Alice and I enjoyed the show. Alice was clapping along to the musical numbers.
Alice and I were hanging out in the pool for awhile. There was a family in the pool; father, mother, and three girls. I would guess the girls were 8, 10, and 12. The mom left and went to the snack bar. She came back with a beer and sat in a chair by the pool. The ten year old girl yelled across the pool, loud enough for everyone in and around the pool to hear, "Dad, Mom is stress drinking again!"
Karen floating in the wave pool.
Great grandma and the little baby Elliott.
Bamma and the little baby Elliott.
Parkway fun.
We ate at Margaritaville. Don't judge me my Tiki peeps. Jimmy Buffett really riles up some Tikiphiles. Buffett's music is not Tiki. Tiki music is Exotica as in the likes of Martin Denny and Arthur Lyman. Modern Exotica would be bands like The Waitiki Seven and The Tikiyaki Orchestra. But then surf music and rockabilly aren't Tiki and they are tolerated by the Tiki community. Tiki cocktails are rum based not Tequila based like a Margarita - a Margarita is not a Tiki drink. I think some of the biggest objection to Jimmy Buffett is his success. Jealousy? Parrotheads aren't any more annoying than some other fringe groups. Anyways Margaritaville is way overpriced. I had the Jambalaya which was quite spicy and very good. It was seventeen dollars but I can get a bowl of Big Easy Gumbo at Empire Brewing for ten. It can still be a fun place.
A mastodon skeleton on display. Mastodons are not Woolly Mammoths. Representations of the Mastodon and the Mammoth illustrate the differences.
After the museum we went to walk around Ithaca Commons. It was a nice evening for a stroll and the Commons was looking pretty good. There recently was a big face lift given to the Commons. We had dinner at the Ithaca Ale House that is located just off the Commons. I had a really good pastrami sandwich with Swiss cheese grilled on buttered marble rye with Russian dressing. I washed it down with a Guinness. Alice played with her napkin.
I let Alice talk me into going down the big slide. The girl that works at Billy Beez said next time keep your hands off the rail and you will go faster. Yep, that's what I wanted. I guess I look like a thrill seeker.
Billy Beez was fun as always. Tristan didn't have socks and so we had to buy Billy Beez socks but it all worked out. Much fun was had.
Alice was a little freaked out by the whole maze experience. She asked to leave and it's not like you can just leave. You have to find the exit.
Lucky suggested I eat at Primanti Brothers for a real Pittsburgh experience before I hit the interstates for the ride home.Primanti Brothers is a chain of sandwich shops founded in 1933. Locations are throughout Pittsburgh and its suburbs, with an additional three in Fort Lauderdale. The chain is known for its signature sandwiches of grilled meat, coleslaw (no mayo in the coleslaw– Italian dressing), tomato slices, and French fries between two pieces of Italian bread. Iron City Brewing was formed in the 1860s by a German immigrant. The company thrived for a time and then fell on hard times including a CEO / owner that was imprisoned for fraud. Iron City beer was brewed in the Lawrenceville section of Pittsburgh until June of 2009. Brewing was moved to Latrobe, Pennsylvania and is now brewed where Rolling Rock used to be brewed.
I totally lost track of time at Rancho Kahiki Tiki Bar. I was playing a board game with Kuku Ahu and crew when I decided I had better head out. I figured it was around five o'clock or so. Checked my phone and it was 8:30. I got on the road and drove to the outskirts of Pittsburgh. I stayed the night there at a Red Roof Inn.
I met up this morning with Lucky outside the Ikea in Pittsburgh. I then paid him a visit at Maggie's Farm Rum distillery. I got the VIP tour.
2015/08/15 19:30 Open Hand Theater says they celebrate the human experience through theater, masks, and puppet traditions from around the world. They have a summer camp where kids learn to make masks, puppets, and learn to perform. They had a recital and I took Alice. It was amazing to see what the kids had put together. The theme was a circus show.
2015/08/14 20:00 We spent the day at Cascades Water park. It is an indoor water park with heated water. We had talked about going back to Roseland but the weather seemed a bit iffy so we decided to try the indoor park.
2015/08/13 23:30 We went to the Museum of the Earth in Ithaca today. Afterwards we went to the Ithaca Commons and had dinner at the Ithaca Ale House. Staying at a motel in Ithaca tonight.
2015/08/12 20:00 Just a lazy Summer day today.
2015/08/11 22:30 We spent some time at Destiny Mall today. We checked out the Mirror Maze, we went to Billy Beez, and ate at Margaritaville
2015/08/10 23:00 I had a great time at Hot Rod Hula Hop. Sunday I went to an after party at the home of Jimmy Vegas Robinson and Elise Doty Robinson; also known as Rancho Kahiki Tiki Bar. I had a wonderful time there.
Tomorrow Hot Rod Hula Hop.
2015/08/06 19:00 Just hanging out watching Bubbles, Blossom, and Buttercup; The Powerpuff Girls. I am leaving early tomorrow morning and driving to Columbus, Ohio for the Feast of the Tiki Gods at the Grass Skirt Tiki Room.
Some of the Assault City Roller Derby girls.
As many of you know that follow me on Facebook or here on my website I have a crazy collection of roller derby T-shirts. I wore one of my favorites to the Middle Ages 20th anniversary party because I knew the girls from Assault City Roller Derby were going to be pouring. I don't have an Assault City shirt oddly enough. The weather was out of sight and the beer was outstanding. A really good time.
2015/08/02 22:00 Today was the twentieth anniversary party for Middle Ages Brewery.
I ended the day gazing into the fires in the Tiki fire bowl; reflections on a day well spent
Hanging out with the little baby Elliott.
Alice rode the carousel with Danielle and then made a bear at Build-a-Bear.
2015/08/01 23:00 I took Alice to the mall today for Danielle's birthday. Karen got the date wrong. She had told me the party was Sunday when in fact it was Saturday. We were late for the party because we didn't know there was a party. I rushed Alice out the door and I guess she went to the party in her pajamas. My bad.
2015/08/01 09:00 It is morning on the first day of August. July is done. Only one Summer month remains for the year 2015. Summer has just flown by. The time passes too quickly. I have a lot of work to do around the old homestead. The new pool is installed but I have landscaping to do and I need to finish the deck. Last month, July, I had the most traffic to my website ever. That beat the previous high month which was June the month before.
We had lunch at Harpoon Eddie's on the shores of Oneida Lake. A beautiful day and I had shrimps, a bleu cheese burger, and Coronas.
Much fun was had by all at the Sylvan Beach Amusement Park.
2015/07/31 22:00 We went to Sylvan Beach today. We went to the amusement park. There weren’t a lot of people there and we had a good time. After the ride tickets were all used up we went to Harpoon Eddies for a late lunch.
You may observe Black Tot Day as you see fit.
Today is a sad day in the history of rum. Back in the day, the days of wooden ships under canvas sails, rum wasn’t just used for recreation. Sailors needed to stay hydrated. Typically ships sailed with water, beer, and rum. The first liquid to go bad was the water which became rancid. The beer lasted longer but it was the rum that lasted the longest. Sailors and pirates didn’t just drink the rum straight. It was mixed with water to make grog. Or it was mixed with water, sugar, and nutmeg to make bumbo. And the holy trinity of Caribbean mixology was rum, lime, and sugar. Rum was so important that the British Navy gave sailors a daily allotment of rum called a “tot”. The rum rations continued for many years until 1970. It was decided that the modern British Navy, equipped with nuclear missiles and lots of sensitive and complicated equipment, might not be the best place for daily doses of rum. From Wikipedia - “Black Tot Day is the name given to the last day on which the Royal Navy issued sailors with a daily rum ration (the daily tot). July 31st, 1970 was the final day of the rum ration and it was poured as usual at 6 bells in the forenoon watch (11am) after the pipe of 'up spirits'. Some sailors wore black armbands, tots were 'buried at sea' and in one navy training camp, HMS Collingwood, the Royal Naval Electrical College at Fareham in Hampshire there was a mock funeral procession complete with black coffin and accompanying drummers and piper. The move was not popular with the ratings despite an extra can of beer being added to the daily rations in compensation.” Today is Black Tot Day.
2015/07/31 09:00
Better Than Bowling at Shifty's
2015/07/30 23:30 I went to Shifty’s tonight. One of Karen’s coworkers is retiring and she was having a little party to celebrate. Her husband is in the band Better Than Bowling and they were playing. I got to listen to some of their first set before I had to leave. Karen didn’t go as she was off to Adison’s to see the little baby Elliott. Robert and the kids were at home and I wasn’t sure they had something to eat for dinner. I was sorry to leave. I was enjoying the band. I would go to see them again. One of Karen’s coworkers, a young intern, asked if I had ever been to Shifty’s before. LOL. I have been going to Shifty’s for more than thirty years. I’ve heard quite a few bands there and had a lot of good times.
2015/07/29 23:00 Last Thursday night when we were at the Inn on the Lake in Canandaigua Michael was at the house staying with Brego. He called me because he was concerned about Brego. He had heard quite a commotion outside by the front deck. When the dog came in she smelled of skunk and had blood on her face. She seemed to be having trouble working her jaw. It didn’t take her long to get back to normal but she stunk. When we got home there was the smell of skunk when you came in the house. Brego wanted to go out but we only let her out back because I believed there was a skunk lurking out front. Over the next few days the smell of skunk got worse. I started to get worried that a skunk had taken up residence under the front deck. The garden by the side of the front deck was overgrown and so today I went in and started weeding. I found a dead skunk. The smell made my eyes sting. It seems now that the night of the commotion Brego had killed the skunk. The last three or four days have been brutally hot. The skunk was pretty well decomposed and the smell was horrific.
Adorable.
2015/07/25 09:00 Adison sent me this picture of Elliott headed home from the hospital.
Tubin'.
Tristan firing off some water balloons.
Cousins and all three of my grandkids. I am most happy today.
Elliott Robert Morgan 8 pounds 6 ounces and 21 inches.
Winnie and Brego chilling.
The 'two Robs' taking a chess break during construction.
2015/07/21 14:00 I have been working hard on finishing the back patio. I have been having the 'two Robs' help me. They are my day laborers. It's not politically correct I'm sure but they started referring to themselves as my 'Mexicans'.
Armory Square after we left Al's. (photo by Sean Redmond)
Major Player. (photo by Sean Redmond)
Leo Crandall. (photo by Sean Redmond)
Grand finale. Man shot out of a cannon. Overall the circus was fun. I couldn't get into the tiger act. The tigers just seemed really pissed to be there. There was a dog act and the dogs seemed to be having a lot of fun. Tigers are just big cats and cats don't like to do tricks like dogs do. The best part were the acrobatics and aerial acts. The performers seemed to be ex-Soviet block gymnasts. That's just a guess.
Aerobatics.
No selfies Pop!
Tightrope walkers.
Face painting was done at the Bristol picnic. Of course Alice picked a spider over My Little Pony or a butterfly.
2015/07/24 23:00 We took the kids to Roseland Waterpark. We styed overnight at the Inn on the Lake. I was at the water park in the wave pool. There was a little boy, four feet nothing, in a bright yellow life jacket standing next to me. He probably weighed all of forty pounds. He said to me, “Hey mister, how come the waves don’t push you back like they do me?” I took the opportunity to use that as a teaching moment and explained mass, inertia, and Newton’s Law of big objects at rest tend to stay at rest.
2015/07/23 13:30 I took Tristan and Alice to meet their new cousin Elliott today.
2015/07/23 12:00 I was having a disagreement with my grandson today. Then he said, “Pop, I don’t like arguing with you because you keep making good points. You making good points all the time is very annoying.”
2015/07/22 16:00 Elliott Robert Morgan is born.
2015/07/21 17:00 Adison went into labor and asked me take her dog overnight. She has sent me texts while she is in labor checking on the dog.
2015/07/20 15:00 My contractor, Liverpool Pool and Spa, came to install the pool today. They knew what they were doing and it took them about four hours total. It is filling with water and once the pool is full, in about four or five days, they will come back and finish the installation.
2015/07/19 23:00 Sunday night and Sean and I went to SubCat Studio for the monthly SubRosa session. Afterwards we went to Al’s.
2015/07/11 20:00 Karen and I took the kids to the Bristol family picnic today. After we left the picnic Robert and I took the kids to the circus. The circus was set up in the parking lot at Shoppingtown mall. Initially Tristan was devastated that I wouldn't buy him an eight dollar snow cone. Later I relented and bought four dollar snow cones and the day was saved.
Caveman Minion.
2015/07/16 15:15 I went to my daughter’s house today to pick up her dog. I am doing some dog sitting. I had her niece and nephew with me. While I was tending to the dog I heard Tristan giving a stern lecture in etiquette to his four year old sister. “Alice, what is your problem? What is the matter with you? You cannot go into somebody else’s house and leave pee in the toilet. Are you an animal?!! Flush the toilet.” The little rugrats always make me smile.
2015/07/09 14:45 Tristan spews forth these incredible nuggets of knowledge, wisdom, and truth to his little sister. She pretty much eats it all up. Today we went to McDonalds to get the new Minion toy. Over lunch Tristan was explaining to Alice the great color switch that occurred during prehistoric times. It seems for the early cavemen blue was a girl color and pink was a boy color. Then this mystical shift transpired and the rest is history. Fascinating. If this inexplicable shift hadn’t happened I guess lots of girls would be walking around with ‘BLUE’ on the ass of their sweatpants.
2015/07/09 13:00 I was driving with Tristan and Alice today. They were having an argument. Tristan was trying to convince Alice that monkeys and gorillas were the ‘same’.
Tristan: “Do monkeys eat bananas?”
Alice: “Yes.”
Tristan: “Do gorillas eat bananas?”
Alice: “Yes.”
Tristan: “Okay. So monkeys and gorillas are the same.”
Me: “Alice eats bananas. You just proved Alice is a monkey. I think your logic is flawed.”
Tristan: “My logic is not flawed!!...What’s logic?”
Fun with Minions.
2015/07/05 13:00 The Minions movie opens next weekend.
2015/07/02 21:00 My four year old granddaughter asked me to play a game with her. I don’t know what it is called but it involves tossing colored discs onto a board with circles that have numbers in them. It didn’t seem to make any difference where I tossed my discs as I always lost. I was informed that I was so bad at the game that people who weren’t in the same room as us, people that weren’t even in the same house as us, people that didn’t even know they were playing the game – they were beating me. The final insult, Alice said, “Since you lost every single game Pop, you have to pick up the game and put it away”. She said we can play again tomorrow.
I made myself Eggs Benedict for breakfast this morning. English muffins, ham, eggs, Hollandaise sauce, and asparagus. Today is off to a good start. Lots to accomplish.
I still have dreams. I just have found that as you get older your dreams get smaller. That’s not a bad thing; quite the contrary actually. It seems like it has been raining non-stop since I got back from Lake George. I have some work to do outside and the weather sure hasn’t been cooperating. Today is the first day of July. Only two Summer months remain in the year 2015. I was looking at the data for my website for last month. For this past June I had the most traffic ever to my website. What I find weird is the amount of visits from China and the Ukraine. That has to be from some kind of web-bots or web-crawlers.
2015/07/01 10:30 Half of the year is gone. It went too quickly. I had a few adventures so far this year. I went to Rum Renaissance in April. Rum Renaissance was in Miami. After the rum festivities had concluded I rented a car and took a road trip down to Key West. Then I flew to Chicago for the Chicago Area Tiki Tour (CATT). About three weeks ago I was back in Florida for my seventh Hukilau. Last week was my first FOMCON and then this past weekend was my fifth Ohana: Luau at the Lake. I am writing this today having only gotten back from Lake George in the Adirondacks just a couple of days ago. I have no travelling scheduled for the month of July but I have a lot of work to do here at the old homestead. I am inspired to get some stuff done. I am getting very disillusioned by the lack of progress I have made in doing the things I want to do. The only thing that has ever stopped me is me. I sincerely feel that now is the time to step up and make things happen. We will see.
They say that dreams die first.
This latest iteration of my rants and rambles will still be much like past versions. I will continue to share way too much information. I will continue to be as weird as always. I am most likely still incredibly boring. And yet, despite these warnings, I still have those that are brave enough, or perhaps foolhardy enough, to read on. In fact this past month, June, I had the most views of this little website that I have ever had. Go figure.
“My theory is that the hardest work anyone does in life is to appear normal.” – from the movie “EDtv”
Rants, rambles, and ravings. Life isn’t fair. Sometimes it rains the hardest on those that need sunshine the most. And we often don’t end up where we thought we wanted to go. But, it was George Burns who said, “I honestly think it is better to be a failure at something you love than to be a success at something you hate”. I am ready to embrace my failures.