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| Blizzard for Christmas | |
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12.26.2009
12:35 PM | Link0 comments |
 It's hard to believe it's already the day after Christmas! To continue with our adventures, we spent an evening driving around local neighborhoods to look at Christmas lights, enjoyed Mom's delicious brownies made in a new pan (so every brownie has edges!), and played lots more Wii together (Mom has become a serious bowling competitor). The biggest news is that we had a totally white Christmas, since Oklahoma City was hit with an unexpected blizzard that left 14 inches of snow! None of us believed the weather forecast, but we ended up watching the snow fall and listening to the howling wind all day on Christmas eve. Dad and I did lots of shoveling and helping neighbors get their mail and get their garbage cans to the curb, and truthfully I had the best time stomping around in drifts that went up to my knees! Christmas day itself was wonderful, and I was amazed as usual by the huge haul of gifts that Santa brought (so many books and DVDs). After the unwrapping we watched the Disney Christmas Parade, and later enjoyed a wonderful meal (with lots of wine for me!). Today Dad and I have been doing more "snow work" and we're all going to see another movie in the luxurious Warren Theater later today. Hopefully my flight will get me back to Austin tomorrow, but I'm in no hurry to leave this magical Christmas wonderland! View photos: Christmas 2009 (Part 3)
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| Jam-packed Christmas | |
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12.24.2009
7:23 AM | Link0 comments |
 I can't believe how many fun activities my parents and I are cramming into this Christmas vacation, so here's another update on the fun! We went to Bricktown (part of Downtown Oklahoma City) to take a free holiday boat ride on the Oklahoma River and see some of the city Christmas decorations, then enjoyed seeing Avatar at the awesome Warren Theater (accompanied by great food and beer). To add to our casino repertoire, we drove to Tulsa to spend a few hours at the Hard Rock Casino, and it was cool to play some slot machines next to exciting memorabilia like the Jonas Brothers' pants and Britney Spears' miniskirt. Mom & Dad took the plunge and ordered their new kitchen countertop remodeling project, and then we drove to Pauls Valley to visit the truly amazing Toy & Action Figure Museum (which I had read about in Wired). The museum was even better than I thought it would be, and we loved seeing all the toys! During the evenings at home, we've all been opening presents (and I also received some great surprise gifts from my pals), playing bowling on the Wii (Mom is throwing strikes like crazy and can beat Dad now!), and eating Mom's wonderful meals like homemade chili and super nacho! I also got to setup Dad's new universal remote, and I'm really impressed with the results. Today is Christmas Eve and PJ Day, since the snow will be falling later today, so we're going to stay inside and try to play all the Wii games that Santa has been bringing (about ten of them!). The time has been flying by so quickly that we're not going to build the traditional jigsaw puzzle this year, but there's always next year! Merry Christmas, everyone! View photos: Christmas 2009 (Part 2) View photos: Toy & Action Figure Museum
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| Christmas in full gear | |
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12.20.2009
10:30 AM | Link4 comments |
 Another Christmas season with my parents in Oklahoma City has begun, and we're filling every spare moment with fun! Of course we've been to Riverwind Casino, where we enjoyed the Star Trek slot machines (Dad reached the highest Starfleet rank, so he can order Mom and I around now), and we've been shopping for new kitchen countertops for Mom (my main Christmas gift this year is helping them out on the remodeling cost). I've been eating Mom's Christmas cookies every five minutes or so, along with a huge spaghetti dinner, but this year I'm also minimizing the weight damage by working out on their treadmill every morning. To earn my keep I've been busy as Dad's personal Geek Squad: I swapped out the cable modem, backed up his MacBook, setup a new soundbar for the TV, completely hooked up a neighbor's AV system, and threw in a few How-To lessons for Dad, too! Dad got a Nintendo Wii this year, and it took about three seconds for Mom and Dad to both get hooked on bowling, so we've been having matches every night (Dad came as close to a perfect game as I think I'll ever see). We've been opening other gifts too, such as matching Santa shirts (to go with our matching hats), and I got a Star Trek Tricorder with cool lights and sounds! I also had fun building a LEGO Christmas Toy Shop (probably a new yearly tradition), and we all enjoyed going out to a local dinner theater for a "Dean Martin" Christmas show. We have many more holiday adventures planned - this sure is a jam-packed Christmas! View photos: Christmas 2009 (Part 1)
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| Three Small Things 11.24.09 | |
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11.24.2009
6:57 AM | Link0 comments |
 Last weekend I met my parents in Waco for our usual pre-Thanksgiving visit, and even though it was rainy and foggy, the weather cleared up just enough for Mom's trip to the family cemetery so she could put out new flowers. We had a nice pre-Thanksgiving dinner with my Great Aunt Bobbie and Cousin Clinton in Stephenville, along with early Christmas gifts, and also went out to eat a couple times with my Aunt Geneva. I definitely earned my keep in my role as family tech support, too - I hooked up my aunt's new printer and installed drivers on Windows Vista, showed my cousin how to use his new Blu-ray player (a beautiful LG model), and upgraded Dad's MacBook to Snow Leopard, which was a crazy experience that ended up successful! (The install kept hanging with two minutes remaining, but finally finished after the third try, which was a holiday miracle!) View photos: Waco 2009It's kind of a shame, but since I type all the time, my handwriting is worse than ever, and even my signature is terrible since I don't write checks! I've already got my Christmas cards ready to send, and I made the weird decision to scan my signature (which I repeated until it was legible) and print it on labels to stick inside the cards. I was already printing labels to share my online info (website, Twitter and Facebook), so it was easy to make a set with my signature (using Avery's amazing Design & Print Online, which is perfect for generating a set of identical labels). It looks pretty convincing, so maybe no one will notice! I recently finished re-reading CS Lewis' classic Mere Christianity (I didn't own a copy, so PaperBack Swap came to my rescue as usual) since it was quoted often in the last series of talks at my church. Even though I had read it years ago, I really enjoyed it again, since Lewis' style of writing sounds like a conversation over a pipe and pint. I love his metaphors and explanations of various concepts, which are always fresh and creative, and I can easily see how they translate into his incredible Narnia stories! Labels: family, holidays, photos, small things |
| Parents visit and birthday fun | |
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8.21.2009
6:28 PM | Link0 comments |
 Last weekend my parents made their yearly trip to Austin to visit me, and we had a wonderful four days together! When I was planning our time I thought we might be a little bored, but the hours flew by and we always had something to do. One night we saw Esther's Follies, which was as hilarious as ever, and another night we saw the Broadway touring production of Wicked, which was incredible. We also drove to Lake Travis for lunch at Carlos & Charlie's (Mom and I really like their margaritas), and we were stunned by how dried up everything is because of the lack of rain (tons of formerly floating docks sitting on dry land). We also did lots of shopping, Wii playing (now Dad wants one!), and some successful MacBook and iPhone maintenance. Since Dad's birthday fell on the same weekend, I took them to Fleming's for a nice steak dinner. I had never been to Fleming's before, but it turned out to be fantastic - Dad enjoyed it so much! The Chocolate Lava Cake dessert was totally amazing! As usual, I was a little bummed when these goof-off and good-eating days were over, but I think I'm adjusted now.Just before my parents' visit, a few of my pals got together to celebrate Kumiko's birthday, which was a lot of fun! Kumiko got lots of nice gifts (I had a good time making a Godzilla birthday card in Japanese) and the food at the original Kerbey Lane was great! View photos: Kumiko's Birthday 2009
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| Five days in OKC | |
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6.10.2009
12:20 PM | Link0 comments |
 I spent the past few days with my parents during my typical summer trip to Oklahoma City, and we had a great time together as usual! I got to enjoy Mom's cooking (which was like heaven after my recent dieting), and it was nice to see all the improvements Mom & Dad have been making around the house, including the nice new swing and furniture on the patio. Of course, we had to get our slot machine fix at Riverwind Casino, so we went three times (winning-wise, one day was terrible and one was fantastic!). We also saw a movie in the Warren Theater balcony, watched some old video tapes that I dubbed onto Mini DV, and I got to dig through three boxes of childhood books (I found some incredible Star Wars and Battlestar Galactica stuff!). On top of all of that, most of my time was spent getting Dad up to speed with all kinds of technology! We did lots of iPhone and iTunes stuff (he's really excited about burning CDs now), but the coolest thing was hooking up the new huge Samsung TV with wireless internet and Yahoo TV Widgets! It was really amazing to see my latest Twitter and Flickr updates right there on the TV. As always, it's kind of a bummer to get back to real life, but it sure was a nice way to spend a five-day weekend!
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| Las Vegas 2009 | |
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4.01.2009
4:37 PM | Link0 comments |
 This year's Las Vegas vacation with Mom & Dad was a complete blast, as usual! We decided to stay at the Venetian again since it was close to some of the shows we saw, and we had a nice view of the Mirage volcano (even though they made me pay a little more for the room). We saw three great shows (which I'll review later): Donny & Marie, Terry Fator, and Mystere by Cirque du Soleil, which became the experience of a lifetime! We also saw a few attractions for the first time that we had somehow skipped on previous trips. At the Secret Garden we saw baby dolphins and beautiful white tigers and lions, and we went to the top of the Stratosphere and saw the incredible view. And of course, we spent hours feeding the penny slot machines – I really enjoyed the new Star Trek machine, which has awesome images and sounds from the original series, plus great bonus games that pump sound into special chair speakers! We also loved the new Wizard of Oz machines, which use a really cool graphics overlay technique on top of physical reels, and Mom won her biggest jackpot (around $75) on these. The time really flew by (as it always does), but whenever we leave Vegas I know it won't be very long until we go back again! View photos: Las Vegas 2009
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| Mystere madness! | |
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3.30.2009
5:50 PM | Link5 comments |
 I'm back from my Las Vegas vacation with Mom & Dad, which was memorable in many ways, but the craziest time of all happened when we saw the Cirque du Soleil production of Mystere at Treasure Island! We had front row center seats for the show, but I had no idea there's a special "role" for each performance - which turned out to be me. Mystere's theme is birth, so one of the comedy aspects of the show is a big baby, who begins by bouncing a huge ball. He bounced the ball right at my parents and me, but it got stuck at the end of the stage, so when he started to cry, I got up and rolled the ball back to him (with the theater spotlights right on me). He seemed to like that, so he bounced it back to me, and I rolled it back again. Then suddenly he started laughing and called me "Papa", holding his arms out for a big hug! He gestured for me to come up on stage to hug him - I was totally nervous, but just decided to go with it, and as soon as I stepped on stage, he squirted me with his giant baby bottle! I thought that was the end of the joke, but it was just the beginning!Later on in the show, the big baby crawled out on a high platform with a big flashlight, and pretty soon, he was shining it right on me, calling me Papa and giggling. I just held my arms up and smiled, and now it was pretty much established that the guy in the front row (me!) was definitely Papa. Now I kind of expected something else would happen later, but I had no idea I was totally going to be in the show! A little later, the baby came out riding a golf cart in the aisle that separates the top and bottom seat sections - as soon as I saw that the cart had two seats, I thought to myself, "He's coming for me!" Sure enough, he stopped and started calling for Papa and the spotlight went on me, so I had to run up the stairs and get in the cart. He immediately took off at full speed, so I just held on with one hand and waved to the audience with the other! Suddenly, we went through a huge cloud of smoke and then we were backstage. It was so surreal to come out of that fog and be surrounded by performers in their bright costumes, stretching and getting ready for their next act - it was like a weird dream! Right away I was led to a spot with a huge diaper on the floor with two yellow feet for me to stand on, and in two-seconds I had been dressed like a baby, complete with bonnet and bottle. I got back in the cart and the big baby drove me around the stage in front of everyone. There were other performers everywhere, the music was pounding, there was smoke and lights, and through it all I could see Mom & Dad laughing and waving at me while I sucked on my nipple! Next we drove off-stage and the big baby (in his adult voice) called out "Part two!" I got out of the cart and they told me to pretend to push it (while it was being driven slowly) like we had been in a wreck. So I got behind the cart and exaggerated my leg movements as we went around the stage again, with smoke pouring out of the cart (to show we had "crashed") around me. Finally we were backstage again, and another person helped me out of my costume, and then an usher directed me back to my seat, where I could breathe again and enjoy the rest of the show! About 10 minutes later, the usher ran back and handed me a photo that had been secretly snapped from a camera on the golf cart! At about 1:16 in this video trailer, you can see the big baby in the cart, just to get an idea of what the show was like! The whole experience was totally amazing - everyone was really nice to me and made sure I knew what was going to happen, and it was a complete rush to actually be on stage at a sold-out Cirque du Soleil performance, even in a giant diaper! When we were leaving Treasure Island, a bunch of girls (who were in Vegas celebrating a birthday) recognized me and yelled, "There's Papa!" and even wanted their picture taken with me, so I guess I had a fan club for one night. If anyone would like their Pampers signed, just let me know! Labels: cirque du soleil, family, trips |
| Three Small Things 2.12.09 | |
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2.12.2009
7:46 PM | Link0 comments |
 I really wish my Apple TV could natively listen to internet radio (which I can do via Boxee anyway), but it's still cool to enjoy the great (and long) music podcasts that are out there ready for free streaming from the iTunes Store. Lately I've been listening to the WGBH Classical Performance Podcast, which features live studio performances by soloists and small ensembles. It's perfect for background music while I'm reading, and the variety of pieces (not to mention the quality) is fantastic!I've been trying to get back into playing Dance Dance Revolution a little more regularly, which means having fun with Endless Mode on DDR X. I really like the way Endless Mode is handled on this version of DDR, since the different levels provide an easy way to combine different song difficulties, plus the way you can keep continuing a single game over multiple sessions is super fun (which can make Endless Mode truly endless!). The funny thing about continuing a single game over 90 songs or so is that the score becomes ridiculously high. My current game (over the past several days) is now scored at 193,363,845,194,021 - I seriously copied that off the TV, so it's not made up! I'm tempted to keep the same game going to see what happens to the score. Will it stop at all 9s or roll over? Do you know any 42 year-olds with parents who still send them Valentine's Day cards (with generous checks inside)? If you know me, you do. Sometimes I feel like the luckiest kid in the world! Labels: ddr, family, music, small things |
| Intellivision memories | |
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1.17.2009
2:23 PM | Link0 comments |
 Dad and I have always had fun together with technology, which includes home video games. When I was really young, I remember we owned some kind of dedicated Pong TV game that we played together, but our gaming history really started with the Intellivision console by Mattel, sometime in the early 80s. Unlike other kids, I never had to talk my dad into wanting to buy a home video game, since he was just as into the advertising hype as I was! Of course, we had to decide between Atari and Mattel, but since the Intellivision came bundled with Las Vegas Poker & Blackjack and Dad has always loved gambling and card games, Mattel was the clear winner (and I didn't really care since Dad was buying!).We used to stay at my Grandmother's apartment in Waco each year during Thanksgiving, and while we were there Dad and I would always go shopping together. One year Dad decided this was the perfect opportunity to buy an Intellivision! We were concerned about Grandmother's old TV and how the games would look on it, but since we wanted to play it immediately so badly, Dad just decided, "What the heck, we'll buy her a new TV, too!" It was so much fun getting back to Grandmother's (and surprising Mom with our big spending), hooking up the console, and seeing that Blackjack dealer rendered in giant pixels on the TV! Of course, we thought it was the best thing ever, and over the years we played lots of games together. Dad loves to get excited about something and buy everything in sight (his current passion is iPhone apps), so it wasn't long before we had tons of cartridges (I'm amazed at some of the titles we owned, but I'm sure Dad found them on sale and couldn't resist!). We even bought the Intellivoice module, which allowed us to play the first speaking games for the home market (we loved B-17 Bomber, and still laugh about the voice saying "Watch out for flak! That was close!" to this day). Eventually we got our Atari 800 computer and I got into programming while Dad got into computer gaming, so the good ol' Intellivision went into the closet, but I'll always be nostalgic about those great games! Recently Dad was doing some decluttering and stumbled upon all of our old Intellivision cartridges, neatly stored in cases with the original instruction manuals and controller keypad overlays (which helped you remember some obscure buttons in more complex games). The actual Intellivision console is still missing (possibly in the attic somewhere), but it was really fun to look over the games themselves. I decided the overlays had such cool retro graphics that it would be fun to scan them all, so here's my contribution to online game history. Most of these overlays are available on the cool Intellivision Lives website (highly recommended), but Dad and I had a few that I haven't seen online elsewhere! View photos: Intellivision Overlays
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| Wrapping up Christmas | |
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12.27.2008
11:04 AM | Link0 comments |
 Christmas was absolutely spectacular this year! I was a little greedier than usual with my wish list, and Santa Dad went crazy and bought everything I wanted! I have so many DVDs, books and games that you'll be reading my reviews of them here on WEBmikey for months. I got a couple of huge gifts that I didn't really expect: a Kodak Zi6 (so I can play around with shooting some HD video) and the Star Wars LEGO Motorized Walking AT-AT! I can't wait to start enjoying all my presents! After all the gift ripping, I enjoyed the Disney parade (first year to see it in 40-inch HD), watched some Looney Tunes DVDs, played Nintendo DS games, ate candy and drank beer until naptime, then woke up for an incredible Christmas dinner by Chef Mom!Thanks to Christmas falling on Thursday, it's been nice to stay here with Mom & Dad a few more days. We spent more time at the casino (no winnings, but we had lots of fun), saw another movie, and we've been spending each night watching more old home movies. Tomorrow I have to head back to the real world, and I know it will take me a while to adjust, but at least I'll have cool DVDs to help me through the transition! Even though I'm crazy about the stuff I got, the biggest gift of all has been living in a magical Christmas world for the past few days. I love coming to this world every year to spend time with my wonderful parents, where everything is glowing with fun and excitement! View photos: Christmas 2008
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| Christmas nostalgia | |
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12.23.2008
7:20 AM | Link0 comments |
 Christmas is still marching on here in Oklahoma City, and we've been doing fun holiday activities like driving around to look at Christmas lights (the best house of all is actually in my parents' neighborhood!) and going to an amazing concert at church featuring Steve Green! We've also completed our yearly tradition of watching all the old Christmas movies (including my newly edited editions), and it's always fun to see Mom & Dad younger than I am now ripping open their presents. It's also interesting to see myself going nuts over vintage Star Wars stuff, and here I am over 30 years later still getting Star Wars merchandise for Christmas (and loving it)! There's been a nostalgic theme going on, since Mom dug out my old baby clothes so we could look at them, and Dad discovered some old toys of mine (which I immediately photographed to post sometime soon). We even found over 40 VHS-C tapes of even more home movies that I've been dubbing to MiniDV, so I have a lifetime of editing ahead of me! We've also seen a movie in the fabulous Warren Theater balcony, we're still working on the annual jigsaw puzzle, and today we're making our second trip to the casino, looking for a Christmas jackpot!
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| Christmas catch-up | |
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12.21.2008
1:48 PM | Link0 comments |
 Christmas is completely underway, so I thought I should take a break from building the yearly jigsaw puzzle with Dad to update WEBmikey! Things got off to a foggy start when Rudolph's nose didn't show up to help my flight get to Oklahoma City, so I had to spend the night in Dallas, but thankfully everything went smoothly the next morning and soon I was with Mom & Dad in Christmas Town USA! Mom got a new beautiful tree this year with more lights, plus new pearl garland that looks spectacular. Right away I got started with the usual holiday technology services - this year I hooked up a better wireless router for Dad, then got the new DVR going and trained everyone on how to use it. Mom has been meeting my holiday calorie requirement with hamburgers and homemade chips, eggs benedict, and macaroni and cheese! Of course, we've also been opening gifts each night and watching home videos of Christmases from years ago. It seems like we've had so much fun already, and there's so many more things to do - I'll try to write more often so I won't forget to mention it all!
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| Vacation video | |
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11.21.2008
6:53 AM | Link0 comments |
 Recently I've been doing a little video editing of footage that I shot over the past few years. I always meet my parents in Waco for "pre-Thanksgiving" each year, and I like to have a few videos ready to show my Mom's family there, so that got me going. I started with the past several years of Christmas gift opening videos, and then moved on to some family vacations. It's really fun to just cut things down to only the best shots, and setting things to music is usually much better than the original audio (which usually has too much of me talking and laughing!). So here are a couple more videos from my YouTube collection: our 2003 trip to New York City and our 2004 trip to Las Vegas! I really like the New York video, since it has lots of tourist-style shots, but the Vegas video is a little boring (oh well!). Editing these helps me to see when I've been a lousy cameraman, both in technique and coverage, so I'm planning to do a better job on vacations in the future! Watch video: New York City Vacation Watch video: Las Vegas Vacation
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| Quick trip to Austin | |
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9.18.2008
8:14 AM | Link0 comments |
 My parents' recent visit was one day shorter than we planned, but it turned out even more fantastic than usual! I rented a car so I could chauffeur Mom & Dad around in comfort (rather than squeezing them into my tiny Acura), and we had so much fun going to places all over town. After visiting the Apple Store to upgrade to an iPhone 3G for an early birthday present (thanks, Mom & Dad!), our first evening was spent at Matt & Kumiko's big housewarming party, and my parents had a great timing meeting and re-meeting all my friends and their kids. The next day the weather was so wonderful that we went to the Zilker Botanical Garden to checkout the Dinoland exhibit, but they had to remove all of the dinosaurs because of the hurricane. We still got to see a few up-close, though, and we really enjoyed the cool breeze and the nice walk through the gardens. Next we saw a movie at the Alamo Drafthouse and had lunch, and then we went to IKEA since my parents had never been to one before. Finally, we had dinner at the Oasis, and the food, wine, and view were all spectacular. Mom & Dad had to leave the next day, but we still had a nice Kerbey Lane breakfast, did some shopping, and even played some fun games at Dave & Buster's! We really made the most of our short time together, and as always, I'm so thankful for my parents and their fun-loving spirit! View photos: Matt & Kumiko's Housewarming View photos: Parents Visit 2008
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| Remembering Uncle Don | |
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9.07.2008
4:03 PM | Link0 comments |
 This weekend my Uncle Don, husband of my dad's sister Mary, passed away. As a child, I didn't get to play with him as much as with my other uncles, but I always admired him as a person. I thought it was amazing that he was a podiatrist who worked at home, with a complete doctor's office in their basement, and my cousins and I would look at his examination table and all of his equipment with fascination. He was a kind and relaxed person, so I'm sure he was a great doctor, but he really enjoyed life, willing to do something as crazy as skinny dipping at night in their pool with my dad, my cousins, and me! When he retired, my Uncle Don and Aunt Mary moved to Florida to live their dream life by the water, and even owned a pontoon boat. I never had a chance to visit them in Florida, but I loved watching my parents' home movies of all them laughing and having fun on the boat together.Uncle Don was healthy and fit, but unexpected cancer ultimately took him rather suddenly. Of course it's sad and everyone will miss him, but I know that times like this cause me to be thankful for every moment of life. Each day is a treasure, and I know Uncle Don appreciated each moment. I'm happy that the love and memories we will always have serve as a reminder of the blessing of life. |
| Treasured images | |
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7.12.2008
8:00 AM | Link0 comments |
 Generally I don't mind growing older, since there are a lot of positive things about it, but unfortunately as time goes on we all have to say goodbye to some of our loved ones. Although that's sad, I find that the memories of family members that I miss become stronger than ever, and I often feel closer to them now than I was able to as a child. For the past several years I've started to cherish old family photos more and more, and my parents have been so generous in giving me some truly precious ones to keep, since they know I treasure them! Along with some fantastic albums full of great pictures, Mom will sometimes frame some priceless portraits for me as a gift, and I have been setting them up on the dresser in my bedroom. On my recent trip to Oklahoma City, she gave me a great picture of my parents that was taken during a trip to Vegas before I was born, and I love seeing them full of the same excitement they have about each other that fills their hearts today. Mom also gave me another amazing gift - a framed photo of my Grandmother (Mom's mom) looking truly beautiful! I was surprised Mom gave it to me, since I thought she would want to keep it herself, but I'm so thankful to have it since now I kind of have a "complete set" on my dresser. I'm proud of my family, and I'm glad I can look at them each day and remember them always! View photos: Family Photos
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| Summer trip to Oklahoma City | |
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7.02.2008
8:10 PM | Link0 comments |
 Last weekend I made my usual summer visit to Oklahoma City to spend a fun long weekend with my parents. Of course, we made some trips to Riverwind Casino, and I always have fun playing the slots with Mom & Dad! On the first day I came out ahead, but lost a bunch on the second day, but I still came away losing much less than I planned. We had a great time playing the Star Wars and Indiana Jones machines - I love all the authentic graphics and sound effects! Our next activity was seeing a movie at the incredible Warren Theater, which is pretty spectacular. The interiors are amazing, from the cool artwork to the giant red curtain that lifts before the movie begins, and all the employees have bow ties and white gloves. We paid extra for the balcony treatment, which is like a deluxe version of the Alamo Drafthouse here in Austin, with full food service during the movie in giant plush seats! Next, we visited the Oklahoma City Zoo (which I hadn't been to in many, many years) and had a great time viewing all kinds of animals (my favorite was the red panda, which I had never seen before). The tram ride was especially good, since the narrator really knew his stuff and told us lots of fascinating facts. It was really a nice visit - it's always fun to spend time with Mom & Dad, eat Mom's delicious cooking, and help Dad hook up another HDTV (his third this time)! View photos: Oklahoma City 2008
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| Las Vegas 2008 | |
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4.22.2008
8:15 PM | Link0 comments |
 My parents and I have settled into the habit of visiting Las Vegas every other year now, and this past weekend was our third spectacular Vegas vacation together! This time we stayed at the Venetian, which was magnificent since we had our first-ever two-room suite. It was really nice to have a such a spacious room, and I especially enjoyed getting ready in the mornings in the giant bathroom, wearing a huge fluffy robe after my shower. We saw a different show each night, and I'll be reviewing all three of them over the next few days - they were all incredible. Other than eating, the only other thing we did was gamble - we didn't even stop to do any shopping! As usual, we played tons of penny and nickel slot machines and enjoyed the free drinks, and now I can rank the free Manhattans on the strip. The best was at Paris, since it was served in a full-size Martini glass with three cherries and tasted wonderful, while the worst was at MGM, since the liquor proportions were off and it was too small! I really enjoyed the Monopoly-themed slot machines, as well as the Star Wars ones - it was great playing them in the morning when it wasn't crowded and I could take in all the cool sound effects and music. Of course, the best part of the whole trip was just spending time with Mom & Dad - enjoying meals together, cheering each other on as we played, and experiencing awesome entertainment together. I have no doubt we'll be headed back to Vegas in 2010! View photos: Las Vegas 2008
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| Traveling technician | |
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2.14.2008
8:13 AM | Link0 comments |
 Last weekend I went to Oklahoma City for a quick visit with Mom & Dad, which was a lot of fun! As I predicted, after becoming enamored with the small HDTV that I got them for Christmas, Dad couldn't wait very long to get a huge HDTV for the living room, so after a lot of research, he bought a fantastic 40-inch Samsung LCD and timed it just right so I could hook everything up during my stay. The setup was a cinch (HDMI cables sure make things easy), and the results are beautiful! We watched lots of cool shows on the various HD cable channels, plus broadcast shows like the Grammy Awards (which really made us feel like we were in the audience, thanks to great camera work and the incredible picture). Besides TV watching, we made our usual casino trip, and I was able to play all day for only $5 bucks (thanks to winning a huge bonus on an Alien vs Predator slot machine)! I usually make these quick trips on a Thursday through Sunday, but because of scheduled gigs I decided to try Saturday through Tuesday, and I was amazed at how less busy the airports were (so there's a travel tip for you)! Of course, the visit went by super fast, but I always love spending time with Mom & Dad!Labels: family |
| Christmas wrap-up | |
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12.28.2007
5:28 PM | Link0 comments |
 I hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas! I'm back in Austin now, trying to get used to reality again, but I'm still enjoying that Christmas afterglow from the past few days. Before Christmas, we finished the jigsaw puzzle (which was really cool looking!), made another trip to the casino, and enjoyed a nice candlelight service at Mom & Dad's church, which was so nice. On Christmas Eve, my parents finished opening their gifts from me, then we watched A Christmas Story (which we do every year) and laughed at Ralphie's pink bunny suit for the 100th time. The next morning, I got to open up my incredible pile of gifts - I got so many DVDs this year that when I was packing them in my bag it looked like I had robbed Best Buy! I also got a special surprise gift - a wonderful figurine of Mickey Mouse with Santa! After the gift unwrapping, I got to watch the Walt Disney World Christmas Day Parade on Dad's new HDTV, and it looked spectacular! The entire holiday was fantastic, which makes it even more difficult to get back to my everyday routine, but I think I'm finally coming around. I'm already looking forward to Christmas 2008, though! View photos: Christmas 2007 View photos: Visit to Pops
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| Happy PJ Day! | |
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12.22.2007
10:21 PM | Link0 comments |
 Did you know today was PJ Day? I hope everyone enjoyed spending all day in their pajamas like Dad and I did! Each holiday season we always take a day to stay at home all day in our PJs, and today was the day since it was snowy outside. We started the day with Mom's magnificent Eggs Benedict (my favorite breakfast!), and then spent most of the day working on a jigsaw puzzle (another yearly tradition). This year I bought one called Famous Flying Machines, and even though I thought it would be kind of easy, it was actually tough - we only finished about half of it, so I hope we can finish it in the next few days. Dinner was Mom's incredible spaghetti with homemade sauce, plus pecan pie and pipe smoking!Last night we watched 15 years of Christmas home movies, talking through the whole thing, laughing at our young looks, and of course, drooling over all the cool toys that I could sell for thousands of dollars if I had them today! I really miss my Six Million Dollar Man stuff, Star Trek figures, Micronauts (I miss you, Baron Karza!), and Star Wars merchandise (including the Death Star playset, that I just recently saw on sale for over $7000! |
| Holiday fizz | |
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12.20.2007
10:19 PM | Link0 comments |
 Welcome to the Christmas report, part two! My parents and I usually do the same fun things each year during my visit, but this year we went on a new adventure. We drove to a Pops, a fun restaurant on historic Route 66 that has over 500 kinds of soda available! The building is really unique, both inside (where they have thousands of soda bottles on shelves all over the walls) and out (where there's a humongous soda bottle monument complete with bendy straw!). We had a nice lunch and bought some souvenirs, and tried four kinds of yummy soda. We've also been continuing our casino visits, both at Remington Park (where I enjoyed the Alien movie themed game) and at Riverwind again. Mom discovered a game called Pistol Packin' Penny, and she and Dad both turned their pennies into some nice cash! I always get Mom & Dad some DVD games at Christmas, so in the evenings we've been playing Are You Smarter Than a 5th Grader and 1 vs 100, which are both really fun. But I think the biggest gift hit so far is a set of giant refrigerator magnets that let Mom build a huge snowman on the fridge! As always, Christmas with my parents is definitely a time of sheer relaxation and joy!
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| Indiana Jones and the Christmas Jackpot | |
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12.17.2007
10:11 PM | Link0 comments |
 It's time for the official Christmas report, part one! I made it to Oklahoma City with no weather problems, enjoying the convenience of my dirt-cheap, non-stop ExpressJet flight (highly recommended!), and Mom & Dad greeted me at the airport with my usual tin of Christmas cookies to get the holidays rolling! The first major order of business was hooking up a new HDTV, my big gift to my parents this season, and I'm happy to say that Dad is already a 16:9 junkie. So far we've been to the movies together, and today we had fun at Riverwind Casino playing the slot machines. We were almost ready to leave, and I decided to just play a few bucks on a cool Indiana Jones slot machine, and suddenly I hit the Ark of the Covenant progressive bonus, so I won about $400! What an awesome surprise Christmas present - I was amazed! Speaking of presents, we've also been opening a gift every night like we always do, so I've been having fun playing a new Nintendo DS game and reading a new book. Of course, I'm also eating Mom's delicious cooking and goodies, drinking beer and scotch, and generally having a blast thinking of nothing but holiday happiness!
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| Fa la la la la | |
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12.15.2007
7:02 AM | Link0 comments | At last, Christmas vacation is here! Yesterday was my last day of work until after Christmas, and last night was my last band gig for the year, so now I feel totally free! Later today I'll be flying to Oklahoma City to visit Mom & Dad in Christmas Paradise, and I can't wait. It looked like there was going to be a lot of snow to worry about, but so far the airport isn't reporting delays, so I think I'm OK! I'm definitely feeling the Christmas spirit now - I watched most of It's a Wonderful Life this week, and I watched the brand new Disney Holiday Magic show on the Travel Channel at lunch yesterday, which was really fun. I'm sure they will repeat it over and over, so be sure to watch it if you're a Disney fan! Of course, I'll have my trusty MacBook while I'm on vacation, so I'll still be writing a few WEBmikey posts when I'm not opening presents. Countdown to eating Mom's Christmas cookies: less than 9 hours! |
| Thankful day | |
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11.22.2007
6:08 AM | Link0 comments | Happy Thanksgiving, everyone! I'm really going to enjoy this holiday weekend, both for getting things accomplished and for personal recharging! Last weekend I went to Waco to meet Mom & Dad for our usual pre-Thanksgiving dinner with family, and it was fun to be with them, as always. I gave Mom this year's Christmas Minnie Mouse plush (like I do every year!) and Mom loaded me up with sweets and other goodies to start my holiday eating! Last night I enjoyed some of Mom's homemade banana nut bread and pumpkin bread, which were both more than delicious! It was so relaxing to enjoy Mom's baking and read a good book, and I was in a sentimental mood thinking about all the love that Mom put into making those treats. I wouldn't trade the taste of Mom's cooking for any meal in the world, and I'm thankful for every bite! |
| Mom & Dad's Austin adventure | |
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9.10.2007
7:40 AM | Link0 comments |
 I just finished enjoying a wonderful four-day weekend with Mom & Dad, who came to visit me in Austin for the first time in a few years! We had a fantastic time together (as always), and we did some really fun things together. The biggest adventure was exploring Inner Space Cavern, which is a really amazing natural underground wonderland just outside of Austin, filled with beautiful rock formations. The tour was exciting and our tour guide Sam was hilarious - he really made the visit memorable! We also made another visit to the Texas State History Museum and enjoyed an IMAX African safari, and we did lots of shopping at The Domain and the outlet mall in Round Rock. Speaking of shopping, my parents decided to buy me an iPhone (just after the huge price-drop) for a super-early (and super-generous!) birthday present, so I've been a total Apple geek for the past few days, playing with it every five minutes! I also had fun re-introducing Mom & Dad to all my friends - they got to see everyone at Chris & Eliza's baby shower, and we had lunch with my pal Melinda, too! To top off the visit, we had a nice dinner and movie at the Alamo Drafthouse, and Mom & Dad enjoyed coming to church with me, too. All four days were simply wonderful - I just love spending time and having fun with Mom & Dad! View photos: Parents Visit 2007
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| Dad's birthday | |
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8.16.2007
7:32 AM | Link0 comments |
 Today is Dad's birthday! I'm really thankful to have such youthful parents, and I'm glad we've been on so many adventures together, with many more to come! I'm still in the middle of migrating literally thousands of photos to Flickr, and last weekend I went "carpal-crazy" and finished all of 2002 (40 different parties, trips and other events!), and I'm well on my way into 2003 now. It's been great taking the time to see old photos again, and there are plenty of my parents to enjoy. So, to celebrate my dad's birthday, take a look at my Dad-tag photos (and there are many more Parents-tag photos, since I usually take pictures of them together). Happy Birthday, Dad! (Sorry for putting your craziest picture on this post, taken at Epcot!)
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| Happy Anniversary! | |
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5.17.2007
8:32 PM | Link0 comments |
 Today in 1963 my parents began their life together! I feel like the proudest son in the world to have such a wonderful mom and dad who love each other so much, so I'm always happy each year when May 17th rolls around. One of my treasures is an album of original wedding photos, so I decided to quickly scan a few of them today to celebrate! Happy Anniversary, Mom & Dad - you'll always look like movie stars to me! View photos: Wedding Day 1963
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| Grandpa's photo | |
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2.14.2007
9:53 PM | Link0 comments |
 I only knew one of my grandfathers, my Dad's dad, William Walters. He passed away when I was pretty young, but I have many fond memories of him. After my Grandma passed away last year, I received some mementos that she had, all kept in a wooden Bible case (which is something I had never seen before), and one of them was this wonderful photo of my Grandpa when he was young (you can view a larger image on Flickr) . I'm pretty sure I remember seeing this photo often in Grandma's house when I would visit as a child, and I'm so glad I have it now. Part of growing up is eventually saying goodbye to loved ones, and I treasure the photos I have of my family, especially those that I miss. I finally got a nice frame for this photo a couple weeks ago, and Grandpa looks nice on my dresser with everyone else.
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| Christmas magic | |
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12.26.2006
8:55 PM | Link0 comments |
 I hope everyone had a Merry Christmas! The final days of my Christmas vacation were simply wonderful. On Christmas Eve, my parents opened the rest of their gifts from me (and loved everything), and then we watched A Christmas Story together just like we have for the past few years. On Christmas morning I opened all of my presents, and I couldn't believe how much Santa brought me this year! I got enough DVDs, books, and Nintendo DS games to keep me busy until June! After all the unwrapping, we watched the Walt Disney World Christmas Day Parade and ate candy, and after that Dad and I watched some Disney True Life Adventures while I drank wine until I needed a nap. When I woke up, it was time for Christmas dinner, and Mom cooked everything perfectly as always! My entire vacation was really incredible and so relaxing, and Mom and Dad gave me another magical Christmas just like they have for the past 39 years. Enjoy the final group of Christmas photos, or take a look at all of them together in the complete set! View photos: Christmas 2006 Part 5
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