This Charming Man

My husband is surrounded by women. When he’s at home, that is. He lives with me, our daughters Bridget and Tessa, and our dog Ginger. He is the only source of testosterone in our household. I sometimes wonder if that bothers him, but he seems to love it.

He is such a good sport about playing with our daughters. As you can see from the photo, he lets them dress him up in crazy clothes and fix his hair. He is just a wonderful dad in general. He pitches in giving them their baths and putting them to bed. He wrestles with them and carries them on his shoulders. He plays board games with them. This past weekend, he even took them to a birthday party on his own. I had taken Bridget to the most recent party, so he figured it was his turn. He wasn’t the only dad there. In fact, he recognized some of the other dads from the “Donuts with Dad” get-together he attended at Bridget’s preschool a couple of weeks ago.

He’s a very involved dad and a very supportive and loving husband. It is so wonderful to have a real partner for a husband.

And, what did I do whilst the hubby and kids were away for 2-1/2 hours on Saturday? Watched videos on YouTube, natch!

p.s. I did ask his permission before I posted this funny picture. Once again, he was a good sport.

Wait 'Til Next Year

I enjoyed watching the Super Bowl yesterday, but it was a mixed blessing. I was happy to see Tony Dungy and Peyton Manning vindicated. So many observers of the sport had tagged them both as guys who “couldn’t win the big one.” It was nice to watch a Super Bowl where I liked both teams. The halftime show this year was the best one outside of U2’s halftime a few years back. There was a lot to like. But it was all bittersweet because it means that football season is now over until the fall.

As a longtime (25 years and counting) diehard Atlanta Falcons fan, I am very familiar with the phrase “wait ‘til next year.” My team has never won a Super Bowl, so I utter that phrase ad nauseum at the end of each unsuccessful season. The Falcons have never even put together back to back winning seasons, so it is often frustrating being a fan. Still, I stand by my team. I will continue to do so, but my patience has been tried a lot lately, between the questionable decision on a new head coach and the Vick airport controversy.

I thought the firing of Coach Jim Mora was necessary. As a person, I liked him. He is young, fit, enthusiastic and very friendly. I met him at training camp the first year he was coach and he was very approachable. As a coach, I really think he was too friendly with his players and that his personal relationships with them got in the way of him holding them accountable for their on-field performance. The level of play was so flat so many times last year and this year, like guys didn’t feel like they had to continually earn their jobs. When Mora was first hired, I was shocked because I hadn’t even heard his name mentioned as a candidate. I really thought the Falcons would hire Lovie Smith, who had ties with Rich McKay from his Tampa Bay years. At first I hated the Mora hire, then convinced myself it wasn’t such a bad decision. I am trying to do the same with the latest hire.

Like Mora, Bobby Petrino wasn’t even on my radar. I really thought (and hoped) the Falcons would hire Ken Whisenhunt or Ron Rivera. Whisenhunt seemed like an obvious choice. He went to school at Georgia Tech and even played with the Falcons a few years. (Yes, I do remember his playing days. I am officially old as dirt.) When I heard about the Petrino hire I was first puzzled, then upset. I really don’t like the idea of a college coach leading my team. Yes, he’s had some NFL experience, but not much. I think he must have been hired because owner Arthur Blank and GM Rich McKay think that he can design an offense that will utilize Michael Vick’s special talents and help him reach his potential.

I hope that will be the case. So many people are so down on #7 lately, and I truly think it is unwarranted. The man does everything in his power to help his team win games, but he can’t do it all. The whole idea of trying to turn him into a “West Coast Offense” quarterback was ill-conceived. That style of quarterback play was designed for QBs who don’t have the arm strength to throw the long-ball, so it relies on a shorter passing game. We all know that #7’s arm strength is one of his great assets, along with his legs. Greg Knapp’s offense had a lot of “designed runs”, but I think Vick did better pre-Knapp, when he just ran if a passing play broke down, or if he saw a big hole that he could run through. Those broken-play runs he made during 2002 and post-injury 2003 were the plays that cemented his reputation as the NFL’s most exciting player.

Well, I could go on and on about #7 and how I feel he is unfairly maligned, but I’ll just stop here and say that one day he will be vindicated and the selfsame bandwagon fans and media know-it-alls who are hating on him now will be loving him and claiming they never doubted him. I hope that vindication will come in Atlanta under Coach Bobby Petrino. But, if that is not to be, I still think it will come sometime, somewhere in the NFL.

As to the Falcons in general, I am anxious to see the Falcons’ offseason moves and looking forward to next year. I can once again officially start saying, “Wait ‘til next year” and “The Falcons are undefeated this year."

Addicted

I have found a new drug of choice to which I am becoming increasingly addicted. I admit that I have even encouraged my husband, and to a smaller extent, my children, to become users. I guess I am behind the times, since I only just discovered it this week. But, better late than never, right? My new addiction is www.youtube.com.

I got turned onto it by a link posted to John Taylor’s message board, which directed me to an 80s quiz show where Duran Duran battled Spandau Ballet for trivia supremacy. Of course, DD walloped SB 52-40, in no small part due to my man John Taylor. I don’t think he had a single wrong answer, and if he did, I didn’t notice it because I was blinded by his ample charms. I could discuss my 25-year obsession with His Royal Hotness Nigel John Taylor, but that’s a whole ‘nother blog entry. Suffice it to say he is worth my attentions -- as the recent photo posted here shows, he is still gorgeous after all these years.

From the starting point of this one very entertaining video, I started searching for and finding all kinds of stuff. I found old clips from Saturday morning kids shows that haven’t seen the light of day for 30 years or more. I found a great clip of Morrissey and Johnny Marr of the Smiths appearing on some weird 80s British kids’ show called “Charlie’s Bus”. They take a trip to a park with a load of kids. One of the kids asks Morrissey, “Where are we going?” to which he replies, “Mad.” That Moz – who knew he was so good with kids?

I also found some very raw footage of the New York Dolls performing “Frankenstein” live in 1974. Priceless!! I was able to show the girls Queen’s video for “Bohemian Rhapsody,” which they love. (Tessa is so cute singing, “Galileo”). I also showed Bridget a KISS video for “I Was Made For Loving You.” She was hugging and kissing my screen whenever Paul appeared. Too cute!

For years, Dwayne has told me about this 70s game show he used to watch called “Make Me Laugh.” I’d never seen it until last night. We found a clip of Frank Zappa appearing on the show. Gallagher and two other comedians had 60 seconds to try and make Mr. Zappa laugh. As I expected, he was able to keep a straight face. It was hysterical to see Frank Zappa and Bobby Van (the host) in the same clip. Does anybody else remember Bobby Van? He used to be a “celebrity” panelist on a lot of 70s game shows. I don’t know what he ever did to become a “celebrity” other than being married to Elaine Joyce, a minor actress who didn’t do much acting, but did manage to appear in two of my fave cult movies, “Motel Hell” and “Trick or Treat”. Anyway, this clip was classic!! Bridget loved it, too, and wanted her papa and me to play the game with her. She laughed every time Dwayne or I made a silly face. I laughed when she made silly faces and danced all funny. Dwayne, of course, kept a straight face through all our antics.

This site is a veritable treasure trove!! I’ve only looked in the music section so far, but there are also sections for sports, news, pets, travel, the arts. It’ll take me a long time to plumb its depths. In case you’re worried, I am not letting my addiction go to the point where I am neglecting my house, kids or husband. But, let’s just say, when Bridget woke up with a nightmare at 2 a.m. this morning, she found me at my computer watching a Suede video . . .