Latest Addition to the Family

Let us all welcome the latest addition to our family ..... my new Macbook! It's a white 13-inch white Macbook, sometimes affectionally called my 'Polarbear'. Its hard to believe that after all my years in IT, this is the very first time I purchased a laptop for myself. And what a beauty it is! Certainly worth the wait. :-)

Its took me quite a while before deciding on to take this step, whether it was worth getting a Mac instead of a PC since all my work stuff runs on Windows . Hubby made a pretty good argument that since MS Office runs well on OS X, there should not be a problem to read email and open documents. As for my work stuff that only runs on Windows, we set up a Virtual Machine running on Windows XP. In the end with all bases covered, I guess he was right. Its great value for money too since its about 30% more than the equivalent Windows laptop, without the need for virus protection software.

Its only been a couple of weeks now, and I've managed to work from home a couple of times already. Having fun installing software (how geeky is that!) and building my ITunes library. Really loving the fact that I can take it anywhere at home, since its the perfect size for me.

Now my next dilemna is ... do I get a backpack or a shoulder bag for when I want to take it outside the house? Ah, choices, choices.

Musicals

Normally, when the we and the kids settle down in front of the TV it's always been their selection of kids shows. Lately we've actually been introducing them to watching some of the old musicals that we have on DVD and they seem utterly delighted by them. We've already watched The Sound of Music, Singing in the Rain and My Fair Lady and it's certainly captivated their attentions.

The kids are fascinated by the old costumes and the style of these movies. Event without the fancy CGI effects and animation in today's movies, the kids still enjoyed each of them. They get to know the songs and even singing them out loud. What's also good about these old musicals is that they are typically harmless fair and almost always are rated G. So, we don't have to worry too much about the content. We can just put the DVD on and the kids are happily humming or singing along to the tunes in no time.

Not too many kids nowadays appreciate these old movies. With all the pop rock and teen songstresses around, we think it's important to give the kids the appreciation for all sorts of music, specially Old School musicals.

Kid Funnies Part 28

And she's at it again! As we were driving to my weekly basketball game, the girl just exclaimed, "It's so easy to take daddy's picture when he's playing."

"Why?", we asked.

"Because," she said, "he doesn't run!"

She got me good again that time!

Kid Funnies Part 27

So I'm packing up for the trip back for my brother's wedding. The girl wanted to help me pack up. And, as she was looking at the size of my shirts she suddenly exclaimed, "Oh my god, how fat ARE you!"

We just had a great big laugh!

( And she was never heard from again... :D )

Ach Ach Boom Traach

When our girl first heard of the ASSITEJ Performing Arts Festival coming to Adelaide, she insisted that we at least go watch one of the various performances that was going to be shown. ASSITEJ is a huge thing in the artist community and a great opportunity for us here in Adelaide to see some of these artists show their stuff, so to speak. The festival itself is actually geared for kids and young children and have different shows to suit. The family decided on watching Ach Ach Boom Traach, a little performance about playing brothers.

Two brothers are left alone, playing together. Their language is basic and they barely talk. They quarrel, grow close, then argue again.

At times one triumphs, and then the other – the balance of power swings back and forth.

Above them is a pretty box, the centre of their attention. They are unable to open it and each wants it only for himself. The rift between the brothers widens as they grow older, and the bone of contention is always the pretty box.

The brothers go to war. And the war ends up in a stalemate. After they cruelly insult, humiliate and hurt each other, they settle down to an uneasy truce.

Then the box opens up by itself...

It was actually quite enjoyable and it held our kids attention for the whole time. The stage or performance area itself was bare and uncluttered except for some colorful props of pieces of cloth, boxes and of course, the mysterious box.

There were genuine laugh out loud moments and the performance itself was very accessible to our kids. Although the actors performed in a different language,( not sure if it was actually a made-up one but I think it could have been in Jewish or Yiddish ), we could actually follow the story and enjoyed it.

In the end, the kids easily picked up the play's message and quite a few laughs. Unfortunately, I don't think we can catch any of the other performances but if Ach Ach Boom Traach is anything to go by I'm sure they're all entertaining and enjoyable.

Daing na Bangus

This is typical Filipino breakfast fare. Bangus, or milkfish, is marinated in a mix of vinegar, garlic and spices and served fried as breakfast fare. The fish is actually store bought and I cooked and served it up as a part of a "balanced" breakfast of eggs, garlic fried rice and home-made atchara. It's a good thing we can get Pinoy food here in Adelaide as one sometimes misses these tastes of the old country.

Here Come The Rains

It's been raining all day and we can really feel the cold now. It really feels like autumn weather at last. Just to feel warm and cozy, we've decided to all sleep in the living room. So we put the heater on and brought out the mattresses. Then we and the kids are settling in to watch TV together. We love getting together like this, feels good to just do things together as a family, even if it's just watching TV.

Kid Funnies Part 26

The wife wasn't feeling too well these past week. To give her a break we had dinner at McDonald's. She ordered an apple pie for herself as a little treat but the kids both wanted a piece of it.

Jokingly my wife warned them. "You're going to catch my germs if you share this with me", she said.

Right away the girl answered back, "If we eat it first, then we won't get your germs!"

We had laugh and we ended up getting them an apple pie just for them. We know we can't pull a fast one on them anymore!

Happy Mother's Day

We know it's a manufactured holiday to keep the greeting card companies in business but we can't help it. We fall for it every time. But in all seriousness, hope you mom's out there have a Happy Mother's Day. The kids and I got early and made breakfast in bed for their mom. She ended up sharing it with the kids anyway because it was bacon and eggs after all.

Free Comic Book Day 2008

Last Saturday was Free Comic Book Day. We went to my local comic book shop and picked up my standing orders and the kids also got to pick up their own free comic book. We were there around lunch time and the place was already packed. There were a lot of regulars and new readers alike picking up the free comic books.

It's a good thing for the industry to attract new readers as comic book stories, both the superhero and non-superhero comic books alike are enjoying great popularity both in the movies and television. And, instead of enjoying the stories passively on the screen, why not have a whole new generation discover the books on the page.

Swimmer of the Month

The swim center where our kids have lessons have a Swimmer of the Month award. For the month of May its our little girl! She was so excited to hear that she was getting the award and the Swimmer of the Month medallion to boot She's really been enjoying this new swimming level and has been proud to say to us that she's no longer afraid of the deep parts of the pool. We're so proud of her.

Iron Man

... was a blast! Figuratively speaking of course. We got to see the movie and I have to say it's actually one of the better comic book movies I've seen in quite a while. The wife and I walked out of the movie impressed by how tight the film was.

Robert Downey Jr. totally owned that part, it was like he wasn't even acting. You can also tell that Jon Favreau ( the director ) really was an Iron Man fan and he really did respect the comic book source material to make this movie. I especially liked the in references which were scattered throughout the film. Just enough without it being too fan-boyish.

As for the special effects, they really outdid themselves with this one. They were indeed great but didn't overwhelm the action on the screen as it melded quite seamlessly.

We're not sure if the kids would be ready for some of the scenes in the film though. There's a bit of violence on screen but at least no gory bits. I think they'll get a real kick out of the Iron Man armor though so we're sure to get this on DVD when it comes out.

It was a great film: from the acting, the direction, the special effects and for once, I don't think they need a sequel for this one. I feel the movie can stand on it's own just like that. Unfortunately, the economic powers that be would probably demand another one and I hope they can capture lightning in a bottle again and come up with another great movie.

School Concert with Andrew Chinn

We just came back from a little concert by Andrew Chinn held at our kids' school. Andrew Chinn is a Christian music performer and his songs have been used a lot of times in our kid's school before and this was the first time we was able to perform there.

The concert itself started earlier in the evening so after picking the kids up from school, we had a quick dinner, got cleaned up and went back to school again. We were there early but it didn't take long for the hall to be filled up with parents and their excited kids. When the concert began all of the kids sat in the front and they actually had turns to sing with Andrew. The tunes were quite catchy and because the kids were practicing them all week long we were even able to sing along for some of them.

We had a lovely time and the kids were double excited because they actually got to perform the songs as well. At the end of the concert we got one of his CD's so it's going to get a lot of play time around here I'm sure.