Pictures - Summer & Poppa Day at Wrigley

Rowan and the Poppas

Got some photos up this evening on my Picasa site. Made a new Summer 2011 album for some photos around this summer.

Poppa Day at Wrigley album is up with photos from our trip to Wrigley Field this weekend with Rowan's Poppas. We had a great time and the Cubs won 5-1! We are 2-1 in all our Poppa Day games so far.

Enjoy!

Swans on the pond!

Rowan and Mom

GO CUBS!

Spring Time Already?

Rowan on the new Dixie Chopper

I think we're going to hit 70 or even 80 degrees this weekend in The Fort. That's the kind of spring weather we need! Time to dry the grounds out at The Stables. I'd have to say I'm ready to hit the mowing duties when that time comes, we're all set with out new Dixie Chopper. Cuts grass at 4 acres an hour! Better than the tractor that was 4 acres in 2 days.

Rowan got glasses this week. She is farsighted and has another eye issue that the lenses need to correct. So far she seems to really enjoy them. They were on when I picked her up from school yesterday, so that was a good sign. I think she'll like seeing much better and know that the glasses help with that.

Rowan's glasses

A hearty Happy Birthday to Nana yesterday and my nephew Gustavo Byers today! He turned 3 today and we're celebrating tomorrow with his friends and family in Indianapolis. Three already? Where has the time gone...

This week's News Quiz. [Chicago Tribune]

Baseball is in full swing. The Cubbies made some changes to their menu at Wrigley. It's gotten a little more local flair to it. I'll have to check some of this out at Poppa Day at the Park in July. [Chicago Tribune]

Great survival story of a dog lost at sea for three weeks after the earthquake in Japan last month and then being reunited with his owner! What a story this dog could tell. [Japan Times and BBC News]

The swath of destruction in NE Japan is mind boggling. [Washington Post]

Great season Butler!

I'd like to say what this teacher in Japan is doing is what I would have done, but I'm not sure if I'd have stayed. I looked at the map of the US recommended evacuation zone for the nuclear plants and my town is about 25 miles outside that. Too darn close. [Japan Times]

It's been 25 years since Hoosiers was released? They're having a celebration of the movie at IU this month. [IU News Room]

Good NFL story: former IU great James Hardy is back at school to earn his degree. [IDS]

Have a great weekend! Enjoy the warmer temps and The Masters.

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Pitchers and Catchers Report Today!

Rowan style!

Spring must be right around the corner, because the Cubs are starting Spring Training in Arizona! There'll be springlike temps this week in Fort Wayne. 50 degrees on Thursday? We were at -10 last Thursday! Crazy...The winds last night were enough to blow you over, so the weather is changing. [MLB.com]

Happy Valentine's Day!

Last week's News Quiz. [Chicago Tribune]

After last week's Snow Farm story, here's the next progression in a snowpocalypse winter, your roof coming down on you. [New York Times]

Did anyone print out the Popdose Oscar ballot? Anyone studying up for the Oscars on February 27th? Here's a rundown of some of the best short film categories, which are divided into three groups: animated, live action and documentary. [Popdose & New York Times]

Toy Story 3 is up for the big one, Best Picture, and the Best Animated film. Lots of time and work went into the third installment. With 10 Best Picture nominations now, films like Toy Story 3 can get into the discussion for the big prize. [IMDb.com & New York Times]

IU basketball is improving in fits and starts. One great game, winning or losing, followed by a real dud. Easy to forget where IU was just two seasons ago. This story about IU student manager Mike Santa reminds us just how far he and IU have come in less than 3 years. [Inside Indiana]

Twitter humor! Fake Twitter accounts are the best at parody and some seriously funny stuff. I follow a couple of these including Harry Caray's Ghost and Not Steve Jobs. [New York Times]

Square Board will be open in two weeks! The NCAA games will be available for anyone this year as all the games move to cable television. Beginning this year they're also staggering the start times so we can see all the buzzer beaters. [SpydeysWebb NCAA Games & ESPN]

Enjoy this great weather!

Who's this?!?

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Winter is coming, strike that, it's here!

You looking at my Christmas cookie?

Happy Winter everyone! The Winter Solstice is tomorrow. The best reason to celebrate this? The days will now begin to get longer! Good stuff. Celebrations and followings of the Winter Solstice. [Wikipedia and New York Times]

Fantasy season is over for both of my teams. The Fort Wayne team has a huge lead in the 9th Place Bowl. That's basically a 4 team tournament for the teams not good enough to make the real playoffs. I'm winning that. In Warsaw, I'm the Fantasy Bowl Champion! It's my first year playing up there and I had a great team dropped in my lap. Having Vick as my QB certainly helped. Quite a big payday for winning that Fantasy Bowl, less so if I get the 9th Place Bowl title. But a payday is a payday, no matter how much you get! In Warsaw, you get to engrave the trophy. I just have to decide on what to put on there...By the way, in case you're wondering, 2011 draft is in 255 days.

With Grandma at the Sleigh Bell party

Christmas shopping is pretty much done at the Sheridan house. I don't think it will be this easy to hide things from Rowan next year. So far, she'll forget about things she sees and move on to other stuff. She met Santa this past weekend at the FW Philharmonic Sleigh Bell Party on Saturday. She really just hung on to daddy so we could get a photo and a really cool Vera Bradley stocking. Well done by the Philharmonic staff!

Matthew's House had their 2nd annual Christmas pageant last Friday night and it was a huge success. Rowan had all her grandparents, Uncle Zach, cousin Harrison, and Aunt Lynnette in attendance. She loved it.

After getting home that night, I realized I've been very bad about updating photos on our Picasa Albums. So....I put up over 200 photos this weekend!
September - Sheridan golf outing, bonfire, camping in Bloomington
October - Ella and Grace visit, Brown County, snowball bush bonfire, Halloween
November - Papa's birthday, Thanksgiving
December - Ella Peden visit, breakfast with St. Nicholas

Some quick linkage I've been hanging on to:

Hanging with Nana at the Pageant

The Cubs new manager finds peace while fishing. [Chicago Sun-Times]

NFL wide receiver Chris Henry lost his life in an auto accident last year. His mother turned her tragedy around to help others. This is an amazing story. [LA Times]

Man's best friend might also be the best medicine. Thanks for the link Depune. [KHOU]

Reading with Aunt Lynnette at the pageant

Oh, and here is last week's News Quiz. [Chicago Tribune]

Hope you all have a wonderful and safe Christmas!

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Getting cold and dark around here!

New Horsey Slippers!

It's getting dark by the time Rowan and I make it home from daycare this week. We still have a month before the Winter Solstice and the shortest day of the year. Ugh. I really hate the shorter days and longer nights. The cold I can deal with, the pitch dark at 6:30 is another story! Now that we live out in the country, it's really dark. No street lights, no cars. It'll take some getting used to. [Wikipedia]

The IU basketball season has gotten off to a fast 3-0 start. So far, so good. Brooke will be making her first appearance at Assembly Hall on Sunday for the Evansville game. Hopefully they can send us home with another win. [Evansville Purple Aces]

Defending my title in the Fort Wayne Fantasy Football League isn't going well. I've basically been relegated to the also rans, otherwise known as the 9th Place Bowl. The top 8 teams make the Fantasy Bowl playoffs, the other four make the 9th Place Bowl playoffs. At 2-8, I'm one of those teams. However, all is not lost in the fantasy realm. I bought into a solid team in a league my buddy Travis runs in Warsaw. This team is 9-1 and looking really good for the long haul. So not all is lost! I'd rather win in Fort Wayne, but at this point I'll take whatever I can get.

This week's News Quiz. [Chicago Tribune]

Peanut bans at the ballpark? Some allergy experts think that's going too far. [NPR]

They're playing football at Wrigley this weekend as Northwestern hosts intrastate rival Illinois. Looking at these pictures of the field I noticed that the one endzone looks a little 'close' to the famous brick walls in the outfield. Seems the Big Ten agrees, as today they announced both teams will head toward the endzone with more room while on offense. [Big Ten Network & New York Times]

Heading out to help Mom feed the horses

The top 10 quirky and weird US houses. [Rand McNally]

Roundabouts could be gaining in use and not necessarily in popularity. Find out the history and how to work them with this link. [Wikipedia & New York Times & Roundabouts USA]

I'm predicting IU football goes down in a ball of awful on Saturday but that the Redskins redeem themselves vs. Tennessee. We'll see...

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All Saints' Day

Laughing with mom at Matthew's House Halloween party

Great Halloween weekend. I think Rowan has figured out this candy thing, and she really likes it! She was a very cute pirate this year. ARGH! We had fun trick or treating with cousin Harrison and Grandma in their neighborhood.

Rowan the pirate and her M&M's

Saw a movie last week! Brooke and I went to see RED in the theaters. We really enjoyed it. It was a very good time and we were entertained. It's not going to win any awards, but it was a funny escape movie with good, well-known actors. John Malkovich steals about every scene he's in. The movie is based on a graphic novel written by Warren Ellis. Here's a blog entry from Warren regarding the movie. He's a pretty entertaining guy who has a Twitter account you can follow him on. [IMDB.com & Wikipedia & WarrenEllis.com & Twitter]

I know Secretariat is in the theaters, and we'd like to see that one. The holiday movie season will be kicking off soon with Oscar being the ultimate goal for many of these flicks. The third Batman movie has a name, you'll have to wait until the summer of 2012 for it. [IMDb.com & Screen Rant]

Last week's News Quiz. [Chicago Tribune]

Here's a couple of older links (Link 1 and Link 2) about the new Cubs manager, Mike Quade. I think its a decent hire. Like most things, we'll have to wait and see. As all Cub fans know, there's always next year! [Daily Herald & Chicago Sun-Times]

At Trunk or Treat on Friday

Big Brother is online. Got this interesting link from my little brother, Christian. It's a good, enlightening read. Some might say a bit frightening as well. [Wall Street Journal]

Watch out for new speed monitors in a Trans Am or Dodge Truck! Seen any of these yet, Depune? [WRTV]

Swiss completed the world's longest tunnel under the Alps. [BBC News]

Great sport calls. This guy ranks his top 32. It'll take a while to get through them all, but there's some good ones. [Sports Illustrated]

I enjoyed this commentary from David Brooks last week about the new sitcom format compared to how sitcoms were in the past. [New York Times]


November is here! Mowed for the last time this weekend, yay! It was only the 4th time I did the whole lot since we moved in June.

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Last day of August

That is one LARGE ice cream taco

Been a long while since I've posted some links. Actually, since we've moved out of Beaverbrook into the parents then into the new place on Thompson Road, the weekly posts have turned into monthly ones, if that. It's been a long time...

Java watching Rowan

The Cubs season has crashed and burned with the ashes swept up and thrown away already! It's now to the point that football is right down the road. IU starts Thursday night and the fantasy football draft is this Friday. Rowan turned two and I've been married for 4 years now. It's been an amazing summer with lots of changes, the biggest being Della's move into our home. Well, not the home itself, but the home at large.

Even when I don't post weekly, the Chicago Tribune's News Quiz is posted on this link every Friday morning. This will link to last week's version. [Chicago Tribune]

If I ever get back to traveling, this may be the way Brooke and I find our accommodations in Europe. {NY Times]

Check out this amazing shot by Miguel Angel Jimenez on The Road Hole at the British Open. Crazy! The 12th Sheridan Invitational is in September. [YouTube]

Ice Cream Taco!

Found an Avon article that Brooke would like. [UK Avon]

Like I told my buddy Simon, it might have taken 20 years, but they're finally on to what the JET Program truly is about! Not really though, we loved teaching those kids, right? [Japan Times]

65th Anniversary of the Hiroshima and Nagasaki bombings that ended World War II was this month. Depune forwarded me a link of some never before seen photos. I remember being in Karasuyama with my parents on the 50th Anniversary in 1995 and my visit to Hiroshima to lay 1,000 origami cranes at Hiroshima's Children's Peace Memorial in 1988. [Life & Wikipedia]

One of my good friends, Monica Yant Kinney, is considered one of Philadelphia's most influential Twitterers. You can follow me (@Spydeyswebb) and her (@myantkinney) on Twitter.com. [PhillyMag.com & Twitter.com]

Brooke and Della on a ride

With the IU football season starting up and basketball around the corner, time to get your eco-friendly IU Hoosier apparel! [Project 571]

Depune hooked me on Daniel Tosh's Comedy Central show Tosh.0. You really should check it out sometime. I've truly LOL'd. [Time.com]

Website of the Month (this one is worthy of a bookmark on your browser): Washington DC's Newseum has a cool site that links the front page of hundreds of newspapers from around the world, every day. You could get lost on this page with all the links. Very cool.

On to September...

How's your Summer going? - Friday July 16th

It's been a while since my last update. There's lots of things going on at the new house which has been keeping us busy. I should have a picture update this weekend with the finished barn and stalls. Brooke and her dad are working on that project right now. Brooke's cousins Sydney and Mike are up from Florida to spend the weekend on the farm. Plenty to do!

That's Rowan in her new pool and swimming suit on the front lawn last weekend. She really likes pouring water over her head in the pool. Water Day at daycare is quite an adventure with this little girl! The video at the bottom is Rowan biking around the driveway on her tricycle. She's getting pretty good at it!

Lots of linkage for this post, since it's been so long...

This week's News Quiz...is back! [Chicago Tribune]

It's been a few weeks ago, but the 30th anniversary of the Blues Brothers was this year. [Chicago Tribune]

This is a long one, so make sure you bookmark to finish, but there's a super computer that plays Jeopardy! And it's pretty good at it. Of course, it's an IBM. [NY Times]

I posted on this a while back, but the post office near Wrigley will be named after Steve Goodman. He's the singer/songwriter that wrote the "Go, Cubs, Go" song they sing after wins (which have been few and far between this year). [Chicago Tribune]

Crazy stuff about sunscreens lately. The FDA does not regulate them, so the SPF numbers above 50 are not really that accurate. Now this report about cancer and sunscreens. Whatever you do, be careful in the sun! [AOL]

Hopefully this cup recycle program for Starbucks will go nationwide. So far, it's in Seattle and Chicago. [Chicago Tribune]

Uncle Depune is looking out for us! Sent me this Indiana speed trap link a few weeks back. If you got hit recently, I should have posted this earlier! [SpeedTrap.org]

IU Cancer Center has some tips on grilling and marinading better. [IU News Room]

Tesselation...Subway's got it down! [Chicago Tribune]

Amazing story of a ship's hull they found in the World Trade Center construction zone. [Washington Post]

Interview with Snopes.com creator. Here's a link for the Snopes site in case you haven't been there before. [NY Times]

Stay cool this weekend! I'll be out mowing the front 4 acres. Enjoy Rowan on her bike...

Wrigley Bound Tomorrow - Friday May 14th

The packing continues at Beaverbook. We're surrounded by empty and full boxes of stuff in about every room. Less than two weeks to go until we must vacate the premises. Rowan was enjoying breakfast this week with her Learning Apple, yogurt, milk, and her new favorite: chocolate Cheerios.

Poppa Day at Wrigley tomorrow for Cubs/Pirates. This will be our second annual trip with Rowan's poppas (my dad and Brooke's dad). Last year the Cubbies blew a 9th inning lead but won it in the bottom half of the inning. I'd like another win with less drama. Looks like it will be about 10 degrees warmer this year. It was freezing last year! Hope to have photos up next week of the adventure. [Baseball Reference]

D-Day 20 was on Wednesday. It's been 20 years since I discovered I had diabetes mellitus type 1. Let's just say this past Wednesday was a much better day than May 12th, 1990! Onward...

Saw Iron Man 2 last Friday with Travis and his girlfriend. We really enjoyed it and highly recommend seeing it in the theaters. There could have been more action, but they did a good job with a funny script and it moved along nicely for a 2 hour movie. Robin Hood starts tonight and it looks like a good one too. Russell Crowe does good stuff, so that might be in the queue if we weren't busy packing boxes. [IMDb.com]

This week's News Quiz. [Chicago Tribune]

A Tipping Guide for all occasions. [Chicago Tribune]

Renovation of IU Billy Hayes Track could keep the Hoosiers at the top of track and field talent. [Indiana Daily Student]

The 2010-2011 TV schedules are going to be released next week by the Big 4 broadcast companies. One show surprisingly NOT coming back: Law & Order for it's 21st season. It will remain tied with Gunsmoke for the longest running drama in TV history. [NY Times & Wikipedia]

10 poorly planned construction projects, they broke the bank. [How Stuff Works]

Urban wildlife is becoming more and more prevalent. Here's a story about Chicago's efforts to study and understand it. Plan on seeing our fair share of wildlife at the new house. [Chicago Tribune]

Website of the Week is back for Murals Your Way. An interesting take on 'wallpaper'.


Have a great weekend!

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NCAA National Semifinals - Saturday April 3rd

Happy Easter!

Butler and Michigan State tip off in about an hour. Dad's already there in his seats that Uncle Depune procured for him. Great seats right in the front row of section 545. There's going to be a lot of people there tonight! The games tonight in the Squares Pool run $400/each. Nice.

I'm predicting Butler 68 - Michigan State 62. In the other game I'm taking West Virginia 74 - Duke 70. Let's get it on.

We got out to see Hot Tub Time Machine last week and we both really enjoyed it! Quick 100 minutes, very funny parts, solid script from start to finish, great 80's music...good times. The new movie this week is the redo of Clash of the Titans, and it's getting slayed by the critics (31% fresh)! May have to double think that one...34 days until Iron Man 2. [IMDb.com & Rotten Tomatoes]


Opening day for Major League Baseball is Sunday night with Yankees and Red Sox. Cubs begin the season on Monday afternoon in Atlanta vs. the Braves. Got the SpydeysWebb Hardball fantasy baseball league off and running last night. Great group of guys: Depune, Paul, Ben, Matt, Travis, Shlater, Buzz, and myself. Only Cub I have is Geovany Soto.

This week's News Quiz. [Chicago Tribune]

I didn't have many articles for this week, so I'll included them in the next update. Go Dawgs!

Tourney Time Shifter - Friday March 12th

What a great week of weather up here! The snow has melted and we reached upper 60's several days this week. Got out for our first walk and grilled out another night. It's nice enough in the morning that Rowan has moved on to jackets instead of coats. That's her one morning with her Monkey Jacket on.

Anyone print off the Popdose Oscar ballot and play along? Brooke and I tied with 28 points each. We did pretty well with the bigger awards, but she made the wrong move on not picking Mo'nique. That one would have clinched it for her. While I enjoyed Avatar when we saw it in December, The Hurt Locker was a very powerful movie. I watched it last Friday night, Brooke did not. I think she wishes she had now that it won Best Picture, but she didn't feel up for a war movie at the time. And it most definitely is a war movie... [IMDb.com]

Movie insiders love the fact that a movie like The Hurt Locker won the biggest prizes at the Academy Awards. [LA Times]

Don't forget to "spring forward" before going to bed Saturday night. Daylight Saving Time begins at 2AM Sunday morning. We lose an hour's worth of sleep and maybe more. [Wikipedia & CBS News]

Might need that hour with the NCAA Tournament Selection Sunday this weekend. The fax machine will be buzzing with brackets next week as the Bracket Pool gets into full swing. The Square Pool sold out on Thursday and we did the drawing for numbers that night. As always, it's going to be a very fun and interesting three weeks. Don't forget to get your bracket to me by noon Thursday March 18th. [Wikipedia]

News Quiz and more after the jump...

Friday February 19

Back from a break. Rowan had a pretty good day yesterday. She's got that nasty cold from a few weeks ago licked and I think the longer days will get her itching for trips outside. She's practicing riding her tricycle around the living room, so maybe she'll hit the ground running come Springtime.

Check out the favicon on SpydeysWebb.com and the SpydeysWebb Blog. Brooke made me one for Valentine's Day. A favicon is the small icon that appears next to the web site address in your browser's address bar. Mine is pretty appropriate...[Wikipedia]

Cubbie tickets went on sale today! The second annual Poppa Day at Wrigley Field will be Saturday May 15th vs. the Pirates. This is year two where Rowan takes her poppas up for a baseball game, and Brooke and I get to ride along. Let's hope it's a little warmer than last year! That was a cold and windy day and even though they tried to blow it, the Cubbies beat the Astros 5-4 in the bottom of the 9th. [Wrigley Field & Baseball Reference]

Speaking of the Cubbies, Spring Training kicked off yesterday with pitchers and catchers reporting. The position players are set to arrive on Monday for the first full team workout of the 2010 season. Here's a guide for what to look for with the Cubbies in Spring Training. [Cubs.com & Chicago Tribune]

News Quiz and more after the jump...

Super Bowl Weekend Edition

Rowan reading a book with mom this week. Rowan's had a rough week with a cold, but is getting better. It was nice hanging with her the last two mornings. We had fun...

Finally going to get around to playing this game: Super Bowl XLIV (44 for the Roman numeral illiterate)! I've been thinking about my pick for a while now. I've done pretty well so far in the Divisional round 3-1, Championship round 2-0, Pro Bowl 1-0. I'm making strictly moneyline picks, not working with the spread on these! My call for SB44 is Colts 37 - 31. [NFL.com & About.com]

Fort Wayne Fantasy Football League Super Bowl party and awards at our house on Sunday. It's a tradition, and this year I get to keep the trophy for the Fantasy Bowl. I'm going to savor that reception at halftime on Sunday. We then immediately draw for the draft order for next season. Get started right away! Of course draft day is September 3rd, so we have a long wait. [SpydeysWebb.com]

News Quiz and more after the jump...

Friday January 22nd

TGIF. That's Rowan and me watching some Sesame Street this week. She's getting her hair put up in a ponytail at Matthew's House. I think it may be time for a trim...it would be her first. Early Birthday shoutout to Paul 'Tillbilly' Lang...Happy 40th bro! Just kidding, I know you're younger than I...

We're down to the penultimate football weekend with Championships Sunday. I went 3-1 last week in my picks, the Jets messed me up. Now lots are picking the Jets to mess up the Colts. Not me, Colts 27-17. I'm taking the other home team on the NFC side too, Saints over Vikings 38-34. [NFL.com]

Spring Training is just around the corner. Cubs signed up with the Cactus League for the next 25 years this week. They'll remain in Mesa, AZ. To get you going on Cubbie news (I know you're dying for it), you can find the latest Cubbie blogs to follow. I'm partial to Bleed Cubbie Blue, myself. Another article talking about the Cubs letting Maddux do his thing with the team in ST, especially the pitchers. He's got a great track record for helping guys have career years. [Yahoo.com & Chicago Sun-Times]

News Quiz and more after the jump...

Friday January 8th

2010 is here and so is the winter! We got over 3" yesterday in this winter and year's first significant snow fall. Shoveling was quite a task last night, knew I should have bought that snow blower! This week's pictures are from Brooke and Rowan's visit to the mall. She's on the Bob the Builder ride, tweaking his nose!

Redskins got a new coach this week, at least for them. Even Brooke had heard of Mike Shanahan before. He's got two rings, and I know for a fact that he's better than Jim Zorn. So I'm all for it. It's just like the Redskins to make news in the off-season rather than the playoffs that kick off Saturday. Maybe next year. [Washington Post & NFL.com]

One of my most favorite Cubs off all time was voted into the Hall of Fame on Wednesday. Andre Dawson gets in on his ninth attempt, and that's a very good thing. Still not sure what cap he'll wear: Cubs or Expos. [Chicago Tribune & Baseball Reference]

This week's News Quiz. Got my usual 70%, with a few guesses that came through for me. [Chicago Tribune]

Got my Avatar review up on the main page last weekend. We really enjoyed it. Got an average of 9/10 from the five reviewers that went with us. The way Cameron filmed this was truly ground breaking. [SpydeysWebb & LA Times]

Lots of big movies coming out this summer during blockbuster season, beginning with Iron Man 2 on May 7th. Who's in? Many of these movies will be competing against each other on the same opening weekend. Which ones and how will each do? [IMDb.com & LA Times]

I'd love to have a mistake like this happen to me...you know, buy something you didn't mean to and boom, millions of dollars. [Atlanta Journal Constitution]

The Lipizzaner Stallions are putting on a show in Miami. I thought Brooke would like this article and picture. [Official Lipizzaner Site & Miami Herald]

Who's more popular, dogs or cats? [Chicago Tribune]

Try to stay warm this weekend, wherever you are. Minus zero wind chills up here in The Fort! [Journal Gazette]

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Friday November 20th

Rowan's fifteen months old this week. She's becoming quite the busy body around the house as well. Butsu turned 5 years old this week too. Another family birthday this week: Happy Birthday Aunt Sharon in Texas!

Bucket Game this weekend in Bloomington. Brook and I will be in our seats one last time this season. Hope they can salvage the end of it cause it's been a tough stretch for the last two months. Both teams are playing for pride as well as the Old Oaken Bucket. Each team was eliminated from bowl consideration last week. [Bleacher Report]

Indiana basketball got off to an impressive start last Friday with Brooke and I in attendance (that's Brooke on the floor below with The Banners in the background). Nice margin of victory vs. the over matched Howard Bison. A much closer game was had on Monday vs. South Carolina - Upstate...then last night they were pretty much dominated by Ole Miss in Puerto Rico. Let's hope the next two games there fare a bit better...and more competitive.

New movie opening last night...Twilight: New Moon, you might have heard about it? So are you for Edward or Jacob? Or do you really care? Brooke read the four books and I think she's in the Edward camp...[LA Times]

This week's News Quiz and Pop Culture Quiz. [Chicago Tribune]

Network TV's winners and losers so far this season. We haven't been keeping up well lately, our DVR is about to bust. [LA Times]

Haven't seen this scene at Wrigley in a long time! Not as long as lack of championship, but a long time nonetheless. [Bleed Cubbie Blue & Pantagraph]

Ranking the tallest buildings in the world changed this week, altering the top 10. [Chicago Tribune Cityscapes]

Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore is under attack. [Dunes Park Website & Chicago Tribune]

The new data center at Indiana University is a pretty impressive building. [IU News Room]

Have a good weekend...60 degrees in Bloomington!

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Happy Halloween edition...Friday October 30th

Spooky Halloween week...Rowan will be taking part in her first Trick or Treating experience this weekend. She'll be...wait for it...a monkey! Imagine that. She's toddling around really well now, so she is our little monkey. That's her up there at lunch this week. She's having Chick-Fil-A at the mall food court.

Aunt Shiloh is moving back this weekend. She'll be setting up in Indianapolis and we're moving her in on Sunday. It'll be nice having her back in the Hoosier state and far enough for her to not get Fort Wayne crazy!

This week's News Quiz. It's not easy! [Chicago Tribune]

Twitter gets a lot of their ideas and developments from their users. You on Twitter yet? Check me out www.twitter.com/spydeyswebb [NY Times]

A pretty cool old school picture of Indiana University. You can click on the IU flags for more cool photos. [Indiana University]

Any Dexter fans among my readers? Haven't gotten into this show myself, but it's getting quite a following. [LA Times]

Meet the new owners of the Chicago Cubs: the Ricketts family. [Chicago Tribune]

Rowan shopping with dad at Sam's Club. She loves shopping with dad!

Have a great Halloween weekend!

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Friday October 9th

Well fall is officially here. I don't think the temps reached 65 this week and most days it was cloudy with a bit of rain. Saw in the Chicago Tribune there might be snow up there on Monday...? Yikes. This was very similar weather to our JDRF Walk last Saturday. It was a bit cold with a slight drizzle, but we finished the 2 miles. We're over $1,000 collected as a team so far, but I'm shooting for $1,000 on my own. See my page here.

Rowan took her first ride on a carousel this week. In the food court at Glenbrook Square Mall they have a double decker carousel with all kinds of animals. Rowan and mom took the first spin and then dad got on for another one. On the second, she took to a pony that went up and down...and loved it! The picture up there is from her first ride on a stationary giraffe. Looks like she was ready for that afternoon nap before the ride started!

Well, the baseball season ended for the Cubs last weekend. Playoff baseball is upon us and for the first time in 3 years, no Cubs. My AL team has always been the California Angels (now the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim), so I'll root for them until the Yankees win. It's already decided, right?

We had a great time in Bloomington for the Ohio State game. It was good to see so many tailgate friends we hadn't seen since the 2007 season, our last full year down there. They all asked about Rowan, who stayed with Grandma Brenda in Anderson. The OSU game wasn't so great, but you can't commit penalties and turn the ball over and beat a top ten team. Long way to go for the Hoosiers, but a bowl game is still possible. Big IU weekend next week with basketball Hoosier Hysteria on Friday night. Then we're hoping to take her to the Illinois game on Saturday, depending on the weather.

This week's News Quiz and Pop Culture Quiz. Something from my dad, a Golf Trivia Quiz. See how you do. [Chicago Tribune & Cincinnati.com]

The big NASA news this week was their bombing the moon, but this picture of colliding black holes is pretty sweet. [Yahoo & NASA]

Love at the bus stop. [Chicago Tribune]

Baseball and softball are out, but two new sports are in for the 2016 Olympics. [GamesBids.com]

People and their dogs. [IU News Room]

Rowan and cousin Harrison at the JDRF Walk to Cure Diabetes last weekend.

Keep warm!

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Friday October 2nd

October is here and it sure feels like fall in the Fort. Glad I got The Sheridan in when I did, the Saturdays since have been pretty dicey weather wise. Rowan's getting more and more mobile. She's taking 7-8 steps at a time now, so getting really close. Once she realizes that it's easier to walk than crawl, it's on.

This weekend is the JDRF's Walk to Cure Diabetes. We'll be taking part at Franke Park in Fort Wayne. You can donate to my walk on my walker's page. Brooke's team leader this year, and we're hoping to get lots of donations. You can donate up through the end of October. Pictures and some video will be on the web site next week.

After the walk, we're off to see IU vs. Ohio State in Bloomington. I'm hoping we compete like we did last weekend and maybe, just maybe, pull it off. Not likely, but it'd be nice to do since we'll be there! No Redskins talk this week. They're too embarrassing right now to bother...

This week's News Quiz, which I did pretty well on, and the Pop Culture Quiz, which I didn't. [Chicago Tribune]

101 years of Cubs' futility in .pdf format. [Chicago Tribune]

Good read on making craft beers with rice, once considered an inferior ingredient. [LA Times]

Coke getting health conscience? [Brandweek]

New sitcom's have America spelled I-N-D-I-A-N-A. [LA Times]

Have a great weekend!

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Remembrance Day Friday September 11th

Eight years ago today the Twin Towers and Pentagon were attacked. I remember getting the news from my buddy Joe when I picked him up for a golf outing that sunny Tuesday morning. Just the night before, Jason and I had purchased plane tickets to London for mid-October. Everything changed that morning. I'm certainly glad I don't have now that sick empty feeling in my stomach I had for the next couple of days then. Gotta give Rowan a big hug when I pick her up from day care today...Link of some photos from Ground Zero yesterday. [NY Times & Chicago Tribune]

That's Rowan up there visiting with Noah Shlater last weekend. Tomorrow will be Rowan's first IU football game vs. Western Michigan. I can only hope she brings them some good luck and we can pull out a win. I certainly don't think it will be easy. The Redskins kick off the season Sunday afternoon at 4PM vs. the NY Giants. Tough matchup, but it will go a long way to showing what kind of team they are this year. I for one am hoping it's a winning one. See what Pro Football Talk says, I like the way he thinks! [PFT.com]

Ninja Monkeys were drafted last week and we start the season vs. a tough opponent in Buzz Relue. It's a long season, but I really need a good start! [SpydeysWebb.com]

This week's News Quiz and Pop Quiz. I jammed on news and did much better on pop this week, how'd you do? [Chicago Tribune]

Only one more week until the 11th Sheridan Invitational Golf Tournament. We have 30 golfers set to tee it up on the 19th at Lakeside Golf Course. Hopeful for good weather...[SpydeysWebb.com]

10 reasons to keep watching the Cubs. #11 was "Make Angels Cry", but it didn't make the cut. [Chicago Tribune]

She's a little bit more of a handful now...

Have a great weekend...