Welcome to tastypopsicle.com

I've decided to open up the weblog archive. At one point is was closed off except to registered members due to an incident, However, that company has since closed its doors so they can just eat it. Use the search to find something that youmight be looking for. Maybe you'll find it.

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I have none. But that's just fine by me. Any plans that I may have had to watch the Cubs play the Marlins down in Florida have been chased away by the foreboding hurricane named Frances much like actual Floridians. I think Amy has some plans or something. I'm positive that I probably want nothing to do with them. Perhaps you're looking for something to do - becuase you're not lazy. Well, good for you Mr. Goody-two-shoes. Metromix has something for (just about) everyone. Tonight at Metro is Goldie! Sweet... also Photek, Total Science, MC Armanni, DJ? Acucrack. But for $20-$25 a pop I think I'll buy beer instead. For those with less money like myself, and who wish to never forget the fun times at Big Wig this is you last weekend ever to do it. After seven years, Wicker Park's Big Wig is closing its doors. Luckily, they're going out with a bang. They're hosting a 5 day fest (starting this past Wednesday and ending this Sunday). Tonight includes Lego and Paul Johnson - and it's only $5. Take part in the raffle of club memorabilia, including retro hairdryers, the neon "Big Wig" sign and more. I don't think I'll be their either. No, I'll be at home with a $4.99 Take-and-Bake pizza from Dominick's and a 12 pack of Miller. Yes, THIS is my high-life.

Yes, THIS is sad.

While we were vacationing on the west coast a couple of weeks ago we headed over to the California Science Center in Los Angeles. No big deal, right? I mean, it's a lot like the Museum of Science and Industry which is right here in Chicago. They have an IMax theater and lots of hands-on things you can do. But one thing that is definitely hands-off that you won't find at the MSI is an exhibit that has been touring Europe and Asia for the last 8 years and is making only a few stops here in the United States. Gunther von Hagens' Body Worlds: The Anatomical Exhibition of Real Human Bodies is a real-life look at the human body (and a horse) from the inside out. Gunther von Hagens is a Polish scientist who developed a preservation procedure known as plastination inthe 1970s. What you see is "the body is frozen in time between death and decay." I mention it becuase not only was it an amazing thing to see and experience but also becuase you'll probably soon hear more about it. Wired magazine has a story about it on their site today which means other news outlets may follow suit. Plastination is like nothing you have ever seen. It literally takes the water and lipids in biological tissues and replaces them with curable polymers like silicone, epoxy, and polyester which are then hardened, resulting in dry, odorless and durable specimens. Yes, 100% odorless. When you get up close to these bodies (and by close I mean that in some instances nothing is between you and it while you stand mere inches away) you first expect to smell formaldehyde - you prepare your stomach and your gag reflexes for what must surely come. But it doesn't and you stand perplexed staring at these bodies which cannot possibly be real. You attempt to convince yourself that they MUST be plastic models like those we used to study the circulatory and digestive systems back in 6th grade. I can only assure you that they are not. Yes, while what you see is no longer water and tissue reduced only now to a plastic-like substance, the bodies are of those people who really did live on this planet at one point. Except the muscles are "pulled" from their skeletons, they are split in half and posed in positions that we would expect a real person to be seen in. There is even a couple standing with their arms around eachother and child perched on the man's shoulders. But as you might now expect the only thing left of them is their blood vessels. Completely removed are the bones, muscles, organs, and skin. Yet there they freely stand and one can clearly make out the shape of three bodies and even where some of the blood-rich organs once were. All of the bodies, von Hagens strongly claims, were dontaed to science by the very bodies themsleves before they became forever posed. How delightfully wonderful. Wait until you see the preserved woman who died while she was 8 months pregnant. Yes, her unborn child, who sadly did not make it either, is plastinized and lays delicately in it's mother's womb for all eternity. No, you can't make this shit up.

Skype is something I really want to try. However, I seem to have no one to share it with. Skype, according to their website, is "The next phenomenon from the people who brought you KaZaA. Just like KaZaA, Skype uses P2P (peer-to-peer) technology to connect you to other users – not to share files this time, but to talk and chat with your friends." I want friends. And then I want to talk and chat with them. Armed with a headset already (microphone and mono-headphone) I'm ready to give this thing a shot now that they have just released the OS X version. Of course there is a PC and Linux version so I think all of the bases are covered now. So, if you have broadband and a microphone and speakers (preferably a headset, though) please be my friend - just at least so I can try this out. "Calls" between Skype users anywhere in the world is 100% FREE and calls between a Skype user and a land-base phone is wicked cheap to anywhere in the world. Download Skpe and then do a search for "tastypopsicle" in the contact list. Add me and then we can set something up for later. is this a weird request, by the way?

About a year ago our lives changed. Living with Mayor McCheese this past year has been - something. It's great to see how much she really does like us and actually eNjoys the attention we give her. And when I say "we" I mean "Amy". The Mayor still hates me. In this past year we've learned a lot more about the care of rabbits and how they should be treated and what their little quirks mean. More importantly we learned... you were reading it all right, Mayor McCheese is A GIRL! :) Yes, that is true. And because I thought it weird to call her "Mayor McCheese" when the receptionist at the Elmhurst Animal Center asked me what our rabbit's name was I said it was "Bun Bun". She checkled and I hung my head too ashamed that I didn't say "Mayor McCheese". Oh well. So Bun Bun, as she is now affectionatly known throughout the land, LOVES to come out of her cage and she can't wait to go outside and play on the porch. In fact, she gets rather cranky if we don't let her out every night. And for a VERY short time - the Mayor McCheese message board will be open for anyone to leave a message and read what was said in the past. So check it out.

Columnist Ruben Navarrette had an interesting article in today's Chicago Tribune called For parents who need a backbone. I'll give the basic jist of it but I'll leave it to you to read the article and draw your own conclusions from it. Mr. Navarrette feels the same way that I do about parents who just can't say "no" to their kids. They spoil their children by allowing them to spend frivolously on clothes and electronic gadgets. It's the same parents who buy their kid their own car when he/she turns 16. Mr. Navarrette thinks it has something to do with parents trying to strike a balance with being the kid's friend and also their parent. Parents aren't too strict, he says, it's that their too lenient. And I agree. But I also think it has to do with how these same kids watch how their parents spend money and how these parents don't know how to say "no" to themselves. So I wrote Mr. Navarrette an email - and here's what it said:

Ruben, I enjoyed reading your column in this morning’s Chicago Tribune “Parents who need a backbone”. While I am only 27 years old and not a parent your message can be understood even by others as young as me. However, I think you may have missed what I consider to be the most important part for parents who don’t know how to say “no” to their children – these same parents need to get a backbone and learn how to say “no” to themselves. I did not have cable television, Nintendo or even an Atari growing up. Nor did my family do a lot of the things that the neighbors did. We lived a very modest lifestyle. As children, my brothers, sister and I knew that my family could not afford to buy us anything we wanted and we understood and respected that because it wasn’t as if our parents were living a lavish lifestyle. The teenagers that you worry about in your article, the “suburban kids living comfortably in the suburbs”, learn their actions by watching their parents. I wonder how many mothers of these kids also buy $1000 Coach and Prada handbags and grow their wardrobes with the latest fashions from Neiman Marcus. How many of their fathers own an expensive BMW sports cars and H2 Hummers? Would you be surprised if you learned that many of these homes probably have a $4000 plasma TV in the living room? You said, “You name it, today’s kids are buying it, wearing it, or playing with it: from designer labels to high-priced shoes to the latest electronic gadgets.” I believe you could have just as easily replaced the word “kids” with “parents”. And until parents learn to control their own spending habits and learn to say no to themselves it’s hard to expect their children to. Thanks again for a great article.

What do you think? I know that Mr. Navarrette is right and I know that parents should be able to buy what they want and to do what they want. Hell, they've earned it through hard work. But to expect these parents who spend lavishly on themselves to say "no" to their child's wants and not get some flack is, I believe, a double-standard. But what do you think?

We're back in good old Syracuse, New York - actually Cazenovia, New York but no need to be technical - for my sister's wedding on Saturday. It's really good to be up and talking with my mom and to just see how much Fayettville and the neighborhoods have changed. Good stuff. It's also cool to see how mom and the family have LEAPED into the 21st century - seemingly over night. They now have high speed internet and they even have it networked wireless as well (which is how I get to post this from ther living room on Amy's Powerbook) AND they have this CrAzY new 50" flat screen, HD TV with surround sound and just BLAM! Very sweet to be watching HBOHD as the picture is just beautiful.