Randman's World

Today, Charlie was dedicated at our church, Vineyard Church. For so long, we had attended and watched other people stand up front and dedicate their children to God, and we ached. It seemed like we might miss a week or two, and when we came back, darned if it wasn't baby dedication day. The pain was real. No one can understand the pain of infertility until they've experienced it.

But today, in front of our friends, we dedicated Charlie to God. There was another couple who had adopted a child, and it dawned on me that both of us had been put on the path of adoption through Vineyard Church. We, by meeting Lori Lichti, who had adopted from China, and worked at Childrens Hope International, and the other couple, by meeting a very young girl at the church who chose them to adopt her daughter.

After church, we ate lunch at Olive Garden, and enjoyed talking with our friends. It really hit me how blessed we are. I have everything that I've ever wanted in life. A beautiful wife, a handsome son, a good job, a nice house, and great friends. Wow.

While I was on my first trip to Astrakhan to meet Charlie, I went to his room at the orphanage where he lived. He was in a room with 6 other children his age. Once, when I went in there, Charlie was sleeping. I looked over, and saw a very cute little girl in one of the playpens. She looked up, and smiled so big at me. So, I waved at her. She grinned, shook her head no, and looked down, very sweetly. Then I waved again, and she did it again. We discovered a game, that we played for a minute or two. Then, Charlie was up, and I took him to go play.

I told my wife about this adorable little girl I had played with in Charlie's room. She's always been in my heart a little bit (just like most of the kids I saw in that orphanage were).

A couple of days ago, I was reading the Astrakhan Adoption Yahoo board, when I noticed that one of the mothers, who has posted messages in the past, announced she was home with her daugther. She posted a couple of pictures, and it was that same little girl. I was so happy that Dinara (her name) found a forever family. I told her mother that she was lucky, because if I could have, I would have brought her home with me and Charlie.

Congratulations, Jody, and welcome home, Dinara.

Yeah, not for another 11 months, but we are booked to stay a week at our Disney Vacation Club home resort, Saratoga Springs, for September, 2006. We are so looking forward to experiencing WDW with Charlie. And, we will be traveling with our friends, the Genasci's, so it should be a great time. Matt's been my friend for 19 years (wow, we're that old), and his wife and kids are great.

This is pretty darned funny. Microsoft's We Share Your Pain program.

Well, according to this website, if I went in my backyard and dug a hole, I wouldn't come out in China, but rather in the Indian Ocean.

So, apparently, I've been lied to all these years. Not China at all. I would actually drown. That was probably the plan. Get me to dig a hole all the way to the other side of the Earth. When I got close, the hole would fill with water and I would drown.

Almost got me! Darned clever of you. But, I'm on to your plot!

Burn in Hell!

A very popular thread on the adoption boards is before and after shots. In other words, pictures while the kids were in the orphanage, and once they got home, and got love, nutrition and medical care.

I took the picture of Charlie in the tub last night. The other picture was taking back in July, in the orphanage. It's amazing how these kids rebound. Of course, I'm not proud or anything!

Charlie is all about walking. He doesn't want to play with his toys. He doesn't want to be held. He wants to walk. He's still shakey, and makes it about 5-6 steps and then hits the ground (sometimes in some very "stuntman" type falls and roles).

But, he's so proud of himself that he is doing it. You can see it on his face. Until you bring out the camera to get a picture of it. Then, it's just grim determination and arms outstretched.

I found a cute website where you can create a new character in the South Park style. I'm sure it's been out there for a while, but it was a new website to me, so BACK OFF!

UPDATE: Of course, we had to come up with my wife, as a South Park character, on the street, ready for shopping!

One of my new favorite websites is Rocketboom, which is a daily video comedy blog, hosted by Amanda Congdon. While it still is a bit rough on editing and timing, it's usually interesting, and often funny.

I've been going back through the archives, and I found where Amanda had gone to St. Petersburg, Russia, just a couple weeks after we returned from Russia. While there, Amanda put together a little video bit that made me laugh.

Darn it. I had to get up and go to work. Oh well, when you think about it, having 340 million dollars too quickly would bring a plethora of problems.

First, you and our entire family would immediately become kidnap targets. So, you'd have to hire security for your family. Body guards 24/7. That would suck.

Second, you'd have to move, change your phone numbers, set up a new residence, etc., to avoid all the annoying phone calls from friends and family you haven't talked to in years.

Third, where do you put 340 million dollars? Do you trust it to one bank? Their only insured for $100,000 accounts. Do you spread it about? Grand Caymans?

Fourth, who do you trust to advise you on investing, saving, etc? I'm sure you'd be called by every shyster investment person around.

Fifth, what would you spend it on? Sure, new house, cars, vacations, charities. But, really, how much can you buy?

Maybe I'm better off staying at Ferrellgas, sitting in my little low walled cube, killing wasps with a clipboard, and trying not to fall asleep.

But, maybe I'll win the McDonalds Monopoly contest. Just need Short Line railroad and I got me a new Dodge Viper!

Earlier this week, I interviewed an Employee for theft, and he wrote his confession. Needless to say, we've had some fun reading this one. Here are some excerpts:

"I been stilling gas" (apparently, he brewed his own gas outside a cabin in the woods, away from them pesky revenuers!)

"I kepted the money from the costumer that I was selling the gas to" (plus, he made arrangements to rent a really cool clown outfit while he was there!)

"I stold the gas to make money" (see, I stold you so!)

"If I am giving another chance, I will never do this again" (Well, are you giving chances or aren't you)

and the last line

"The only help I got from Randy in writing this is with spelling" (apparently not enough help)

Reading through some of my favorite "links" pages (which list interesting websites and video links), and I came across this video clip which bares a remarkable resemblence to a Monkey's with Handgrenades sketch I did almost a year ago.

I would like to go on record to say that MINE WAS FIRST and I NEVER SAW THIS ONE UNTIL TODAY!

There. I've said my peace. Pretty funny, though.

So, here I am in Waco, TX. On an investigation of a dishonest Employee. Why do I end up in places like Waco, and not LA, Miami, etc. Why is it always Waco, TX., Flint, MI., Gallup, NM., Dalton, GA.???

Well, there is the wonderful Dr. Pepper museum. Not to be confused with the bottling plant that still makes Dr. Pepper from cane sugar. Nope, just the home of Dr. Pepper, which still should be cool, but I would love me some real Dr. Pepper.

Missing my Charlie-bear, and his mommy.

From Pitch Weekly's Best of Kansas City

2005: Art & Stage: Bravo!
Best Comedy Troupe Monkeys With Hand Grenades
Yeah, the name's entry-level funny, the kind of thing junior high kids might name a band, and the 30-plays-in-60-minutes bit whiffs of gimmickry. What's key is that the Monkeys are disciplined but daring writers and performers crafting sharp, staccato bits that, at their best, will have you doubled over and, at worst, will be forgotten once the next great one hits. Bonus points for fearlessness: The absurd stuff can flirt with the avant-garde, and genuine anger steams many of the best bits -- especially those by Pete Calderone and Pearl MacDonald, whose caustic truth-telling is leavened by an appealing warmth. Nick Rigoli, long a standout in improv shows, emerges here as a one-man army of comedy writing. His every idea seems to stir laughs. Make your reservation for next month; this thing sells out, and rightfully so.

Congrats to my fellow Monkey's. It's good to see Pete, Pearl and Nick get recognized (see, I told you before that Nick may be the funniest person on Earth!)

But, they forgot Mark, Jeff, Andi, Linda, Dough, Clancy, Megan, Todd. It's a team show, and they all deserve recognition, too!

One of the most fun parts of creating a video is the editing process. I don't enjoy shooting the video that much, because we use volunteers, and it's very hard to ask a volunteer to do something again, because they didn't do a good job the first time. Maybe if I worked with paid actors it would be different, but I usually settle for poor performances. Also, there is a lot of stress to ensure that all the shots are there, that they will cut together, that enough angles are available, etc. Shooting is hard work.

However, once we get to the editing process, that's where the creativity begins. You can really change the way a video feels, the mood, the humor. I'm amazed at how cutting a clip one second earlier can really make it 100x more funny. And finding the right music, the correct transitions, the perfect flow. That's where the fun is for me.

Obviously, some others feel the same way. They've taken existing movies, and created brand new movie trailers for those movies, which completely change what the movie appears to be.

Who wants to go see the chick flick, "The Shining"

http://www.ps260.com/molly/SHINING%20FINAL.mov

How about that creepy zombie movie, "West Side Story"

http://www.ps260.com/Trailer/westsidestorytrailer_small.mov

and the horror movie, "Titanic"

http://www.ps260.com/elfollador/Scary%20Titanic.mov