 1980s Movies:

1. Hoosiers - Wonderful story, beautifully shot, good sports sequences and Gene Hackman actually acts rather than just shouting
2. Raiders of the Lost Ark - Plenty of action, tons of humor and a pretty girl.
3. Some Kind of Wonderful - Mary Stuart Masterson AND Lea Thomspson in the SAME movie.  What could be better?
4. Stand By Me - How good were Wil Wheaton and River Phoenix in this?

See that wasn't that hard, was it?  Enjoy the show

350K in Moorestown

Well the house hunt has heated up again as the weather improves. The house that currently occupies my interest is a handsome 1920s four bedroom 'in town' Moorestown. It's got some issues like the original heater and asbestos siding, but it's in a wonderful neighborhood.

The lot is pretty good-sized for in town, but has some ummm deferred maintenance issues. Did I mention the knob and tube wiring?

But the location! Hmm we'll see.

Important Investigation

A brick-sized piece of iron smashed though the roof of a building in Jersey City, NJ this morning.  No one was hurt.  Kind of interesting, right?

Well check out what the Inquirer does with the story.

They talk to the moving company owner who was in the building.  Ok.  That's a natural.  They talk to the FAA. Ok. I can see that one too.  And they talk to NOAA.  In case it was a meteor I guess.

Here's the line that has me scratching my head:

"Local police are investigating."

What the *&^% are they investigating? And how? Are they gonna check the radar tracks from Newark-Liberty?  Interview the movers to see if they have any enemies from say Mars?  Get out their gas chromatographs to determine the composition of the space junk?  And why the heck would the reporter bother to ask the police anything about space junk hitting a building?

Wish I Had Been There

Well as some have noted, I was a weenie and did not make the Polar Plunge in Sea Isle City this past weekend.  I've been feeling pretty lousy and decided a dip in the frigid Atlantic was definitely not what my sinuses needed to regain their normal breathing capacity.

As pictured, Carlo and Billy did make the trip and had a good time from all accounts.  Note Billy's uber-booties to keep his tootsies warm right up to the edge of the water.  No word on whether he sported a similar jock strap.

This was the 15th Polar Bear Plunge in Sea Isle and benefited the Sea Isle City Revitalization Committee.  Several hundred put up the $25 for the right to say they had been among the throng who shrank various appendages in the ocean on Saturday.

My condolences go out to the family of Tracey Hottenstein, who was found dead in Sea Isle City Sunday morning.  Hottenstein had been in town for the Plunge festivities.  No further word is available about her death, but various news reports have noted that she was a very positive person who will be missed by her freinds.  My thoughts go out to all who knew her.

Cool New Lid For Valentine's Day

Thanks Char!!

Friday Fantastic Four

It's Friday the 13th.  Some folks have an unreasonable fear of this day.  It doesn't bother me, but I do have some odd fears of my own.

What four things are you afraid of?

1. I am terrified of water.  I can't swim and my nickname at the pool as a kid was 'leadbutt.'  Thus, there are some issues.
2. I am afraid of dentists.  Maybe it has something to do with the fact that they use pliers and flames and things.  In your mouth.  Barbarians!
3. Heights and I - Uhh not so much.  I want to not be afraid, but my body just isn't willing.
4. I am afraid of dementia.  I have spent all this time honing my brain into the incredible tool that it is and I don't want it dissolving into mush.

So what things scare you?

Joaquin Phoenix On Letterman

I had a chance to catch one of my favorite flicks the other night on FX.  Joaquin Phoenix is simply amazing as Johnny Cash in Walk the Line.  He does a beautiful job showing the dichotomy of his character as a tortured person who while basically a good man has less luck fighting off his alter ego than some of the rest of us.

His performance is made all the more poignant by his recent statements that he is done acting.  When I first heard that news, I was not sure if he simply wants to be the Harper Lee of his generation of actors, or if he's truly burned out by the acting game.  Last night the third possibility that he is absolutely fucking crazy came to mind after I saw him mumble through 10 minutes on Letterman.

Check this out:




Scary huh?

I May Be Crazy

IMG_0219
Originally uploaded by villasdude

So my life wasn't interesting enough with job and family changes, so I thought I would liven things up a bit by jumping in the Atlantic Ocean in February. Yup. I'm going to do the Polar Bear Plunge in Sea Isle City on Saturday.

As stupid as this may sound, I have always wanted to do this. Every time I see the event on TV, I have two simultaneous and contradictory thoughts:

1. God those people are crazy.
2. Wow. That looks like fun!

So this year when Bill Githens suggested that a group of us do the plunge to raise awareness for Polycystic Kidney Disease, I finally had a compelling reason to join the insanity.

Rigt now the group is small, including me, Carlo, Bill and his son. Our significant others are apparently smarter than we are and have agreed to stay on land and take photos. Feel free to get in touch with me if you want to join in.

Look for more photos and a story about the craziness on Saturday night!

On The Road

Off The Beaten Path
Originally uploaded by Cavalier92

Hey there loyal reader. Just a quick note to tell you that the blog updates will resume soon. Right now I've got a lot going on with work and family, so photography and writing have taken a bit of a back seat.

I promise to keep you posted as soon as I can. Rest assured that all is very good with Another Delco Guy and I will be posting more shortly.

Get out there and enjoy the great weather in the Delaware Valley!

Snow Day!

Moorestown Snow
Originally uploaded by Cavalier92

Well the kids already had off for the day, but the snow gives them something to do this afternoon instead of staying in and playing on the computer, or the Wii.

I'm here in Center City at work, where the snow is still pretty, but didn't get me the day off like some folks. Reports from home are that the kids are enjoying the snow, which Emma says 'tastes good, but needs a little sugar."

Good to know someone still cares about Peanuts.

Photography Rights Under Fire on Amtrak and Elsewhere

While this hilarious Stephen Colbert report makes light of the situation that Duane P. Kerzic found himself in on December 21, 2008, I don't think it's a laughing matter. 

The facts of the case are:

• Kerzic bought a ticket and traveled to New York's Penn Station
• He was there to take photographs
• He intended to enter the photographs in Amtrak's annual photography contest
• He walked around the platform between Tracks 9 and 10, taking some cool photos
• He was handcuffed and detained for an hour by Amtrak security
• He was issued a citation for trespassing
• He wrote letters and emails to everyone under the sun

Now obviously I don't know how Kerzic behaved in the period leading up and after his arrest.  One might intuit from his website that he is a bit umm ... uhh ... how to put his ... obsessive.  But clearly he's got a point that he was in a public area of the station and Amtrak policy allows photos in public areas.

While this may seem to be an isolated case, Amtrak has a history of incidents like this.  There are a number of internet discussions, associations and even T-shirts that are evaluating the ramifications of the 'war on terror' on the rights of photographers to take pictures of public buildings, transportation systems and other 'sensitive' facilities.

I've actually been 'challenged' by a federal officer while taking photos in Washington, DC of the Federal Reserve complex.  While I was not asked to do more than provide my identification and wait while the tactically-armored officer ran my name through the terrorist watch list or something, it was still a sobering experience.

I don't doubt that there are people in the US who are here to do us harm.  What I do doubt is the value of diluting the freedoms that America says it represents in order to protect us from what ever potential harm is out here.  The actions of government in the post 9-11 period have eroded the basic freedoms of Americans.  From photography to protection against wiretaps and internet snooping, we live in a period where we can taking no activity for granted.  Former Supreme Court Justice Louis Brandeis states my point better than I ever could - 'The greatest dangers to liberty lurk in insidious encroachment by men of zeal, well-meaning but without understanding.'

I have few hopes for the new Obama administration.  There's too much to do and too many people willing to let the mess fester for their own benefit.  One thing I am expecting from Obama and Holder and the rest is an end to the Cheneyist reduction of personal freedoms and a return to a government that honors all of the Bill of Rights, not just the second amendment. 

My Choice

While the kids really loved the animal commercials, and my brother thought the cash4gold.com commercial rocked, I am going with the simple art of stupid violence for my favorite commercial from the Super Bowl.

I'll give honorable mentions to the Audi Transporter ad and the Monster.com moose spot.  Fanhouse has the full roundup.

Surprisingly, the game was better than the commercials for the second year in a row.

Superbowl XLIII

In case anyone cares, I'm liveblogging the Superbowl over on Twitter.

Trying to Get Excited

It's Super Bowl Sunday and as we celebrate the XLIII NFL Championship I am struggling to find any enthusiasm for this game.

Two weeks ago at this time I would have told you that today would be a BIG day here in the Cradle of Liberty.  Today though, it's just another cold day with salt on the roads and a crust of snow covering everything.  A lot has happened in two weeks.

The Eagles of course completely crapped the sheets in Arizona.  Jeff Lurie said the loss devastated him.  But not enough to really do anything about it.  Super 5 has spent the last two weeks living the high life in Tampa, assuring all of us that he got over his neighbors' stupidity and flatly stating he wants to retire in midnight green.  Great.  How's March for a retirement party?

We also had that whole Inauguration thing that happened.  And billions more in economic stimulus got approved while Wall Street continued to hand out bonuses.  Blago got dumped.  Jim Johnson was diagnosed with cancer.  The Phillies signed everyone but the Big Man. Maury Levy made the rest of our lives look pathetic and we had the Golden Globes and the SAG Awards. 

Is it just me or has the Super Bowl finally jumped the shark?

I'll still be watching.  But this year I will finally admit it's about the commercials.