Getting Around To It...

Not that there's a great uproar across the blogosphere about my lack of writing recently, but I still feel bad about my output (or lack thereof) over the past couple of months.  I still have a lot of ideas and topics for future posts floating around in my mind that I simply haven't been able to hammer out on the keyboard.  Most of this has to do with a perceived lack of free time caused by our impending move.  In about a week our little family unit will be packing up and moving from our little house in our little town to an even littler apartment in a big city.  Along with some other distractions over this summer the move has been hanging over our heads like a dark cloud.  At this time it almost feels "selfish" to take the time necessary to think out, write, edit new blog entries.  And that's not even mentioning the time involved with adding photos to those posts.  If all goes well I should lose this excuse in another month or so and be back to my old output of about a blog per week (on average).  We will see...

Not being able to get around to writing has reminded me of a little piece of my past (a VERY little piece).  Back when I was in the U.S. Army I was stationed at Fort Knox in Kentucky.  Yes, there actually is an Army base by that name--it's not just a gold depository.  I was only in the service for two years, but in that time I managed to not write home nearly enough.  I should mention that this was way back in the "dark ages" of the late 1980s.  It was a time before the internet and before cell phones.  While it may seem difficult for someone growing up today, there was a time--not all that long ago--when people would actually write letters as a way to keep in touch.  And I'm talking about literally writing a letter on a piece of paper and using a pen of pencil rather than sending out an e-mail or a text or tweet.  We did make phone calls too (frequently from an ancient device called a "Pay Phone"), but letter writing wasn't quite the endangered art form that it is today.

This isn't to say that I never wrote, it just wasn't as often as it could have been.  During the first part of my time in the service I had a girlfriend and most of my writing involved letters sent to her.  After we broke up I spent a lot more time feeling sorry for myself than writing.  Either way, I never wrote home to my parents nearly as often as I wish I had.  It's true that we're talking about something that I did (or didn't do) nearly a quarter-of-a-century ago, but I still regret my laziness to this day.

At one time my mother sent me a package full of snacks and presents around the time of my birthday.  It was a wonderful little slice of HOME, and a great distraction from the daily grind of living in the barracks doing "Army stuff".  There was one little item in it which was probably meant mostly as a joke, but it also let me know the error of my ways (as minor as that error might have been).  It was a small cardboard box that contained a little wooden token.  The small circle of wood had one word imprinted on it: "TUIT".  My mother wrote on the box "In case you're waiting to write until you get around to it, here it is!"  Yes, she had sent me a "Round Tuit".  The obverse of this little novelty had the name of my father's personal company name, GUSCO, inscribed on it.

I've always remembered that little wooden token and thought about the fact that I should have written home more often.  I actually kept that box of gifts and sent it home when my time in the Army ended.  Along with some other stuff I packed into it there were still some of the original contents.  Not too long ago I found that same box my mom had sent me all those years ago at my parents' house while I was visiting them.  What a wonderful surprise it was to find the little "Round Tuit" in there!  I am now keeping it handy to remind myself that I need to keep finding the time to get around to keeping in touch with the people in my life, as well as finding the time to write this blog.  Hopefully I'll be more successful at doing that today than I was when I was a much younger man.

Worcester Movies on the Common 2012: JAWS

Just when you thought it was safe to go back in the water...

Worcester Film Works' 2012 summer film series Movies on the Common continued with it's second show on Thursday July 19th.  The film for the night was "Jaws" (1975).  While the movie might not have been quite as family-friendly as some of the other offerings from shows past, it was very appropriate for an outdoor summer movie series.  "Jaws" was, of course, one of the first of the Hollywood "Summer Blockbusters".  Nowadays summer blockbusters are a dime a dozen.  Every week from Early May right through August it seems like some new blockbuster opens in the theaters.  They're called "Blockbusters" before they even premiere and earn a single dollar.  Back in 1975 the idea of a movie that debuts during the summer and becomes a blockbuster was a relatively new concept.

This was the second of three monthly shows in the Movies on the Common series and follows the successful inaugural season in 2011.  On the third Thursday of each month through the summer (June, July and August) a classic movie is projected onto a huge screen set up behind City Hall on the Worcester (MA) Common.  Musical acts are now a regular part of the series and all of this year's shows actually feature two bands before each movie.  There are also vendors set up selling food, drink and ice cream.

Because I didn't think The Little Monster was quite ready to see some of the more intense stuff in "Jaws" I went to this show alone.  The program starts at 5:00 with the first musical act.  Iza Jane was the opener for this show.  Unfortunately I wasn't able to arrive until around 8:00 and missed Iza Jane altogether. By the time I got to the Common the second band, Heavy Horses, was already halfway through their set.  And what a great set it was (at least if you like covers of mostly 1970s rock and roll--as I most certainly do).  I'm not sure what I missed during the first half of the gig, but I did hear familiar songs from the likes of Foghat, Heart, Kansas, Bad Company, Styx, Jefferson Starship and the J. Geils Band.  It was a rockin' set of oldies but goodies!

Turtle Boy welcomed me to the Common

A cloudy sky threatened, but didn't affect, the evening

Heavy Horses perform

The crowd slowly builds as showtime approaches

Another view of the Common from the Soldiers and Sailors monument

Worcester.  You gotta love it.

After Heavy Horses finished up the stage was transformed into a movie screen.  But there was still quite a while to wait until it got dark enough to start the movie, so it was time to check out the vendor tables.  Worcester Film Works had their usual set up and were selling Polar soda (local company) and popcorn that was popped in their now-functioning popcorn machine (it never worked during last year's Movies on the Common series).

Worcester Film Works' table (and popcorn machine)

Also present were regulars Sweet Sister Ice Cream with their ice cream truck, and The Theatre Cafe with their hot dogs, pulled pork sandwiches and veggie wraps.  They also offered the option of ordering anything from their regular menu, which would be prepared at their restaurant on Main Street and delivered to the Common.

Sweet Sister's ice cream truck

The Theatre Cafe's table

That's Entertainment had a table set up for the second straight show too.  They were offering some free comic books as well as fun Worcester T-shirts and funky Japanese candy for sale.  I picked up a comic to bring home for The Little Monster and bought a package of grape flavored candy.

That's Entertainment's table

Some free stuff, and my package of Japanese grape candy

There was also a new table at this show manned by folks from Next Step Living Inc. that offered free information and giveaways about going green and reducing your home's carbon footprint (see the magnet from them in the photo above).  You could sign up to get a free home audit and free CFC bulbs to replace old incandescent ones in your house.

I should probably mention here that I'm a geek (in case anyone didn't already realize that).  For this show I just HAD to bring along my November 1979 issue of TV Guide from the week that ABC had the network television premiere of "Jaws".  It made for some excellent pre-movie reading!

Appropriately enough, Finz, the Worcester Sharks hockey team's mascot made an appearance and handed out freeze pops before "Jaws" started.  Unfortunately, this would have been one of the highlights for The Little Monster.  She missed his appearance last year too.

Finz hands out some chilly treats to the crowd

Finally it was 9:00.  The sky darkened and it was time for the movie to start.  I munched on my popcorn from Worcester Film Works as John Williams' famous theme played over the opening credits of "Jaws".

The skies darken

The popcorn's ready

The crowd swelled as darkness fell and movie time approached

Can't you just hear the music?

Roy Schieder feeds some chum to the big fella

All good things (and movies) must end

A happy crowd files out of the Worcester Common

It was fun watching this great movie in an outdoor setting and hearing the reactions from the crowd to both the shocking moments and the most famous lines ("This was no boat accident", "You're gonna need a bigger boat"...).  A recent heat wave had just ended and the threatening-looking cloudy sky from earlier in the evening gave way to a clear and cool night that made for great movie watching.  I don't know how many people turned out for this show, but it certainly seemed like a good sized crowd made up of all ages (and a few dogs too).

Two shows are down and there's only one more left in the 2012 Worcester Movies on the Common series.  That one will be "The Princess Bride" (1987) and will happen on Thursday August 16th (with a rain date of August 23rd).  I'm hoping to be able to make it to that one as well and will try to get a report out soon after.  Until then, please keep out of the water!

Thank You Google! (And Happy Birthday Amelia Earhart)

...or, A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Stats Page

I woke up to a bit of a surprise this morning.  First off, I had no idea that today (July 24, 2012) was Amelia Earhart's 115th birthday.  Second, I had no idea that that fact would have a huge and unexpected effect on my blog.  Let me explain...

Now I realize that this is going to be another blog entry about some pretty dry information, but once again I feel the need to report.  Hopefully it will be of some interest to someone other than myself, but if not then so be it.

Earlier this month I wrote a blog (Amelia Earhart--75 Years Later) about Amelia Earhart commemorating the 75th anniversary of her disappearance while attempting a flight around the world in 1937.  That post also talked about an upcoming expedition that was about to embark on a search for the wreckage of Amelia's plane.  Unfortunately (but not surprisingly) that search came up empty--as they usually do.

Around the same time I also wrote the very bland blog entry 2012 State of the Blog Address, which chronicled some of what went on behind-the-scenes at Monster Dad during the past year.  One of those things was my discovery of (and obsession with) the statistics portion of the blog.  Before then I didn't realize you could see and track all kinds of stats associated with Monster Dad--things like page views and traffic sources over the past day, week, month and all-time.

Monster Dad has never been much of an internet sensation, and I can't really say that I expected it to be one when I started it.  As mentioned in the State of the blog address I mostly see it as a place for me to write about things that I'm interested in.  Those things may or may not be seen by others, but at least they're out there in the blogosphere.

Well, a funny thing happened recently as I started to notice the numbers in the stats gradually increasing.  It seems like the longer Monster Dad's "stuff" is out there the more likely it is to show up in a Google search.  Recent blogs about The Titanic, Men in Black 3, The Incredible Hulk and Friday the 13th have gotten pretty impressive (by Monster Dad standards at least) hits at times when they were likely to be looked for in search engines like Google.com.  Up until now one of Monster Dad's biggest days ever occurred back on July 12th when the January blog Friday the 13th Part 2 caused a spike in page views from the normal average of around 200 to a then stunning total of 712.  Of course this was caused by people doing Google searches about Friday the 13th (which fell on the next day) rather than some sudden realization by the general public that Monster Dad is required reading.  I was happy to accept those numbers to make my stats look a little more respectable.  I know Monster Dad will never become a real big-time blog, but it's nice to think that even a modest number of people around the world are seeing your output.

I was okay with the fact that the numbers reverted to their normal pace after that July 12th spike, just as it had done after some of the other recent flurries of viewing activity.  I was also wondering if something else might become a "hit" in the future.  Well, it came as a bit of a surprise to log in this morning and see an obscene (once again, by Monster Dad standards) number of page views for the day.  Amelia Earhart: 75 Years Later was written on the day of the anniversary of her disappearance so I knew that it wouldn't become active on Google for at least a few days afterward.  It generated a few hits here and there, but nothing impressive--not until today anyway.

Today's Google Doodle

Like I mentioned above, I didn't realize that today is Amelia Earhart's birthday.  In honor of that occasion, Google has put up one of their Google Doodles which shows Amelia in front of her plane with the word "GOOGLE" written on the bottom of the wings.  When you click on a Google Doodle you get search results for whatever the subject of that particular Doodle is.  Apparently my Amelia Earhart blog registered somewhere in that search (though I wasn't able to find it myself while browsing the first few pages of results).  As of this morning the post has received over 8,700 views!  To put that in perspective, I have been averaging somewhere around 4,000-5,000 page views per month for the blog.  Thanks to the Men in Black and Incredible Hulk posts May had been the most successful month ever by far with 11,812 views for the entire month.  This morning's views have boosted this month's total to almost 15,000.  And there's still around nine hours left before today's stat window ends.  I'll update this post with the total number when it comes in.

This week's stats, including the Amelia Earhart oddity
Note the small bump in center was the previous daily all-time high of 712 views

So, to sum up, Amelia Earhart would have turned 115 today if she were still alive, the most recent search for her plane ended up not finding anything, and Amelia helped Monster Dad reach unheard of (for Monster Dad) numbers of page views.  Now you can return to your regularly scheduled day.  Thank you Amelia and thank you Google.

Worcester Movies on the Common 2012: Raiders of the Lost Ark

The evening of June 21st marked the start of the 2012 season of Movies on the Common in Worcester, MA.  This series is put on by the group Worcester Film Works.  The movie featured that night was "Raiders of the Lost Ark" (1981) and was preceded by two musical acts, James Keyes and The Luxury.  As I wrote in 2012 Worcester Movies on the Common, I was planning on going to the show, but wasn't sure when I'd get there or whether either of my Little Monsters would be joining me.  It turned out that I wasn't able to arrive at the Worcester common until around 7:30, but The Little Monster did indeed accompany me for a little quality father-daughter time.  Here's what night one was like...

The show started ("doors opened") at 5:00.  Because we didn't arrive until 7:30 we completely missed the set by James Keyes, so I can't say anything about that one.  By the time we settled in we only got to see the last half-hour or so of The Luxury's set.  They are a rockin' band though and I would have liked to have heard more.  It's tough to perform at a show like this and play original tunes.  Cover tunes of stuff that people are familiar with tends to go over better (even if it's of less artistic integrity) with a random audience that's mainly there to watch a movie.  The Luxury played bits of some covers (and sounded good in doing so), but mainly played their own material--and that sounded very good as well.  I'm not familiar with the band and have never heard anything by them previously, so I went into it with fresh ears and liked what I heard.

The Luxury performs on the Worcester Common before the movie

I have to point out that the musical part of these shows is a major plus.  The whole point of the show is to see a movie on the big screen outside during the summer for free (it is called Movies on the Common after all).  You certainly get that, but there's so much more too.  Last year the first musical act didn't appear until the second show and by the third show there were two acts.  This year the schedule included two acts before each of the three shows.  It really is tough to beat this program for free summer entertainment!

Back to the show.  After The Luxury finished up the stage was transformed into a movie screen while the band packed up.  A member of Worcester Film Works let the growing crowd know that the movie would start up once it got dark enough.

From stage...

...To screen

With a break in the action it was time to check out what else there was to see around the Common.  The Little Monster was ready for some ice cream so our first stop was the Sweet Sister truck for a Pink Panther ice cream bar.

Vendors lining one of the Common's walkways

The Sweet Sister Ice Cream truck

Decisions, decisions...

A happy Little Monster!

Next we stopped at The Theatre Cafe's table and I got one of their tasty pulled pork sandwiches for myself.  Both of these vendors were present at last year's shows, but because of ongoing construction were set up on the opposite side of the Common this time.

Tables for The Theatre Cafe and That's Entertainment

Worcester Film Works had their own table set up as usual of course.  And probably the most exciting news of the night was that WFW's popcorn machine was actually working!  Last year they had a popcorn machine at each of the three shows, but it became a bit of an unintentional running joke because it failed to work at all of them!  It was a pretty big deal to see them selling popcorn that was actually popped in the machine on this night.  They had small bags available for a dollar and big buckets for three dollars.  Of course I HAD to get one of the buckets to celebrate the fact that the machine actually worked.

Worcester Film Works' table

Admiring the poster for the Movies on the Common series

Freshly popped popcorn! (at last!)

There was one new vendor set up at this show too--Worcester comic book store That's Entertainment (aka That's E!).  Actually, calling That's Entertainment a comic book store is selling them short.  A better description would be the one that they use--it's a "Pop Culture Emporium".  They had a selection of Worcester T-shirts for sale and also had a box of free comic books!  I got a copy of The Walking Dead and The Little Monster got an issue of Archie Comics.  We returned to our seats to eat ice cream and pulled pork and browse through our comics while waiting for "Raiders of the Last Ark" to start.

Ice Cream!

Pulled pork and free comic books, a great combo!

The Little Monster reads Archie while waiting for the film to start

Because this show was put on during some of the longest days of the year it wasn't until about 9:00 that it got dark enough to start the movie.  Film buffs might be a bit disappointed to learn that these movies are projected off of DVDs rather than being true film presentations.  It's hard to complain though when you remember that you're getting this wonderful outdoor entertainment for free!

Darkness (gradually) falls on Worcester Common

Firing up the DVD projector

And it's Showtime at last!

There's actually not too much to say about "Raiders of the Lost Ark".  It's obviously a great, classic film that speaks for itself.  The Little Monster hadn't seen it before, so it was new to her.  There are obviously a few questionable parts for a six-year-old, but she took most of it in stride.  I was a bit impressed that she (mostly) stayed awake right through the movie, which didn't end until about 11:00.  Interestingly enough, she tried to tell me that she fell asleep and missed the climatic Ark-opening-nazi-melting scene, but the fact that she knew what it was that she "missed" made it obvious that she had indeed seen it.  Nearly a month later I feel confident that she wasn't emotionally scarred by the experience.  She hasn't reported any nightmares or sleepless nights inspired by the movie.  I do think she was a tad young to really get everything in "Raiders", but am glad that she was able to accompany me on what turned out to be another wonderful night on the Worcester common.  The crowd was estimated at 375.  That's not bad at all--especially considering that Worcester was in the midst of a heat wave at the time, and sitting outside to watch a movie wasn't as enticing an idea as it normally would be without the oppressive heat.

The second show in the Movies on the Common series is rapidly approaching.  On Thursday July 19th the film shown on the Common will be "Jaws" (1975), another Steven Spielberg classic and one of the very first true "Summer Blockbusters".  Starting at 5:00 the bands IzaJane and Heavy Horses will open the show.  As usual, in the case of inclement weather the show will be postponed until the following Thursday, the 26th.  I personally didn't see "Jaws" for the first time until it appeared on TV in the early 1980s, and even though I was almost a teenager by then I remember being terrified by the film.  Because of this I'm going to go to this one alone.  I'm pretty sure that The Little Monster isn't quite ready for "Jaws".  We're going camping at the beach in Connecticut this weekend and I can just imagine her being petrified by the thought of going into the ocean and encountering a great white shark.  It doesn't help that over the past couple of weeks there have actually been numerous shark sightings off of New England beaches--including great whites.  Hopefully I'll be able to get up the nerve to step into the ocean myself after watching "Jaws" on the common.  We shall see...

Just when you thought it was safe to go back to The Common!