BenSpark Family Adventures

Okay so pictures have not gone up yet. I have posted them to Ophoto and should be able to link to them but if you wait one more day there will be photos on the MoBlog. Once they are on the MoBlog then you can see at least 60 of them. I haven’t had any takers on people signing up for MoBlog so I can get a full account and the ability to upload more photos and change the colors and whatnot. How was Lovefest this year? It was a great time of course. Ken in his great and wonderful imagination came up with a fantastic contest for everyone’s enjoyment, but more on that later. Here’s my recap. I actually was at the preLovefest preparation. If you enjoyed the cupcakes, then you can thank Alicia, if you liked the frosting on top, well that was me and the frosting knife. Again this year the spread was great, Alicia made a fantastic dip that was inhaled by everyone who was there early, sorry about that everyone who came later. Ken got some wonderful gifts for the grab bag including many that were...

Anna Pigeon, a park ranger at various national parks in the USA, is featured in: In Chronological Order Track of the Cat (1993) A Superior Death (1994) Ill Wind (1995) Firestorm (1996) Endangered Species (1997) Blind Descent (1998) Liberty Falling (1999) Deep South (2000) Blood Lure (2001) Hunting Season (2002) Flashback (2003) High Country (2004) Hard Truth (2005)

Lovefest III: First impressions of the evening. Tomorrow later in the day I will post images from lovefest but my first impressions of the evening were this. Ken has once again hosted a fantastic evening where many people can come together in mutual enjoyment of having fun. That’s it, having fun, the group that gathered together had a tremendous time and that is thanks to our hosts Ken and Alicia. Thanks guys. A detailed post will come later today after I sleep some and when I can get home to upload the images I took at Lovefest III.

My sister Tara is running in the Boston Marathon for the Dana-Farber Marathon Challenge Team (DFMC). She is running in memory of a teacher named Anita who was in one of the science programs that Tara runs. And Tara is also running in memory of our Great-Uncle Donny. Here is the letter that we received from Tara so that she can raise donations. “Dear Drew and Allison While most people have spent the winter hunkering down and staying out of the cold, I’ve found myself outside more than usual. You ask why? Well, long before the snow began, I joined the Dana-Farber Marathon Challenge Team (FMC) to train for the 109th Boston Marathon happening on April 18th. I can say it is a small sacrifice to run 12 miles in -4 weather or snow shoe in waist-deep snow during cross training. I consider it a privilege to be able to do these activities. It is the least I can do to help the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute raise money for important cancer research. One hundred percent of the funds raised by DFMC t...

I finished the book Sahara this past week while on the road. It was a good Dirk Pitt novel and if you’ve been reading this blog for any length of time you know that I can’t wait for the movie that is coming out the day before my birthday, on April 8, 2005. I have seen the trailer and many other things that have to do with this movie. It is not going to be true to the book, this is good and bad. The bad, Steve Zahn as Al Giordino. Al is a bull of a man in the books and he can take alot of punishment, he is also short and stocky and very Italian. Zahn does not physically fit this bill. The good about Steve Zahn is his comic ability. Despite not being true to the physical characteristics of Al Giordino Steve Zahn can most certainly provide the sarcastic wit of Al Giordino, and I think I will be pleasantly surprised if the trailer didn’t put in all the jokes that we will be seeing. Matthew McConaughey as Dirk Pitt, Matt bulked up for the role but is still a lean guy and physically he can f...

Apparently Allison thinks that this item is funny. Okay it is funny, I do tend to pontificate about my meals. I get it everybody, I am too detailed. But I’m not gonna stop. 🙂 Got this link from John, read Darth Vader’s New Weapon first. Brick Frenzy and his web comic Life in the Brick.

Today Peter and I went down to Temple, TX to observe some demonstrations. After the demonstrations we picked up a convoy with Roseanne in tow. We stopped at the Harley Davidson of Temple, TX and I picked up a pin. Then we headed up to Waco and stopped at Logan’s Roadhouse. Then off to Dallas to our next Hotel. There is a great radio station down here that plays mostly 80’s music so we were bopping along to the sounds of Def Lepard and more. We got to the hotel and hung out for a bit than the three of us went out to Buffalo Wild Wings for $2.00 Margaritas and $0.50 chicken wings. And when we got there the margaritas were only $0.99 each. Whoo Hooo!  More pictures… Harley Davidson of Waco at 70+MPH. Caught it pretty good too. Just liked this sign. All the chairs look like this, pretty nice logo. Wings and Margaritas, awesome!

To add to the evil tiki of liquid death that makes residence on my desk at work I want to get one of these…. Big Tiki Drive Meet Mauna Tiki Data" the most shaka (coolest) flash drive this side of the Hawaiian islands! Standing at almost 4" tall, the Big Tiki Drive" is a stylish personal storage device for people on the move. It's USB 2.0 certified for fast data transfers and is backwards compatible with USB 1.1. Store all of your data, pictures, music and more on the Big Tiki Drive to take them on the go or transfer them between multiple machines. Giving a Keynote or PowerPoint presentation? Use the Big Tiki Drive to host your slideshows and you'll never lose their attention. Once you reach your destination, plug the supplied "Lava USB" illuminated data cable into the top of the Big Tiki Drive and put him to work. Stare into his glowing eyes and watch his expressive green "aura" glow and blink from below* as he reads and writes your data.

Well my first demonstration trip went very well. It was nice to be the one in the drivers seat, well not literally since Peter rented the car so he drove and I navigated but that works for us. It was nice to be the one who is driving the demonstrations. I feel like I am now beginning to make a contribution to the group. I don’t know where or when I am heading out again but I am beginning to like Texas. I wouldn’t mind going back out there. This morning we got up early and headed to the airport which was right around the corner so it was a short drive. We got our tickets, I tried to upgrade but 1st class was too full so I couldn’t. And Roseanne, Peter and I had a quick breakfast at Chili’s Too then we got right on the plane. I was lucky enough to have a whole row to myself without someone sitting in front of me and so I can use my PC to get some work done. It is very rare that I can do that because I am notorious for always having the seat in front of me be filled with a person who recl...

Tonight I we went to Buzzard Billy’s for dinner. Couple of great things to eat, the armadillo eggs (Jalapenos in jack cheese stuffed inside chicken and then wrapped in bacon. AWESOME!) The Mean Green Wings (Buffalo wings with a hot lime sauce.) and I had the Full Catch which was blackened catfish, shrimp and tilapia. Dinner was great. Check out the photos of the place and a photo of a suspension bridge in Waco.

I recently purchased a Wi-Fi Card and it is great. I was able to connect to Logan’s Wi-Fi network (which sucks because you have to pay for the Internet unlike say…. Every other airport where Wi-Fi access is FREE!) Logan sucks, it just does, alot. Anyway I am Waco Texas right now. I’m down here with Peter and we are having a grand old time. Our flight left a little late but it did leave, so that was good. I got to read almost all of Sahara on the flight out. I have the 7 Habits of Highly Effective People to read on the way home. Gonna become more effective, yeah! Actually I worked on this book for a leadership program at Sacred Heart and I mentioned it to a supervisor in the training group and he wants me to present what I learned from the book to his group. Sweet! Anyway after we landed I had a terrible headache because the $3.00 snack packs on the plane were sold out by the time they got to row 30 of the plane and I was unable to purchase one. So after we got our rental car Peter and ...

So I am in Waco Texas. I did my first demonstration on my own today. It went well. After we were done Peter and I checked out a few tourist items around Waco like the Dr. Pepper Museum. It was an interesting museum and it had all the old commercials playing and a bunch of old bottles and equipment. And there are pictures a-plenty. After the museum we ended up heading over to the Waco Harley Davidson so I could increase my pin collection. They didn’t have a custom shop pin in stock but I’ll be calling to get one shipped to me. There are alot of great things to see here in Waco and the poor place got a bad wrap with the whole Branch Davidian fiasco. And that wasn’t even in Waco, it was in another town outside of Waco. One of the great things about actually getting to go to places is learning what places really are all about. Photos for your enjoyment. The Dr. Pepper Museum Classic Dr. Pepper Sign Another Classic Sign These bottles were produced special for LBJ for an event with JFK when ...

Last night Allison and I along with her cousin Erin and Erin’s husband Bart and Jenn and T.R. attended the Dessert Club show featuring Don White. Around 4:00pm Jenn came over for cheese and crackers and wine. Erin and Bart arrived soon after. While Allison, Erin and Jenn checked out Allison’s new veil that had just arrived, Bart and I settled in to attacking a plate of cheese and crackers. And because we are guys we could sit and eat said cheese and pontificate on the greatness of said cheese and bond. That’s what we do, we bond over dairy goodness. It is something that the women in our lives are fascinated by and because of this bonding over seemingly unimportant things they have dubbed that Bart and is my boyfriend and I am his, and the girls think it is so cute. The thing is we just get each other and are operating on that level that guys do where shared experience, pop culture and food are enough to form mutual appreciation, friendship and awe. For instance, while we were all sitti...

It is once again time for Lovefest. You remember I talked about Lovefest before. Read this article to bring yourself back up to speed. Lovefest ’04 Recap. Well this year’s lovefest is next Saturday and Allison and I are ready. We went out and got our stuff for the festivities yesterday at Target in their 75% section of Valentines items. And Lovefest is getting bigger and bigger, it has its own official website now. Check out all about Lovefest. The Official Lovefest Website The Lovefest MoBlog The Lovefest Blog. And check back next Sunday for photos and an update about Lovefest ’05.

Well, I have the dress ordered (Thank you again, mom and dad!). And now I have ordered a custom veil and a custom tiara, both of which are on their way to me as I type this! I can’t wait to get them. The tiara I ordered from a woman in the UK who does a lot with tiaras and hair clips. I sent her a picture of something that I had in mind and she replicated it for me. She told me that she keeps photos of all of her work in a scrapbook and will name mine ‘Allison.’ I thought it was pretty cool to have a tiara named after me! That’s the excitement. We are going bridesmaid dress shopping on the 26th. Hopefully it will be a successful trip!

There are some interesting things to see on the Internet. Recently I highlighted the webcomic PVP which is one of the web comics that I can readily identify with. Then I found another webcomic called The Mows. It isn’t as funny but it is interesting and it is linked at the bottom of the page. Through these sites I have found some other interesting, what I will now refer to as webtainment, items. The first is called What the Muffins?. What the Muffins? is a web sitcom about two geeky guys who share a house with a cool guy. It is all explained in the pilot episode. Yes the acting is not fantastic, the jokes need some work but hey these guys are doing something creative. And after two episodes so far it seems pretty clean and accessible to a wide audience. I’m adding What the Muffins? to my links, so enjoy. The computer is almost back up to speed, unfortunately by switching to a new computer many of the programs that we had been enjoying on the old computer are no longer accessible to us,...

Allison and I got a new computer on Sunday. I finally hooked it up yesterday. It took a couple of days just to get the old stuff off the other computer. So now we are finally on XP at home. And its really alot of fun because we can each have our own sign ins and desktops and share the files that we should be sharing like music and pictures. The computer is an HP media center edition model. Its being discontinued. It had 512MB of ram but I got 512 more and pumped the baby up to 1GB of ram. Can’t ever have enough RAM.  I successfully got the computer back on Verizon DSL and it works so much better than it had been on the old PC. Granted the old PC is still decent and with a good scrubbing out will perform fine, we just blocked it up with so much stuff over the years. I’m hoping we can be better about the new PC but it is inevitable that it get junked up with downloads and garbage too. So the PC can be connected directly to the TV so we could watch and record TV or play music or pictu...

Just some random information today. I just finished listening to Tourist Season on CD. Tourist Season was written by Carl Hiaasen. It was a story about an ex reporter turned private eye and a crazy reporter whom at one time was his mentor. The crazy reporter puts together a group of terrorists to take back South Florida from the tourists. Well it was an entertaining and humorous book, the reader was excellent. I’ve started a new book to read, I’m finally up to Sahara in the Dirk Pitt series, and if I couldn’t wait for the movie before, guess what I’m gonna have an even harder time waiting now. I’ve also picked up another book on CD, Ghosts of Everest, The Search for Mallory and Irvine. So far so good, it is the account of a 1999 expedition to Everest to find proof of whether or not George Mallory and Andrew Irvine were the first men to scale Everest in 1924, thirst or so years before the generally accepted first men to scale Everest Sir Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Norgay (My alter ego w...

I’ve added a new feature to the Blog, the daily The Mows comic strip. It is a comic strip made with Flash that is about three cats and their owners guy and gal. Its amusing but not laugh out loud funny, sometimes I don’t quite understand it and sometimes I think, that is just like Oliver and Duncan. Anyway the site has an option to link to the daily strip and so I’ve added the daily strip to the bottom of the page. And I’ve added a link to The Mows in my web comic section. Judge for yourself whether this is funny or not.

Okay I’ve finally completed reading all of the PVP online comics from the past 7 years. And I recommend that anyone who is a child of the 70’s/80’s and a pop culture enthusiast to check it out. Scott Kurtz has created a great cast of characters that are easily identifiable with and very very funny. PVP is not just about Player Vs. Player gaming. It has got more depth than that. Check it out! Keep an eye out for many Star Wars and Star Trek references and even a Transformers one here and there. You will laugh. Trust me. You can find a permanent link to PVP under my new section called Web Comics. Enjoy.

A simple request to keep my Aunt Candy in your thoughts and/or prayers this week. She is undergoing surgery today and will have a week of recovery ahead. Thanks.

Yeah! One more time the New England Patriots, our neighbors in Foxboro, are the winners of Superbowl 39. We had a house full with Mom and Dad, Allison and I, Tara and Erik and their friend Bob and Allison’s friend Jenn. I can tell you I was tense till the last seconds of the game. Great job by the Pats. We had a great spread with Ribs and chicken wings and our Mexican Fiesta Dip. And Dad got HDTV from Comcast just in time for the game. Man that was amazing to watch. So what was eveyone’s favorite commercials? Leave us comments with your choices. Also, what is up with those ugly Superbowl hats, Brown and Tan?

Okay, what really got me salivating was the movie trailers, War of the Worlds, Batman Begins, and Sahara had me sitting up at attention. Unfortunately the Sahara Trailer that was already on the internet was much, much better than the one during the Superbowl. The Sahara trailer that has been on the internet tells the story of Dirk Pitt, it introduces, Dirk Pitt. It tells you that Clive Cussler is the writer of the Dirk Pitt Novels. The trailer during the Superbowl was spliced together, I think by those monkeys in the Career Builder ads. It told no story. Hollywood is going to screw up what could be one of the best franchises to come along in a while. The Batman Begins trailer was okay but again told no real story, it did not engage me in the least. The War of the Worlds trailer was certainly a teaser and got me interested in seeing the movie. It tells you everything you need to know and yet tells you nothing. That’s a good trailer. But you be the judge. Sahara Original Trailer. Sahara ...

I was informed by Mo that it is Deb’s (Tina Majorino) from Napoleon Dynamite, birthday today. Happy birthday Tina. Here is a comic strip that Mo sent me. Become Deb Free. This is from Spamusement, a daily online comic that takes its inspiration from spam subject lines. And speaking of comic strips. Allison and I have both found some new online strips that we are finding very amusing. For me it is PVP drawn by Scott Kurtz. I have recently completed reading the entire run of his comic strips for the past 5 years. This comic is very, very funny on so many levels. It is a must read. The other comic strip I found while reading PVP and that is the MOWS, pronounced like cows. The mows is about 3 cats and their owners, so if you are a cat person this is a humorous comic for you, kinda like Garfield but you might actually laugh. Check these out and if you come across some online web comic that is a must read please let me know.

Last night Allison and I met up with Andy and Rondi to have dinner at a nice Mexican Restaurant called Acapulcos in Franklin, Ma. The restaurant is just up the street from one of our favorite movie places, the Franklin Zeotrope Theatre. The more and more I go down to Central Street in Franklin, the more I realize how much is around there. The Franklin train station is right behind the restaurant too. Acapulcos is a pretty good restaurant, I got a fajita chimichanga with steak. It was a good chimichanga accompanied by a equally good margarita. We had a great time chatting with Andy and Rondi about wedding plans, outdoor activities and misadventures, and the perils of becoming a homeowner. We’re looking forward to hanging out again soon.

Today Allison and I met with the guy that we want to be our photographer for the wedding. His name is Cullen Jones. We met up with him at the Solomon Pond Mall food court. Cullen had his adorable daughter in tow. She sat quietly and colored and played with her My Little Ponys. Cullen is a wedding photographer as a creative outlet and it shows in the photos that he showed us. He even had a great album of pictures of his daughter that he had created through the website Ophoto. That is what sold Allison. He’s also a Buffett fan and believe you me that was also a good thing in his favor. Cullen shoots black and white and color and it is all digital. He gives us a 300 photo proof book and a CD of original images also so we can do our own digital images. Later this week we’ll call Cullen and let him know that we want to sign a contract. You can check out his site here. http://www.cullenjonesphotography.com/

PVP Online is my latest place to find entertainment on the web. This is a web comic strip written by Scott Kurtz. Scott has comics in an archive stretching back to 1998. It will take you a while to get through them all, but that is good because you won’t be waiting each day for a new one to come out. The comic is about a fictitious video game magazine called player vs. player that features an interesting cast of characters. I suggest that you read the cast first, then start on the archives and then once you go through the comics check out Scott’s blog and his rants. The comic is family friendly, but the rants can get a little outspoken the language colorful. All in all Scott Kurtz has made a very entertaining comic strip for the geek in all of us.

Jo Beth Sidden, a bloodhound trainer and tracker in Georgia, is featured in: In Chronological Order Death in Bloodhound Red (1995) The House on Bloodhound Lane (1996) A Brace of Bloodhounds (1997) Blind Bloodhound Justice (1998) Ten Little Bloodhounds (1999) A Bloodhound to Die For (2003)

Last night I went up to Saint A’s to do a little recruiting of students for work. After my presentation I met up with MO at the Saint A’s pub. She got me some famous Saint A’s pub buffalo wings. Man I used to hate cooking them when I was a freshman but when I was old enough to get to the pub and have a couple of beers and some wings I really grew to like them alot. And I haven’t had them in years. So thanks MO for the great wings and the great conversation laced with all sorts of reminiscing about Saint A’s days. I then spent the night with Dan and Marcia. I delivered the emergency stash of girl scout cookies, thin mints of course. This morning I dashed back to St. A’s to see some folks. I got to see Drew and Linda and Joe and Becky and MO. It was really good to see everyone again. Then it was off to home, but first I checked out a house in Hudson and picked up some work for Allison. There is a crazy crack in my windshield that expanded all the way across the whole windshield.