Walk the Walk

So very cool stuff has been happening lately...

Lynda and Barb treated myself and Heidi to a picnic/concert of the BoDeans last week at the Ravinia. We also went with Mitch and Sharon so a good time was had hanging out and listening to music. The conversation only veered into politics once and I finally shut my yap so we could just enjoy the evening. Thanks again everyone, it was fun.

My brother Larry has started a Skateboard clothing company called guy skinny. Check him out at guyskinny.com He's busting his hump to make a go of it and I think he's got what it takes to make it happen. Hopefully I'll be doing some art for them as well for their line of t-shirts.

Now something very coooooool.

This went on for ten minutes and I loved every minute of it as you can probably tell. Also that's They Might Be Giants: Here Come the 1,2,3's DVD on the TV.



Here we have a little something extra in the basket... and I don't mean the little boy...

I am Geek, hear me geek out over geeky stuff.

Okay so I saw the Toadies on Thursday night and they Rocked My Face Off! What an intense show. Glad I was able to hit at least one concert this summer that I really wanted to see. Never had a chance to see them in their day, and now after 8 years they're back together and on tour. I went with Eric Schwebach and Jason Salas, a good time was had by all. New album drops on the 19th, looking very forward to it.

Movies I've peeped this summer...

Iron Man, near perfect comicbook action/adventure film

The Dark Knight, near perfect comicbook crime/drama film

Get Smart, funny movie, perhaps a little heavy on the "action" for a comedy but I'll forgive it since it was still fun.

Wall-E, I love almost anything from Pixar. And while this movie is toward the bottom of my favorite Pixar flicks it's still an amazingly good movie. The animation is as always a joy to behold but there were live-action inserts that were just horrid and had no place in the film.

Comicbooks I'm digging this summer are Garth Ennis' Punisher, Ex Machina, Billy Batson and the Magic of Shazam, Secret Invasion, Invincible and Walking Dead.

Also Teri and Mom were kind enough to buy Guitar Hero Aerosmith for me for my birthday. It was a great gift since I've never owned any of the GH games and Aerosmith is one of my favorite bands. Despite them being a favorite band of mine Zakk Wylde is my favorite guitarist. In fact many of you know that I wanted to spell Zach's name ZAKK. Well Zakk has played a guitar with a black and pearl bullseye on it that he refers to as "The Grail". He doesn't tour with the original anymore but he has his own signature series modeled after it and has other ones with varying colors, black and silver, red and yellow, black and camo. All very cool but the original black and pearl is where it's at.

Here's Zakk shredding on the black and pearl.



Here's my GH controller customized by me. I know, I'm sooooooo cool. Just ask the kids, I'm hip, I'm down...



Back of the headstock



Top side of the neck has a saying I came up with meant to be a joke, but I love it cause I worked in the name of my favorite painter. If you can't read it for some reason it says "You can call me Norman, 'cause I Rockwell" c'mon admit it, that's pretty good.

Something witty and clever goes here to grab your attention.

So got a little update here, got some pics of Zach with his new cousin Giada and some others of him on a "playdate" and other random cool stuff.

Things are pretty busy right now between stuff going on in the Men's Ministry in the Church, Heidi taking a class this week and this weekend going to see the BoDeans, but before we see them, I'll be doing some side work while Heidi chills in the Herrero pool. She earned it though, taking an entire class in one week is no small feat. But that's Heidi for you, amazing.

On to the photo parade, you lucky ducks...

Here he is with his cousin



Shhhhh.... there's no need for words my love.



I am man I eat good



Looks like he's trying to rip one but he's just inherited his Daddy's nonsensical ways of sleeping whilst throwing one's legs in whichever direction strikes our fancy



He loves to splash



Hello ladies, you can call me Super-handsome-man. Stare into my superduper deep blue eyes... that's right, my powers involve being adorable

You can now see Dr. Horrible all together

This is an official spot to see Dr. Horrible in all it's glory. Joss Whedon approved!
Check it out kids! (although it's not really for kids, that's just an expression)

www.hulu.com/watch/28343/dr-horribles-sing-along-blog

Sorry my linky thingy no worky...

Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog

If you like laughing and have a little time to kill check out drhorrible.com

Joss (Firefly/Serenity) Whedon directs and stars How I Met Your Mother's Neil Patrick Harris, Nathan (Firefly/Serenity/Desperate Housewives) Fillion and Felicia Day (whom I think was on Whedon's Buffy the Vampire Slayer, but I never watched that show).

It's really funny and only on the web until Sunday Act one and two are now live and three goes live tomorrow and then it all goes bye bye unless you get it from Itunes for six bucks or wait for a DVD release. I'm waiting for the DVD myself.

Each act is approx. 15 minutes long and includes lots of funny stuff.

Check it out.

Zach's first birthday, a newborn, 6 Year Anniversary and more!

Okay so the last month has been jam packed with goings on of the family variety.

Heidi's sister Jen had her first child Giada Morgan Grell. Yes for those in the comicbook know she's married to Travis, Mike Grell's nephew. She's a beautiful little girl with the most awesome chipmunk cheeks. I see much squeezing in the poor kids future. She was a hefty 9 pounds 12 ounces (same as me!) and 21 inches tall. We spent a day up in Green Bay a couple of weeks ago right after she was born and then Heidi went up herself the next week to help while I chilled at home with Z.



The rewiring of the house is pluggin' along, I've started to rework Z's fort in the backyard and our neighbor Kay was super cool and helped us totally redo the landscaping in front of the house. An amazing improvement. So lot's of house stuff going as always.

Next up was Z's birthday. I cannot believe it's been a year. Pretty much the entire reason I started this blog was to keep everyone in the loop on how he's doing. He's walking around like crazy (with assistance of course) and with Heidi staying at home with him for the summer becoming a bit of a Momma's boy. He's in for a rude awakening come September. Anywho, he's got eight teeth showing now and more on the way, eating lots of different foods and all the other stuff regular toddlers do. Now onto the birthday celebration! Heidi's Mom and Dad came by for the festivities and boy was Zach a happy dude. He got cake and ice cream for the first time. He kept eating all the while looking at us like he's worried that he's going to get into trouble.






Then we head down that night to Chicago for the Comicon and to see my Mom who's back in town. I hit the Con Friday with Cody and Saturday with Cody and Aaron. Fun was had. Sunday was Zach's first time in the pool. While the pictures don't really tell the story he was loving it and did a lot of splashing, which he now does in the bathtub.







So Monday was Heidi and I's 6th Anniversary! It was a great day, especially since I got off work early as a surprise. But both of us totally spaced our tradition of going to the Allen Gardens (see July of last year) where we got married (this kid is a major distraction from Heidi and I trying to live our lives). So we went the next day and it was gorgeous out. We walked around with Zach and a nice gal took our picture while her friend tried to get Zach to look at the camera. It was a nice night. I also got to hang with my man Eric who is in town from Florida so that was cool too.








We're heading back down to Chi-town this weekend for a little bit as well.

Later.



Joe, Zach, and Addy



Someone's got a crush.

BIG UPDATE COMING SOON!

Here's a little teaser...