Things Fortnightly

It's time once again for a thing or two or seventeen.

Thing 1: White Sox

I have been blogging about the top 25 labels of my blog for the first 300 posts. Tonights installment is the White Sox they were in a 6 way tie for # 20.

I grew up in the northwest suburbs of Chicago. The NW burbs are Chicago Cubs country. My Mom grew up as a Cubs fan and my Dad followed suit when he moved to the Chicago area. Each summer of my youth we would go to a Cubs game as a family and every few years our school would go to a game.

The White Sox used to have a program where if students had straight A's or perfect attendance they would earn 2 free White Sox Tickets. My older sister earned tickets this way and I remember how she and my Dad went to a Sox Orioles game together. The next year I had perfect attendance and my Dad took me to a game. This is where I fell in love with Bill Melton, Richie Allen, Wilbur Wood, Rich Gossage and the whole Happy Days gang. I still liked the Cubs but they took a backseat to my passion for the White Sox. That was more than 35 years agao and I remember it like it was 28 years ago.

As I am writing this it is actuall Wednesday night and I just came home from a White Sox game. The White Sox still give tickets away and Charlie and another Dad and son went on the White Sox dime. The Sox lost, but we had a wonderful time despite the score. The White SOx have this section called fundamentals where kids can play catch, use batting cages, and a few other cool things. It's like having a theme park within a ball park. Charlie and his friend had a great time.

Today (Thursday) I am heading back to Chicago to see the Sox play again. Lucy scored 2 free tickets and we are going to dog night. Fans actually can bring their dogs to a special section and into the game. In the past I have taken all 3 kids to dog night. Tomorrow is the first game where it is just Lucy and I. I wonder if she will want to play puppy when there are actuall dogs who can do that for us. I am not sure, but I think this is the first time in 30 + years of attending ball games that I have gone to back to back games. I wouldn't mind if we got a win instead of a loss, although Lucy will probaly have just as much fun as Charlie had independent of the result of the game.

Thing # 2. Lucy Dance Revolution.

Lucy had her ballet recital about a week and a half ago. One thing I noticed is the attrition rate of dancers as they get older. Their were 3 classes of pre school dancers of about 20-25students each. There were 2 classed of kindergarten dancers. In the highest level there (jr. high to H.S) there were 6 dancers. I wondered aloud to Amy if Lucy would be one of those 6 10 years or so from now. We think that she might just be. She loves dancing!

Things have changed much in the few years since Emma's first (and only) dance recital. Emma's recital (run through the same park district) was free of charge. We were given 2 free tickets for Lucy's recital and had to pay $5.00 each for every advance ticket and $7.00 at the door. That part was sort of understandable. What I did not get was that no photrography of any kind was allowed during the recital. Pictures like the one above were allowed to be taken at the rehearsal the day before. Well guess what? Grandparents don't go to rehearsals! You can't come between the trinity of grandparents, grandchildren and cameras. You don't mess with that!

The only footage taken at the recital was by a professional videographer who was selling the dvds and tapes for 20 big ones. So were photographs and videos not allowed so there would be less commotion at the recital or more ka-ching for the videographer? You tell me!

Thing 3: What's going on next year?

There is a home school conference this weekend that Amy and I usually attend. One of the main things we do there is choose the curriculum for the next calendar year. This is basically the first year that I will be the primary curriculum chooser. Two years ago we were planning on Amy teaching when we picked the curriculum. Last year we went mostly with curriculum we already owned. I am pretty sure of some things we will do this year and totally open on other areas. When I say I am the primay curriculum chooser, that is kind of a misnomer. We generally pick the curriculum together. When Amy was themain teacher, I would defer the final choices to her as she was the one who needed to teach the material. The only difference between now and then is now she would defer that final decision to me.

Thing 4: Reading Update

I started my summer reading last week. I am fully engaged in 3 books right now. Two from home and one from the library. When I read I tend to read more than one book at a time. Between 2 White Sox games, the home school convention and just regular life I'm not sure how mych reading I will get in in the next few days. Hopefully some.

Thing 5: No Junk food June?

June is usually a good month in our family to try to eat a little more healthy and to exercise more. I started the month out by going to that most healthy of places, Dairy Queen. Amy had told Charlie that we would go to Dairy Queen after his last soccer practice of the year. This just happened to be on June 1st! Healthy eating will commence a little later in the month.

That's all the things I

Fun at the Carnival

It's been a while since Amy posted something here. Here she is with a recap of a fun Saturday spent at a local carnival.

Our family enjoys going to the carnival every year. When I say, "our family" I mean, the kids. I can't ride rides, as they make me sick. Dave enjoys rides, but this carnival doesn't usually sport rides that interest him. He usually gets a wristband so he can ride the merry-go-round with Lucy, ad nauseum. This year, Lucy was tall enough , so Dave didn't have to spend the extra $20 and ride with her. He is saving that money for me just in case Bath and Body Works brings back Plumeria or Jewel Food Stores brings back Generic Iced Tea. But I digress.



In the past the carnival has come to town in April, but this year, they showed up in May. The weather usually is at extremes, either freezing or piping hot. This year's trip was the latter. The carnival is set up in a local parking lot, about a city block long.



When we first started going, Emma was 2 1/2, and it seemed huge, and we worked diligently to keep a hold of her, and make sure she didn't get lost in this vast area. This year, we followed our 4 1/2 year old, Lucy, around, and the other two fended for themselves. When I looked out for the two fenders-for-them-selvers, I could stand at one end of the carnival, and see Charlie at the other end, waiting in line for his favorite ride. Why did I used to think it was so big? Who knows, maybe it was the fact that I was still a relatively new parent. Maybe I was looking at the carnival through the kids' eyes. Maybe someone secretly performed LASIK surgery on me while I was sleeping, and I can see that much better. Who knows!






(Charlie in action)







We usually scout out the prices ahead of time, so we can prepare the kids: "We're only going from 2-6 because that's the time you can use your wristband." This year, it was a full-carnival-frenzy. ALL-DAY $20! Emma and Charlie were in heaven! Okay it wasn't heaven but it sure wasn't Iowa!







The carnival was ill-attended during the day, so most of the time, they stayed on their favorite rides as long as they wanted to. We usually park the car right next to the carnival and have a cooler with cold water, sodas for adults, and snacks. This year, it was so hot, the drinks were exhausted quickly. So Dave and I took turns sitting in the nearby Taco Bell reading a book and sipping on a cold drink. . Lucy was wiped out around 4:30 pm and wanted to go home. She was bathed and asleep by 7:30.






Dave stayed behind with "the bigs" who had found some of their friends. Dave took Emma home around 8:00, and then Dave and Charlie stayed until after 9. Our family has another tradition, of keeping their wrist-bands on as long as possible. Well meaning church friends will think we were hospitalized. Maybe they just think we should be hospitalized. I think Dave still has one on from Great America last summer. Wait, no, that's his watch.







(Emma and friend)






But enough with blogging already, I want to use my computer for its real purpose in life: watching The Walton's on DVD.







Next Time: It's Dave's blog ask him.

Of Lucyisms and Lemons

Lucy came up to me earlier today and said the following :

Dad, could you google sour lemons?

So I did.

First I found this video . . .

Then this picture . . .



I also found devotions, recipes for Indian side dishes, a my space page for the group Maxwell and the Sour Lemons and a link to buy a 5lb bag of sour lemon drops for $29.95.

Still not sure what put Lucy on the lemon obsession. I made about 20 lemon shapes for her already today.

Oh, well.

For more Six Word Saturday head over to Show my Face Dot Com.

Next Time: Carnival Musings

Watch Robin Hood? Sure Would!

I haven't put an installment of my top 25 labels up recently. So here goes . . .

Label # 20 (in a seven place tie): Films



I like movies, I have for as long as I could remember. I'm not sure what the first movie I watched at home was, it might have been Wizard of Oz, Dr. Doolittle, or maybe Chitty Chitty Bang Bang. I remember that sometimes back before videos, cable or on demand my parents would wake us up so we could watch a movie that was on past our bed time.

There is a new Robin Hood movie out in theatres. I watched it last night. A little more on that later. I recently watched Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves for the first time. These two make a total of 5 Robin Hood Theatrical releases that I have seen. Last nights was the first one that I saw in an actual movie theatre.


Here is a list of those films ranked from first to last in order that I liked them. By clicking on the title of the film you will be linked to the movie's IMDB page.

# 1 Adventures of Robin Hood 1938

This is hands down the best Robin Hood movie ever made. If I ever get around to revising my list of 10 ten films of all time, this will definitely be on it. Erroll Flynn is the definitive Robin. Claude Rains (Mr. Smith Goes to Washington, Cassablanca) is delicious as Prince John and Basil Rathbone is a text book example of movie villainy as Guy of Gisbourne. The director Micheal Curtiz does a great job of alternating the pace of the movie between action, comedy and romance as he did so ably a few years later in Cassablanca. The hidden gem of the movie is the dynamic score of Erich Wolfgang Korngold.

#2 Robin Hood (1973)

This is the first Robin Hood movie I ever saw. As far as a Disney Cartoon, it came at relative low time for the studio. None of the six animated features they released from 1967 to 1981 (Jungle Book, Aristocats, Robin Hood, Many Adventures of Winnie The Pooh, The Rescuers and Fox and the Hound) were received as well as the Disney Animated features of the previous and future generations. Robin Hood is definitely one of the best made during that time period. For me it is definitely the funniest of the Robin Hood movies I have seen.




# 3. Robin Hood (2010)

Having just seen this yesterday, it is possible this movie could go higher or lower on this list in the future. I have not yet seen Gladiator, (Yes I'm the one) so I can't compare Crowe's performance in that film to this one. I will say it is a totally different performance than he did in A Beautiful Mind, that's for sure.



When you make a movie that's been made into as many versions as Robin Hood, you want yours to stick out. This Robin Hood seems to be a prequel to the Robin Hood stories we are used to seeing. I think it is a pretty good reimagining. I would talk specifics but I am allergic to saying spoiler alert, achoo!


I was the only one in the theatre, so I have still not seen a Robin Hood movie with a paying audience. This will change in the next week or so when I take my Son to see it. I am in the habit of previewing movies before my kids see them. Since this movie owns a PG 13 rating, I wasn't sure if it was suitable for Him. While there is much violence in the film, I would have to agree with the review I read at a Focus on the family web site that in comparing Robin Hood to Brave Heart says that the violence in the former does not achieve the gore of the latter.


This does not mean I advocate taking every 8 year old to see it. I would not take my 10 year old, but I have a pretty good idea of what my son can watch and not watch. There is a brief scene in the early going that we will be off for a popcorn run during. This is why I advocate viewing a movie before your kids do, it costs more monetarily but I don't have to walk a screaming girl out of the theatre as I did when we tried to watch Eight below. Thanks for the recommendation, Dad!

#4 Robin Hood Prince of Thieves (1991)

When this movie came out in the theatres, I had a small level of interest in seeing it. It would have been the first Robin Hood movie I ever viewed. I never got around to seeing it until last week, when I decided to watch it since a new one was coming out.

The movie has it pluses and minuses. I wasn't as impressed with Alan Rickman's Sherrif of Nottingham as most reviewers seems to have been. Morgan Freeman was excellent as usual and While Kevin Costner is no action hero, His interactions with Freeman, Rickman and Christian Slater are all top notch.



5. Robin Hood: Men In Tights (1993)

When I compiled this list in my head, I forgot all about seeing this movie. That is certainly not the kind of endorsement that would put it any higher on this list. Don't get me wrong I love Mel Brooks. His work in Mad About You and The Muppet Movie are about the funniest things I have ever seen.

As I now remember this movie it was pretty funny at parts. But like many of Brook's comedies, the movie as a whole wasn't anything all that special.

So there we have it. Some thoughts I have on movies under the guise of some Robin Hood Reviews.

Next Time: A Six Word Lucyism

Summer Reading

Memorial Day weekend is this weekend. Many people including myself see the Memorial Day weekend as the beginning of Summer. Although business as usual will continue at The Izola Becker Home School through mid June, Memorial Day does begin my summer reading plan. I will be reading as many books as I can from the Friday of Memorial Day weekend through Labor Day. I hope to read at least 20 books in that time period. A few years ago in my pre blogging days I wrote a So you want to page at Amazon. It was entitled So you want to make a Summer Reading list. You can check it out by clicking here.

If you're not much for clicking here I brought the guide to you:

Keep in mind this was written 5 years ago. So when I talk about the White Sox going to the World Series last in 1959, I was writing it a few months before they returned there in the magic season of 2005. Here we go:

It's summer and you've decided to have a summer reading plan. The question is what are you going to read. My suggestions are formulated for adults but there is really no reason that a student could not adapt these suggestions for their benefit.

I. Buy one book for the purpose of reading this summer and then read it!
One mistake many people make is to buy 8 or 10 books for their summer reading list and then not read any. Right around Memorial Day 2004 I waltzed over to my local Christian book store to find a book to start my summer reading on. I found a sale copy of How Good is Good Enough by Andy Stanley. I had never read anything else of his but the title intrigued me and besides it was short. I don't generally get books based on their size but when starting your summer reading on a short book is not a bad idea for getting that first book read.

II. Read a book that you already own but have not yet read. Once you have the first book under your belt it's not a bad idea to go with a book you own. I received Strength Down the Middle - The Story of the 1959 Chicago White Sox by Larry Kalas for a Father's Day present last year. I was born in 1964 so did not know a lot about the 1959 Sox and found it a very interesting Memoir about the Chi Sox last trip to the World Series.


III. Choose a book from one of your favorite authors that you have not yet read. Many people make the mistake that their summer reading list should be chalk full of books that they should read, and don't put enough books on their list that they want to read. I have been reading Bill Pronzinni books my entire life so I went to my local library and found a nameless detective mystery I had not previously consumed, Hard Case was an excellent entry in the nameless detective series. Which leads me to my next point:

IV. Choose at least one book based on something you just read from your list. I believe a summer reading list should be a living document. Having a preset list that you must adhere to can knock all the spontaneity from your summer. So after I read Hard Case I went to Amazon and looked at all the reviews for it. Many reviewers compared it with Busman's Honeymoon by Dorothy Sayers. I promptly went to my local library and checked it out. I am so glad I did. Dorothy Sayers is now on my list of favorite authors because of it. For years people have been reccomending Thrones, Dominations to me, and based on how much I enjoyed Busman's Honeymoon, I went and made that the next book on my summer list.

V. Read a biography of a personal hero. Three summers ago I read the Ronald Reagan Biography, . Last Summer I read a biography on Eric Liddell the famous scottish runner and missionary. This summer I think I'll pick up Veeck--As In Wreck: The Autobiography of Bill Veeck. I think it is important to have heroes and even more important to know about them. Emulation is a lost art, and biographies, especially inspirational ones are a way to hone that art.


VI. Read at least one book that you think you should. As I suggested earlier having your summer list full of books you think you should read rather than those you want to read makes a drudgery of the entire ordeal. However the inverse can be just as dangerous. You want to challenge yourself on your reading list. So each summer I read a book that I should have read in high school. Last year it was and this year it will probably be To Kill a Mockingbird . This also falls under my next category and the book I am currently reading:

VII. Read the book if you've seen the movie. I am a big movie buff. So each summer I try to read at least one book based on a movie I've seen. I am currently working on The Three Musketeers .

VIII. Make your list as unique as you are. As you can probably tell from this guide, I am passionate about a wide variety of topics. My summer reading list reflects that variety. Last Summer I read The Dick Tracy Casebook: Favorite Adventures, 1931-1990 because I love comic strips. This summer many of my choices will reveal my interests. It would be difficult to live your life as who you are and then to read who you're not.

IX. Read something based on someone else's recommendation. Some of my favorite books are books that I would have never chosen for myself. In the Summer of 1990, I had to read Slaughterhouse-Five by Kurt Vonnegut and Night by Elie Wiesel along with 7 other books for a 4 week literature class. I would have never chosen either of those books in a million years if I was picking on my own. I am very happy that they were both shoved in my direction. Again,there should be tension on your reading list from reading what you are interested in and enjoy to experimentation and expansion of ones horizons.

X. Read!!!!! I made a decision last year after enrolling both my children in summer reading programs to have a reading plan for myself each summer for the rest of my days. We unplug our T.V. each summer for the purpose of going on long walks and enjoying each others company in the fine Illinois summer weather. Reading is definitely part of that summer tradition and I think it should be part of yours as well.

Starting this Friday I will post a mini review for each book I finish this summer. I will also post a Mr. Linky each Sunday for anyone who wants to link their book reviews here. Let the reading begin!

Next Time: Films