Unfinished Dad

Play-Doh!

You are stupid.  Don't worry, I am too.  Yesterday I made Play-Doh! with the kids and had one of those "how will we survive after the apocalypse" moments.  You know, how are we going to continue doing all the important things that man has learned throughout history?

The List:

3 Cups Flour

1.5 Cups Salt

3 Tbs. Alum

3 Cups Water

3 Tbs. Oil

Food Coloring (you'll need a whole dropper full per batch)

Mix all of the dry ingredients in a large bowl.

Boil the water and add the oil.

Pour the water in the bowl.

Make your kid add the dye.

Stir it...

Squeeze it...

And you get this!

Kidding! You get this. 

And that's it. Post apocolyptic science questions answered.

Phew, Billy Corgan Says My Kids Don't Need The Swine Flu Vaccine After All

Rest easy friends of Unfinished Dad.  I no longer need to worry about vaccinating Annie and Tilda.  Though swine flu is still a serious threat, a government created one no less, Billy Corgan of Smashing Pumpkins fame says this whole national emergency thing is just fear mongering to sell more pharmaceuticals.  You know what, I kind of agree with him.  Well, about the fear mongering part anyway.

"Our American President Obama has declared a national emergency about this virus, which he in his own words said was, at this point, a preventative measure. So, why declare an emergency if there isn’t one? ... I am more focused on the vibration that has us all so fearful: both for how the fear affects our thinking, and how, in our fear, we attract the worst, and, in conjunction with that, how those fears are used by others without integrity to try to create a power against Us to promote discomfort and dis-ease."

I feel better.  You?

Dodging Swine Flu

Swine flu officially has my family surrounded.  I hadn't given it much though until recent weeks, when it dawned on me that Annie probably isn't the only 2 year-old who fails to cover her mouth when she coughs.  We aren't big lovers of vaccines.  We get them - we're not Jenny McCarthy or anything - but we don't run out and beg for them.  Now I find myself wondering if we should take the plunge.

 The first confirmed case in our world was in a 3 year-old class at Annie's school.  For the most part parents are good about keeping their kids home when sick, but the week before, we were sent an email about children showing up just "a little sick." The email arrived with a sharp reprimand from the school's director reminding us that things like swine flu were, you know, kind of all or nothing.

The next day we were sent another email from the director with a second case (also a 3 year-old class) in which a sibling tested positive, and the mother said it was "mild,"  Suspiciously, we weren't told if that particular child had been in school all week.  Two days ago, we received yet another email about a mild case of swine flu, this time in a 4 year-old class.  

Finally, I was out in the yard yesterday when a neighbor told me that the 15 year-old across the street was holed up with swine flu.  Suddenly, I wondered if she had given Annie a high five this week.  Or if she was on the bus with the other neighbors who love to visit Annie and Tilda after school.  Or if her family's dog sniffed my family's dog's butt and...you know the rest.  When Annie went to bed, I was convinced she felt warm.  Is it possible to give someone psychosomatic swine flu?

Now I'm that parent who is convinced his house doomed.  I see swine flu around every corner and I'm seriously considering getting vaccinated.  I know this isn't Captain Trips, but it suddenly seems serious.  What do you think, is this just a shift in my mental state or is it time to run out and get the family their swine flu vaccine?

Reliving Pearl Jam's Discography: Lou Tackles Ten

Jopie Joe,

 

I have a problem.  Over the past month have I’ve spent more time with my good friend Eddie Vedder* than that of my boss and children combined.  Well, that might be an exaggeration, but I am sure you feel the same way after our side project of rating and ranking every studio-album song that Pearl Jam ever put to compact disc.

 

*I have a pick of his and therefore consider him a friend; or rather I had a pick of his before our sister, Katie, filched it with some puppy dog eyes.  I know, as well as you, that Eddie tossed it to ME specifically during the Letterman show.(Editor’s note: The Letterman show, a private concert for 400 Tenclub members that took place in 2006, was attended by all four Poulas children who can be seen freaking out in the front row)

 

It was an exhausting task that I attacked as if it were my profession, which opened my eyes in two ways.  First, I wish I had a job I loved, and second, wow—did I fall in love with PJ all over again.  Such painstaking labor should never go unrecognized, and I thought I would take the first action of putting my thoughts down in html.

 

I propose to spend some time reviewing each of their nine albums—do we both review all nine or take them turn in turn, maybe with comments on previous submission?—and follow it up with a grand finale including excel sheets, graphs, formulas, and scientific notations. (Editor’s note—Easy nerd, Unfinished Dad’s readers don’t know he spends his time doing things like that.)

 

First up, the Classic Ten

 

Track List

1-Once  

2-Even Flow  

3-Alive  

4-Why Go  

5-Black  

6-Jeremy  

7-Oceans  

8-Porch  

9-Garden  

10-Deep  

11-Release

 

I will forever be in your debt for introducing me to Pearl Jam* though I don’t recall when that was exactly.  The album debuted on August 27, 1991 but didn’t become popular until almost 8 months later, and didn’t peak on the charts until the fall of 1992.  Ten was still so popular, that in 1993, when their second album Vs. was released, it was still outselling it at years end.  I am guessing that fateful day of introduction occurred between the fall ’92 and winter of ’93.**

 

*And Stephen King’s Dark Tower series for that matter.  Quite amazing when you think about it—the two most import cultural loves in my life are due to my little bro!

 

**And as long as I’m dishing out the praise, I might as well continue with that thought and thank you for Weezer too.  I turned on the “Genius” functionality for my new iPod where it makes compilation playlists that “go great together” and Weezer and Pearl Jam are always linked.  At first, I didn’t understand—I was hearing good music that I couldn’t remember who the artist was.  Low and behold—Weezer four or 5 times now.(Ed’s note: Word)

 

Almost 450 words and still no review to speak of—I will keep this one relatively short then.  Ten is widely recognized as the band’s best album, and one of the most influential albums of our lifetimes.  For now, let’s say I agree with the latter and if we want to include cultural impact in our rankings Ten would easily be #1.

 

My power tracks on the album are Alive, Black, Porch, and Release.  The introductions to both Alive and Black are instantly recognizable to a wide variety of musical tastes, but Black is a hair better and may be the single greatest PJ song of all time.  The classic lyric, “all five horizons revolved around her soul” is a badge of wonder to all fans and as far as I know, the band has never come out and explicitly provided a meaning to the verse. 

 

I could listen to the 1:30 through 2:22 section of Porch over and over, and in fact, regularly do just that.  I love Matt Cameron, but my favorite drum riff in any PJ song came courtesy of Dave Krusen, ending at 2:22.

 

However, if I were beached on an island and could take only one track from Ten with me, it would be Release.  I can’t quite put into words why this song is so potent for me.  I guess you would call it a power ballad, and it slowly builds Eddie’s vocals and wonderful guitar work, and who among us has never exactly related to the line, “I’ll ride the wave where it takes me”?   It is the perfect track to listen to when in the mood to recall strong emotion—whether joyous or tearful, Release will recall it to memory.

 

Remember the Bear Share days?  We have a bootlegged live version of Release that perfectly states how PJ fans feel.  Listen to the first few moments of that song, for what I assume is the moment that Eddie, or maybe most of band walks out on stage—chills and waterworks.  It’s as simple as that.

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Once, Even Flow, and Oceans are also 4 out 5 star songs, and while I no longer have a taste for the most overplayed song in PJ history, I at least recognize that Jeremy is in fact a very good tune.  The beauty of Ten is that even their lesser known tracks—Why Go, Garden, and Deep—are all good, making Ten the band’s deepest album.

 

Hopefully this gets the ball rolling!,

Lou

Feel like sharing your thoughts about Pearl Jam's original album?  Let 'er rip in the comments below.  We'd love to here your memories.

Dear Dentist, This Is Annie. Good Luck.

Annie's first dentist appointment is today.  I'm not convinced it's time and I'm not convinced she will keep it cool.  Many years ago, my wife was asked never to return to her family dentist due to her constant meltdowns.  And Annie and my wife are more similar than I thought possible given their 27 years of separation.

In an oddly prescient coincidence, I give you this post from Sweet Juniper this morning.  

Hmm, That Doesn't Seem Right

Hmm, That Doesn't Seem Right, originally uploaded by unfinished dad.

I alternate between being disturbed and pleased by this photo. Since Annie created this potato all by herself, let's assume that it isn't intended to terrify Matilda, though they have been fighting a lot lately.