I'm funny how, you mean funny like a clown?

The dude pictured with the Goodfellas works with me. Paul recruits people and he's good at it.

But he's wasting himself. He should be in Hollywood right now. He'd be "that guy". You know him but you don't know his name. He plays the Mob's strongman in one movie and Reese Witherspoon's funny boyfriend in a romantic comedy.

Then after a few years of toiling in the background of some great movies he'd be given the chance to star in a prison movie where he's serving 20 years for a crime he didn't commit. But he's not bitter. He shows us how to handle adversity with grace. His performance gets him Oscar buzz. But our Paul, he doesn't changes who he is. Fame and fortune doesn't change the kid from Portsmouth, NH.

(Dude, if this really happens some day, get me a lunch with Reese Witherspoon. I'm a big fan.)

Euphonium, you say?

Tonight was the last "All Bands" concert we'll see our kids perform in. The kids from fifth to twelfth grade perform together for one concert a year. When Joey and Bret were in the fifth grade we thought it was great that our little kids got to perform songs with 18 year olds. The difference between listening to the fifth and twelfth grade is like the difference between taking a few swings against me versus taking a few swings versus 100mph pitcher Daniel Bard. (Opening day is here .... seemed the right time for a baseball reference)

Said another way, the fifth grade sound is an assault on your ears like Liz Taylor's White Diamond perfume is an assault on your nose. Despite the punishing sound, it's a great tradition.

Joey dominated on the euphonium. Never heard of the euphonium until a few weeks ago when Joey casually told us that he no longer played the trumpet and the band leader had asked him to pick up the euphonium.

Louie Armstrong, Miles Davis, Dizzy Gillespie ... all trumpeters.

Google "famous euphonium players" and you get people like Timothy Pelletier of the "Euphony Fonies" and Lyndon Baglin of the "Fairy Band".

Seems like the euphonium field is ripe for a new star.

11 years ago today many of our readers were molesting cherubs in Scotland....you all know who you are!

Sure, its our anniversary. And most people do celebrate these special occasions with a night out on the town, a card, maybe even a small gift. We celebrated by being Joey. We decided to embrace all that is Joseph Robert MacKay. We played video games, we dressed as Joey (Bill's in his Larry Bird shirt, I'm wearing his monkey snuggie), we played in his room, we sat on his bed, we befriended his gnome.

Bill's colleague, a man of discerning taste, requested more Jen and Joey in this blog - so here is Jen AS Joey. Your cup runneth over, Fletcher!

Peeping Scotch

Tomorrow is Jen and my 11th anniversary. Let's assume the post will be better than tonight.

Jennie went to a Literary Festival meeting, leaving me alone.

Being a person with little will power I had a scotch and a cigar while I grilled chicken.

These are the pictures you take when you have a glass of scotch on a Monday. First, another pictures of my rocks. Then I took picture of Laura's house as she watched The Office. Her cat Mickey is in the window. It's a good thing that Laura is a good friend or she would have called Newburyport's finest when she saw me with a camera outside of her house.

Schooled

Jennie and I sharing a Smithwicks over dinner.

Tonights question was what country would we least like to live in right now. Jen and I mentioned the usual Middle East countries. We were thinking of the miserable places Karl Pilkington went on the "An Idiot Abroad" series.

Joey trumped us with Darfur. He also said they are learning about the genocide in the early 90's in Bosnia. Tuesday he goes to Boston to hear the story of a survivor of the conflict. Conflict.... seems far too watered down a word for that event.

I thought Jen and I had conflict tonight about what type of pasta we cook tonight. Joey is good for giving us perspective.

We Gather To Prepare for Shaq Manfredini

Today was our baby shower for Stacey and Dave. Lynn, other Jen, Diane and I hosted the Manfredini and Cohen families in Tewksbury. My contribution was the cupcake and flower tower. (cupcakes are very in)

Here's a shot of the girls early in the afternoon. Before the gargantuan pile of presents was opened.

Giraffes were the animal of the day. There seems to be a giraffe toy that is the "it" baby shower present - Stacey and Dave received 4. They only got 2 of these giant giraffes. I'm wondering if I can get my hands on one of them for Petey.

Meanwhile Bill and Joey spent the day checking out Wheelock College. Joey's pros are its Boston location and girl to guy ratio. One of his cons is that he doesn't think there will be many kids in his class that will want to play Madden Football on PS2.

Feedback Friday

One of the good things about being married to a man in HR is that he is able to take feedback. (And as you can imagine, I can dish out as much as he can take.) My recent feedback was that he needed to eat better. I know I'm not a nutrition expert but I'm pretty sure that Cap'n Crunch is not considered a healthy breakfast. Generally any food that has a contraction in it's name and is marketed with a cartoon is probably not on the pyramid.

I'm happy to say that since delivering my feedback, Bill has not had a Coke and has decided to upgrade to a healthy breakfast cereal. We would like to endorse Me & Goji - a site where you create and name your own cereal mix of healthy little taste sensations. His crate of 5 canisters arrived today.

Bill made two flavors that I'm sure will soon be sweeping the national cereal scene:

Mandate, Get It On: A tantalizing toss up of flakes, flax, goji berries, golden raisins, mulberry and pumpkin seeds.

Shut Up, Felix: A crunchy cornucopia of granola, multigrain O's cranberry, nutmeg and flax.

Tomorrow morning will you be wishing you were enjoying a tasty dish of Shut Up, Felix?

At least the food was ... wait, never mind

(Brenda makes the blog for the first time.)

It was Basketball banquet night this evening. I was at once nostalgic for the rituals of middle America, while at the same time bored and irritated. I wish I could just appreciate it for what it was.

Oh well, since I'm not going to change in the time I write this post, let me make fun of it.

The Freshman coach gave the best speech. He was charmingly touching and nerdy. Then the JV coach got up and made fun of how long the the Freshman's speech was. He's the former Varsity coach and has hosted a lifetime of these events. His speech rambled and swerved and bored and ultimately went way longer than the Freshman coach.

Then Joey's coach got up and made the JV's rambling speech look like it was scripted by Aaron Sorkin.

His first attempt at humor brought out the crickets and it was downhill from there. He teared up when he thanked his wife for her help. I know that sounds nice but it was totally random and awkward.

The night ended with the awards and my kid got stiffed. If it sounds like I'm being a protective Dad, yeah, I am.

This is Joey's favorite coach in high school, i.e not his current coach.

If I were Coach

Joey's co-ed intramural volleyball team dominated yesterday. Joey needs a taste of victory after his varsity basketball team was squashed like bugs this year.

Thursday is the basketball banquet. What do you say to the team with two wins.

My speech might go something like "Do you remember that game against Georgetown when we strung together three straight baskets! That was basketball! That was teamwork! The final score didn't tell the story of that game! You really didn't lose by 36 points. For three minutes you shut them out! You DOMINATED!"

Then I'd say something about making sure everyone took home the left over pasta and call it a night. The basketball banquet is e n d l e s s ..... My basketball banquet would be quick and inspirational....

Help me, Obi Wan, you're my only hope

Laura looked like she was fighting the evil empire today as she started work on the 2nd floor bathroom. Soon I'll be showering surrounded by dill pickle walls.