DadJack.com Blog

Did you see the coverage of the run-away balloon they thought a 6 year old boy was aboard?  It was wild, when it finally came down the boy was not aboard, so now they are looking for him… I hope he is found safe.  (Pod warning: This went down while we were recording, so you’re going to get our play by play, I know you guys hate it when we cover live events because they’re well over by the time the pod airs.)

Tomorrow is Boss Day (As in your employer, not Springstein)… So if you’re lucky enough to have a job be nice to your boss.

Last night the “busty old car”, as Lucy and Bing call it, got busted.  Apparently, a woman in a white suburban backed up into it and fled.  Thank you so much to the kind Sun-Land people and the folks at Francisco’s Halloween Shop ( 10493 Sunland Blvd. 818 352-0503) who got her license plate number.  The car is still drivable, so that’s good news.  I went to the police station and made a report, but I seriously doubt anything will come of it.

I’m a huge blueberry fan, I like the fruit and anything that smells like it, so when I was at Target I picked up some Blueberry Tone bar soap… I didn’t notice until today when I busted a bar out that the packaging claims it has Antioxidants.  Come on, do antioxidants really do anything in soap?  Heck, do they really do anything in food?

Kids are here this weekend, I have to find some good Halloween stuff to do… It has become a month long celebration with us.  Bing’s “Polka-Dot Bowling Girl Costume” is coming together nicely… I found bowling shoes in his size, Polka-Dot Jammies and a nickelodeon bowling ball bag (in which he can put his red bowling ball he loves and use it to collect candy).

Caylee update.  We spoke about this on the pod.  Now were did I leave that pot?  Racism alive and well down south.  Where the buffalo roam.  It was just a drill.  We need to get this Ap for the Love Boss.  Dodger divorce.  Speaking of the Dodgers. He just went back to bed. Fire water.

Rock on, Jack

Yes, it rained in Southern California… and yes, for the most part it was uneventful.  A few people in Venice got flooded, but the landslides that the news was dying for did not happen.

I just realized that my kids birthdays are right around the corner, just what an unemployed Dad wants to think about… And my daughter informed me, “Mommy said you’re getting us toys for our birthday, because she has to get us clothes.” No pressure.

I continue to hate my apartment building, some b***h complained that I would not let her use the computer in the business center and management tried to confront me… But upon discussion, it ends up I was in the right and she can go ___________ . (Fill in your favorite insulting action here).   It’s funny, this place sells itself on being a hub for creative, industry professionals, but it is mainly full of ghetto losers… OK, enough of me venting.  But seriously, avoid this place!

It’s looking like our CRN Halloween party may be canceled… Maybe we can throw a Pod/Blog Party together?  I’ll keep you posted.

It was a good stock day… Now if only we could afford stock!  He was not a Beegal!  This doesn’t sound like fun.  Start planning your vacations now.  You knew this was coming.   R.I.P. Captain Lou. Nazis in the garden!  Russian invaded by UFO.  Look who’s on the phone.  All aboard the pumpkin train (I’ve always wanted to do this).  It’s almost Whore-o-ween. Don’t mess with a pregnant stripper.  Oh Lord land the plane.

Rock On, Jack

Well, they were right, it’s raining…. And all of Los Angeles is on Storm Watch – Enjoy!

I went for a walk yesterday and ended up at Universal City Walk.  It’s kind of cool to be up their midweek, in the morning, it’s crawling with tourists…  Makes for great people watching.  I think it was on my mind because I received this thing in the mail the other day about how they’re trying to get a huge expansion built… It actually sounded pretty cool.  I love the whole urban living concept… That’s sort of how I lived when I was at STAR, I lived behind the building and everything I needed was walking distance, I could go days without having to drive my car.

I’m stepping into the modern age… DSL is getting installed in my apartment on Friday!  I know you pod-people will miss random people walking in on me while I’m recording, but I’ll still have distractions, don’t worry.

The other day I was low on polka-dot diapers (or diapies, as Bing calls them), so I went to my local Target.  I hadn’t really thought about it before, but that Target was Gemco when I was a kid… The Gemco my Dad worked at as an appliance salesman.  I flashed back to being a kid and going to see him there with my Mom, there he would be near the stoves and refrigerators wearing a short sleeve shirt with a tie, his glasses, clean shaven (I remember him explaining, after I asked why he shaved his mustache off, that people had a preconceived notion of men with mustaches and it would be harder to make sales – it was the 70′s).  The same store that there was a huge line in front of the day the Star Wars toys went on sale…  My Dad was able to get me some figures before the store opened, they sold out really quickly.

Thinking back, it was one of the few times I thought my Dad was cool.  For the most part, he was a tall, thick man, who grew back his mustache when he got out of sales and the eighties rolled around.  He never had cool jobs or was particularly popular… He had friends, was well liked and could be very funny, but he was no means the life of the party.

My parents divorced when my sister and I were roughly the same age as my kids…  But for obviously vastly different reasons.  For a while all was good, they shared custody evenly, stayed within the same city, we stayed in our school.  This went on for 2 or 3 years.

Things really started to change when my Dad lost his job at AT&T.  He was unemployed for a long time and ultimately was only able to find work at Thrifty’s  (Were it was obvious, even to me a kid at the time, he was quite unhappy).  It was around this time that he met a woman that he would later marry.  He has never said this, but it appeared this was more a marriage of convenience… Although to his credit, they are still together.

I bring cliff’s notes version of my Dads life up because walking through that Target, thinking about Gemco, I realized that my life has run the same course… And that scares me.  I don’t want to be my Dad.  I want to be a hero to my kids, for them to have lists of great memories with me.  I want them to think I’m cool… Although I know that the older they get, the bigger the dork I become to them.  I refuse to be with someone just so I’m not alone, or have a house, or because they support me… I’d rather spend the rest of my life alone.  I look at my Dad as a functioning broken man…  I’m trying to find my pieces and glue them back into place, so I can just be a man.

Let’s boil this guy alive.  What car color city are you from?  Oh deer, good tackle.   Want a “supercat?”  You know Miss Plastic Beverly Hills is not far off.  Breaking Skunk News!  Iart.  Drive-bike shooting.  Don’t mock the one armed softball player.  Don’t leave your kiddie porn packed phone as collateral.

Rock On, Jack

It’s supposed to rain, so you know that’s all we’re going to hear about…. I like that most of the time they’re wrong anyway.  It’s L.A where it’s sunny 90% of the time and they still can’t get the weather predictions right!

Lucy had a sore throat all weekend, so we stayed home and watched movies.  I highly recommend Red Box, they’re all over the place, have the latest releases and charge only $1 a day.  Lucy picked a new one to annoy me, Dive Olly Dive…. It’s about these submarines that help clean up the ocean, good message, just not that entertaining to 38 year olds.  I’ll take Yo Gabba Gabba any day!  We did discover a show called Tiny Planets where the lead characters are Bing and Bong… This was amusing to us all!

Did some baking, made M&M Chocolate Chip Brownies… Bing and Lucy loved them!  And as I type a loaf of sourdough is baking…  I love fresh baked bread!

Still no breaking Bing’s desire to be “Polka Dot Bowling Girl” for Halloween… He tried on his Dragon and Strawberry costumes, but has no desire to wear them trick or treating!  I guess it’s time for Daddy to do some costume designing, I’ll let you know what I come up with.

It’s sad when the kids go home and you look around at all their toys.  I got home last night and started to clean up, I found all the pictures they had drawn (We had art time since we were home)… They are so great, I save them all, at some point I will just have an apartment full of little kid drawings.  Lucy drew a picture of a person as seen from the perspective of an approaching shark that I’m going to fram and put in our shark themed bathroom.

They took it too far!  No one is making this kid eat soap. Oh deer.   I guess he had a change of heart.  They’re not called porn stamps! Do you think this is fair?  Secret Flaming Lips this week.  Loch Ness balls! This is not a good way to start a marriage!

Rock on, Jack

I wanted to start by saying congrats to Carlos and Isaac on their one year wedding anniversary!  Here is to many more!

This got me thinking about those who showed their hatred for Gays and Lesbians by voting down their ability to get married.  They claimed that allowing homosexuals to marry would ruin the sanctity of marriage…  If they were really concerned about marriage they would turn their attention to heterosexuals!  It is not the gays who are ruining marriage, it’s us straight people.  50% of our marriages end in divorce, we are the ones who no longer hold the institution sacred.  Look at the religious hypocrites like Mel Gibson and Ted Haggard, our elected officials who claim to be about “family values”, but are cheating on their wives with lobbyists like Michael Duvall (and many others!) and straight celebrities who openly mock marriage through their very public indiscretions like David Letterman…. Not to say these are the only example, just the most recent.  I can’t think of one married gay couple who has done anything to tarnish the image of marriage even a tenth as much as these legally married, seemingly perfect examples of straight, family oriented America.

It would make more sense to me if these people were boycotting people like me from getting married again.  I was married for only 5 years, brought two kids into this world who now have to live in 2 separate worlds and ultimately disgraced the institution by walking away from it (Not my choice, but I was still involved).  And yet, no organization or group would think twice of me getting married again (Heck, my Ex was engaged before we were divorced)… In fact I can’t think of a one of those Prop 8 haters who would find a problem with it.

If there is one thing I have learned, marriage is not about the sex of the person you sleep with at night…  It’s about Love, Caring, Hard Work, Sacrifice, Understanding, Loyalty and bunch of other stuff that gay people can do just as well as straight people…  As I said before, Congrats Carlos and Isaac!

OK, that’s enough of that, it is Friday after all!  I get plenty of time to think about stuff while sitting on the 405 and I needed to vent.

Cool thing going on this weekend in my old ‘hood.  The Bow-Wows and Meows Pet Fair is this Sunday in Newhall… This is a fun one for all you animal lovers out in the 661, I think the kids and I might check it out.

Bing and I tried to be a couple wild and crazy guys and hot tub during the day… It was still too cold, although Bing tried walking around and feeling the water at different spots to see if any part of it was hot! (much to his dismay, it was all the same temp.)

Sorry kids, park is closed – due to manatee poop!  Guess who’s in Playboy now?  Obama does the noble thing with the Nobel Prize. The Hoff hassles his docs.  Don’t enslave your nanny!  Well this guys not that nice.  Hummer now to be painted with lead paint.  have a baby, cop a feel.

Have a great weekend!  Rock On, Jack

There has been some pretty good music released recently, I already told you the new Third Eye Blind , Ursa Major, is really good. Just released yesterday was Matthew Good’s Vancouver was released and it is excellent… He is such an underrated artist, He has been well known in his native Canada for a long time, but just can’t seem to break in the states…. If nothing else just go to itunes and listen to the clips of the new album (I highly recommend the back catalog too!)  Have you heard the new Foo Fighters single Wheels?  It’s a winner too… Dave never really lets you down, always solid material!  And in other cool music news, Sunny Day Real Estate has got back together and is touring… If you get a chance go see them, I did years ago and they rocked!

I baked some cookies this afternoon (I know, I’m like a less manly Martha Stewart)… I don’t know which is better, eating them or the smell that fills the house?

The kids come over tonight, so I had to go to the market….  Which I decided would be so much better if money was no object!  Meal planning on a budget is very hard, I don’t know how you guys with big families do it!  There were some crazy old ladies in the market today… Having people take a test to get a shopping cart license might not be a bad idea.  Right now Special K is only a $1.47 at Ralph’s (And might I suggest the Blueberry version, very tasty).  Also, you only have 2 days, but if you print out this coupon you can get $10 off the new release of Snow White, making it about $16 instead of $26! (It expires on the 10th!!!)

Got a chance to workout today (Wow, I was busy – cookies, market, podcast, workout… Although, I’d much rather have a job to go to).  Maury was on and it was a re-cap show where they visit past guests to see how they’re doing now…  The only thing more depressing than the Maury Show, is a Re-Cap Maury Show.  No one was doing better, even though some thought they were!?!?  Example: He had a girl on last year who was a huge slut and slept with everyone everywhere, her Mom was on to try and stop her. Flash forward to today, There sat the Mom and Daughter saying how much better she was after going to boot camp… Only she has a baby and another one on the way.  Or the couple who originally went on because she had cheated on him and she wasn’t sure if he was the Dad… He was.  Well, they are still together and guess what? They have a baby on the way… To which he said “Maury, no doubt this one is mine!”  What a great relationship.  Anyway, did an hour of cardio and got to feel a little better about my disjointed life.  Oh ya, Maury, Both my kids are mine!  Or at least I hope!

Are you ready for Halloween?  Ebay is the way to go to find unique costumes for cheap, but you have to get on it a.s.a.p to make sure you get them shipped in time.  Lucy we have nailed down to Shark… Now Bing is being difficult: First he said Dragon (Max on Max and Ruby likes dragons), so I found a great dragon costume.  Then he switched up and wanted to be a Strawberry, to which I found a great one for super cheap on Ebay… Well, now he wants to be a “Polka Dot Bowling Girl”!?!?  When I asked him what he would wear, he said “polka dots and a bow tie”… I’m going to try and win him back to strawberry or dragon, heck how about a strawberry dragon?

Tonight on the CRN show it’s Therapy Thursday with Dr. Belisa and Alina ( from the Jim Wayne Salon ) is stopping by to hang with us… And prove she is really Italian by feeding us home cooked lasagna.  Friday, we may have Gary Spivey!

Worms, out of my chocolate!  Mexican mummies.  Oh deer, am I a clown to you?  Some things you just don’t want to borrow.  That’s some strong pot. Why are scientist so violent?  Hero. Own a piece of Hollywood.  Sassy or trashy?  Christians are going extinct.  Enjoys some portraits of c**k!

Rock On, Jack

Stretch spoke with Gary Spivey today, and he is going to be a guest on our CRN show…  Maybe as soon as tonight!  Gary is great, if you believe or not he’s still amazing.

Went to Tomas’ local watering hole last night… I give a full review on the Pod, so I won’t bore you with repeating it here, lets just say it was eventful.

Spoke with Lucy and Bing last night, Lucy can never remember if she learned anything at school (See, she does take after Dad) and Bing and I had a nice conversation about Mini Coopers, Smart Cars, PT Cruisers, Buggie Cars and Limos (His favorite cars, we play a game spotting them anytime we drive somewhere)…  He did crack me up when he stopped speaking with me and said “SHHHHHH, I’m talking on the phone” to his Mom.

Things have got a little better around the apartment building… The Wi-Fi is back, but the hot tub is still a cold tub.

I’ve been lazy, the weather got cool and my motivation to workout has dwindled…  I need to get off my a** and back into the gym.

This guy shot his wife and dog and he gets to go back and work in radio?  This did not happen in Sun-Land.  That’s one long dog.  It’s OK with me if this guy gets the death penalty.  Maybe he dropped an Oreo and was just frantically looking for it!  Is this really news?  Don’t show this to Lucy, she’ll want it!  Stretch needs one of these! He was just drawn to it. Return the lung!

Rock On, Jack

Sorry, I’ve been slow to blog this week… But I’m here now!

The government wants us to disclose if we (Bloggers) receive products for free to review… So here you go, anything I endorse (or slam) here was not given to me by the company or manufacturer, in fact I don’t get paid to write anything here, so you can trust all written here is my honest opinion.

(Single people and those without kids I apologize in advance, I’ll write a review of something you care about next time!)

That being said, I have been meaning to give you my review of the off-brand diapers available out there.  My Ex was a huge brand snob and would only use Pampers… She was convinced that other diapers would give the kids rashes and cause discomfort.  Being a practical guy (which could be read as cheap), I had always thought it dumb to pay a premium price for something to poop in!  Well I set out to see if the store brands held up to the Pampers and Huggies of the world, and here’s what I discovered.

I started with Luvs, how bad could these be?  They put them right next to the big name brands. Well, they were OK for a daytime diaper, but the fasteners are not very good and they don’t hold very much.  Overall they were a disappointment and we only used one package before moving on.  Next I tried the Albertson’s store brand…  OK, I’m not going to lie, they sucked ( They leaked, didn’t stay on) , don’t waste your time and money on them.  After that bad experience I was starting to think my brad crazy Ex might have been right, but I continued on!  So we tried CVS Supreme, These were great!  Good leak protection, fasteners held well and even worked overnight… And at about half the price of the brand name diapers they are a great deal (Also watch for online deals where you can get them even cheaper).  I could have ended here, but I was lower on my size 5′s and at Target, so I bought a package of their Up & Up store brand…  They also offered good leak protection, fasteners you could trust and a cool Polka-Dot design that Bing took a liking too.  So we now use the “Polka-Dot Diapies” as Bing calls them, they too are about half the price as the name brand and Target will often give you $2 off coupons at checkout!  None of the diapers I tested gave Bing diaper rash or caused him any discomfort (Other than some wet jammies when the Albertson’s brand leaked).  If your baby is a heavy pee’er in the overnight you many want to go with the CVS or Up & UP during the day and Huggies Overnights at night (They have great holding power).

On a side note, Targets Up & Up products as a whole are very good, we’ve tried the bandaids, baby soap, shampoo and others and they are all as good as the brand name products (And about 1/3 or more less expensive!)

Enough about butts!  The kids and I had a great weekend.  Friday they went to The Natural History Museum spider exhibit with Angela Channel and Ethan.  On Saturday we went to Lucy’s favorite event, the Pierce College Pumpkin Festival, We went on rides, rode ponies, visited the petting zoo and most importantly, saw the Spookley show! It was opening weekend, so it was fairly empty, it was a really good time.  Sunday we went back to the Natural History Museum (we’re members) and saw all the stuff they didn’t have time to see on Friday night…  Like I said, it was a good weekend.

Tonight is Tomas (The Love Boss with the Big Hot Sauce… from our CRN show) birthday…  I may have to go to The Witches Brew with him tonight!  Our Halloween event is coming together, I should have all the details in a day or two, but set aside Friday the 23rd for sure!

Ants hate cats!  Nothing like a cheap beer after a long bike ride.  Talk about keeping it real.   Rush officially has too much money.  Lesson not learned.   Let the boy drive.  It is good stuff!  Liz gets heart fixed.  Just what we need, less money! Dog tosser.

Rock On, Jack

Get up when it’s cold in the morning, you just want to stay in bed under the covers!  It’s supposed to get pretty chilly (For So Cal) next week, I’m going to set the bread machine to bake a fresh loaf of bread just as it’s time to get up, the smell just fits with cool winter morning… And maybe I’ll ask Stretch to stay over so I can have the bacon aroma too!

I had my own little movie marathon last night, I watched American Flyers and Breaking Away, A cycling theme.  Breaking Away is a far better film in my opinion, but it is fun to see the young Costner in Flyers.  I’ve been watching movies to help me get tired, the other night I watched 24 Hour Party People and Control , Joy Division/New Order theme.  They are both really good, my only problem is that I feel like Tony Wilson gives way to much credit to The Happy Mondays in Party People, I don’t think that Shaun Ryder is a genius.  So to re-cap, that was four thumbs-up from the Jack Balcony (They are movies from my DVD collection, what did you expect.)

Here’s a link to all kinds of good stuff going on this weekend.  The kids and I will officially be starting our Halloween celebrating…  Heck I started this morning by enjoying some candy! (Peanut butter filled chocolate eye balls! Yummy)

I really feel like the CRN show is gaining momentum, and we have no one else but you to thank for that!  So, Thanks!  I was thinking about it last night as I was driving home (No radio in the Altima, so I get some quality “me” time).  Radio, TV, Film, Music is nothing without you and me, the people who enjoy it and tune in.  They need us to be successful, like any business needs its customers.  Some businesses get this – At the Panera I hangout at the staff is super friendly and helpful, which makes me feel welcome and makes me want to come back.  At my apartment building the management could care less about their customers, which makes me bitter and uninterested in doing business with them.  Radio needs to remember this… What are they doing for you?  Do they care about what you want to hear?  Do they serve you in a manner that makes you want to tune back in?  It really doesn’t seem like it… Somewhere down the line they decided that their choices were more important than the listeners, and that’s why it has sucked.  Hopefully they’ll remember that the “customer comes first” and fix the airwaves!

Lets not allow the fact that someone tried to extort money from Letterman overshadow the fact that he’s a cheater.  I swear, Stretch was with me!  This has to suck.  That’s funny,  As soon as he’s kicked off it’s no longer healthy for the kids!?!?  Look Mom, no hand.  Oprah and Obama can’t beat topless women in feathered headdresses!  I said “I wanted a shot“, not to get shot!  Want some Blow?  This BLT looks good!  Today’s Blind Lawyer .

Have a great weekend!

Rock On, Jack