Idol Thoughts: Top 36 Part 3
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Posted on March 5th, 2009 by
All I could think after last week was … is this actually going to happen; are we going to really watch this show this week after the last two weeks went from terrible to brutal? Well, since I’m writing this I guess you have your answer! Tuesday night we were back to our usual time slot, but the rest of the show – from limited time in the ‘red room’ to highlighting family members in the audience – remained pretty much the same. Once again, the odds were stacked against each contestant as the majority were performing for the final time on the Idol stage. And once again what the judges said seemed more in sync with some pre-scribed notes than what was actually happening on stage, but that isn’t surprising, because this … is American Idol!
A Childhood without Television
Posted on March 4th, 2009 by
Another computer? Another computer. See that tiny thing to the right? That’s the Dell Studio Hybrid. That’s a tiny PC. And buying one is going to save me over $1000 a year. I have a big screen LCD in my living room and my basement office. During my long heart attack recovery (also known as 2008) I spent most of my time gaming downstairs. Computer gaming, Xbox 360 gaming, watching TV (Hulu.com), watching movies and reading the Internet. Cable TV became something Linda would have on upstairs, but I realized, almost everything she watched could be seen on the Internet. I have so many computers and online devices, I have a nice Wifi Network, and I’m paying for Road Runner Turbo. “Linda,” I said gently (such things must be handled gently). “How about we cancel cable TV?”
Idol Thoughts: Top 36 Part 2
Posted on March 1st, 2009 by
Another week, another three hours resulting in three more finalists making it to the top 12. Things were done a bit differently this time – performance night was moved to Wednesday due to the Presidential address, which puts off my schedule as well! Also, the overall format changed to include less interaction with the families of the singers – rather than sitting in the ‘red room’ (red because of the Coca Cola stuff plastered everywhere), they sat in the audience and glared at Simon whenever he said anything bad about their son or daughter or wife or friend. Which was often. Because this … is American Idol!
Meet Melodie
Posted on February 26th, 2009 by
Meet Melodie (it’s video and you will need sound). She’s 1-year old and I’m worried she might start her own blog and put me out of business! The video shows a familiar scene. A daughter, sippy cup, bib, a father, and flash cards. Video game character flash cards. Now, is this the right thing to teach? Wouldn’t numbers be better? My answer is “not really.” Why?
Idol Thoughts: Top 36 Part 1
Posted on February 19th, 2009 by
Over the last two nights we’ve experienced three hours dedicated to sending 75% of the people appearing home. That is right, in a new twist this year, we get to go back to pretty much the way things were done the first three seasons! For the past four seasons the judges have pared things down to twenty-four and then viewers voted on equally split sets of men and women. This was done to ensure an equal split in the Top 12 Finalists. This year the system works like this: there are three sets of twelve, and from that set the top male and female vote-getters go through along with the next top person whether male or female.
GamerFamily’s Week in Games
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Posted on February 13th, 2009 by
Hey all, just dropping a note to talk about “What WE’RE Playing” over here at GamerDad hideout. GamerDad, me, is (was?) playing Civilization Xbox 360, Bully (I like this one, can’t seem to stop) and a little bit of Left 4 Dead. Maggie is on Club Penguin, doing Math on Didj and playing Ravin’ Rabids TV Party, Henry is still on the Kart. GamerMom, still healing, has been spotted playing Super Monkey Ball (iPhone), and DS titles like Brain Age. Cooking Mama is still in that mix – pun intended. Click here to talk about what YOUR GamerFamily is playing. Join the discussion.
Idol Thoughts: Season Eight … not great
Posted on February 12th, 2009 by
Welcome back to a new edition of ‘Idol Thoughts’, my musings on my family’s thoughts as we watch yet another season of FOX’s top rated reality show pseudo-contest. Last year I chimed in weekly as the show started to wind down. This year I debated whether or not to even attempt it – but since we’ve watched almost every episode so far, I figured I might as well kick it off and see where it goes! more…
Really Great Video Games
Posted on February 11th, 2009 by
subtitle: For Kids and Families – As the pioneer gaming/website expert on gaming and children, I was actually happy when I saw CommonSenseMedia.org launch. It gave nonprofit legitimacy to this GamerDad vision I had, and that was personally very satisfying. Well, I worked for them for a while and lo and behold my name appears in the acknowlegements. Potentially there are scores of reviews written personally by your own GamerDad. The book: Really Great Video Games has hundreds of reviews at your fingertips. Bring on the royalties, right?
GamerDad Family – Henry Day
Posted on February 10th, 2009 by
Happy, Happy, Henry Day!
February 7th 2003: Linda and I drove to Mount Sinai Hospital, but unlike the last time we made that drive, under those conditions, this time we did it … calmly.
Henry’s Mario Party!
Posted on February 9th, 2009 by
Henry, my boy, my lad, my buddy, my GamerKid, my son turned 6 on February 7th. Since he is now thoroughly obsessed with “Intendo” – we threw him a small Mario Party to celebrate. Present were (names changed) Timmy and Clarabel, the latter being Henry’s (gasp, swoon) “girlfriend” and the former, as it turned out, was the 3rd wheel. GamerMom made a cake with blue frosting depicting Mario’s world and we got him plush dolls of: Mario, a Goomba, a Boo, a Mushroom, a Piranha Pete, Bowser and Kirby dressed as Link (2 birds, I figured, 1 stone). Decorations were Mario themed and, of course, videogames were played. . .
