The First Haircut

The first time your child rolls over, eats “solid” food and crawls are all significant milestones. Does a child’s first haircut also count as a significant milestone? I’m not sure of the answer, but I’m sharing my 14-month old son’s first haircut experience with you (and possibly with him to see when he’s older). So where does someone find a barber/stylist that specializes in kids’ haircuts? Let’s go to the mall!



We chose Cartoon Cuts, a chain with locations throughout the DC area that specializes in children’s haircuts, primarily since the salon is located fairly close to home. Plus, the salon employs some of the most patient people you’ll ever meet. I have no idea how they provide haircuts day after day to kids, many that I’m sure don’t want to be there and share their displeasure. One such kid was my son. I’ve mentioned before that he’s generally a happy child except when I scared him during the Steelers playoff game and when he gets his diaper changed. I have no idea why he hates the diaper-changing experience.

Anyway, as soon as he sat in the barber chair, he freaked out. Maybe he didn’t like the idea of being strapped into the chair, so we quickly went to Plan B meaning that he would sit on Daddy’s lap. That didn’t help. Lots of crying and tears when the apron went on and the scissors came out. Since he enjoys seeing his reflection, I tried to point out the numerous mirrors he could see. That didn’t help. I showed him the television located directly in front of him. Even though he is usually fascinated by the TV, that didn’t help. The stylist gave him a game to play with, and while that grabbed his attention for about 8 seconds, overall, that didn’t help. More crying. More tears.

After what was probably about 5 minutes but seemed like 55, my son’s first haircut was complete. He looked so handsome and mature. He also looked so grown-up. He could have gone straight from the mall to his Bar Mitzvah! As soon as he was out of the chair and back to being held by Daddy, he was fine. No crying and no more tears. He was his usual happy self walking through the mall and at dinner.

Overall, the haircut cost $15 after using a $2 off coupon and not including tip. Cartoon Cuts also offers a first haircut certificate, but they were out so I need to go back to get one. To answer your questions, yes, we took some of his hair and placed it in a Ziploc bag to commemorate the event. Plus, we’ll use the bag of hair for a Harry Potter spell at a later date to be determined.

In addition, yes, we took pictures to chronicle this potentially significant milestone. He looks miserable in every picture which should make for some fun and entertaining (and embarrassing) stories when he’s a teenager!

The Sunday Ticket Debate

Last year, DirecTV had an amazing offer that new customers received the NFL’s Sunday Ticket for free. (I think they still have this offer for new customers this year too.) Although I worried about the possibility of a lockout causing the cancellation of the 2011 season, DirecTV guaranteed free Sunday Ticket for 2012 if this occurred. Fortunately, with the exception of the Steelers-Broncos playoff game where I scared my child, the season took place.

With the 2012 NFL season not too far away, I need to decide my future with Sunday Ticket. The cost of Sunday Ticket this season is $200 which is a significant difference from the $0 I paid last year (like a $200 difference). Since I’m debating whether or not to continue with Sunday Ticket, I thought I would put both the pros and cons of keeping or dropping Sunday Ticket on paper (well, computer screen).

Pros:
- With Sunday Ticket, I can watch every Pittsburgh Steelers and NFL game.
- I don’t need to leave the house.
- I can DVR/pause the game in case of diaper emergency.
- I can watch the game with my son and teach him to wave the Terrible Towel.
- Without Sunday Ticket, if I’m watching football from home, I’m stuck with the local games. This means lots of Washington Redskins games. That can be torturous.

Cons:
- $200

I admit that these are weak lists, but the determining factor truly is money. Looking at the NFL TV schedule, between Thursday, Sunday and Monday night games, the NFL scheduled the Steelers for five national games. The Steelers also face Washington and the Steelers-Ravens game not on national TV should air in DC. Plus, there tends to be at least one or two other games available in DC as part of regional coverage. All of this means that at least 7 Steelers games will be available on local TV. Therefore, the question is if I want to pay $200 for about 9 Steelers games.

I also need to factor in probably being away or unavailable for a few games, including the possibility of attending a game at Heinz Field. Now we’re looking at $200 for 7 Steelers games.

If I don’t get Sunday Ticket, I usually watch the Steelers at a local sports bar. Between food and drinks, this generally costs about $20-$25 per week. Additionally, instead of watching the Steelers games from 1:00 to 4:00 at home, going out means leaving the house around noon and not returning until 5:00. That’s a long time away from the family on a weekend day. Therefore, maybe I should ask do I want to pay $140-$175 to watch 7 Steelers games out and deal with any possible consequences of being out so much. (For example, it will be unlikely that I will referee any weekend soccer games being away from home for so many Sunday afternoons.)

So do any of you find yourself in the same scenario? What are your thoughts about the Sunday Ticket dilemma?

Trivia Tuesday: Chevy Chase Edition

Happy Tuesday everyone! I hope that you had a nice Memorial Day weekend. We're back with a picture edition of Trivia Tuesday. Recently, your challenge was to name the movie or television show featuring Steve Buscemi. Today, your challenge is to name the movie or TV show featuring Mr. Chevy Chase.

As always please leave your answers in the comments section below, and do not use the internet for assistance. Good luck!

This quiz is courtesy of the fine folks at Stump Trivia.

Why Did Buffalo WR David Clowney Get An HIV Test In Pittsburgh?

One of the big stories on the internet yesterday was Buffalo Bills wide receiver David Clowney tweeting the results of his HIV and Hepatitis tests. He's clean. Before we answer my question in the title, let's look at Mr. Clowney. According to Wikipedia, Clowney was born in Amityville, New York though ESPN lists him as born in Queens. After attending high school in Delray Beach, Florida and going to college at Virginia Tech, the Green Bay Packers drafted Clowney in the fifth round of the 2007 NFL draft. It appears that the Packers cut Clowney at some point since he signed with the New York Jets part-way through the 2007 season. Clowney played in 18 games for the Jets over the 2008-2010 seasons before being released by the team and signing with the Carolina Panthers where he played 10 games in 2010. It doesn't appear that Clowney played in 2011. Overall, Clowney has 22 career catches for 341 yards and 1 touchdown. That's basically 2-3 games for Mike Wallace.

I bring up Clowney's background since there doesn't appear to be any Pittsburgh connection. Why does this matter? Take a look at the medical results.

The testing was performed by Quest Diagnostics located at 875 Greentree Road (Parkway Center) in Pittsburgh. Did Clowney drive all the way to Greentree to take the blood test and then drive through the Fort Pitt tunnels? Clowney probably had the test done in Buffalo, but why was the testing performed in Pittsburgh? They don't have any Quest Diagnostics or anywhere else to test blood results in Western New York?

I Cheated

If I was Catholic, I would go to confession. I assume that I would start by saying to the priest, "Forgive me Father, for I have sinned." (People really say this, right, or is this just what I've learned from television and movies?) When I moved to the DC area in 2001, I immediately entered into a relationship. Despite moving to different areas of Northern Virginia, the relationship continued, and I've been faithful throughout the past 11 years. Obviously, there have been ups and downs in the relationship. There were times that I was neglectful and not always around. Conversely, there were times when perhaps I was needy and overstayed my welcome. Nevertheless, the relationship was always there, and I was never swayed to cheat...until yesterday.

I'm embarrassed to write this, but I feel that I need to come clean. Although I've been loyal to the Fairfax County Public Library system and got a library card almost immediately after moving to Northern Virginia, I now have a library card through the Arlington County Public Library. I just finished a book and have several that I'd like to read including Don't Put Me In, Coach: My Incredible NCAA Journey from the End of the Bench to the End of the Bench by Mark Titus; Taft 2012: A Novel by Jason Heller; and Manhunt: The Ten-Year Search for Bin Laden--from 9/11 to Abbottabad by Peter Bergen. Yes, this is an eclectic group of books. Anyway, FCPL doesn't have the first two books in their catalog while they only have 4 copies of the Peter Bergen book. I'm currently #144 on the hold list. Meanwhile, Arlington County Public Library has all three books in the catalog. The Jason Heller book is available immediately, the Mark Titus book should be available soon and there are 12 copies of the Peter Bergen book where I'm #40 on the hold list. I should mention that the Fairfax County Public Library system is much bigger and serves a much larger population. Therefore, I don't know why they appear to be lagging significantly behind the Arlington County Public Library system.

In case you're wondering, I'm not leaving the Fairfax County Public Library system. I support the library through my taxes and have attended several books sales over the years. I also look forward to taking my child to programs there this summer. However, I'm no longer in an exclusive relationship. To FCPL, I'd say that it's not you, it's me, but in this case, it truly is you.

Most Popular Baby Names

Last week, the Social Security Administration released the most popular baby names of 2011. Jacob, Mason, William, Jayden & Noah earned the top five spots for most popular boys names while Sophia, Isabella, Emma, Olivia and Ava were the top five female names. Basically, every girl in kindergarten in five years will have a first name that ends in “A.”

You can easily spend hours searching for names on the Social Security website. While I will neither confirm nor deny that I spent hours searching names on the Social Security website, I will share some observations for you.

- Mitt and Barack are not in the top 1000 names for any year of birth in 2011 or in the last 12 years.

- While Khloe was the 49th most popular girls name, Lamar was only the 721st most popular boys name. Apparently, the E! Network made the right decision in not naming the show Lamar & Khloe.

- Shockingly, Timothy and Tebow did not fall into the top 100 most popular male or female names in 2011 in Colorado.

- While Brooklyn finished #21 for girls, Staten Island was not in the top 1000 male or female names.

- In 2006, Sean finished as the 68th most popular boys name. This went to #76 in 2007; #83 in 2008; #97 in 2009; #102 in 2010; and #125 in 2011. I wonder if this blog is related to the downward trend of Sean across the country.

- Hines was not in the top 1000 names in 2011. I guess winning Dancing with the Stars means nothing in terms of name popularity.

- Troy finished as the 244th most popular boys name in 2011. I feel like this number is much higher in Western Pennsylvania.

- All you need in Wyoming to reach the top 100 names in 2011 is five girls with the same name. Congrats to the five Wyoming girls named Kinley, Payton, Reagan, Emery & Brylee.

If you’re looking for an activity to start your week, I highly recommend checking out the Social Security website.

Where Would You Time Travel?

Let’s have some fun. In today's scenario, you have access to a time machine where you can travel to one place anywhere in the past. Let’s pretend that this is like Back to the Future where Marty McFly goes to the past for a short period of time, but you’re unable to impact the future. Therefore, you can’t prevent 9-11 or the Kennedy assassination, although if can somehow find a future Sports Almanac, use it wisely. For this example, let's say that you go back in time at your current age. You can't go back to high school and all of a sudden you're 17 again. If you go back to the time of your high school years, you are still 35 (assuming that you are 35 today). So where and when would you go?

Without putting as much thought into this as I would have liked, I would pick either Pittsburgh during the 1960 World Series or Berlin when the Wall came down in 1989. Both joyous events that took place in the not too distant past. I probably wouldn't do very well going back too far like during the end of the Revolutionary War since there was no television, air conditioning or fast food restaurants. It would be tough enough traveling back to 1960 and 1989 without the internet!

Pirates Chance Of Making The Playoffs (I'm Confused)

I'd like to think that I'm a fairly intelligent individual. I'm not sure if I can provide any specific examples of this other than the fact that I have a Master's degree. Well, that might not help my case. Perhaps earning free burritos for a year shows my intelligence?

Anyway, ESPN has a relatively new category on the Major League Baseball Standings: POFF. POFF is not some type of bug spray or something to repel urine, but the percentage chance of making the playoffs. Here are the National League Central standings as of today (May 16th):

Team / Record / Games Back / POFF (I'm sorry that this format doesn't look very good.)

St. Louis 21-15 - 84.1%

Cincinnati 18-17 2.5 36.1%

Pittsburgh 17-19 4 7.7%

Milwaukee 16-20 5 16.0%

Houston 15-21 6 12.8%

Chicago 15-21 6 12.2%

Even though the Pirates have better records than the Brewers, Astros and Cubs, they have a lower percent chance to reach the playoffs. I don't get it. While I'm sure that Pirates' run differential of -25 (runs scored - runs allowed) probably factors into this equation somehow, why would the Brewers have double the chance the reach the playoffs with a run differential of -23? (The Astros and Cubs have run differentials of +1 and -19 respectively.)

Meanwhile, the Colorado Rockies at 14-21 and 9.5 games out of the NL West have a 9.1% chance of reaching the playoffs with a -17 run differential. Although the Pirates are 2.5 games ahead of Colorado and 5.5 games closer to the division leader compared to the Rockies, the Bucs have a lower chance to reach the playoffs.

Can someone explain this to me?

Trivia Tuesday: TV Edition

It’s a rainy Tuesday here in Washington, so the sky is gray as opposed to blue. If I turn on the radio, maybe I will hear Wiz Khalifa’s Black and Yellow. Plus, it’s not easy being green. Given the stars and the year of debut, your challenge this week is to name the television show with a color in its title. Now you understand the first few sentences.

1. Ricky Schroder, Erin Gray (1982)

2. Daniel J. Travanti, Betty Thomas (1981)

3. Ellen Pompeo, Sandra Oh (2005)

4. Betty White, Bea Arthur (1985)

5. Eddie Albert, Eva Gabor (1965)

6. Denise Boutte, Tamela J. Mann (2009)

7. Dennis Franz, David Caruso (1993)

8. Matt Bomer, Tim DeKay (2009)

9. Tom Selleck, Donnie Wahlbert (2010)

10. Rowan Atkinson, Elspert Gray (1982)


As always please leave your answers in the comments section below, and do not use the internet for assistance. Good luck!

This quiz is courtesy of the fine folks at Stump Trivia.

Chad Smith’s False Hope

Chad Smith is the excellent drummer of the Red Hot Chili Peppers, a band I saw perform at the Verizon Center in DC last week. Yes, the show was great though I would have preferred that the band play a few less songs from their new album and perform Breaking the Girl and Snow (Hey Oh). I could write much more about the show, but I want to focus on Mr. Smith. At the end of the concert, Chad Smith was the last member of the band on stage. He threw a few of his drumsticks into the crowd, went to the microphone and said, “I hope that Capitals win the [f’n] Cup!” He did not say f’n. Anyway, I wouldn’t have thought much about Smith’s proclamation except that the next day I saw this article and video of Smith by NHL.com:



This text is from the article:

But the longtime Detroit Red Wings fan has also been lucky enough to live out some of his childhood hockey dreams. For the Michigan-born Smith, a lifelong infatuation with the Wings reached a new level in 1997, when he found himself in the locker room at Joe Louis Arena as the Red Wings celebrated their first Stanley Cup in 42 years.

Your favorite team wins the Stanley Cup and you get to celebrate the victory in the locker room. That’s just awesome.

A Los Angeles resident for decades, Smith has adopted the Kings as another NHL favorite. For the drummer, who occasionally attends Kings games when the band isn't touring, their current run to the Western Conference Finals has been exciting.

Essentially, Smith roots for the Kings unless they face the Red Wings. I completely understand this. When I lived in San Diego, I supported Tony Gwynn and the Padres unless they faced the Pirates. I also lived in Columbus during the inaugural season of the Blue Jackets, so I have a connection to that organization from my time working as a beer man at Nationwide Arena. Of course, as much as I want Columbus to do well, the Penguins will always be my favorite team.

Anyway, let’s get back to Chad Smith. Nashville eliminated the Red Wings in the first round of this year’s NHL playoffs. With the Kings advancing to the Western Conference finals, you would think that Smith now wants Los Angeles to win the Stanley Cup. So why the "I hope the Capitals win the Cup" statement?

Let’s go back to the video. If you watched it, you probably noticed the 4:40 mark where Smith states "I think Washington’s going to win tonight (meaning game 6 last Wednesday). I don’t really want them to win…but game 7 is going to the Rangers." He continues by stating that he hopes that the Kings and Rangers meet in the finals. So what the heck, Chad Smith? Why state that you hope the Caps win when you also want the Kings and Rangers to win? Is Smith looking to run for political office? If so, it's a good strategy to pander to the New York and Los Angeles voters. I guess that you don't want to upset the Capitals fans either. This seems like a Sarah Palin situation from 2008 all over again. With the Capitals loss to the Rangers in game seven on Saturday, I guess that Smith's hopes of the Caps winning the Cup this year are over.

For more about the Chili Peppers concert in DC check out the Baltimore Sun and Washington Post reviews.

A Mother’s Day Birthday

Today is my birthday, so Happy Birthday to me! If you’re reading this on Sunday, Happy Mother’s Day too! Do you see what’s happening here? It’s my birthday, and I have to share today with every mom. Can’t I be a little selfish today and have my own day?

I was 4 the first time my birthday fell on Mother’s Day. To celebrate, I got chicken pox. Apparently, that ruined a big dinner and plans for the entire family. Maybe subconsciously, I didn’t want to share the attention.

I recently complained to a friend about this whole birthday-Mother’s Day thing. (I left out the previous paragraph and the whole chicken box thing.) She replied, “try having a Christmas birthday like me.” My complaining ended immediately.

Happy Mother’s Day everyone!

Crying Baby Saves The Day

I received a phone call the other night from a member of a political party talking about the importance of winning Virginia in both the Presidential and Senate elections this November. The guy said that I could support the party by donating $100. Um, no. As he stated that he understood that $100 was a lot of money and started going into the appeal to contribute less than $100, my child began to cry. I have no idea why, but he regularly cries when we lay him on the changing table. Even though my wife was there to change his diaper, I could clearly hear him through the baby monitor. I interrupted the guy on the phone by stating that I had to go due to a crying baby. Game, set, match! Checkmate! What else could the guy on the phone do in that situation? A father needs to take care of his crying baby immediately. Phone call over and the guy can't feel like I blew him off even if I did.

Meanwhile, I also received an invitation to a wine & cheese reception to support a candidate from a different political party. For the sponsorship levels, the cost is $1000 to be a "host" which also gives you 6 reservations for the event. However, a "friend" level is $100 and gets you 1 reservation. Why wouldn't someone contribute $1000 for 10 friend level sponsorships and bring 10 people to the event? The better question may be why am I receiving all this politcal stuff?

Trivia Tuesday

This week's Trivia Tuesday is all about Steve Buscemi. Your challenge is to name the film or television show that featured the incredible actor from the pictures below.

As always please leave your answers in the comments section below, and do not use the internet for assistance. Good luck!

This quiz is courtesy of the fine folks at Stump Trivia.

Referral Friday

It's been over a year since we've looked how people found Sean's Ramblings via internet searches (as opposed to billboards and television and newspaper advertisements). Enjoy!

BYU bitches

This is a possible name for a future ABC television show to go along with GCB and Don't Trust the B---- in Apartment 23.

Brett Keisel Muppet

No offense to Kermit or Fozzie Bear, but I think seeing a Brett Keisel Muppet with a beard would make an awesome Muppet!

i received an anonymous text message that my husband is a

Is a what? Why did you stop? The suspense. The suspense!

2nd long toe meaning

The meaning for the 2nd long toe is clearly that this little piggy stayed home.

balding rappers

Has someone discovered my secret identity?

is there a drink named sean

If there's not, there should be. Next time you mix, lemonade with lemonade, call it a Sean.

sidney crosby big ol' butt

This might have been a line that didn't make the final cut of EU's Da Butt (Sidney Crosby got a big 'ol butt; oh yeah)



who is red hair girl in wendy commercial

I'll go with Wendy.

selling my burrito

Not a good advertisement for a food truck.


That was fun. I'll try this again in about 6 months!

Seeking Summer Vacation Ideas

Let’s say that you’re trying to plan a vacation for 8 people, including two kids under 18 months. You’re looking to take this vacation in late-June or early-July and it must be in driving distance from Washington DC. Let’s also say that a trip to the Maryland or Delaware beaches is out since beach house rentals appear to be too expensive for the prime-time of their tourist seasons. Where would you go? Please note that the group of 8 would prefer to stay in the same facility.

Thank you.

Trivia Tuesday: TV Edition

We haven’t had many responses to Trivia Tuesday recently. Are the questions too easy or too difficult? Regardless, I sense that you’ll do well this week. Given the name of the television shows below, your challenge is to name the city that provides the primary setting.

1. The Flintstones

2. The Andy Griffith Show

3. Glee

4. Family Guy

5. Ally McBeal

6. The Big Bang Theory

7. Two and a Half Men

8. Family Matters

9. How I Met Your Mother

10. Parks and Recreation

Bonus: Mr. Belvedere


As always please leave your answers in the comments section below, and do not use the internet for assistance. Good luck!

This quiz (except for the bonus question) is courtesy of the fine folks at Stump Trivia.

How To Run a 5K Without Preparing

I woke up Sunday morning feeling fairly miserable with a cold. I committed to participating in a 1 mile fun walk/run, so I dragged myself out of bed, took some Dayquil and left for the event. Upon arrival, we picked up our packet and T-shirts and noticed a mix-up just before the walk started. Although I received just the normal racing number (I’m sure there’s some fancy facing term for this), my wife received a racing number with a special strip that times you when you start the race and cross the finish line. While we thought that we both signed up for the 1 mile fun walk/run, the event staff signed up my wife for the 5K portion of the event. No big deal as we completed the walk and figured that we were done for the day. However, some friends signed up for the 5K, and since we already had the special race number, I decided that I would borrow her number and run the 5K. This was a mistake.

When I ran a 5K about 18 months ago, I was in decent shape through all of my running as a soccer referee. Now, my only exercise consists of short-distance running. (This is a fancy way of writing that I get most of my exercise sprinting to catch the bus and Metro.) Despite being out-of-shape, not feeling well and not prepared to run a race (meaning wearing heavier clothes than one would normally wear for a race with no music or stopwatch), my competitive side took over. I wanted to see if I could beat the time from the previous 5K and who knew when I would have the opportunity to run a 5K again. The answer to if I could beat the time from the previous 5K was clearly no.

About a 1/2 mile into the race, my right ankle started bothering me. While I persevered through the race, the ankle discomfort, my stuffed up nose and my general out-of-shapeness caused me to finish in 31 minutes and 34 seconds. Not bad, but this was also 4 minutes more than the previous 5K. The good news is that I finished in 20th place for the 30-39 female division! Overall, I finished in spot #215 out of 351 runners. There were a lot of kids in the race, so it was a little discouraging seeing that several 8 and 9 year-old kids had better times than I did; however, a 9 year-old me probably would have ran a better time than the current me.

A personal highlight of the race was running near (as I would later learn by looking at the results) a 62 year-old man. We were close to each other over the last half of the race, and I desperately wanted to make sure I defeated him. (See competitive nature above.) There were a few times when my ankle pain caused me to walk for about 20-30 seconds, but I made sure to stay within range of him. Near the race’s conclusion, I made my move for the big finish and soared past him. It turns out that I defeated the old(er) guy by 20 seconds. I’m awesome!

The lowlight of the race was missing out on the post-race donuts. Although I had plenty of water along with an orange, some bread and a banana, I missed the table with donuts. Donuts seem to be the perfect reward for running a 5K. Yes, I want a donut now!

Despite being sore today, I’m glad that I ran the 5K since the proceeds went to a good cause. Plus, I have a brand new T-shirt and a time to beat for my next 5K when I try this again next year (but not sooner!).

Jose Canseco Is 2 Legit 2 Quit

A recent trivia night question asked the name of the MC Hammer song with the video featuring Jose Canseco, Kirby Puckett, Deion Sanders and Roger Clemens. We got the answer correct, but I didn't recall ever seeing the video. I found the video on YouTube and felt the need to share it with you. One word describes this video: wow! Not necessarily a good wow; just a wow. In case you're wondering, Canseco and friends appear just past the 8:00 minute mark. That is not a typo; it's just a long video.



The best cameo has to be former Atlanta Falcons coach Jerry Glanville.

I Want My MTV

Although I don’t update the “What I’m Reading” section of my blog very often, I continue to read books regularly. I’m currently reading I Want My MTV: The Uncensored Story of the Music Video Revolution by Craig Marks and Rob Tannenbaum. While the history of creating and starting MTV is interesting (who knew that Michael Nesmith of the Monkees “fueled the origins of MTV?”), I truly enjoy reading the behind the scenes descriptions of making the videos. Here are a few portions of the book I feel like sharing (along with the videos):

Daryl Hall: People loved to spend my money. This is a good story: Somebody decided the “Maneater” video wouldn’t be complete unless we had an actual panther, a man-eating animal, in the video. It appeared for a second and a half in the video and probably cost $10,000. This South American black panther was wired to the floor so it wouldn’t attack everybody. Of course, it got loose in this gigantic studio in LA and went in the rafters, fifty feet up. Nobody could get it down. That’s when I left the building.



The panther got at least 10 seconds of air time!

Jazz Summers (Wham!'s manager): Wham!’s “Wake Me Up Before You Go-Go” is a bit camp. Two young boys dancing around in shorts. I thought it was tacky, and said so. I tried to talk them out of it, but my management partner, Simon Napier-Bell, was more camp than a row of tents. He thought it was lovely. And MTV really got behind it.

Debbie Gibson: Being a gay-boy magnet even at fourteen, I was in love with George Michael. I'd come home from school and turn on MTV - and there was "Wake Me Up Before You Go-Go.



I'm confused. Is Debbie attracted to gay boys or are gay boys attracted to her?

Nigel Dick (music-video and film director): Roland Orzabal told me what he envisioned for "Head Over Heels": "I see myself in a library, there's a beautiful girl, we'll grow old together, and there's all this random stuff like a rabbi and a chimp." And I'm rapidly scribbling on a piece of paper: "Chimp. Rabbi."



Is this the only video featuring a rabbi and a chimp?

Bryan Adams: The whole budget for the "Run to You" video went into building a tree. Lightning was supposed to hit the tree, and create a big, long lightning storm. Imagine the shock and horror on set when the [f'n] thing burns in about a minute. We stood there, looking at this tree up in flames. And Steve Barron's (the video's director) going, "Oh. S#!t." This is probably my worst video.



The real problem is that Adams doesn't run at all in the video. The Bangles walked like Egyptians (sort of) walked in their hit. If the song title is "Run to You," you run!

There are a lot more stories I could share particularly about Van Halen, Paula Abdul, and Billy Squire, but this could end up being my longest post!

Please note that this is not a sponsored post. I'm just really enjoying the book.

Free Kids Meals

It’s audience participation day here at Sean’s Ramblings! I’m looking to create a list of restaurants that offer free food for kids. Since I don’t have much experience with this topic, I’m looking for your help. For example, I know that California Tortilla offers free kids’ meals with an adult combo purchase on Sundays. I have also heard, but not confirmed, that IHOP, Denny’s, Chili’s, Bob Evans, Ponderosa and Max & Erma’s have various promotions.

Please leave the restaurant name and the deal in the comments section below.