Comic Con

For those of you who are unaware a Comic Con was held in Salt Lake City for the first time ever.  If you were unaware of that fact then you probably don’t know what a Comic Con.  It’s a convention for comic books, science fiction, fantasy and all other things geeky and nerdy.  Seeing as how those are things that I love I decided I needed to be part of the first Comic Con held in Salt Lake City.  I bought a ticket on line and went down for the opening night. 

I brought Lucy with me, since kids under twelve get in free.  I told her about it weeks before and that there would be exhibits and booths about comic book heroes and that people dress up like characters form their favorite shows.  She was way excited for it, especially about the part where she could dress up as a super hero.  So she got her Black Widow costume she got for her birthday last year and we got her a red wig and she went as Black Widow.  I decided to wear a Star Wars shirt and call it good.  Any costume I would have would have been of poor quality and looked shoddy at best.

Her costume was really popular we had about three dozen people ask to take her picture.  Like this lady who was also dressed as Black Widow and said she needed her picture with the “Little Black Widow”.  That’s what happens at these things when you dress up, people want your picture and Lucy was pretty popular.

When we saw Loki (the villain from the Avengers and Thor movies) we asked him if he would be in a picture with our Little Black Widow.  He said of course and I took a pic.  When I turned around there were ten other people taking pictures of these two, apparently it’s really cute.  Lucy was a little overwhelmed by that much attention.  When Thor walked by she said she did not want her picture with him, that she was feeling a little nervous.

We met up with my brother in law John and his wife Liz.  We walked around with them for a while and got our picture taken with the Good folks of the 501^st Legion, that’s the local group that dresses like the bad guys from Star Wars and attends events like this.    

 

They apparently also have Han Solo in carbonite in their possession.

We also visited the Rebel Legion, the good guy equivalent of the 501^st Legion, and Lucy was excited to get her picture with R2-D2. 

Lucy’s favorite part was meeting Spiderman. 

I’m really glad we went; it was a lot of fun.  I would have liked to have attended the other two days and gotten the chance to meet some of the celebrities they brought in and listen to their panels, all stuff Lucy would have hated.  But instead I ended up working the James Taylor concert at the Conference Center (Lucy also would have hated that too), I find his music boring and lame and now he’s keeping me from what I would rather be doing.  Life just isn’t fair I guess.

Television With Lucy

Lately Lucy has been obsessed with the show Super Hero Squad, which I must admit is a welcomed break from My Little Pony. It’s a light hearted show about the Marvel super heroes, the regular being the Incredible Hulk, Iron Man, Thor, Wolverine, Captain America and the Silver Surfer, though there are many episodes that involve other of Marvels super heroes like the X-Men and the Fantastic 4. Not only has Lucy become obsessed with watching these super heroes but she is now into playing super heroes as well. Here she is with a group of her little friends playing super heroes.

The show is designed for younger viewers so the plot is not very involved, there is a whole lot of action and a bunch of humor designed to keep kids attention as well as some adults with short attention spans.

Television With Lucy

In the latest edition of “Television With Lucy” I present “Danny Phantom”. This show is one of Arianes least favorites, it hasn’t been watched out our house for some time. Part of it was Ariane saw a lot of this show for several weeks in a row and got really tired of it, Lucy gets into a show and then only wants to watch that one show over and over, our Netflix account makes that possible. Also Ariane was at the end of her pregnancy while Lucy was watching this show, she was pretty miserable at the time and I think that gave her a bad impression of this show.

The show is centered on Danny Fenton, whose parents are some kind of ghost busters, though they are not very good at it. One of their machines gives him ghost powers. His parents for most of the show are unaware that he has these powers.

Now he battles an assortment of evil ghosts who are trying to take over the world while navigating all the pitfalls of being a teenager.

His friends Sam and Tucker aid him in his fight against these ghosts and know about his powers.

The theme song tells it better than I can.

Lucy likes the show because it has ghosts in it. She thinks she likes ghosts and scary things but if it gets to scary she gets frightened. This show isn’t too scary and has quite a bit of humor in it. It’s not one I would sit down and watch with her but she sure likes it.

Television With Lucy

It’s time for another installment of “Television With Lucy”, where we take a look at what entertains four year old.

Today we’re talking about “Wild Kratts”, a PBS show that follow the adventures of Chris and Martin Kratt and their friends as they travel the globe to study different animals. Being a PBS show this is marketed as an educational show for kids. The theme song drives Ariane nuts because it’s pretty catchy and gets stuck in her head easily.

The show is mostly cartoon but does start and end with the real Chris and Martin along with some real animals.

The cartoon portion, which is the bulk of the show, has the Kratt brothers traveling to a different part of the world to study a new animal and usually involves them saving that animal from one of the many bumbling idiot villains who have some reason for wanting to capture animal. They save the animal by using that animals “creature power” and their special creature suits.

The Kratt brothers have been doing some kind of animal themed show for PBS on and off for about the last 15 years. It’s undergone several changes moving from all live actors and animals to actors with puppets and now to mostly cartoons. I guess you gotta keep changing to keep the kids interested.

It’s defiantly not the most entertaining show for adults to watch with their kids but it occupies Lucy for a little while and is somewhat educational so I don’t feel like as bad of a parent for turning it on for her.

Television With Lucy

As a parent I have discovered that I end up watching a lot of what my child watches. Some of the shows are more entertaining than others. I feel that it is my duty as a parent to let other parents know about kids shows that are not annoying.

One of the shows that Lucy loves that Ariane and I also find entertaining is “Phineas and Ferb”. The show is made by Disney and involves two step brothers Phineas and Ferb who are able to build just about anything and then along with their friends go on crazy adventures, while all the while their older sister Candice tries to expose what they are doing to their mother, busting them, but before their Mom sees whatever it is they have made somehow manages to be gone before she can see it.

Perry is the boys pet platypus who unbeknownst to them is also a secret agent, agent P, who has regular battles with the evil but incompetent Dr. Doofenshmirtz. He’s also Lucy’s favorite character on the show. Check it out.



Arianes favorite part of the show is the music. In the tradition of classic Disney cartoons and movies every episode has a different musical number. The tunes are very catchy
Lucy’s favorite is the “Gitchee Gitchee Goo” from the episode Phineas and the Ferb-Tones, where the boys create their own one hit wonder.

Arianes favorite song is “Hey Ferb” from the episode “Musical Roller Coaster”. She prides herself in being able to identify every musical they parody in the song.

My favorite song is the “Perry the Platypus” theme song.

The show has gotten very popular and now has segments on Disney Channel and on line called “Take Two With Phineas and Ferb” where the boys interview various celebrities like Regis Philbin, Andy Samberg, Tony Hawk and Taylor Sift, just to name a few.

We find the show witty and funny, if you are a parent looking for a show for the kids to watch that won't annoy you or if your just a bored adult with nothing better to do, “Phineas and Ferb” may be just what you are looking for.

Manly Names: The Final Four

It’s now less then a week till Arianes due date. The doctor told her she shows no signs of going into labor any time soon. So that means it’s time for another one of these polls about the baby’s name.
We have the final four for the Manly Names. I’ve discussed in depth what’s great about these names, but now lets discus some of the draw backs to each of the remaining names. It’s down to the following:

JERMAIN: The name of Weber States star point guard but also the name of Michael Jackson's less famous brother who sung with him in the group the Jackson Five. Not sure I want a name that is associated with Michael Jackson some how.

GASTON: He may be manly but the country he is from is not. In the last 100 years they’ve been beaten in two world wars and the only good things they’ve given us are the oceanographer Jacques Cousteau and that horny skunk Pepe Le Pew.

MAVERICK: Sure it’s the same name used by the cowboy Mel Gibson played and the navy fighter pilot that Tom Cruise played, but lets face it those two guys don’t enjoy the best reputation anymore. From arrests to acting crazy on talk shows, these guys don’t have the same great reputation they used to.

JACK: A lot of good things about this name but lets not forget it’s also associated with a brand of whiskey, slang for a donkey and a certain movie trilogy (which I love but other find it offensive).

So given those draw backs let us know which manly name from our final four you think the boy should have. Hopefully he’ll come soon so we can stop doing these stupid posts and get back to what’s really important, my half baked ideas.

Manly Names: Lucy Edition

It looks like Gaston took the vote for “Manly Villain Name” Though it was very close with Megatron. With three weeks left till the due date I’ll keep pressing on in my search for a manly name for the boy. Our next category is “Manly Names: The Lucy Edition” or in other words names that Lucy has wanted to name the boy and they are creative.




LIGHTNING: Lucy has loved the movie “Cars” for as long as she can remember. So of course this has at one time been a name she wanted her new brother to have. However given the boys gene pool he won’t be called Lightning for his speed but possibly for sticking his hand in a light socket. Perhaps McQueen could be the first name or we could call him Lightning McBredthauer, it would make people wonder if we were Scottish or German.

R2-D2: Her favorite character from “Star Wars”. We always have to have a “Star Wars” character in these polls. It would be easy to learn to spell and with a last name like Bredthauer and easy first name can really come in handy.

PHINEAS: From Lucy’s current favorite show “Phineas and Ferb” produced by Disney. Phineas is pictured below with his pet platypus Perry. I know it’s not the manliest name, but it is what Lucy wants. The show revolves around these two kids Phineas and Ferb who are step brothers and they build all kinds of crazy stuff and have all kinds of adventures. Araine finds the show witty and funny, Lucy finds it entertaining.

JACK: Lucy likes this name because it is the name of one of her favorite movie characters, Jack Skellington from “The Nightmare Before Christmas”. It may be a semi scary movie but she loves it. I how ever think we should name him Jack after the famous pirate Captain Jack Sparrow and Arianes grandpa was named Jack as well. We could name him Jack S Bredthauer and the S could stand for Skellington, Sparrow or Stevens depending on which one of us you talk to.

Not as many names this time but enough that we can get an idea of what you like based on what Lucy likes. Let us know which one or ones you like and be sure to vote. If the boy hasn’t come by next week we will have another poll up.

Manly Names: Villain Edition

Ariane is now entering that last four weeks of her pregnancy, or at least she hopes she is. We’ll just wait and see if the boy decides to stay in an extra week or so.

Having still not settled on a name it’s time for another poll. We’ll consider the last poll the Manly Names: Heroes Edition, where Maverick really cleaned house in the polls. That makes this one the Villains Edition. So here are some of our favorite manly villains. Disney characters seem to dominate this one, but that’s because Disney creates such memorable villains. Here is the next set of names in no particular order.

GASTON: There’s no one in town half as manly as you can see he’s got biceps to spare. He is defiantly one of the manliest of Disney villains. No one's slick as Gaston, no one's quick as Gaston and no one's neck's as incredibly thick as Gaston's. All qualities every man would want. The drawback is he’s defiantly lacking in the brains department. But on the plus side every last inch of him is covered in hair.

VOLDEMORT: I’m sure with the popularity of the Harry Potter movies and books this name is going to really take off. We could even refer to the boy as He Who Must Not Be Named, though that may get a little long when paired with Bredthauer.

JAFFAR: This gives us some ethnicity. It would really throw people off when they ask where his family is descended from and the boy tells them Germany. We would need to get an obnoxious parrot to go with the name and I'm not sure how long I can put with that.

DARTH: I can’t have a name list without someone from Star Wars being on it or in this case two someone’s. His middle name would be based on who ever we chose to name him after, either Vader or Maul.

MEGATRON: He is the leader of the Decepticons in the Transformers movies and cartoon show. He’s a pretty bad dude but he’s never r been able to finish of the Autobots and really put them away. He’s kind of a failure but you’ve got to admire his tenacity, every time he flees you here him yell, “Next time Prime” (referring to Optimus Prime, his arch nemesis) The guy just doesn’t know how to quit.

COBRA COMMANDER: We would just call him Cobra; maybe make Commander his middle name.  Leader of a group of military terrorists from the G.I. Joe cartoon show and movie.   Same story as Megatron, leader of an evil group and he can’t seem to beat the good guys but always promises to be back again. For the record this movie was terrible so that is another drawback. This name does have the snake that we could use instead and drop the Commander from the middle name. It is one of the most poisonous snakes in the world.

SCAR: I’ve always wondered why his parents named him this. Was he born with a scar, did they not name until after he had the scar, did he get the scar during delivery or is it just a coincidence? Either way it would force me to give the boy some kind of scar on his face which may be borderline child abuse, but maybe it doesn’t count if you name your kid Scar and you are just helping him live up to his name sake.

There you have it, our manly names for villains. Let us know which one you like and we’ll let you know of the boy arrives early; otherwise we’ll see how many of those polls we can do in the next four weeks.

Manly Names

As many of you know Arianes due date is coming up at the end of August so we only have about six or seven weeks to come with a truly MANLY name for the boy.

THOR- This one is for my brother Greg who is really pushing for this name, I’m sure my brother in-law John and his wife Liz would be on board for this name too.

RAMBO- Technically his first name is John but we could go with Rambo for a first name. Sylvester Stallone could work if we only used his last name for the boys first name, just like with Rambo.

ROOSTER- A manly cowboy with an eye patch, we could also use John Wayne as well but I think I would pass on Jeff Bridges for a name.

MAVERICK-We could name the boy after the pilot in “Top Gun” played by Tom Cruise. Tom Cruise is too crazy to name the boy after. He could also be named for the cowboy character Mel Gibson played; I don’t know that Mel’s name is good enough these days after all the trouble he’s been in. Or we could name him after the team that won the NBA championship the year he was born, then we could decorate his room in a Dallas Mavericks theme, however I’m not a big Dallas fan so that seems pretty unlikely.

WOLVERINE- The character played by Hugh Jackman, though Hugh does not make it to our manly list, or the animal itself. Either way you look at it it’s manly.

HERCULES- One of the oldest manly names around could be for the Disney cartoon character, the mythological Greek character or the character played by Kevin Sorbo. Sorry Kevin your names not quite manly enough to be considered.

INDIANA- This might be my favorite movie character of all time. Played by Harrison Ford who’s name could be considered manly enough for this list, not quite on the same level as John Wayne since Harrison in real life is kind of a hippie.

HAN- Han Solo is the most manly character from “Star Wars”, he’s a reluctant hero, a rogue, a scoundrel and he’s been described as a space cowboy, how cool is that? Chewbacca was also considered to represent the “Star Wars” franchise but let’s face it that would just be ridiculous when paired with Bredthauer.

Please vote and let us know what name you think is MANLY enough for the boy. Just because a name wins doesn’t necessarily mean that we will use it, but I will try my hardest to convince Ariane.