Randman's World

The Pong Clock. It goes on your wall, and plays an automatic game of Pong. Each minute, the right side wins a point, advancing the score of the minutes. Each hour, the left side wins a point, advancing the hour.

Not that I really want one (hear that, honey), but it is a cool idea.

Charlie got to meet Santa Claus for the first time today. He told Santa that what he really wanted was a Plasma screen tv for the living room, where he could watch Baby Einstein videos.

FYI, Ded Moroz was the name of Santa in Russia for years. It means Grandfather Frost. He travels in a sleigh together with the Snow Maiden, a beautiful girl with a long blond braid, dressed in a sparkling snow-patterned sarafan trimmed with polar fox. Her head is crowned by a stellar snow flake.

Of course, now, much of Russia has adopted the western Father Christmas.

Thus endith the lesson.

My wife thought she had the perfect surprize present for me. She openly mocked me, saying I would never figure out what she was getting me. Of course, I quickly figured it out. And, the only reason I told her was because it was something that I really don't need.

She wanted to get me an IPOD Nano. Very cool gift, and something she knows I would like, being electronic and new and cool. But then, I started thinking about it, and truly, I don't know when I would ever use it. Can't listen to it in my car. My boss doesn't like us wearing headphones at work, so I can't listen to it at work. So, I really would probably never use it. It would end up in a drawer, like my Palm Pilot. That's why I went ahead and told her that I figured out the present, and that I really didn't want her to get me one.

So, now, she is asking what I want for Christmas, and I honestly can't think of anything. I have everything.

Computer - check.
Speakers - check.
Laptop - check.
Printer - check.
Scanner - check.
TIVO - check.
DVD Burner - check.
Digital Camera - check.
Mini DV Camcorder - check.
Home Theatre - check
TV's - check, check, check, check.

I really have no idea what I want for Christmas. Sure, a new keyboard would be nice, but I don't want to spend $600.00 (and if she tried to buy me one, she'd get a whoopin'). A Hi-Def TV would be nice, but again, too much money (we're still paying off things from all the Russia trips).

Truth be told, I got the best present I could ever get back on August 1st. Now that I have my Charlie-bear, I really don't need anything else.

This is too cool. Make sure you have your sound on.

UPDATE: Here is another video from the same home, of another song. This guy is amazing. He uses 88 channels of controls for his lights. I'm starting to get wicked, evil thoughts for next year!!!!!!!

YET ANOTHER UPDATE: The lights are no more! From the KC Star:

Spectacular Holiday Lights Display Goes Dark

POSTED: 1:07 pm CST December 8, 2005

MASON, Ohio -- A spectacular holiday light display in Ohio has already gone dark.

Carson Williams always said that if his house's display caused problems, he'd shut it down. On Tuesday, he did just that.

Williams said because of traffic concerns, he has unplugged the 25,000 lights and has turned off the music on a low-power FM station to which the lights were synchronized.

Mason police said that people coming to see the display were causing traffic problems, reported WLWT-TV in Cincinnati.

On Tuesday, two cars collided in a minor accident as cars clogged local roads trying to get to the display, and authorities couldn't get through the traffic to respond.

Williams said the safety of his neighbors has been compromised, so the light show has been shut down indefinitely.

This was the third year for Williams' display, which has been featured at several sites on the Internet and on the "Today" show.

There is no word if Williams intends to do it again next year.

As you can see from this photo, Charlie loves Momma.

Tonight, we went to eat at Cafe Italia, for Grandmama's birthday. Charlie was very good all evening. Of course, between Grandmama and Momma, he got fed plenty of pasta and bread.

Then, we went down to the club, to pick up some clothes that Pearl gave me last night, and I forgot. It was baby central down there. Very cute. Patty's grandkids, and Aaron's girl were there.

Last night's Monkeys with Hand Grenades went very well. We take December off, due to other shows being booked, and then, in January, it's The Best of Monkeys!

While not as cool as Subserviant Chicken, or the beer.com girls, this is still amusing.

Charlie got over his shots very quickly, and had a very fun day and evening. He got to see snow, and then, went home and just chilled out in the chair Dennis and Nikki got him!

Today was checkup day for Charlie. First, the good news. He's grown 2 inches and put on almost 3 1/2 pounds since he got back. I was hoping he was a bit heavier, but Dr. Kanne was happy with his progress. He loved that Charlie is walking. He's putting Charlie on 1/2 bottle and 1/2 fruits and veggies, which we are very happy about.

Then, the bad stuff. Two more shots, one in each thigh. This time, Charlie definitely let us know what he thought about that. We told the nurse he was cursing her in Russian, which she said he had every right to do.

Then, a trip to Grandmama's house, to make things all better. Hopefully, he won't have the fever or get sick from the shots, but it's a possibility.

It's 3:30 p.m. on Saturday, and I've had Charlie all day, while Kim is out with her former co-workers, enjoying a girl's day out. Charlie and I went to McDonalds after his morning nap, and he ate some of my cheeseburger and fries. Then, off to Target, to pick up some things, and then back home.

We've found out how much Charlie likes music, so I turned on the TV to one of the music stations on Time Warner, and we listened to music for about an hour. He would rock back and forth, sometimes standing and bouncing, but always stopping if the music stopped. He loves all kinds of music, from Jazz, Broadway, Blues and Rock.

Then, he got tired, so I put him down to nap. He looks so sweet when he's asleep. Cute little guy!

You can have Albert Einstein say anything you want here

This is making it's way around the net, but I thought I would also post it.

I'm embarrassed to say how much time I've spent staring at this thing.

He's just at that age. He's learning to walk, but is still unsteady, so he falls a lot. A LOT! The bump from his fall in our kitchen went away, but the bump from the fall at Grandmama's house turned into a nasty bruise.

Then, last night, while in the tub, he leaned forward to grab the side, and misjudged, and popped his face on the side of the tub. He cut his little eye. Poor little guy. I felt so bad. He shook it off, and was back to playing in a few minutes.

Needless to say, Charlie now looks like he went a few rounds with Muhammad Ali. But, he just keeps getting cuter. Now, when I say, "Touchdown" and raise my hands in the air, he does the same thing. How cute is that?

We had a great weekend. Spent some time out, went and ate at the Argosy Buffet (where Charlie experienced some new foods), and then on Sunday, ate at China Fun (where Charlie got to try chinese food, and promptly threw it back up).

Last night, we discovered that Charlie is learning english. He gives kisses when you are holding him. Last night, Kim was playing with him, and was holding his "Leap Frog" stuffed animal, which plays the alphabet song. Charlie likes Leap. When it was done, Kim said, "Give Leap A kiss!" Charlie leaned in and kissed Leap. He understood the word "Kiss". That made us so happy. Every little bit of progress is such fun.

Then, I was playing with him with a plastic ball with cutouts for handholds. Charlie began throwing it with his left hand. I guess we got a southpaw.

And, even better, no more head injuries!

Since Charlie has begun walking, he's experiencing another new activity . . . smacking his forehead on furniture. On Halloween, he was walking with me in the kitchen, when he let go of my hand, took two steps, and fell, smacking his forehead on the leg of a chair. I picked him up immediately, and he was trying to cry, but no sound was coming out. After about 5 seconds, it finally came. Poor little guy. It must have really hurt. I loved on him, and he was ok in about 5 minutes.

Then, on Tuesday, I went to pick him up at grandmama's house, and apparently, just 10 minutes earlier, he had took a dive into the coffee table. He had a knot on his head. But, by the time I got there, he was fine, laughing. But, he had the egg on his forehead.

I took him home, and was playing with him. Right when I was getting ready to take him to his bath, he fell, and smacked his forehead on a toy. Probably hit his knot again, because we cried huge.

It breaks my heart each time he hurts himself, but what are you going to do? We can't remove every hard object in the house that he could possibly fall into. He can't keep him from walking. And I doubt he would wear a helmet! So, bumps and bruises have started.

Grandpa summed it up best . . . "You think this is bad, wait till he starts riding a bike!"