When we went under this lighted archway Robert theorized that it might be some kind of a time tunnel. Tristan was very intrigued if not a little concerned as well.

We went to Lights on the Lake tonight at Onondaga Lake Park. We had a wonderful time. Tristan was very excited. He said, “Alice, can’t you smell the excitement?!”

2013/12/21 23:00 Lights on the Lake!

After I got back from Wegmans and the grocery shopping Karen and the kids got busy making gingerbread houses.

Today, Sunday, we set up the tree and decorated it.

Got tablets? After the tree was trimmed the crew settled in on the couch each with their own tablet.

We had cake and ice cream to celebrate Robert's birthday. I have always wanted to know what happy tastes like and tonight I was able to satisfy my curiosity with a Carvel ice cream cake. Tastes way better than despair.

Adison came over after the Giants game to say hi and to have some cake and ice cream for Robert's birthday. The Giants are out of the playoffs and haven't had a very good year but Adison is a loyal fan nonetheless.

Alice hugging her little 'pider.

Alice's spider liked my hot coffee.

2013/12/21 18:00

2013/12/21 11:00 We went to Dunkin Donuts for breakfast this morning. Alice brought her new toy; her spider. She doesn't say the letter 's' so she pronounces it 'pider.

2013/12/21 15:30 I went shopping today at Wegmans for dinner tonight. I am going to make a pot roast. I was waiting in line to pay. I must confess that I briefly fantasized about going home with the woman in front of me in the check-out line. She had an absolutely beautiful sixty dollar beef tenderloin and all the fixins' and trimmins' to make a wonderful meal.

2013/12/20 20:45 I took the kids with me to Dollar General tonight. There was a big cardboard box with assorted toys all marked either 1 or 2 dollars. I told the kids they could dig through them and get one thing. Alice passed on the dolls, the Doc McStuffin stickers, the glitter batons, etc. and picked out a big spider. She loves her spider and she took it to bed with her tonight. I think MeduSirena Marina might approve.

It's not our Christmas tree until Tristan points at the tree and says, "That's our tree".

Alice making her 'cheese' face for the camera.

So sad.

Happy.

Karen won the 50/50 raffle.

Karen and Theresa.

Some photo booth fun.

2013/12/08 10:00 Last night Karen and I went to the annual Bristol Employees Association Christmas party. Usually one of us is sick but this year Karen was having back problems. Something a little different but it seems the party curse remains unbroken.

Nikki.

Danica.

2013/12/01 14:00 “Danger! Danger, Will Robinson!” We had a complete system meltdown this past weekend after Thanksgiving. I have had a website hosted by Verizon for seven years now. Verizon is no longer supporting it. The software I used to create and manage the site is ancient, almost prehistoric, as measured in computer years. The program is not supported by anyone. At first I was mad at Verizon. I have been a loyal customer for years. But, in truth, expecting any kind of consideration from a large corporation is just asking for disappointment. On a side note; I have been managing my own retirement portfolio and I have a fair amount invested in Verizon stock. I have done very well with the Verizon stock this past year and have benefitted from the ruthless and relentless march towards profits. I guess I should watch how much I whine. I decided to take this as an opportunity instead of as a setback. I shopped around for a hosting service. I went with Go Daddy. The primary reason I went with Go Daddy is that they are so much bigger than their competition. Go Daddy is more than a magnitude of ten bigger than their nearest competitor and I figured that would make them the most reliable over the long haul. I have my own domain now. And the new web builder I am learning to use is way more powerful than the one I was using. This new program is not just for desktops but also optimizes the display on mobile devices. I could also sync with twitter if I twitted. Maybe someday I will become a twit and join the twittersphere and I will already have the system. The customer service at Go Daddy has been unbelievable so far. They are so nice, helpful, and responsive that it really does seem too good to be true. I signed a three year contract with Go Daddy. I now have to port my old site over to the new platform. I am thinking that it is going to take months. I would like to have everything ported over within two months but that may be too aggressive a schedule. The old site had reached almost 90 pages. If you visited the old website and are now looking at the new site please use the contact page to let me know what you think of the new format.

2013/12/03 23:00 I found out one of the small perks associated with being a Go Daddy customer. After I set up my new website with my new domain I got congratulatory e-mails from Nikki and Danica. They then friended me on Facebook and I guess we’re doing lunch next week.

The kids had fun and for dessert learned how to spray whip cream from the can directly into their mouths.

One of the benefits of celebrating Thanksgiving late is that my fresh, never frozen, free-range organic happy turkey was marked down drastically. The turkey came out nice I thought.

2013/11/30 23:00 We celebrated Thanksgiving today instead of Thursday. Karen had to work Thursday, Adison was out of town, and we didn’t have Tristan and Alice.

Playing games at Adison's house. Is that 'Big Brother' watching?

"It was a bright cold day in April, and the clocks were striking thirteen."

"WAR IS PEACE.'

"FREEDOM IS SLAVERY."

"IGNORANCE IS STRENGTH."

"Who controls the past", ran the Party slogan, "controls the future: who controls the present controls the past."

Gingerbread goodness at the Erie Canal Museum. We are inspired to make our own gingerbread creations.

Shopping at the Rescue Mission. "My future's so bright I have to wear shades."

At the Erie Canal Museum on the canal boat.

2013/11/24 10:00 It was a busy day yesterday. We started Saturday off by shopping at the Rescue Mission. It was a big sale day with everything half off. Later that afternoon I took the kids to the Erie Canal Museum to see the annual gingerbread house display. After the checking out all the gingerbread creations we went to Adison's house. We played some games at Aunt Adison's before we headed over to an art show fund raiser for the Rosamund Gifford Zoo. The art had all been done by the animals. Some of the art was for sale outright. Some was available through a silent auction and the rest was up for raffle.

I carried the umbrellas most of the way around the lake. Turned out we didn't need them. Alice still had some fun with her ladybug umbrella.

Later Sunday night I went to the 5th of the SubRosa sessions at Sub Cat Studios.

How does that song go? "She ain't heavy, she's my sister..."

Tristan was a mountain climber.

It felt so good being out in the fresh air.

Adison gave Tristan a piggyback ride and still managed to hold Alice's hand. What a great Aunt.

Adison joined us on our little walk around the lake.

The Turning Stone Casino hotel is the tallest building between Albany and Syracuse.

The Celtic Harp. It was a nice place to have a beer.

2013/11/14 09:00 Yesterday I picked Sean up at his house and we went to Ruston's for breakfast. From there we headed to Utica with plans to take a brewery tour at the F.X. Matts brewery where they make Saranac and Utica Club among other brews. Turns out this is the off season and they only do tours on Friday and Saturdays and we were out of luck. So, we walked across the street and had a beer at the Celtic Harp; nice place. We headed back home and decided to stop at the Turning Stone Casino and check out the new bar that's part of the new Exit 33 section. The bar, called the Tin Rooster, is supposed to have an extensive selection of craft beers. The bar also doesn't open until 5 P.M. so we were now 0-2. We walked around the casino for a little bit and had lunch in the hallway. We are real high rollers. I had a hot dog from a cart set up in the hallway. We headed home after that.

St. Joseph's hospital addition under construction.

2013/11/13 23:00 Today my Dad sold his truck. Robert and I went with him to Cortland and Sun Auto which is where we sold the truck. I was walking around the showroom killing time while the paperwork was being completed and I was looking at a new Camaro convertible. One of the salesmen came over to me and he asked if he could help me. I said, no, I was all set. He said, "you already have one of these?!", gesturing at the Camaro convertible. I said no I didn't and he said, "well damn, son, you're not all set now are you?" I guess not. It sure would be sweet to have a nice ride like that for a summer.

Earlier in the day, before the 11-12-13 party, I stopped for a few minutes at Destiny and happened to snap these shots of the Syracuse skyline.

2013/11/13 10:00 Last night Karen and I went to Phil and Kathy's for a 11-12-13 party. Good excuse for a party. Next year there will be a 12-13-14 party. We had a nice time.

2013/11/12 09:00 I woke up early today from a horrible nightmare. One of the worst nightmares I can remember having for a long time. I know it was from watching the TV series “Sleepy Hollow” last night. It’s the second time I have had a nightmare after watching “Sleepy Hollow”. The funny thing is that I don’t find the show all that scary when I’m watching it. I really enjoy the show. I think it’s fun and captivating. I like the characters. The show must just touch some buttons in my subconscious. Last night in my dream a demon was trying to cut my head off. The demon could only cut my head off if he had a specific axe. I was trying to keep the demon from procuring said axe. The dream was rather involved. I was in a creepy abandoned church where the axe was hidden. I got the axe and was taking it to the lake where I was going to sink it so the demon couldn’t get it. Apparently demons can swim and dive and so the lake turned out to be a bad idea. Oh well, at least I woke up in time. It is another cold and dreary day. There was either a heavy frost or the remains of a dusting of snow on the lawn this morning. The forecast is for some nicer days starting Thursday. I hope so.

Tristan ate his whole Taco.

If you drink, please don't drive and if you drive, please don't use the stairs!

2013/11/11 12:00 The weather is cold and wet. The skies are gray and dismal. It is not as bad today as it was yesterday. Last night was truly miserable. I went out last night to Little Caesar's for pizza and it was sleeting. The cold and bitter winds were driving the sleet and I just wasn't happy. On Saturday night we had gone out for dinner at Red Robin. Normally we have a nice time at Red Robin and we go there fairly regularly. On this particular night we waited a long time to be seated and then they lost our ticket in the kitchen. We waited so long for the food that they ended up not charging us for anything that evening. We went there because that's what Tristan wanted and he ended up being the most patient of all of us.

2013/11/08 23:00 This was on the internet today.

My deodorant is named for a small island in the South Pacific; Fiji. The product promises that it smells like palm trees, sunshine, and freedom. I suppose it is better to smell like palm trees, sunshine, and freedom than to smell like larch trees, overcast skies, and incarceration. Yesterday I woke up to the first snow of the season. While the snow was expected at some point it was nonetheless distressing to see it actually manifest itself. I went to breakfast yesterday morning and met Sean at our usual breakfast spot; Ruston’s. I’ve been there enough and I am predictable enough that the waitress brings me the ‘usual’. I have that kind of disconcerted feeling that I get from time to time. I will be looking for something to snap me out of this funk today. There must be some adventure calling my name this Saturday morning. Let’s seize the day, shall we?

Ed Podolak, number 14, scored two touchdowns for Kansas City in their playoff loss to the Dolphins in the longest game ever played

2013/11/06 12:00 The Kansas City Chiefs are the only undefeated team in the NFL today. Their record stands now at 9-0. I don’t watch much football these days. I watched more often when I was in high school. My team all those years ago was the Kansas City Chiefs. I’m not sure how they came to be my team since I was born and raised in New York and have no affiliation with anything in the Midwest. I think it probably was because the most popular team at my school in those days was the Miami Dolphins. There was a pretty good rivalry then between the Chiefs and the Dolphins and always being one to take the contrary position I would have been drawn to the Chiefs. At this same time I was becoming a student of Japanese cinema and specifically the Samurai films. These films have much different themes and ideas than what is found for example in the American western films. The Japanese have a different view of loss. In the Samurai films if you compete and you lose, but in doing so you reach your full potential and give everything you have, then in defeat you have truly triumphed. The victor wasn’t challenged to reach his full potential. In this way there can be true nobility in defeat. My favorite player for the Kansas City Chiefs was Ed Podolak. On December 25, 1971, the Kansas City Chiefs played the Miami Dolphins in a playoff game that would become the longest game ever played in the NFL. For me, at the time, watching this game, it was Japanese cinema. Ed Podolak played the game of his career. He gave everything he had, never quit, never surrendered, but ultimately the Chiefs lost to the Dolphins 24-27. Podolak had 350 yards total offense; 85 rushing, 110 receiving, and 155 on returns. That is a playoff record that stands to this day 42 years later. In fact only three times has anyone achieved more in any game. For me this was and still is the greatest game ever played in the NFL. And Ed Podolak was the Samurai that left the field that day undefeated and unbroken.

After a fun day at the zoo enjoying the Squish the Squash festivities it's time to just snuggle on the couch, maybe take a little nap.

Even the birds got in on the pumpkin action.

At the elephant paddock watching the pachyderms pulverize the giant gourds.

Innocent pumpkins totally unaware of the hungry elephants waiting to be released. Apparently elephants really like pumpkins.

The otter circled the pumpkin a few times. I think the otter was assessing the threat posed by this new addition to its ecosphere. Then it pushed the pumpkin into the water. The otter swam around pushing and rolling the pumpkin in the water.

For everyone who has complained about what they said was an unflattering photo I posted of them I offer this as evidence that no one is safe. Not even me. Here is a truly bad selfie of myself and my sweet little Alice. The younger kids have this selfie thing down. I don’t. The first two times I tried to take the picture I missed and only got the wall behind me.

The bears tore into the pumpkin piñata and had a great time. The grapes seemed to be the most popular.

Brother and sister anxiously awaiting some bear piñata action.

"Oh look, there's a bobcat in the bear cage!" My joke was totally lost on the grandkids. Adison explained to them that a Bobcat was an animal and also a generic term for a frontloader and they were still unimpressed. The huge pumpkin had been hollowed out and filled with apples, grapes, carrots, honey, and other stuff that bears like. It was a giant pumpkin piñata.

After the Snow Leopard we went to see the Spectacled Bears. The Spectacled Bears are so named because of the facial markings. They are the only bears native to South America and are also known as Andean Bears.

The pumpkin was left totally unscathed by the Snow Leopard. The Snow Leopard was not interested at all in the pumpkin. I suggested playing a recording of a pumpkin in distress to lure the leopard in. Someone in the crowd said the problem was that the leopard is a cat and cats never do what they're told. The leopard was probably thinking, "Go get a dog and tell him to chase the pumpkin". We found out later that the real problem was that Mrs. Snow Leopard was on the other side of the fence and she was in heat. With a hot lady friend on the other side of the fence the Snow Leopard could really give a crap less about some stupid pumpkin.

2013/11/03 22:00 Today we went to the eighth annual Squish the Squash event at the Rosamund Gifford Zoo. Truthfully this is the first I had ever heard of this event. It was great fun. Select animals were encouraged to stomp and chomp pumpkins of all different sizes. The first animal we went to see was the Snow Leopard. The procedure is this. The animal is removed from the exhibit. The zookeeper enters the exhibit and deposits the pumpkin. The zookeeper leaves the exhibit and the animal, in this case the Snow Leopard, is let back into the exhibit. It is done this way because as tasty and as much fun as the pumpkin might be there is a chance that the animal might find the zookeeper tastier and even more fun.

Khan Tiki Mon's Rants and Rambles v.7.90

This latest iteration of my rants and rambles will be much like past versions. The key components will be unchanged. There still may be too much information shared and I am still most definitely weird as all get out. Opposition is probably futile and so the only useful admonition is to proceed with great caution and to read on at your own peril. Things don’t seem to be improving and you have been warned.

2013/11/24 20:00 There was enough snow Saturday night that the town sent the plows out Sunday morning. The plow in the parkway woke me up before my alarm went off. Not really very happy about this early snow. We went to Dunkin Donuts for breakfast. The kids played outside for a little while and then Tristan and I made pizzas for dinner. It was a nice weekend.

Rants, rambles, and ravings. Nothing but splutter and bluster. Has someone become unglued, unhinged, and come apart at the seams? What is your major malfunction? How long must we deal with these dull, tedious, and yawn inducing little packets of useless information? I don’t know but here’s a new page offered up for your consideration.

Alice likes 'playing' the iPad.

2013/12/29 15:45 We went to the movies today. Matinee to see "Frozen". Tristan got an Icee that was only twice as big as his head. Fortunately there were free refills.

2013/12/28 20:00 The kids and I went to Webster's Pond to feed the ducks and geese; a favorite activity for Tristan and Alice.

Costumes were also gifts from Aunt Adison. The kids love dressing up.

I made London broil with a Burgundy wine sauce for Christmas dinner.

Everything is ready. Just waiting for the kids.

Beowulf action figure; gift from Aunt Adison.

2013/12/25 23:00 We had a nice Christmas today. Tristan and Alice got here about five or so. Adison and Mark came shortly after that. We opened presents and then had Christmas dinner.

2013/12/15 23:00

2013/12/14 17:00 We went to get our Christmas tree today. As is tradition we waited until after Robert's birthday to get the tree. We went to Home Depot for the tree. It was unbelievably brutally cold. When I grabbed the tree in my fingerless gloves the tips of my fingers got wet. In the sub freezing temperatures I think I was beginning to get frostbite. When I tried to check out the key pad on the credit card reader was freezing up and we were having a difficult time. My fingers were in agony. The poor girl trying to check us out said she had been scheduled to work inside in a different department but someone called in sick and they made her go outside. She wasn't prepared and she was miserable. Robert said that you think with all the stuff they sell at Home Depot the store could find something to keep the poor girl warm.

2013/12/14 11:00 Alice asked me to play play-doh with her. I love my sweet little Alice.

2013/12/13 23:00 Just hanging out. Lazy day.

The sweet little Alice is racing cars.

2013/12/12 23:00 Today was Robert's birthday. My oldest son is now 28 years old. That makes me fairly old I guess. We went to Tully's restaurant for dinner. The kids played some video games and much fun was had by all.

The race organizers were prepared just in case the zombie apocalypse were to start on Thanksgiving. There was a special section set aside for the un-dead.

2013/11/28 14:00 I got up at the crack of dawn to meet Adison for the 45th annual Turkey Trot 5K run in Baldwinsville. This was my first time. I had a good time and I think I will make this a Thanksgiving tradition.

2013/11/27 14:00 Time to try on some new hats today.

Playing in the snow on a Sunday afternoon.

Tristan is buried in his morning paper as usual.

Sunday morning breakfast at Dunkin Donuts.

Pele the Goddess of the Volcano is not amused by the snow.

A snow covered Moai

Enjoying the art work done by the animals. What a great idea to have the animals work to help pay for their keep.

The zoo art show was quite the soiree. There were hors d'oeuvres and a cash bar.

MaryLeigh Roohan. What a great show! She is very talented and has a long and successful career ahead of her. That's my prediction.

Dusty Pascal.

Dusty Pascal had his daughter Tatum sit in for a song.

The Sub Rosa Sessions #5

2013/11/18 10:00 Yesterday the kids wanted to go to the MOST (Museum of Science and Technology). I would happily take them to the museum and probably will next weekend. I resisted this weekend because who knows how many days there are left this year that we could hike around Green Lakes State Park. It was cool but not cold. It was damp and there was some light precipitation but not a heavy rain. It was a good day for a hike. Tristan complained that I was picking something boring to do but before we were done he was very happy and having a great time.

There's nothing like the morning paper and a donut shaped like a football.

"They come runnin' just as fast as they can 'Cause every girl crazy 'bout a sharp dressed man." ZZ Top.

2013/11/16 16:00 We had breakfast this morning at Tim Horton's. Tristan decided he wanted to dress for breakfast.

Wegmans is a great place and an exciting place to spend a Friday night.

2013/11/15 23:00 Tristan is a big fan of Mad Magazine and Spy vs. Spy so we were very excited to see the chalkboard at the fish market in Wegmans tonight.

The staff at the Turning Stone were busy building some gigantic gingerbread type structures. A whole gingerbread village was being constructed. I loved the shredded wheat for the barn roof.

Tristan and some fairly hungry and aggressive birds.

After we fed the ducks and geese we stopped at Panchito's Taqueria to feed Tristan and Robert. Neither one of them had been to Panchito's before.

2013/11/11 17:00 We just got back from feeding the ducks and geese at Webster's Pond. It has been cold and nasty out and I'm sure not as many people have been feeding the water fowl as usually do. The birds were much more aggressive than they usually are. A couple of the geese were actually head butting me and pulling on my pants with their bills. I wasn't getting that corn out there fast enough I guess.

Raccoon went out to dinner with us. Raccoon wore Alice's Elmo vest and looked quite comfy and cozy. We didn't have Alice this weekend and I miss my sweet little Alice. While we were waiting for our table Karen found an old Mad magazine that someone had left behind and she kept Tristan and Robert entertained with it.

When we went out to dinner Saturday night Brego stayed home and held down the fort.

2013/11/09 10:00

I will not play Christmas music until after Thanksgiving has passed.

2013/11/07 09:30 There is no denying the fact that Winter is coming. Forecasts now include the possibility of snow. The ‘holiday’ season seems to start earlier and earlier each year. Karen and I were shopping a few nights ago and there was Christmas music playing. I still think that the Christmas music should wait until after Thanksgiving. One of the reasons given for the early onset of the ‘holiday’ season, which I heard on the financial news, is supposedly the government shutdown and the uncertainty caused by the dysfunctional politicians in our nation’s capital. Nervous businesses are looking to squeeze out what they can whenever they can. For those that suffer from holiday depression syndrome the fact that the ‘holiday’ season keeps getting longer and longer has got to be a nightmare. While lots of people find the ‘holiday’ season to be a time of joy, cheer, and parties, there are others who find it to be a time of self-evaluation, reflections on past failures, loneliness, and anxiety over an uncertain future. Of course once the ‘holiday’ season is over all we are left with is the snow, ice, and bitter cold of that bleakest of all months; February. After holiday depression syndrome comes seasonal affective disorder. I’m not sure why I am writing this stuff right now. I am actually feeling pretty good and pretty optimistic. Too funny.

The pictures speak for themselves. The pumpkins didn't stand a chance. Of all the animals we saw with pumpkins today the elephants were the ones that seemed to have the most fun. One of the elephants put his foot on a piece of broken pumpkin and was sliding around on it like a skateboard. The elephants had yellow and orange streaks on their heads from smeared pumpkin guts and they ate giant pieces of the pumpkins that they put in their mouths with their trunks.