Still awaiting the scientists and ... Echo and The Bunnymen?

Anderson is still with us. Clearly evil scientists aren't as responsible now as they were in the past (don't know what I'm talking about? Read the previous post.)

Today is Halloween and unfortunately I'll be unable to trick-or-treat with Anderson as I'm working. Natalie will, however, and we should have some pictures for the blog tomorrow.

From an entertainment standpoint, I was bored at work the other day and was browsing the archives of Rolling Stone magazine online. Here's a brief part of a 1981 review ...

I Will Follow," the kickoff cut from the debut album by Irish whiz kids U2, is a beguiling, challenging, perfect single. With its racing-pulse beat, tinkling percussion and mantra-simple chorus of dogged affection ("If you walkaway, walkaway/I walkaway, walkaway–I will follow"), it's already a dance-floor favorite.

Unfortunately, much of the rest of Boy doesn't quite equal that first vital piece of precocity. U2 plays smart, bass-heavy trance-pop, urged on by the earnest vocal emoting of Bono Vox and enlivened by the ringing accents of the versatile guitarist who calls himself the Edge. But their songs–mostly chronicles of psychic growing pains–are a diffuse and uneven lot. "Out of Control" boasts the same heady rumble as "I Will Follow," while "Stories for Boys" is carried by its B-movie guitar line and soaring youthful harmonies. Other tunes, however, are less successful. "An Cat Dubh" and the seemingly interminable "Shadows and Tall Trees" ramble without resolution, neither coalescing into identifiable hooks nor attaining the seductive atmospherics of, say, Echo and the Bunnymen.

Hopefully, U2 may yet justify Island's hyped-up optimism. With the help of creative producer Steve Lillywhite, they've already blended echoes of several of Britain's more adventurous bands into a sound that's rich, lively and comparatively commercial. And, unlike the real innovators, they'll have the tour support to back it up. U2 is talented, charming and potentially (they're all still under twenty-one) exceptional. But as a new Next Big Thing, they're only the next best thing to something really new. (RS 341)

DEBRA RAE COHEN
(Posted: Apr 16, 1981)


Wow. Good to hear that they didn't quite live up to "the seductive atmospherics of ... Echo and The Bunnymen."

So I next wondered ... what happened to Brenda Rae Cohen, the person who reviewed the album in 1981? Remarkably, she's 1) still alive, and 2) still employed. And teaching at The University of South Carolina. Here's some stuff from her profile.

Current Research Project(s)
I spent many years as a journalist and critic before returning to academe, and much of my current work is concerned with the conversations and intersections between Modernist literature and the mass media of the period. I just finished co-editing a collection entitled Broadcasting Modernism, about the centrality of radio to Modernist literary culture, and am now at work on a book tentatively entitled Rebecca West and the Mapping of Modernity, which examines West as a limit case for Modernist historiography. Another long-term project is an exploration of the cultural discourses of the cover song. I'm also pondering differences in musical taste, since clearly mine is off-kilter.

Okay. So that last sentence is mine. But you've gotta love someone who can make a career out of "exploration of the cultural discourses of the cover song." Only in America. And what the heck is "modernist historiography"?

Finally, Echo and The Bunnymen still perform. According to wikipedia, they await a record deal to release a new album. They also can be seen at concerts where U2 performs. Provided they buy a ticket like everyone else. Here's a picture of them ...



Happy Halloween. I'm dressing as a Bunnyman.

Anderson: Sold Off for Scientific Experiments

Hi. Big event in our life, as you can see from the title of the post. We've sold Anderson off to be used for scientific experimentation.

"What?"

I understand. It seems so sudden. And so heartless. But if we were heartless we would have sold him into the child slave market instead. And we're not bad people. With scientific experimentation, we know he'll get 3 square meals in his cage and all of the Mary Kay products (squirted in his eyes, of course) that he'd ever want.

Why our change of heart? Well, you'd think it would be changing poopy diapers or lack of sleep, but Anderson miraculously has decreased the frequency of his bowel movements to about 2 a day and is now sleeping 6-7 hours straight at night. Natalie and I are very happy with his progression. It's a shame it didn't happen before the scientists were scheduled to come.

The real reason? To be honest, we looked at the fact that we're sending Anderson to daycare. I know, you're thinking, "Jason and Natalie ... you *both* have careers and have worked long and hard to do what you do. You have responsiblities to your patients. And you'll still be able to spend a lot of time with him when he's not in daycare! *Lots* of kids are in daycare and do great! Why scientific experimentation? He'll be fine."

Well, you'd be wrong, I guess. We thought about it long and hard. Finally, we asked ourselves, "If we're sending Anderson to daycare at 7 weeks, why did we even have kids?" As much as we love him, we realized we must really not love him. So he'll be working for MaryKay now. Or Chanel. The highest bidder, really.

Anderson, it was nice knowing you.

Troubles in Kyrgystan!

These are troubled times in Kyrgystan. Not only do there happen to be numerous challenges to the recent referendum and political turmoil, but it takes *8 letters* in the country's name until a real vowel occurs. (They're not alone ... the word for "neck" in Slovak is "krk".)

They deserve whatever they get.

First Day at Daycare

Continuing the theme of dumping the baby onto other people, Anderson just spent his first day at daycare. Well ... not actually a day. More like 3 hours. But he was in someone else's hands instead of ours. In the case, it was "Miss Maci" and "Miss Something else that I forget". These people are all of 20 years old, but we are to refer to them as "Miss" Whatever, which is pretty entertaining. I guess this is all to train us to think of their schoolteachers as Miss Whatever. We'll get used to it.

Still, it was a pretty emotional thing for Natalie. Even though others have watched over Anderson, entrusting Munchie to some women who just recently graduated from high school (I hope) seemed to overwhelm her. Tears flowed. Me? Internal tears of joy. The tears that come when you realize someone else's eardrum will be pierced by a shrill shriek and the tears that come when you know someone else is responsible for keeping Anderson's bottom clean. Was I emotional? Hell, yes I was.

As for me, this gives me an opportunity to sleep after work (I'm now doing some hospitalist work and will start some nephrology work once my Medicare number has come in) and to study for my nephrology board exam on November 20th. I'm looking forward to taking this test as much as I'm looking forward to driving a rusty nail into my elbow. But it's the last one ever, assuming I pass.

Otherwise Natalie and I are doing well. Here are some pictures of the first day at daycare.





And here's a picture of Lindsay Lohan, just because I think she needs more publicity.

Pushing The Crying Baby Onto The Grandparents

Sorry i haven't updated this for a while, but you'll see we've been busy. And truth be told, I was getting kind of lazy. Here goes ...

Nothing quite like having grandparents spoil your kid.

We decided that my father and Natalie's parents needed a visit from their grandchild last week so we decided to torture the employees of Northwest and Delta Airlines as well as all of the people who flew with us. After scrambling to the airport, we drew a collective deep breath and took Anderson through airport security. Those of you who know me know that I *despise* airport security. There's no real protection - a recent report shows that more than 60% of fake bombs make it through - but they insist you remove your shoes, even if you're wearing flip flops. Nail clippers? Clearly a threat. It would be nice to have substance over style at some point, and anyone with half of a brain knows that these procedures don't make us safe, they just slow us down. Don't believe me on the fake bombs? Here's the link ...

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=15445779

Back to the story. I never knew that you are classified as "special needs" when you have a kid. I associate that with people in wheelchairs and people who drool a lot. We took it, however, because we got to bypass the poor schleps in the line and join other tortured parents in a short, "special" line. So after waking up Anderson to carry him through security (as our car seat carrier was clearly a security threat) we made our way to the gate and awaited Anderson's meltdown.

Never happened. The kid heard the drone of the airplane engine and went to sleep. On all 4 segments. A friggin' angel baby, and every flight attendant compliments us on how sweet of a child Anderson is. Unbelievable. I now plan on flying every night if possible.

So we arrived in Tampa and drove to see my father in Bradenton. I quickly tossed Munchie into my dad's arms and said "Hold him for a little", giving him no choice in the matter. He did this reluctantly at first, perhaps aware of all of the damage he did by repeatedly dropping me. Still, he seemed to grow accustomed to this and actually seemed to enjoy it with time. With the other time we had, we relaxed near the gulf and mentally prepared for the next part of our trip - a visit to the Burger household.

Natalie's mom *loves* Anderson. I'm convinced she didn't notice we were there, which Natalie and I quickly took advantage of by dumping Anderson off on Olga, Amadeus (yes, my father-in-law is named "Amadeus ... pretty cool.) and Natalie's younger sister Diana. The cuddled with him, bounced him on their laps and repeatedly wiped his butt, which they somehow seemed to enjoy. I guess when your city is about to run out of water you appreciate just about anything. Pretty soon the citizens of Atlanta will be begging for you to spit in their face.

We went to a movie and tried to find Natalie some professional clothes, because the thing I like to do most while on vacation is shop for my wife's professional clothes. Uh huh. We did manage to see a movie, "Across The Universe", which was a semi-lame psychedelic trip to the music of The Beatles. Good idea, mediocre follow-through. And the days went by until we had to resume parental responsibilities again. We're now back in Austin ... and my mom (Hurricane Jane) has arrived ...

More info next blog ...

Some pictures follow ...

1 month old: Shouldn't Anderson be toilet trained by now?

I'm beginning to think my son is a little slow.

Today, for instance, he began the morning with a series of grunts. Don't get me wrong. Grunting is good and I have no problems with it. Stallone made a career out of it. Arnold turned it into the governorship of California. Still, it seems that Anderson is focusing too much on this and not enough on his debate skills. And he hasn't finished his calculus homework yet. He is, after all, 1 month old now. And this grunting seems to be associated with defecation a lot of the time. Rather than asking for permission to use the toilet, he merely grunts and loads up his diaper. Sounds like acting out to me. How embarrassing. His mom went to MIT ... they're smart there, but perhaps they have anger issues and acted out by soiling themselves? I guess I'll never understand how the elite people think ...

On an unrelated note, Natalie and I are attempting to buy her a new car. The sleaze factor hasn't been as bad as I'd anticipated (but still bad) at the local Acura dealership. It's funny how you present them with numbers from Consumer Reports and they deny the accuracy of those numbers. Basically they just wear you down. The only positive I can take out of the entire process is that at the end of the day, I don't go home knowing that I have to go back to the dealership to rip another person off.

Hopefully there's a special place in hell for car salesman.

We'll be taking Anderson to Florida to see my dad and then Atlanta to see Natalie's family. Because of this, there will be a delay in posting new blogs unless I get bored during the trip. Regardless, we won't be able to post any pictures of Anderson during this time. Until then, here are a couple of new ones ...

Back to the Womb!

Today Anderson was kind enough to urinate and defecate on me, the diaper changing table and the carpet simultaneously. There was a slight smile before he did this, which I guess is common for kids prior to having a bowel movement. Why this occurs is unknown, but I'm guessing that there is a certain evil pleasure they take in making your life miserable. This (and crying louder than a 747) is how they start. I'm betting that this will probably occur in one shape or form for the next 21 years.

Because of this I'm requesting that Anderson be surgically repositioned in Natalie's uterus. It seems that everyone was happier when he was there the first time. Anderson was floating in a big, warm swimming pool where he could pee freely. Natalie could say "Look at my pregnant belly and give me the props that I deserve." She'd even have a bigger belly now and would get even more respect. And me? I could, well ... sleep. And not have every bodily process performed on me. Goign back to the uterus would be like a sequel. Usually not good, but every once in a while you get Spiderman 2. I'm looking into this ...

From a pop culture point of view, I just saw the first episode of "Pushing Daisies", which is a new show on ABC. A quirky, fairy-tale story of a guy who brings people back to life by touching them. The only problem is that if he touches them again they die, this time permanently. Charming show. Check it out.

Finally, my half-Ironman triathlon is this Sunday. Barring a fall or technical problems with the bike, the only slight risk is that of me drowning. I'm not a strong swimmer. If I do drown, I'll probably make CNN and you'll know how I did that way. If not, results will be found at:

http://www.endorfunsports.com/longhorn/longhornhalfiron.html

No new photos this time ... sorry!