Ice Cream?

"In honor of the 44th President of the United States, Baskin-Robbins Ice Cream has introduced a new flavor: “Barocky Road.”

Barocky Road is a blend of half vanilla, half chocolate, and surrounded by nuts and flakes. The vanilla portion of the mix is not openly advertised and usually denied as an ingredient. The nuts and flakes are all very bitter and hard to swallow.

The cost is $100.00 per scoop. When purchased it will be presented to you in a large beautiful cone, but then the ice cream is taken away and given to the person in line behind you. You are left with an empty wallet and no change, holding an empty cone with no hope of getting any ice cream.

Are you stimulated?"

Borrowed from Norma who found it at Common Folk

New Song Titles

Gram sent me this in an email. I had to share.

Some of the artists of the 60's are revising their hits with new lyrics to accommodate aging baby boomers.
They include:

Bobby Darin ---
Splish, Splash, I Was Havin' a Flash.

Herman's Hermits ---
Mrs. Brown, You've Got a Lovely Walker .

Ringo Starr ---
I Get By With a Little Help From Depends.


The Bee Gees -- -
How Can You Mend a Broken Hip..

Roberta Flack---
The First Time Ever I Forgot Your Face.

Johnny Nash ---
I Can't See Clearly Now.

Paul Simon---
Fifty Ways to Lose Your Liver

The Commodores ---
Once, Twice, Three Times to the Bathroom.

Marvin Gaye ---
Heard It Through the Grape Nuts.

Procol Harem---
A Whiter Shade of Hair.

Leo Sayer ---
You Make Me Feel Like Napping.

The Temptations ---
Papa's Got a Kidney Stone.

Abba---
Denture Queen.

Tony Orlando ---
Knock three Times On The Ceiling If You Hear Me Fall.

Helen Reddy ---
I Am Woman, Hear Me Snore.

Leslie Gore---
It's My Procedure, and I'll Cry If I Want To.

And Last but NOT least:

Willie Nelson ---
On the Commode Again

Guitar Hero

Guitar Hero - is a blast!!

Mom Central asked us to try out 2 Nintendo DS versions of Guitar Hero - Guitar Hero On Tour: Modern Hits and the Guitar Hero On Tour: Decades.

When the box arrived, I handed each of my kids a game and told them they had to play it and let me know how they liked it. They sat there for a moment - I think they were stunned that I was making them play video games. They quickly got over it and got down to business.

The games come with stickers that you can stick on your DS. Personally, I didn't think they'd be into that at all. I was wrong. They loved the stickers. They each spent about 20 minutes deciding what stickers they would use on their DS and where they'd put them... They are 16 and 14. I guess some stickers are still cool.

The game comes with a guitar grip thing - I'm oh so technical - that goes into one of the slots on the DS. This grip has the colored buttons on it that you use to control the game. There is also a guitar pick that slides into the grip for safe keeping. (Those developers really thought of everything.) You use the pick to strum and the buttons are the frets and strings... It's pretty ingenious!! Anyway, the game comes with a skin that you can put into the grip to personalize the look of your grip... If you want to make your own skin or want a cooler skin, you can go to the Guitar Hero website and print out your own skins from the Grip Gallery... How cool is that?


Speaking of the Guitar Hero website - go take a look. I'll wait. It is really quite awesome. There is information there for parents and kids. We parents want information - and it is all there - ergonomics, song lists, how and where to purchase, etc. Kids want the good stuff - skins, videos, the Which rocker are you? quiz... (I'm Calista Valenz, by the way - tough as nails and sweet like candy - how did they know??)

Both of my kids have played the PS2 version of Guitar Hero, so they knew the rules and such. They got their headphones all plugged into their DSs and started rocking. Since they had different versions, the music was different and they didn't want to listen to the other one rock, headphones were in order. Note to parents: Headphones are the best invention ever - especially in the car. They can rock and you can still listen to the radio.

#1 had the Decades version. He enjoyed it very much and gave it 5 stars. He liked the challenge of the game, the music itself (which is awesome - everything from the Foo Fighters to Lenny Kravitz to REM and Bon Jovi), the fact that you could move up the ranks and unlock more songs. LLB had Modern Hits. She, too, loved the music itself - everything from Phantom Planet to Modest Mouse to Yellow Card. She enjoyed the ability to choose which part to play - melody, bass, etc. She did not like having to get Fan Points to move up the ranks. Alas, she managed to rock on and still gave the game 5 stars.

My kids really enjoyed rocking together and competing against each other - something you can only do if you have 2 games and controllers. They spent hours trying to kick each other's proverbial butt - both in the car and on the couch. There was much discussion about the songs, the game itself and who liked what why. I'm not sure if that was because they were game testing or if it was just something they would have done anyway. It was really neat to listen in and see what they were thinking.

There were many laughs, giggles, and groans as they Guitar Heroed together.

My kids shared music, thoughts, opinions, laughter, and time.
And really, isn't that what summer is all about?

If you are looking for a great game to play in the car, at home, in a waiting room (with headphones), or pretty much anywhere - Guitar Hero is for you!!

Wow - Time flies

We've started summer around here - complete with sleeping late (7am is late for me), seeing a movie, and going out for ice cream.
Today we're starting out slow...
A leisurely breakfast and lunch and then an afternoon at a friend's pool.
I should make some goodies to bring over, but...
We'll see.

Next week marks the first camp of the summer - LLB is off to play her trumpet at a local band camp for the week. She'll be in the Jazz group with her other friends as they are experienced musicians.

Me? I'll be driving her to camp and picking her up. I think a movie is on the horizon for Tuesday - The Proposal. Tuesday is $1 popcorn day, so we need to go then... Besides that, I've got to do some music inventory at the church one morning and band uniforms another morning. See - I'm always busy with something!

Saturday 9

I stole this from Melli who stole it from Thom...

1. Do you like James Bond films? If yes, what’s your favorite? Yes. I like them all actually...

2. Are you daring enough to go snorkeling in the water fountain at the mall? Ummm... no.

3. Do you sometimes hate everything and everyone around you? I have my moments.

4. Do you secretly or openly believe the world revolves around you? I wish. I am a mom... 'nuff said.

5. Would you rather buy a moped or a Harley Davidson? I wouldn't ride either, but a Harley is so much cooler.

6. Do you water ski or ice ski? I can snow ski... really slowly... as in so slowly that nobody will ski with me. As long as they meet me for lunch, I'm happy.

7. Tell us about the last time that you tailgated. We tailgate every weekend at polo.

8. What was the last concert that you attended? The Middle School spring concert last week. It was lovely!

9. What’s the most exotic food that you’ve eaten? hmm... I like caviar... I like barnacles... Is that exotic enough?

It's a Pahty!

Sometimes we just can't do what all the cool kids are doing.
This time it's Blog Her.
I can't go.
But there is a way to still hang with the cool kids:

You can, too!!!
Just click it.

Brilliant!

I was sitting having lunch with a group of friends the other day and we were discussing the reception for the 8th graders that happens after the awards ceremony.

One woman mentioned cutting the cake with dental floss.

My french fry froze in mid air. My mouth hung open. I blinked slowly. Time stopped as I looked at each one. I was blown away - again - by these women who know so much more about everything - and yet, they still let me hang with them...

Huh?

Oh, yes, LBC! People cut large sheet cakes with dental floss.
There are no crumbs. The pieces are perfect every time.
No knives! No mess!! No knife wiping.

Do you need a special kind of dental floss? I'll get it.

No. I think any old dental floss will work.

So yesterday I arrived at school with a large spatula and a roll of dental floss.
And guess what?
It worked.
It would have worked better if the cakes hadn't been so cold. Umm... they'd been in the school fridge on the bottom and were almost, but not quite, frozen.
The frosting stayed put. There was no knife wiping...

So - I'm passing this on.
Dental floss cuts cake.