BenSpark Family Adventures

Last night Allison and I attended the Ellis Paul Pre-New Year’s show with Tara and Erik and my parents and my aunt Donna and her friend. But there was no Christopher in sight. Christopher or C-dub was missing from last night’s performance. And he was missed. But Christopher has found love in a warm state. He was in Florida. The night was a lot of fun anyway. We had some great veggie pizzas and got to hear Flynn, Ellis’ opening act and then Ellis Paul and Don Conoscenti came out to play. Ellis played some new songs that Allison and I knew because of his show at Connecticut College a couple of months ago. He played “9 Months to Fix the World”, “She was” and “3000 miles”, these are some of my favorites. The night was a great one. If you get the chance to see any of these artists live please do so they are awesome.

(And Hopefully Christopher Williams too) Tonight we are seeing Ellis Paul in his annual Pre-New Year’s show at Club Passim. Tara and Erik gave us tickets to the show as a gift for Christmas. We went last year and had such a good time. I can’t wait for tonight’s show. Maybe we’ll have some photos from the show tomorrow. And if we are really Lucky Christopher Williams will be there as well.

Just a couple of messages from our cute furry buddies. Oliver is sharing his Christmas message of Peace on Earth and Lola is stating her testament to stimulating the economy, just like her mommy taught her to. Duncan was unavailable for comment. We are very blessed to have such loving and gentle companions in our lives. Lola is the Sparks’ new kitten and of course you know Oliver is our little one.

Well, it is Christmas time again. Last night Allison and I went to my sister Tara’s house for dinner and gift exchange with her and her husband Erik. My Grandfather Rick was there and so was my Uncle Jim. My sister Shelby and my mother and father also were in attendance. And Erik’s parents Bonnie and Howard also came. We had a very fun night with lots of laughs and some fantastic presents that suited everyone’s interests. Like The Sex Life of Plants, a book that Tara received from Bonnie and Howard. That and another book called The Bastard’s name was Bristow. They were big hits. eBay is a wonderful thing and can help you find all sorts of great gifts. Just ask Allison, she received a couple of vintage sixties Pyrex bowls with Amish People on them from her friend, Peg. Last night Allison and I returned home and exchanged gifts with my parents. Then we came upstairs and exchanged our gifts together. Allison is all decked out with AB gear for the kitchen. Alton Brown, for those of you who...

Merry Christmas Eve everyone. Beer, is there anything more festive than beer during the holidays. Especially good beer. Which brings us to Yuengling Lager. Yuengling is the official beer on tap almost all over Pennsylvania. Go into any bar in PA and ask for a Lager and most often you will be handed a Yuengling. Yuengling is pronounced Ying Ling or [Lah Grr] unless you didn’t know. Allison introduced me to Yuengling. And being a person who enjoys beer, I understood the obsession with Yuengling. Every trip that we take to Susquehanna University (Susquehanna University will be known as SU for the rest of this post) we pick up a case or two to bring home. One trip we even went to the Brewery and took a tour. That was a very fun trip and an interesting learning experience. Yuengling Brewery is not very technologically advanced, you can actually take a beer of the line. There is a high school kid who is watching over the group to prevent this from happening. When you are on the tour you pret...

Yes, it is once again time for the jolly old elf to wedge his posterior down the chimney. Here at the apartment we are ready for the Christmas season. Take notice that the lower branches of the tree are practically bare. Could it be because of the cats? Allison just moved one of the couches and discovered the secret hiding place for the Jingle Balls that have disappeared from the tree. The Holiday Marathon Madness is now upon us. We will be traveling up and down the New England Region to say hello and spread cheer to family far and wide. And if you thought saying it was tough, try doing it. We would like to wish you and your families a safe and Happy Holiday Season. And also we hope that you have enough Roast Beast and keep the Grinch at bay another year.

Yes it has been over a year since we got Oliver and Duncan. These two little fuzzballs are still bouncing all over the place and are all the more excited that it is Christmas time. Since they were born outdoors and I suspect in the back alley of some BBQ joint because they don’t give us a moment’s peace when we have BBQ. Having a tree indoors is all sorts of fun for the little guys. Oliver spends much time under the tree playing with the little gold jingle bells. Duncan speeds through the living room around the tree and presents and back into the bedroom. We were lucky enough when we first got them to have them sit still long enough for this picture. If anyone in North Attleboro is looking for a pet please check out the cat room at Petsmart where Allison, Tara and Shelby all volunteer or go directly to the North Attleboro Animal Shelter.

Andrew “Transformer” Bennett (yeah I actually signed that in my eighth grade yearbook.) If you didn’t know I was a geek by now then you haven’t been paying attention. This past year I went to the Ultimate in Geekdom Conventions. The Official Transformers Collectors Convention in Chicago, IL at the Hyatt Regency. This year is a special year for Transformers, it marks the 20th anniversary of the line. There are some fantastic things happening in that little shop in Rhode Island. For one thing fans will finally get their ultimate desire. A Masterpiece Optimus Prime. The Masterpiece Optimus Prime is just about the best and most accurately constructed Transformer ever. Optimus comes with his signature plasma rifle, a “Megatron” in gun form, his Energy Ax from season one and the Matrix of Leadership. This year Hasbro is making the Transformers Alternators line which will feature scale model contemporary vehicles with distinctly Generation 1 themes. Already announced have been a Subaru WRX Ra...

  Okay, so it was months ago back in September at the Barnes and Noble in Burlington, MA. But hey, we met Alton Brown and we are very excited about it. For those who are not in the know about Alton, listen up. Alton Brown is the host of Food Network’s Good Eats show. It is on every single night at 11:30pm and early morning at 3:00am. He is also on on Wednesday nights at 9:00pm. The show is a Bill Nye the Science Guys meets Julia Child. Alton is a charismatic and personable guy. His show will entertain and teach you like no other food show you’ve ever seen. Alton is also an author and has two books out in print. I’m Just Here for the Food and Gear for your Kitchen. We got Alton to sign two copies each of the books. One set for us and one set for Tara and Erik’s Wedding Gift.

If you haven't been on a motorcycle before, you gotta try it once in your life. This is my Alpha 250 V-twin Classic. It looks like a baby Fat Boy and in this photo it looks like a dwarf under my posterior but this bike has plenty of power. A 250 you say, that is so small, how can there be power there? Well, this 250 isn't like the Honda rebels of old, this is a beefy motorcycle that has provided me with hours of enjoyment during this past summer. Granted I've only been able to ride under 600km. It is a bike that is sold mostly in Europe and Asia and therefore the odometer and speedometer are in Kilometers. You get used to it. Eventually I'll be moving on to a bigger bike, not before I buy something smaller and it doesn't have tires but it is round. But for now this is a great bike to tool around on.

Hi this is our new Blog. Why are we doing a Blog? Both Allison and I have agreed that we need a place to be creative. This would be a great way to express that creativity. Also, when we go to events I take pictures and sharing them with everyone would be easier if we had a place to put them. We can also post our comments on stuff, what's up with us, general ramblings and links to sites on the web that we like. You can also comment on our posts by clicking the comment link under each post. So here we go...