These coffee house videos have been a long time coming, but after a year, they are finally posted for your viewing pleasure. Enjoy Squire's rendition of U2's With or Without You.

Batman: Gotham Knight is a 2008 animated direct-to-DVD anthology. Gotham Knight will fill in the gap between Batman Begins and the Dark Knight. The film is a series of six short films, each written by a different comic writer and is directed by Bruce Timm who created the early 90s Batman: The Animated Series. From the animated stills I found on the internet, Batman Gotham Knight is looking pretty awesome and definitely worth checking out.

Joe Torre on Bonds:

You walk him with nobody on base because he was scarier than Babe Ruth.

Scarier than Ruth? Putting all the steroid talk aside and simply looking at the numbers, I say no way. Fact is Bonds has 762 home run in 9,847 career at-bats, an average of a home run every 12.92 at-bats. Ruth hit 714 in 8,398 at-bats, or a home run every 11.76 at-bats. Using those averages Ruth would have totaled 837 home runs with an equal number of at-bats. Of course, had Ruth not spent the early part of his career as a pitcher, he would likely have gotten those at-bats and we wouldn't even be having this argument. And at least with The Babe, the only "enhancers" we know of are hot dogs and beer.

It has been five months since the New England Patriots were caught videotaping the Jets' sideline. Five months! Yet I'm still reading articles about how the New England Patriots are horrible cheaters, destroying the NFL, a bad organization, never deserved to win, etc.

The Patriots cheated, were caught, and were punished. A $750,000 fine and docking of a first round draft pick, the harshest penalty in NFL history, should be enough. End of story, right? No, we have a publicity hungry Arlen Specter who still can't believe Donovan McNabb threw three interceptions in the Super Bowl and Willie Gary.

Willie Gary? I know, you've never heard of him either. As an undrafted rookie free agent safety, Gary played in seven games for the St. Louis Rams in 2001. He's now suing the Patriots, including owner Bob Kraft and coach Bill Belichick, claiming they robbed him and others of future money by videotaping a Rams practice before the Super Bowl and used the footage to win by cheating.

Gary wants $150,000 for each Ram player, $25,000 for each to make up the difference in pay between the winning and losing players, and $125,000 to each player in lieu of a Super Bowl Ring. Gary claims he came up with the $125,000 figure with what he thought it would fetch on eBay. All this from a man who's career stats are seven games - one tackle.

I miss you when something really good happens, because you are the one I want to share it with. I miss you when something is troubling me, because you are the one who understands me so well. I miss you when I laugh and cry because I know that you are the one that makes my laughter grow and my tears disappear. I miss you all the time, but I miss you most when I lay awake at night and think of all the wonderful times we spent with each other; for those were some of the best times of my life.

It's a bird...It's a plane...It's Superrr...no, it's Darth Vader! These Star Wars fans created a hot air balloon in the shape of Darth Vader's head. I don't want to exaggerate or anything, but I think it's safe to say this is the greatest hot air balloon ever made. Ever. In the history of time.

Now, if you wish to see the Darth Vader Balloon coming to you, for a meeting or for any other occasion visit the site Darth Vader Balloon.

Lately I've been listening to Kendall Payne's I Will Show You Love

and it has spurred me to ask the question is God love?

The Bible tells us that "God is Love" (1 John 4:8). But how can we even begin to understand that truth? There are many passages in the Bible that give us God's definition of love. The most well known verse is John 3:16, "For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life." So one way God defines love is in the act of giving. However, what God gave (or should we say, "who" God gave) was not a mere gift-wrapped present; God sacrificed His only Son so that we, who put our faith in His Son, will not spend eternity separated from Him. This is an amazing love, because we are the ones who choose to be separated from God through our own sin, yet it's God who mends the separation through His intense personal sacrifice, and all we have to do is accept His gift.

Another great verse about God's love is found in Romans 5:8, "But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us." In this verse and in John 3:16, we find no conditions placed on God's love for us. God doesn't say, as soon as you clean up your act, I'll love you; nor does He say, I'll sacrifice my Son if you promise to love Me. In fact, in Romans 5:8, we find just the opposite. God wants us to know that His love is unconditional, so He sent His Son, Jesus Christ, to die for us while we were still unlovable sinners. We didn't have to get clean, and we didn't have to make any promises to God before we could experience His love. His love for us has always existed, and because of that, He did all the giving and sacrificing long before we were even aware that we needed His love.

So, what does this mean? God is Love. God's love is unconditional, and it's not based on feelings or emotions. He doesn't love us because we're lovable or because we make Him feel good; He loves us because He is love. He created us to have a loving relationship with Him, and He sacrificed His own Son to restore that relationship.

Utterly random...enjoy the singing frogs. Neve sure does...

For my fellow U2 fans, I have a little project for you. The other day, probably more like a couple of weeks ago, I was talking to Jason about trying to describe each of U2's albums in one word. When someone usually asks you to describe an album, people naturally like to sum the album in a few words. But how about one word? Difficult? Well, here is my attempt at one word summaries (not necessarily themes) for each of U2's albums.

Boy (Beginning)

October (Unheard)

War (Fierce)

Unforgettable Fire (Idealistic)

The Joshua Tree (Existential)

Rattle and Hum (Energy)

Achtung Baby (Dark)

Zooropa (Bizarro)

Pop (Sarcastic)

All That You Can’t Leave Behind (Optimistic)

How To Dismantle An Atomic Bomb (Young)

My Friday morning routine usually consists of getting a haircut at 9:30AM at Best Cuts and then heading over to the Chick-fil-A drive-thru for a quick breakfast and then heading home to get some work done.

As of this past week, I'm no longer working on Fridays. I won't bore you with the details of my office situation other than to say, I won't be billing any Fridays for at least a couple of months. So, with a lot more free time to spend with Neve on Fridays, we decided to venture into Chick-fil-A to eat and play. Needless to say, the food was excellent as always, and Neve was gracious enough to provide the entertainment.

Just a warning, this post is geared to a more technical reader.

Up until this past Wednesday, people reading this blog could not directly interact with ActiveX controls loaded by the APPLET, EMBED, or OBJECT elements. Simply put, Flash movies in this blog forced the reader to click the plugin twice to play.

Thankfully, there is a way around the annoying "Click to activate and use this control" message in Internet Explorer. Microsoft has documented some workarounds and there are plenty of solutions across the web.

(function() {   
    var clear = function(a) {   
        for(var i=0; i < a.length; i++)   
        {   
            a[i].outerHTML=a[i].outerHTML;   
        }   
    };   
  
    clear(document.getElementsByTagName("object"));   
    clear(document.getElementsByTagName("embed"));   
})();  

The original javascript I found only applied the fix to OBJECT tags. But since use of the OBJECT tag is becoming deprecated, we also need to touch the EMBED tags as well. The code above does both and is wrapped in an anonymous function to keep it private.

The Noodle's third day of swim lessons went off without a hitch. But, usually before the start of her swim lessons, Neve likes to put on a show for the video camera. On most days, you can count on the Noodle to be a ham for the camera. However, that morning was different. The kiddo was timid and shy and really had to be coaxed to smile for the camera. So instead of capturing Neve's usual carefree performance in front of the video camera, I videoed Neve hard at work learning to become a fish.

Now, later on in the day was a totally different story. Neve with a full belly, a good nap, and partner in crime makes for one silly and funny little girl.

Jason Gillikin and friends will be gathering at a coffee house in Old Towne Portsmouth on Saturday, February 23rd around 7:30'ish for open mic night. The coffee house is located on Crawford Street right near the BB&T bank. It's in a building called "the Cube." As of right now, "Neale Edwards will be playing a handful of tunes, and Jason will likely rock the microphone too." I suspect that Andrew Garrett and Drew Callahan will grace us with their musical presence as well. By the way, coffee, drinks, and food is available at the coffee house.

Now for all of our performers (this means you Jason), I do have a request to make. Can someone please play

Exit/Gloria (U2 Live)"

Anybody who knows me, knows how much of a geek (fan) I am when it comes to Star Wars. So, I found it really interesting when I stumbled across Star Wars Origami today. What I find so amazing is how someone can give so much detail and definition to Star Wars characters by simply shaping pieces of paper. Needless to say, it takes some serious talent to fold an entire Jedi Knight or Sith Lord out of paper.

Check out a full range of Star Wars origami at Phillip West's Flickr profile.

Sometimes You Can't Make It on Your Own (U2)

Like I've said in a previous post...I am my kid's dad. If I could blog about every moment and event in the kiddo's life, I would. In the meantime, enjoy the photo slide show of the Noodle. By the way, Neve picked out the music, Sugar, Sugar by the Archies. Enjoy!

What does it mean to take pleasure in the simple things? Some people go through life as automatons, taking for granted everything and everyone and not really paying attention to their surroundings. This is easily done because not noticing things may be good for us in the long run. Our mind has a tendency of noticing and focusing on the negative things; hence, when we don't notice, we don't get hurt.

However, not noticing the negative will prevent us from not noticing the positive, as they may come in pairs. There is always the duality of good and bad. What we need to do is understand this duality and steer our mind from the negative, to the positive. When we focus on the positive, positive things start happening to us, and then the negative becomes a non-issue.

Based on this, regardless of our surroundings, we can start noticing what is that that makes you feel good, instead of feeling blasé or bad. And then, as a second step, we can start appreciating these things. The best way to do this, is to start by the little, simple things that give us pleasure in our daily living.

For example, have you noticed how extraordinarily good it feels...

1. To go to a warm bed, rest your head in your pillow, and relax after a long day?
2. To get into a hot shower, and feel the water running over you?
3. To get inside a warm, cozy home when it is cold outside?
4. To hear your children (or your dog) greet you when you get home?
5. To drink a glass of fresh water when you are thirsty?

There are many little things that trigger a pleasure moment and that pass unnoticed through our senses. We deserve to feel good. It is time to truly stop and smell the roses, and be grateful for our simple pleasures.

Don't pencil Curt Schilling into the Boston Red Sox rotation for 2008 just yet.

Say it ain't so! The Boston Globe is reporting that Curt Schilling will not be ready for spring training when pitchers and catchers report on February 14th. Although Schilling has what appears to be a partial tear of his rotator cuff, he will not have shoulder surgery. Good news? Hardly. Schilling is still not expected to be ready until the All-Star break at the earliest.

When the Red Sox and Curt Schilling agreed to the one year deal I liked the idea of having a veteran like him around. He's an intense guy who has an attitude that can raise the level of play from the guys around him. Now that #38 won't be able to take his regular turn in the rotation, this leaves an opportunity for Clay Buchholz to show what he can do early in this upcoming season. Hopefully the rookie picks up where he left off last year before the Red Sox shut him down because of shoulder fatigue.

I am my kid's dad. Too bad I can't figure out what Neve and Abby are "chop, chop," chopping while they bounce on the trampoline. At some point in the video clip, you hear the phrase "order up!" and more "chop, chop, chop." Thanks to Carrie, the best explanation I can come up with is the girls are pretending to be SpongeBob SquarePants. He is a fry cook after all. An imagination is a wonderful thing.

Everyone, well nearly everyone, uses YouTube to host their videos. If you want to embed a video clip in your blog, the chances are you will use YouTube and assume that's as good as anything else. Well at least one other video hosting website, Vimeo, smashes YouTube for quality. There is clearly a big difference in the reprocessing that takes place to create the final flash version that gets played in your browser. In the case of YouTube there is a lot of re-encoding going on, presumably to minimize bandwidth but the result is horrible compression artifacts: macro-blocks, patches of shifting blur, and general poor perceived resolution. In short, it looks like a typical YouTube video - awful. By comparison Vimeo looks far clearer and sharper, and rock steady (no shifting focus). There are still macro-blocks but far less intrusive.

Most people won't care, but if you want to include video clips in your blog and would like them to look of decent quality (and without the YouTube logo plastered over the bottom right corner), then Vimeo might do it for you as it has for me. Although, you do still need a decent quality video file to begin with.

This past Saturday was the second day of swim lessons, and Neve did fabulous. I never thought she would consistently swim with her face in the water. Well, I take that back. I knew she would do it. I am just surprised she didn't attempt to talk her way out of putting her face in the water. Great job!

So, before the start of her swim lessons, the Noodle wanted to make sure I got a video of her playing in the water. Neve is such a ham! Get the camera out and she is ready to pose and put on a skit.

I've come to the realization that there are a great many people who always worry about what tomorrow may bring. We do this often to the point where we stress and worry about the future that we forget to live in the now. How often do we sit, think, and over analyze about things that may never happen? We tend to swing in the balance between living in the past and in an unwritten future. So, do we do this to avoid thinking about our current situations?

I feel that none of the options (past or future) available to us are ultimately right except for the one of "living in the now." Does this sound strange? Probably, but I have lived in the past, lived for a future that I do not now, and now I am trying to get back to living the life I have today. So many people live in the past they had, be it good or bad. They over analyze it and go over the events that took place to the point where their own perspective and outlook becomes clouded. The same goes for those people who stress about the future. Like me, they stress on things that are out of our immediate control, and in the end, our perspective and outlook is clouded by things that may not happen.

Living in the now can be just as daunting. The difference is you actually have more control, because the decisions that you make today directly effect tomorrow. You can feel these decisions. You can deal with the wrong ones and enjoy the right ones today.

Recently, Jason forwarded me an email from his Pastor that asked a very poignant question,

What did God have in mind when He though up Church? I welcome your thoughts.

Why church? In the church, we find shelter and community in a difficult and oftentimes a challenging world. We meet people who care, share, and help. We find support from those struggling through life just as we are. We find healing, as God brings hope and joy to our lives through His Word and through those around us. In the church, we find meaningful service. We have the opportunity to use the gifts, abilities, talents and passions that God has given us to work with others for the greater good of the world we inhabit.

Lord Groundwallis, Castor of the Shadow
Photo taken by mcdonoughab

You may find me weird or childish for acknowledging Saturday, February 2nd, 2008 as a holiday. Just so you know, I use the term holiday in the loosest sense of the word here. You could possibly label this blog entry as silly or frivolous, and I have. But this doesn't matter, because this morning the Williamsburg Town Crier declared that groundhog Lord Groundwallis, Castor of the Shadow has seen his shadow, predicting there will be six more weeks of winter.

Whenever I saw a rainbow as a child, I would get a kind of magic, happy feeling. I would be euphoric at the site of them. There was something about rainbows that made them so astonishing. So when I had the chance to see one, it was always a thrill.

As I have grown up, I wish I could still say I feel the same way about rainbows. Honestly, I haven't given them much thought. But today was different...today, a three and a half year old little girl was absolutely beside herself and giddy over a rainbow.

Neve called out to everyone in the house to come see the "pretty rainbow" and wouldn't take NO for an answer. She even insisted on taking a picture of "all the colors."

Rainbow Over My Neighborhood
Photo taken by mcdonoughab

One by one, Neve dragged us out through the front door to see the "beautiful colors of the rainbow." She made sure that my parents and I took the time to appreciate what she appreciated. Now, when I saw the rainbow, I didn't feel the excitement my little girl was showing because of it. My "magic, happy feeling" came because my Noodle took the time to share her happiness with everyone around her.