Mac Game: Burger Shop

I found a cool game via a web link from Facebook, I believe. It's a site that sells lots of games for the Mac, offering a free 1-hour demo of each. I saw this one called Burger Shop at #3 on their Most Popular list and decided to try it... it was a blast! I showed it to the boys and they loved it, too!

Basically, you fill fast food orders :-) Jen and I think this was made by the fast food industry, because when I was playing it with the boys, we were all really starting to crave burgers, fries, milk shakes and more. :-) It's got a fun little story that goes along with the game, and is super fast paced but pretty simple. Click on the photo above to check it out.

If you don't have a Mac... come visit me at the Apple Store... :-)

Psych

For a while now, my parents, knowing we are fans of the show Monk, have said that we would enjoy the USA Networks show, Psych. So much so that they gave us the first season on DVD!

But, as you might already know, life has been quite busy around here, so we have not taken/found the time to watch it. Until last night.

Jen and I popped in the pilot episode DVD, honestly, not sure we would like it. We really don't like TV in general, and especially current/newer TV. But we do like Monk, and we do trust my parents' recommendations. So... we were curious as to what we'd think.

We loved it. :-)

The characters are fun, the story was funny and intriguing, I was laughing aloud much of the time we were watching. We definitely recommend. Looking forward to watching the rest of Season 1.

I'm assuming that we are late to the party here, I'm not even sure what season they are one. Lemme check... Season three. So, not too far behind, actually! But, if you have not seen it yet - as we had not - we do recommend.

Book Review: Dangerous Wonder

I finished the book Dangerous Wonder earlier this week, and just wanted to say a few words about it, and again, highly recommend the read. It's actually a very short book, and full of very cool stories of people living life recklessly, irresponsibly, and altogether fantastically.

You might not think reckless and irresponsible would lead to "fantastic" but in this case, they do.

Mike Yaconelli presents a case for living life like a child. The last chapter kind of surmised the whole thing: be like a little kid. Jesus told us that we wouldn't see the kingdom unless we did, and it's so true. When we lose our kid-ness (and become "grown ups") we forget what it's like to trust, to play, to enjoy the moment, to be excited about the ordinary, and to be able to ask for help. All of those things are essential parts of life in the kingdom of God. And all are far too easy forgotten.

There were a few great, real-life stories of unabashed, unashamed grace and love shown to people - who did not deserve it. Usually from a child to an adult. You really need to read the book, but let me give you a couple examples.

He told of a type-A dad who had a very set routine every day when he came home from work. It was so set that his three-year-old son knew it by heart as well. One day, when he came home, the son came up to him and told him he had something for him. So he went over to the counter where the cookies were, climbed up (almost knocking down all the glasses) got a cookie... spilled the rest of them, but put them back... even poured a glass of milk for his dad - spilling a bunch on the floor in the process.

The best part of the story --- the dad just smiled, and accepted the gift of love from his son! It would have been easy to criticize all the mistakes, and the mess... but in a moment of greatness, he just let his son love him. What a great story!

The other story was near the end of the book, and featured the author himself. He and his wife had taken in a teenage boy for a time who had an abusive, drunken father. He eventually went on his way, but as "luck" would have it, a couple years later, the author and his wife needed to have some flooring installed, and the only contractor available to do it was the "drunken father!" They protested, but the supply company insisted, it was him or a very long wait. They chose the drunken father, but kept a very careful eye on him, assuming he would somehow try to cheat them.

As the work progressed to the final stages, Yaconelli came in to inspect and said that he'd be in his office, so the contractor could come get his payment there. Drunken father replied, "Oh yes, I need to talk with you about the bill." Yaconelli was infuriated and was certain that the man would try to weasel more money out of them - but he would hold firm!

When the man came in, finished with his work, he sat down and began writing out the bill. Yaconelli said he was quite ready to take on anything this guy had to dish out. But when the contractor finished writing, he looked up and said, "A couple years ago, I was a drunk, and I abused my family. You guys took in my son at a crucial time in his life, and saved my family. I've been sober ever since, and it has a lot to do with what you did for our family." Then he handed them the bill marked "Paid In Full".

That is just a perfect picture of grace. The unloveable was the one doing the loving. So cool.

Lots of great moments like that, and a reminder to live life to the fullest - like Jesus said he came to bring us - and definitely worth the read! Click the book cover above to buy a copy, or just check it out at your local library.

Next, in the queue... CS Lewis' Screwtape Letters, as well as In a Pit With a Lion on a Snowy Day.

Currently Reading

You may have noticed that I added a "Currently Reading" section to the sidebar on the right. I thought it would be fun for you to sort of peek over my shoulder and see what's going into my head these days. (Since this is "Greg's Head dot net...)

I think maybe the book, Dangerous Wonder by Mike Yaconelli, affected my previous post, and has been reminding me again of the things that are important in my life. Namely, my family, and remembering to just live life with passion and fully enjoy it. To be like a little kid - fully loved by his Dad.

It's a very good book. I have read it before and wanted to be reminded of these things again. Glad that I picked it up. Been reading a chapter each morning. Gonna try and keep up (at least) that pace for a while. Been missing reading.

I'll likely have more to say when I finish the book in a couple days. For now, if you'd like to get your own copy, the little widget takes you right to Amazon where you can get one for yourself. I do recommend.

Anyone Feeling Generous?

I have officially come to the end of my chai supply. I'm pretty sure I have mentioned it here before, but many of you who know me in person have frequently heard me herald the greatness of this warm beverage. My favorite brand so far is Big Train chai. (Pictured to the right.) They have some great deals at Amazon.com, but with a stack of bills waiting to be paid... I'm going to hold off on the purchase for now.

So I just thought I would offer you the opportunity to be super (cali-fragi) generous and send a little chai my way... (all you need to do is click the photo of chai.......) ;-)

Anyone feeling generous? :-)

Naples Grape Festival

Tomorrow and Sunday is the annual Grape Festival in Naples, NY. It's about 35-40 minutes from our house, but we've never gotten to go. We've had a grape pie or two from the event, but never witnessed it in person. We happen to have an open schedule, so we're planning to go! It's a neat little town, and I think mostly the festival is about food. (But then, what festival isn't??) :-) So it should be a super fun day!

I'll try and bring back a report... but no promises on that one! ;-)

If you're a local, and you'd like more info, just click their photo to the right. Maybe we'll see ya there!

The Water Horse

I was scrolling through the new movie trailers in Front Row tonight and found a movie called "The Water Horse: Legend of the Deep" at the bottom of the list. It was rated PG, so I decided to check it out. Wondered what it might be about.

It had some impressive credits (but, don't they all?) and cool graphics/effects. And I liked the story. Looks like I may have found a movie we can take the kids to see in the dollar theater! :-)

Click the play arrow above to view the trailer. Movie will be in theaters on September 28th. Dollar theaters probably around Christmas time. ;-)

Monk

Anyone out there watch the show Monk? We stumbled upon it (as I do with most TV) as a free video from iTunes maybe even a couple years ago. It's been around for a while, but on USA, so perhaps you've not heard of it.

The premise is that Adrian Monk (Tony Shalhoub) is a genius detective whose attention to detail solves many crimes, but went way off the deep end when his wife died. He has an assistant who tends to his many needs from his many phobias, and a pretty funny cast for the police dept he works with. Tony Shalhoub is a pretty funny actor, and plays the part of Monk perfectly.

We just borrowed Season Four from the library, and watched it over a couple weeks. Great stuff. The show is not rough, overly violent, sexual, or just bad in general. The language is occasionally rougher than your TV from the 80s (what we usually watch) but it's infrequently so, and overall very clever writing.. just a fun show.

The best part is, I have noticed probably another reason I like the show. Maybe Jen, too. I am a bit like Monk! :-) The character is exaggerated, but I really do need things to be in their place before I can relax. Monk will enter a room and can't do anything else until he straightens things on desks, window blinds, etc. Before we sit down to watch the show, I must put everything back in its place in the room. :-)

Pretty funny.

I don't think I'm neurotic, but I definitely do have those tendencies. Just, in small doses.

So, if you've never checked it out, put it in your Netflix queue, or check your local library. Good stuff.

Iwo Jima

Over the past couple weeks I have watched two WWII movies at the recommendation of a friend (or, kind of two... Amy wrote about it on her blog loooong ago, but Marie is the friend I was referring to...). She asked if we had seen Letters from Iwo Jima, to which I replied, "No, what's it about?" She explained that it was sort of a companion to Flags of Our Fathers (which reminded me of Amy's post, about her friends being in the movie...) and from Marie's description, it sounded like they were both worth the watch.

I started with Flags since it was the first one made. It was a good movie. Interesting story angle. The focus was on a field medic (not sure that's really his title... he's the guy who goes out in the middle of a battle to treat/rescue fallen soldiers) who finds himself shipped across the country along with two other "heroes" from Iwo Jima just because he was named as one of the (now famous) flag raisers. (You know that famous statue/photo with those Marines hoisting the American flag together? Yeah, that one.)

It was interesting to think of how desperately America needed heroes. The story goes that the guys the US gov't paraded around did not feel like heroes, or want to be heroes. But in the end, I think they were presented as that, and most people would still consider them that.

As for the story of the battle at Iwo Jima. Just nuts! Intense, insane fighting on a tiny little island off the southern coast of Japan. It was crucial to the war, and it's capture likely helped the US finish the war not much later.

As all war movies, it was just a completely unfathomable environment. The most memorable scene was where the aforementioned medic is in the middle of the battlefield, attempting to treat an American soldier, when out of nowhere comes a Japanese soldier. He lunges at the medic with a knife, but the medic avoids him, and instead is able to use his own knife to stab the Japanese soldier. For a poignant moment, the medic looks the Japanese solider in the eye, the camera has panned out to show the wounded American soldier right next to the now dying Japanese solider. Similar wounds, but the medic is (understandably) trying to kill one, and save the other. It was a very "human" moment in the chaos.

Now the interesting part of the double feature was that the second movie was about the same battle, but from the opposite perspective. Letters is the story as the Japanese saw it. It was filmed almost entirely in Japanese. I thought it was such an interesting idea (the story of an American battle told from the "enemy's" point of view) that I was very much looking forward to watching the second part, maybe more than the first.

It did not disappoint. I thought using the letters from Japanese soliders was a great way to show the humanity of the "enemy" soldiers. I'm sure the easier thing to do in war is to demonize the enemy... and that is what both sides did. There was a cool moment in the movie where a commander of one Japanese unit decides to save and treat a wounded American soldier. His men want to "finish" the Marine, but this commander - who spent some time in America - wanted to "do what is right". He talks to the young Marine, gets to know a little about him. Not much later, the Marine dies of his wounds. The commander found a letter on him from his mother. He reads it aloud (in Japanese... pretty good translating...) :-) to his soldiers. The end of the letter says, "Remember to do what is right. Just because it's right." Another very "human" moment.

Overall I thought both movies did a good job of revealing that we are pretty much the same. Yes as different cultures we do have different priorities and slight differences, but really... we all bleed. We all die. We all fear. We all love. It was an insanely sad event in the history of our planet, but it seems like overall good came from it. Still, watching both movies, you just want to say, "Work it out, boys!"

I will never understand war. I don't suppose any of us will. War movies and books are just fascinating to me for that reason. It's beyond my comprehension how we can so lower the humanity of another person that we are able to kill so many. I know you probably just "do what you have to do", but still... how crazy.

Flags and Letters were both excellent re-tellings of the events at Iwo Jima in WWII, and I do recommend you watch them. Obviously, they are graphic. So, be warned. But the storie are well told, and compelling. And especially Letters is such a fascinating experience... watching the story from the other side. Good stuff.

LifeStories: A Great Family Game

When my parents visited this weekend, we had a little time on Saturday afternoon where we could play a board game. Projects were done, girls were napping, kitchen was cleaned up. I happened to remember the game LifeStories. The point of the game is not competition but chances for all to share stories of meaningful memories in their lives. On each turn you get a card from a certain pile that leads you to tell a specific story from your past.

I asked if we could play, and no one objected... so we did. It was great! The boys (and later Kirstie) got to hear stories from Grammy & Grandpa's past... and Dad's... and later Mom's... and we even got to hear some of the stories that they have found significant in their lives so far. Pretty cool.

We broke it out awhile ago (pretty sure I posted something to the blog here about it?) for just our family to tell stories. That was definitely a fun night, so on a visit from Jen's parents not long after that I broke out the cards from the game and we asked some questions of Grandma & Grandpa... it's just a great way to start the telling of stories.

And really, what better way to spend time with family? :-)

We highly recommend...

Home Defense

On a recent visit to our town (OK, not that recent...) my Dad recommended the product to the right for our serious ant problem. Ever since we moved to Palmyra, we've had a serious ant problem. Every year, without fail. When it warms up, we are inundated with ants. Big, black, nasty ants.

So my Dad says, "Try 'Home Defense'. It works great." I thought, "Yeah, right..." We'd tried several remedies already, but he seemed convinced - so much so, that he bought the stuff for us - and we proceeded to apply the appropriate amount to the outside of our house.

Just tonight, as I was noticing how much food we leave out sometimes, and some of it - like the pot I made sweet tea in tonight - lined with sweet stickiness, I realized that we have had almost NO ants since applying Home Defense. (I have to say "almost" because I am honest to a fault. I'd say we have seen maybe 6 total ants since applying this, and before we did, we would have seen 6 ants per three square inches per hour!!!)

So, if you have ants... I can't recommend this product enough! And, as with the DVD I mentioned below, if you click on the image above (or the text link) and purchase it from Amazon, they will give us a commission for that sale! Stop the ants, and feed Greg's kids. What could be better? :-)

(By the way, as always, whenever you click my amazon links, it takes you to that item's Amazon page, but if you purchase anything on that visit to Amazon - even if I did not link you to it - Amazon will still pay me a small commission for any items you purchase! Sweet deal! There's a link at the top of every GregsHead.net page that takes you to a little Amazon search page where you can begin your Amazon shopping, and they'll give us a percentage of your total. So, if you would like to help feed our kids.......) :-) hehe.