But Then My Homework Was Never Quite Like This.

Homework. I hated it. Frankly, I never really did it. I was unfocused and unsupported. And my grades reflected just that. Today, in preparation for second grade, Wesley's class has begun formal homework assignments. Prior to this, Rebecca and/or I would go over the day's work and read and practice writing and do flash cards; all of which we will continue to do. But now the teacher will send home specific assignments with due dates and grades. Reflecting on my own experience with homework and the fact that Rebecca is a teacher, Wesley is in a potentially precarious situation; trapped between the perennial slacker dad and the laser focused, super smart, extra strict mom.

We approached the homework in no negative terms and worked together. All told Wesley enjoyed it. The assignment was based on a Cam Jansen story (a chapter book series he loves) and consisted of reading and writing answers to five questions. It was pretty high level stuff in terms of reading comprehension, including doing a drawing interpretation of the chapter's setting. Wes did very well, worked hard and seemed to enjoy it. Check him out working here. Cute.

Wes is a smart kid and hopefully he will have inherited his mom's smarts more than my laziness, either way we will support him and hope for the best.

My favorite albums of 2009.

I'll flat out admit I missed some albums this year. Just like I do every year. Sometimes I am an early adopter; I recall shouting the virtues of Guns N Roses before anyone had heard of them, and sometimes I am way late to the game; The Shins did change my life, just not until Wincing the Night Away. So many will say this list is useless since I have yet to hear the new Animal Collective or that Phoenix record, but not as many who will not even care what I have to say. I didn't bother ranking these or limiting myself to a top 10 and like I said I am sure I left out a lot and probably forgot an album or two, but lets face it, I spent most of the year listening to The Beatles so all its all good.

Franz Ferdinand- Tonight: Franz Ferdinand The pretentiousness of band's like Franz Ferdinand often put me off. Let's face it, I'm not a hipster or a music snob (you'll see Chickenfoot is on my list), so sometimes this kind of stuff just blows past me. But Franz Ferdinand is just that good. Tonight: Franz Ferdinand kicked off 2009 reminding us why these cats demand to be heard. Favorite track? Ulysses

Wussy- Wussy I love good local music, especially when that local music includes Chuck Cleaver from the Ass Ponys. Wussy have proven to be as important as Cleaver's first band and every bit as good. This album continues their jangly journey.

Iron & Wine- Around the Well I am super late/totally unfamiliar with the whole beard rock trend. This album changes all of that. A haunting, lengthy and inspiring piece of music. One of the great "background" albums.

The Dead Weather- Horehound Jack White (and friends of course) do it again. By "it" of course I mean create a killer buzzsaw collection of sounds that throughly intrigues me.

Pearl Jam- Backspacer My beloved Pearl Jam return better than ever. A huge band that lost me, and many folks I imagine, for three albums or so really grabbed my attention again with the "avocado" album which was a great return to form. But Backspacer was something more indeed. Wheras I felt "Avocado" was trying to recapture PJ magic from early albums, I feel on this record the magic came to them. Short, punchy, mature sounding songs that felt contemporary whilst harkening back to the early days of greatness. Songs like the opener "Gonna see my Friend" and the awesome "Johnny Guitar" are brief examples of what a leaner, mature, focused Pearl Jam can do. Leave the experimentation behind and go with more of this and Pearl Jam you'll not lose me again. Favorite track? Speed of Sound

Them Crooked Vultures- Them Crooked Vultures This is my album of the year. Josh Homme, Dave Grohl and John Paul Jones. A seemingly unlikely trio of musicians that came together to create some catchy, timeless rock tunes. Listening to this record you can hear all of the elements. The opener "No One Loves Me & Neither Do I" would have fit nicely on Houses of the Holy. Josh's voice and Dave's drumming are clear reminders of the Queens of the Stone Age history here, but this is clearly something more unique and classic sounding. There's a rough edge to it all, a gritty, grungy sound (see Mind Eraser, No Chaser or Reptiles) that reminds us this is rock and roll, but there also is a contemporary feel (New Fang and Gunman) that helps lend a timeless feel to this album. It is a solid rock effort by a talented trio. Check it out. Favorite track? All of em.

Green Day- 21st Century Breakdown I want to hate Green Day. To be over them. To leave Dookie on the iPod and forget their post-punk success. But damn they leep making catchy pop-punk tunes on albums that have bigger more mature messages. Green Day know who they are today and what they do best; create catchy, hooky, instantly likable tunes that tell a story to connect with younger listeners, and that does alienate older fans enough to stop listening.

U2- No Line on the Horizon Sometimes I feel like I can live with our without U2. I mean I have never been a "superfan" but I find myself with all of their records and I am compelled to try out each new release. While many people dismissed this latest effort, I found myself digging it more than most of their recent releases and its subtle references to old U2 had me going back and revisiting the classic albums in their catalogue. I felt that songs like Breath and Moment of Surrender would not have been out of place on The Joshua Tree with The Edge's recognizable jangle. Yet songs like Get Your Boots On were closer to the harder stuff of recent successful singles like say Veritgo. I think this is a solid package. Fave track? Moment of Surrender.

Dave Matthews Band- Big Whiskey and the Gru Grux King Hands down my favorite DMB record. Everything about this album cooks. The opening tribute to LeRoi Moore sets the mood, an awesome tribute to the late saxophonist. I like the tone of this album best. Though some songs are slower and more deliberate, like the lead single Funny the Way It Is, while others are faster and more peppy like my favorite track Why I Am, the album seems to be cohesive and have a singular purpose. The musicianship as always is top notch and the tunes are catchy as hell.

Chickenfoot- Chickenfoot Whatever. Say what you will. But man, I dig me some good four piece arena rock and Chickenfoot delivers in spades. A rock super group featuring Van Halen alums Sammy Hagar and Michael Anthony as well as rock/funk Chili Pepper drummer and Will Ferrell look alike Chad Smith and of course the mind melting Joe Satriani on guitar. At its basic core, this is the album Van Halen would have likely released after Balance had Eddie Van Halen not lost his ever lovin mind. Satch fits surprisingly well into his spot in the traditional band setup creating memorable riffs and interesting melodies to go along with Sammy's sometime interesting, often goofy but usually hummable lyrics. 82 year old Hagar sounds not a day over 34 here hitting high notes like the hey day of his tenure with Van Halen. Anthony and Smith create a thick backbone for it all to rest on. Its a fun, very listenable album that outside of the potential My Kind Of Girl just lacked a single to get more mainstream attention. Great stuff. Favorite tune? Aveneda Revolution

The Beatles Remaster Collection I spent the majority of the year listening to The Beatles. While last.fm always reported the band in my top 10, this year they came within a song or two of being my listened to group (behind Van Halen natch). I'm not going to attempt to "review" or "critique" each album hear as though I am worthy and up to such a task, I'll just say the remasters sound incredible and yes they are just that damn good.

Honorable Mentions

Bruce Springsteen-Working on a Dream Another solid effort from The Boss. This album is what Springsteen is all about, listenable, accessible mainstream blue collar rock with purpose.

Dinosaur Jr.- Farm I had no problem following Dinosaur Jr. down memory lane with this fun set of songs. J Mascis guitar and vocals are just like you remember from the 90's.

John Fogerty- The Blue Ridge Rangers Rides Again A superb collection of covers by the former CCR frontman are presented here on this sequel to Fogerty's debut solo record.

Also of note.

Delores o'rirodan- No Baggage O'Rirodan's latest solo effort takes me back to days of The Cranberries. While the heavier tunes that punctuated the Cranberries best albums are absent, the meandering, unique softer side is captured on this mature release.

Paramore- Brand New Eyes I Love Chick Rock.

Monsters of Folk- Monsters of Folk

2009. A look back.

Here are some pictures from 2009.

Avatar

The majority of the most vocal critics of James Cameron's new film Avatar are focusing not on the high octane action, or the groundbreaking 3D visuals, or the breathtaking fully realized world of Pandora, but on the derivative, cliched, familiar and predictable story and plot.

And they are right.

Avatar is indeed a brilliantly realized film. It is visually stunning. I'm not afraid to say breathtaking. Much like the colorful artistry of Gone With The Wind, the photo-realistic sharpness of Citizen Kane or the revolutionary effects of Star Wars, Avatar has redefined visual storytelling. Like George Lucas before him, James Cameron literally invented the technology he needed to accurately bring to life the vision in his mind. And what a success it is. Gone are the days of video game like CGI hampering the cinematic experience. Cameron has essentially ended the days of your buddy in the seat next to you nudging you to let you know every time he sees crappy CGI and saying "dude, look how fake that looks!". Bad CGI in mainstream movies is now unacceptable. Visually, Avatar is nothing short of a cinematic masterpiece.

Cameron has historically been able to balance stunning visuals with interesting, unique, well told stories. Terminator, Terminator 2, True Lies and even Titanic told stories that were original and well done. Structurally, Avatar is well done. Yes it is long, but all of Cameron's movies are long. He needed and wanted time to introduce Pandora and the Na'vi. He lingers on little details of the world and its people so you get to know them. Things like Jake hitting the phosphorescent plants to see them light up allows us time to learn the planet with him and share in the awe and wonder. However the story here is derivative and predictable. {minor Spoilers Ahead} You kinda know right off the bat Colonel Quaritch, the tough as nails marine leader of the military efforts on Pandora played by Stephen Lang, and Jake played by Sam Worthington are going to come to blows. You know who is going to fall in love and you know who is probably going to die. Although I was surprised at some of those who died and some who lived, but I think Cameron intentionally did some of those to try and break away a bit from the otherwise predictable and familiar plot.

And what a familiar plot it is. Anyone who has seen Disney's 1995 film Pocahontas will instantly recognize the story. I think Cameron may have intentionally chosen a simple archetypal story to try and legitimize his movie has a potentially timeless feeling classic. He knew he was breaking ground visually, and perhaps the thought was by telling a simple, familiar story would lend a timeless feel to the film. And in some ways that can and does work here a bit. Archetypal stories are that way because of the very timeless nature of the story. Thats why certain stories persist, become a part of our engrained collective consciousness. And that's why storytellers continue to go back to them. Avatar's similarities with Pocahontas are many. From the obvious, Jake Sully being John Smith the adventurer come to a new world and finds more than he was looking for; to Neytiri being Pocahontas the curious and strong native girl whose faith in her spirituality help her find love and bridge the cavern between the two cultures. Selfridge played by Giovanni Ribisi is Governor Ratcliff, the leader come to the new world to obtain its precious metal no matter what. Both films have the powerful father figure as the tribe's leader, both have the betrothed male figure who conflicts with the newcominer in the male lead. Hell, they both even have talking, living trees at the center of the native culture's spirituality and village. Even the flow and the beats of each film are the same. The only real differences are Pocahontas is occasionally broken up with songs and humor where Avatar is occasionally broken up with fantastic battles.

The other aspects of the film are fine and serve Cameron's vision well. The acting is fine, the film is emotionally engaging when it needs to be. The hallmark centerpieces of a James Cameron film; strong female characters and compelling, interesting powerful technology are both present and accounted for. The music is surprisingly ineffective here, mostly pleasant and forgettable background music from composer James Horner a change from the usually powerful and prominent music in other Cameron films like Terminator or Titanic. From an overall filmmaking perspective it is a strong film exactly what you would expect from a master filmmaker. Cameron also displays his confidence as a filmaker and seemingly acknowledges other filmmakers styles and ideas. The similarity between the definition of the interconnected spirituality of Pandora and The Force and the military style zooms during the battles and the cryo-ship at the beginning come to mind as possible tips of the hat to Lucas, Spielberg and Kubrick respectively. I think Cameron even has a sense of self awareness throwing the audience a reference to his own Aliens with the design of some of the creatures and the large walking military vehicles.

Despite the shortcomings in the originality of the story and plot, it is a well told story and the pace and flow are right and overall it is a great ride. I really like Avatar and recommend you see it in the theatre. It is one of those films that demands to bee seen on the big screen. I am sure I will go see it again and honestly will likely never watch it at home. The experience, the largeness, the epic scope of the visual story is likely to be lost on even the largest and loudest home theatre.

Best. Games. Ever.

To celebrate its 200th issue, Game Informer is out with its top 200 video games of all time. And it is a doozy of a list. A brief synopsis and screen shot accompany each choice providing a trip down a digital memory lane. The problem with lists like this, whether it be "best movie", "best song", "best album", "best Adam Sandler movie" or "best whatever" is that largely the top of the lists are often predictable and homogenized and thus ultimately, pretty boring.

You know when you start discussing certain topics, passion, experience and personal preference are going to come in to play, but really when you talk of best movies for example its usually over the details of deciding if Citizen Kane is REALLY better than Casablanca or if Gone with the Wind is as good as Lawrence of Arabia or in what proper order to put The Godfather, Star Wars and Blade Runner in the top 10 is. There is no real debate about the best; sure every so often someone wants to throw in a 2010, or a Clockwork Orange or a Pulp Fiction much higher than it should be, but in the end ultimately and simply the best are the best because they are the best.

Placing video games in such a list is the same. Zelda, Mario, Metroid, Tetris, Final Fantasy...there are games that are going to be there. The details come down to which is #1 and which is #5. Basically some are going to say Zelda, some will say Mario, there may be an argument here or there for a Donkey Kong, or a Doom or even perhaps a Halo, but again ultimately the cream of the crop is not up for much debate.

I mostly agree with the list as I imagine most gamers will. Sure I personally would flip #1 and #2, but its a solid list; and ultimately a predictable and boring one. But even so, I am ALWAYS up for discussing and debating it of course. Believe it or not, I at times have been accused of being a fanboy. It is a tag I neither really dispute or argue. Of some things I am an unabashed fan boy. And proud of it. Most of the criticisms are because of my feelings towards Microsoft's Xbox family of machines. Now despite the original XBox's oversized controller and the failure rate of over 50% on the 360, I can agree that machines are fine. The graphics are fine and sure the 360 has done considerably better than its competitors in online gaming. But there is a reason no Xbox games show up in the top 10 of this list. Despite its popularity and its penchant for failing the XBox and the 360 just frankly have not had as important of an impact on gaming.

I've been told that I am flat out wrong on this a couple of times today, but I still maintain my stance. Using GI's list as a starting point, there are not that may games here and for good reason. Microsoft has used their gaming consoles to homogenize the gaming industry and really have just built on others successes and ideas. Again I am not saying everything about these consoles are terrible. The UI on the 360, Xbox Live, the S-controller, Halo. All good. But again my entire feeling on the Microsoft era of gaming is that they have not done anything unique, interesting, groundbreaking or compelling that has a lasting game-changing impact on gaming. I am a hard core gamer and even had the original Xbox for quite ahwile, but have never been compelled to get a 360. Everyone's argument is "xbox live xbox live! its so good!" Well it is an extra paid service, I would expect it to be good. But compelling? The want me to pay extra to have some 11 year old redneck kid cuss me out and shoot my ass in Halo? No thanks. And the Dreamcast had a great online experience. Just 8 years to early.

Show me Xbox's Zelda. No, not an RPG on the xbox that is similar to Zelda. Show me an RPG on the XBox that defined or redefined the genre. The broke down barriers. That created an iconic world renowned franchise.

Show me Xbox's Mario. Where is their genre defining, game changing, icon creating platformer? A franchise that reinvigorates itself with each new title, bringing unique innovations to the genre time and time again.

Show me Xbox's Metal Gear Solid. A game that rewrote the rules on what an action game should be.

Halo? Sure its great. I attended the private premier party thrown by Bungie in Chicago for fans and the media for the original Halo as a writer for the now defunct www.amazing-colossal.com website. I played it. I liked it. I saw it demoed on Macs. (Everything Bungie did that evening was done on a Mac, except of course playing the game on Xboxs ). But, I'll take Goldeneye and Quake 3 any day.

Honestly, I love my PS3 and think the UI is great now, but they are not really doing much compelling new stuff now, but the playstation family has. I think if I was new to gaming the choice between the 360 and PS3 would be difficult. I think really Nintendo is the only company still innovating and moving things forward in an interesting and unique way with the Wii and DS. There are lots of great games for PS3 and 360, but I do not see Microsoft or yes Sony now doing anything as important to gaming as Nintendo, Sega and Sony did in the past.

I am going to go play some Advanced Dungeons and Dragons or Tron Deadly Discs on my Intellivision now. Here are my top 10 in honor of GI's massive list.

1. Super Mario Bros. (NES)

2. The Legend of Zelda (NES)

3. Metal Gear Solid (PlayStation)

4. Super Mario 64/Super Mario Galaxy (tie) (Nintendo 64)/(Wii)

5. Metroid (NES)

6. The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time (Nintendo 64)

7. Mario Kart (Super Nintendo)

8. Quake 3/Goldeneye (tie) (Dreamcast)/(Nintendo 64)

9. Resident Evil: Code Veronica (Dreamcast)

10. Gran Turismo 2 (Playstation)

Thanks.

The Thanksgiving holiday is allegedly for reunion, revelry and relaxation, but typically they are full of stress, indigestion and tension instead. Seeing family members you may not particularly want to, awkward reunions with folks home from college, stressing out over getting up at 3 am to save $8 on a hard drive, crappy football. That is the typical reality of Thanksgiving.

But, I think it can and should be a time where even the hardest of hearts, the most stressed out shoppers and those around them can pause to give thanks for the good things in their lives. And if possible share with those with less to be thankful for.

I am incredibly blessed and fortunate. I have an amazing wife, terrific children, wonderful friends, gainful employment, a nice home, and many other smaller, but meaningful things to be thankful and grateful for. We give what we can, when we can to needy folks and encourage are kids to understand how fortunate they are. I am lucky and thankful.

What are you thankful for today?

Vote YES on Issue 7.

Tomorrow for the first time in history The Public Library of Cincinnati and Hamilton County will go to the people and ask for a levy for continuing operating expenses. This levy request has been made after deep state budget cuts to the library systems were made by the state of Ohio in the wake of one of the worst recessions in history. Times are tough for everyone, but I implore you to consider voting yes on Issue 7.

The modern library has changed dramatically, but continues to be an important and vital part of the community. Many opponents of the levy say the libraries have not been good with money, buying large quantities of popular books is unnecessary, that DVDs should not be free, amongst other arguments. While some of these points may certainly be valid, the arguments for the library are stronger and certainly more important to the citizens of Cincinnati and Hamilton County.

The library still continues to primarily circulate books and written materials. While some have argued that DVD checkouts are the bulk of the problem with the libraries, 68% of the materials circulated from the libraries are books and written materials. The libraries also provide internet access to inner city parents of students at CPS that allow them to check grades and interact with teachers. Many people use this limited access to search for jobs. It is a valuable technology resource for those who otherwise would not have access to these tools.

Popular books, such as The Harry Potter and Twilight series have encouraged many children to read often times above and beyond their level. By ordering a good number of these popular books the library helps to encourage children to read, especially those who may not be able to otherwise afford the books at retail as well increase traffic and circulation at the branches.

As far the libraries being good stewards of our tax dollars, the system has already made many cuts including eliminating 200 jobs and decreasing operating hours. I think the more important point is that the system is an important steward of our communities. In addition to the aforementioned services the library offers, the are dozens of great community programs that encourage communities to come together and read. One of those programs, story times for children have directly affected our family in the best of ways.

We began taking our son Wesley to the Mt. Washington library when he was 6 months old. There he went to monthly and eventually weekly story times designed for babies, toddlers and pre-schoolers. Barb Petersen, the children's librarian, facilitated those story times. Wesley greatly enjoyed listening to stories, singing and dancing, and interacting with other children. Wesley is now six and a first grader at Guardian Angels school. His recent interim report indicated that he is reading at a 3rd grade level and assessment tests indicate he is comprehending at a second year 7 month level. We strongly believe that the time spent at the library at an early age helped to build a strong foundation and love of reading that is helping Wesley in his formal education. To this day Wesley loves to go to the library, check out books, music and yes DVDs and his sister now attends Mrs. Petersen's story times. The impact on our kids and family has been profound and is just one of certainly many stories of the positive impact the library has on the community.

If passed, this levy will cost the owner of a $100,000 home about $2.50 a month. That is less than a cup of coffee, a tank of gas, or even a DVD rental. But the impact of this investment will be huge.

Please consider this when going to the polls.

Oh and renew the school levy. It DOES not raise taxes, just a renewal.

Insurance

On my shitlist today? Insurance companies. It seems, if I am reading my bill correctly, that I pay $69 a month to HAVE a $1000 deductible on my car. So I am paying for having to pay $1000 before they pay a dime. WTF? Also my company recently offered health insurance to all its employees. Which is totally awesome. Yay my company for doing the right thing for its people. Except my wife's much better insurance forces me to take insurance from my employer if its offered. So now I'll have to pay to have much less coverage. Health care reform? Considering no one in my family can seem to get the flu shot because of various stupid crap I'll say...whatever. So state farm=fail and humana=bastards

Testing mobile blogging app

For awhile now I have been searching for an iPhone app that works with Blogger for quick and dirty blogging from anywhere. I just stumbled across blogpress lite, a Blogger only tool from the makers of Blogpress. This may be my app. Any other blogger users tried this app? Thoughts?